1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming

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1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming
Flag of Wyoming.svg
  1944 November 2, 1948 1952  
  Harry S Truman, bw half-length photo portrait, facing front, 1945 (cropped).jpg Thomas Dewey (3x4 crop).jpg
Nominee Harry S. Truman Thomas E. Dewey
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Missouri New York
Running mate Alben W. Barkley Earl Warren
Electoral vote30
Popular vote52,35447,947
Percentage51.62%47.27%

Wyoming Presidential Election Results 1948.svg
County Results

President before election

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

Elected President

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

The 1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Wyoming was won by incumbent Democratic President Harry S. Truman, running with Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley, with 51.62 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican nominee, 47th Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey, running with California Governor and future Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, with 47.27 percent of the popular vote, despite the fact that Dewey had previously won the state four years earlier. [1]

Contents

Truman's upset victory in Wyoming was part of a major upset victory nationwide, as prior to the election, polls had forecasted a Dewey victory. Dewey ran a low risk campaign, largely avoiding criticizing Truman, which was due to many believing his hawkish campaign 4 years earlier had cost him the election to Truman's Democratic predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Truman suffered from low approval ratings and dealt with many southern Democratic voters defecting to the Dixiecrat candidate Strom Thurmond, costing him the traditionally Democratic strongholds of South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, however Truman's unexpected strength in the Midwest and West Coast secured his reelection, as he flipped the states of Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Wyoming, all of which had voted for Dewey in 1944. Dewey revived Republican strength in the traditionally Republican Northeast, flipping Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and his home state of New York. He also managed to flip Michigan and Oregon.

Truman was popular among rural voters, and with agriculture being one of the biggest parts of Wyoming's economy, Truman's support for New Deal era programs that attempted to provide relieft to farmers, which along with The Civilian Conservation Corps program greatly impacted Wyoming, allowing new National Parks to be built in the state, was popular among Wyoming voters, and he successfully painted Dewey as more conservative than he was, ignoring the fact that he was significantly more liberal and supportive of New Deal programs like Social Security than many of the conservative Congressional Republicans such as Senator Robert A. Taft from Ohio]]. Truman blamed the Republican-controlled Congress for his inability to pass legislation, which voters believed, and on election day, voters delivered Truman a landslide victory, and returned control of both chambers of Congress to the Democrats. This change was reflected in Wyoming, as the state's Class II Senate seat would flip into Democratic hands with Lester Hunt's landslide victory, who outperformed the top of the ticket by 9.9%. Truman flipped Platte and Natrona counties, outperforming Roosevelt's 1944 statewide result by 6.8%.

With a nationwide vote total of 49.6% and a vote total of 51.6% in Wyoming, as of The 2020 Presidential Election, this is the last time in which Wyoming voted more Democratic than the national average; the state is now heavily Republican, and even in this election the state technically voted 0.15% to the right of the nation. In fact, Wyoming would only support a Democratic presidential nominee one more time, during Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide. This would also be the last time that Wyoming was decided by a single-digit margin until 1992, and the state has voted by double-digit margins for the Republican nominee from 1996 onwards.

Dewey won the state in 1944 by a 2.46% margin, or 2,502 votes. However, in this election, Truman won the state, by 4.35%, or 4,407 votes. This was the last time a Democratic presidential candidate won the state until Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, as throughout the 50s, the state transformed into a Republican stronghold. Since 1964, no Democratic presidential candidate has carried the state, and as a matter of fact, since 1964, no Democrat has even been able to reach 40% of the vote. [2]

Campaign

On May 3, 1948, the Wyoming Democratic Party voted to bound its twelve delegates to the Democratic National Convention to support Truman for president and Joseph C. O'Mahoney for vice-president. [3] Archie Allison, Alice Spielman, and W.J. Smith were selected to serve as Republican presidential electors. [4]

