Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1932

Last updated
Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1932
Flag of Arkansas (1924-2011).svg
  1930 November 8, 1932 (1932-11-08)1934 
 
Nominee Junius Marion Futrell James O. Livesay
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote200,61219,713
Percentage90.4% [1] 8.9% [2]

Arkansas Governor Election Results by County, 1932.svg
County results

Futrell:
     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
     80–90%     90%+

Contents

Livesay:
Did not win any counties

Governor before election

Harvey Parnell
Democratic

Elected Governor

Junius Marion Futrell
Democratic

The 1932 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932, to elect the Governor of Arkansas, concurrently with the election to Arkansas's Class III U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

The three classes of United States Senators are made up of 33 or 34 Senate seats each. The purpose of the classes is to determine which Senate seats will be up for election in a given year. The three groups are staggered so that senators in one of the groups are up for election every two years, rather than having all 100 seats up for election at once. For example, the 33 Senate seats of class 1 were up for election in 2018, the elections for the 33 seats of class 2 will take place in 2020, and the elections for the 34 seats of class 3 will be held in 2022.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Harvey Parnell had won office in 1928, and reelection in 1930. During this period, it was customary for governors to be reelected to a second term, but only one governor, Jeff Davis, had served three terms since Reconstruction. In the Solid South, winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to election, a trend that resulted in Democratic control of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion from 1874 to 1967. Chancery judge Junius Marion Futrell won a seven-candidate primary, and was nominated by the party despite insisting he did not want the position. The Republicans nominated James O. Livesay, a lawyer from Foreman in Little River County, who had also been the gubernatorial nominee against Harvey Parnell in 1930.

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. The Democrats' dominant worldview was once social conservatism and economic liberalism while populism was its leading characteristic in the rural South. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate in the Progressive Party, beginning a switch of political platforms between the Democratic and Republican Party over the coming decades, and leading to Woodrow Wilson being elected as the first fiscally progressive Democrat. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social liberal platform, supporting social justice.

Harvey Parnell was a farmer and politician from Southeast Arkansas. Parnell served in the Arkansas General Assembly for eight years, first in the Arkansas House of Representatives, and later serving a term in the Arkansas Senate. Following the re-establishment of the lieutenant governor position, Parnell won the statewide election and served under Governor John Martineau. When Martineau resigned to take a federal judgeship in March 1928, Parnell was elevated to become the state's 29th governor, a position he would hold until 1933. Early in his time as governor, Parnell was responsible for Progressive reforms popular with rural voters, including expansion and modernization of the highway system and public school reform. But as the Dust Bowl and Great Depression ravaged the Arkansas economy, Parnell's programs were blamed for bankrupting the state, and his popularity plummeted. He left politics after his second full gubernatorial term ended in January 1933.

Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor) American politician

Jeff Davis was a Democratic politician who served as the 20th Governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907 and in the United States Senate from 1907 to 1913. He took office as one of Arkansas's first New South governors and proved to be one of the state's most polarizing figures. Davis used his silver tongue and aptitude for demagoguery to exploit existing feelings of agrarian frustration among poor rural white farmers and thus build a large populist appeal. However, since Davis often blamed city-dwellers, blacks and Yankees for problems on the farm, the state was quickly and ardently split into "pro-Davis" or "anti-Davis" factions.

Futrell defeated Livesay in a landslide election, and would win reelection in 1934. Though the office remained within the Democratic party, the election represented a realignment in favor of the conservative wing of the party. Futrell was the most conservative governor elected in decades, with 1932 marking the end of the reform era in Arkansas. [3]

A realigning election is a term from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries. Usually it means the coming to power for several decades of a new coalition, replacing an old dominant coalition of the other party as in 1896 when the Republican Party (GOP) became dominant, or 1932 when the Democratic Party became dominant. More specifically, it refers to American national elections in which there are sharp changes in issues, party leaders, the regional and demographic bases of power of the two parties, and structure or rules of the political system, resulting in a new political power structure that lasts for decades.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary carried significant weight during the Solid South period, with a primary win essentially tantamount to election. The Republicans selected their candidate in April at their state convention, and many Republicans also voted in the Democrat's open primary. Illustrating the strength of Democratic hegemony, the Fayetteville Daily Democrat published a photo of Futrell after the primary under the headline "Next Governor", three months before the general election. The caption claimed Futrell "possibly will be conceded the office by members of all parties". [4]

Solid South Electoral support of the Southern United States for Democratic Party candidates from 1877 to 1964

For the play titled Solid South see Lawton Campbell

"Tantamount to election" is a phrase in the United States to describe a situation in which one political party dominates the demographics of a voting district to a degree where the candidate winning the nomination of the dominant party for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election. The phrase "safe seat" is commonly used to describe such a district, though "safe" refers only to the general election, especially after the breakthrough of primary elections at nearly all levels in most jurisdictions.

Current governor Harvey Parnell had recently completed two terms, and declined to run for reelection. Though Parnell had enjoyed early popularity as a reform governor, he had become deeply unpopular following the start of the Great Depression, and the perceived flaws of the Martineau Road Law, which he was instrumental in passing as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. By February 1933, the situation had devolved so far, the Arkansas House of Representatives adopted a resolution describing the Parnell administration as "the most corrupt since the days of reconstruction and the most extravagant and wasteful in the history of the state". Many Arkansans blamed Parnell for their hardships in the Great Depression, and his unpopularity caused candidates to dodge his endorsement throughout the contest. [5]

Great Depression 20th-century worldwide economic depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late-1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how intensely the world's economy can decline.

The Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas presides over the Arkansas Senate with a tie-breaking vote, serves as governor when the governor is out of state, and serves as governor if the governor is impeached, removed from office, dies or is otherwise unable to discharge the office's duties. The lieutenant governor position is elected separately from the governor.

Arkansas House of Representatives lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly

The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 29,159 according to the 2010 federal census. Members are elected to two-year terms and, since the 2014 Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution, limited to sixteen years cumulative in either house.

Candidates

A diverse group of state and local politicians sought the nomination, with as many as ten candidates running in the early months. The broad field began to narrow a month before the August primary, with campaign rhetoric and candidate mudslinging also rising. On primary day, August 9, 1932, there was a seven-man field, with four serious candidates: Dwight H. Blackwood of Osceola, chairman of the powerful Arkansas State Highway Commission, chancery judge Junius Marion Futrell of Paragould, former governor Tom J. Terral, and circuit judge A.B. Priddy of Russellville.

Osceola, Arkansas City in Arkansas, United States

Osceola is a city in and one of the two county seats of Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. Located along the Mississippi River within the Arkansas delta, the settlement was founded in 1837 and incorporated in 1853. Occupying an important location on the river, the city's economy grew as steamboat traffic increased. Timber and cotton harvesting would develop, and the city experienced rapid growth and development throughout the early 20th century. The city's economy has since diversified to include a robust industrial sector. The population was 7,757 at the 2010 census.

Junius Marion Futrell was the 30th Governor of Arkansas from 1933 to 1937, and the Acting Governor for a short period in 1913.

Paragould, Arkansas City in Arkansas, United States

Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta.

Declared

Blackwood's campaign was managed by Lee Seamster, a prominent judge from Fayetteville. Futrell's campaign was managed by C.E. Johnson, a chancery judge from Texarkana, and Griffin Smith, who would become an associate justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Withdrew

Declined

Results

Public sentiment toward the Parnell administration turned the 1932 election debate toward corruption and good government reforms. One of the main issues was corruption at the Arkansas Highway Department, which is directed by the State Highway Commission, chaired by Blackwood. Public schools were also an issue in the race. [23]

Priddy promised "a brand new deal", borrowing the term from President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Priddy strongly opposed Blackwood's continued service on the Highway Commission, making a campaign promise to unseat him if elected. Blackwood had "boasted" he could not be removed from the Highway Commission unless indicted. Though Priddy had never supported the Parnell administration, Priddy was known as the governor's favored choice, though he did not give an official endorsement. [24] Priddy also accused former governor Terral of aligning with Blackwood, saying "the difference would be in name only if either should be elected governor". [25] Futrell had previously served on an audit committee tasked with investigating the Highway Commission, but resigned before publishing a report. Priddy used his resignation to tar and feather Futrell, and link him to the Blackwood and Parnell as corrupt.