Results

Trends by county from the 1944 election to the 1948 election
Democratic      +0-5      +5-10      +10-20      +20-25% Republican      +1-5% 1944-48 Wyoming trends by county.png
Trends by county from the 1944 election to the 1948 election
Democratic     +0-5     +5-10     +10-20     +20-25%Republican     +1-5%
1948 United States presidential election in Wyoming [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Harry S. Truman (incumbent) 52,354 51.62%
Republican Thomas E. Dewey 47,94747.27%
Progressive Henry A. Wallace 9310.92%
Socialist Norman Thomas 1370.14%
Socialist Labor Edward Teichert560.06%
Total votes101,425 100.00%

Results by county

CountyHarry S. Truman [5]
Democratic
Thomas Edmund Dewey [5]
Republican
Henry Agard Wallace [6]
Progressive
Norman Mattoon Thomas [7]
Socialist
Edward A. Teichert [7]
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Albany 3,14151.96%2,85847.28%300.50%120.20%40.07%2834.68%6,045
Big Horn 2,37049.14%2,42950.36%200.41%20.04%20.04%-59-1.22%4,823
Campbell 85641.33%1,20157.99%130.63%10.05%00.00%-345-16.66%2,071
Carbon 3,43959.16%2,31939.89%550.95%00.00%00.00%1,12019.27%5,813
Converse 99642.60%1,32756.76%110.47%20.09%20.09%-331-14.16%2,338
Crook 71237.63%1,16661.63%90.48%30.16%20.11%-454-24.00%1,892
Fremont 3,01947.17%3,35752.45%240.38%00.00%00.00%-338-5.28%6,400
Goshen 1,84347.15%2,02951.91%340.87%30.08%00.00%-186-4.76%3,909
Hot Springs 92852.61%79144.84%422.38%20.11%10.06%1377.77%1,764
Johnson 68233.35%1,35166.06%70.34%50.24%00.00%-669-32.71%2,045
Laramie 8,22656.64%6,20042.69%640.44%260.18%80.06%2,02613.95%14,524
Lincoln 1,92551.50%1,73046.28%832.22%00.00%00.00%1955.22%3,738
Natrona 6,18353.26%5,34146.01%620.53%200.17%20.02%8427.25%11,608
Niobrara 75343.15%97555.87%120.69%30.17%20.11%-222-12.72%1,745
Park 2,46147.83%2,65551.60%200.39%60.12%30.06%-194-3.77%5,145
Platte 1,46551.35%1,36647.88%70.25%130.46%20.07%993.47%2,853
Sheridan 3,85250.68%3,69848.65%380.50%120.16%10.01%1542.03%7,601
Sublette 49644.05%62255.24%60.53%10.09%10.09%-126-11.19%1,126
Sweetwater 5,14663.65%2,53831.39%3634.49%180.22%200.25%2,60832.26%8,085
Teton 55643.13%71955.78%90.70%20.16%30.23%-163-12.65%1,289
Uinta 1,63256.31%1,23942.75%190.66%70.24%10.03%39313.56%2,898
Washakie 85144.21%1,07455.79%00.00%00.00%00.00%-223-11.58%1,925
Weston 82245.97%96253.80%30.17%10.06%00.00%-140-7.83%1,788
Totals52,35451.62%47,94747.27%9310.92%1370.14%560.06%4,4074.35%101,425
County flips from 1944:
Democratic
Hold
Gain from Republican
Republican
Hold Wyoming county flips between the 1944-48 presidential election.png
County flips from 1944:

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "1948 Presidential Election Results Wyoming".
  2. "How the red and blue map evolved over the past century". June 29, 2016.
  3. "Wyoming Democrats Will Support Truman". Star Valley Independent. May 13, 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Bricker Keynotes Republican State Convention". Star Valley Independent. May 13, 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Géoelections; 1948 Presidential Election Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
  6. Géoelections; Popular Vote for Henry Wallace (.xlsx file for €15)
  7. 1 2 Our Campaigns; WY US Presidential Race, November 02, 1948