Futrell was a reluctant candidate, saying after winning the Democratic primary, "had no ambition to become governor and would prefer to serve out my time as chancellor among the people who know me best". [26] A planter from Paragould in Northeast Arkansas, Futrell had significant state government experience, but retained everyman credentials, nicknamed "the commoner from Paragould". [27] Futrell emphasized retrenchment and good government reforms, including proposal of a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. [28] [29] Arkansas was facing a $15 million shortfall in 1933-1934, and the repayment of $146 million of highway bonds under the Martineau Road Law now seemed insurmountable. [30] Futrell planned to modify the funding of highways upon election to ensure a balanced budget.

Democratic primary, 1932 [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Junius Marion Futrell124,13944.0
Democratic Tom J. Terral59,06620.9
Democratic A.B. Priddy37,13413.2
Democratic Dwight H. Blackwood33,14711.8
Democratic Howard Reed12,1174.3
Democratic W.P. Wilson7,7092.7
Democratic Other candidates5,1881.8
Democratic Arley Woodrow3,5411.3
Total votes282,041100.0

The Democratic primary was a dramatic fight played out via accusations in the press, and ultimately widened major rifts in the party. Though Parnell and Blackwood were already political rivals, the battle continued to escalate. Allegations of corruption flew among several of the candidates, positing other candidates as "members of the machine" or colluding as a political "gang". [32] Parnell was initially thought to run for Senate, but declined and decided to retire from politics, but remained active in the 1932 primary. On July 24, reports emerged that Governor Parnell had switched his support from Priddy to Futrell. [33] Parnell issued a statement, saying "his only interest in the present campaign was to defeat Dwight H. Blackwood". [34] Following Futrell's win, Parnell removed Howard Reed from his state comptroller's position, allegedly for refusing to withdraw as a gubernatorial candidate. Parnell appointed Griffin Smith, manager of Futrell's campaign, to replace Reed. Four of Arkansas's constitutional officers condemned the firing in a statement, calling it "untimely to say the least". [35]

Futrell tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying "in the discharge of my duties as governor, all bitterness of the controversy will be forgotten, and the earnest co-operation of those who opposed me, and those who supported me, is necessary". [36] He also condemned the overheated rhetoric of the campaign, saying "one thing has been definitely established: A campaign of slander and misrepresentation cannot succeed." [37]

The Democratic state convention was held September 8–10 in Hot Springs. Representative of the conservative wing having taken control of the convention, it adopted as first plank of the party platform, "drastic curtailment of government expenditures and other reforms". [38]

Republicans

Republicans did not hold primaries in Arkansas until the 1960s, instead nominating their candidates at the state convention. The Republican convention was held in Little Rock on April 26, 1932. [39] James O. Livesay, a lawyer and judge from Foreman, and Republican candidate for governor in 1930, was nominated as the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Third parties

Candidates

Declared

General election

Turnout was expected to be high, mostly due to five constitutional amendments and three initiated acts listed on the November 1932 ballot. It was the longest ballot in Arkansas to date. [42] On election day, turnout broke state records, exceeding even optimistic predictions.

Results

Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1932 [43]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Junius Marion Futrell 200,61290.4
Republican James O. Livesay19,7138.9
Liberty Clay Faulks9110.4
Socialist Clay Faulks4610.2
Communist H.C. Coney1740.0
Total votes221,817100.0
Democratic hold

Related Research Articles

Joe Edward Purcell was Acting Governor of Arkansas for six days in 1979 as well as Arkansas Attorney General from 1967–1971 and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1975–1981.

Thomas Jefferson Terral was the 27th Governor of Arkansas.

Democratic Party of Arkansas

The Democratic Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Arkansas. It is responsible for promoting the ideologies and core values of the national Democratic Party in Arkansas.

William Lee Cazort, Sr., was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Johnson County in the Arkansas River Valley. Winning a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1915, Cazort would become a rising star in Arkansas politics for the next eight years. He was defeated in the 1924 Democratic gubernatorial primary, but would go on to serve as the fifth and seventh Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1929 to 1931 under Governor Harvey Parnell and from 1933 to 1937 under Governor Junius Marion Futrell. Cazort also sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1930 and 1936, but failed to gain necessary statewide support and withdrew before the primary both times.

Lawrence Elery Wilson was a businessman and politician from South Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1927 to 1931. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, serving as Governor Harvey Parnell's second lieutenant governor, but his reelection bid ended in defeat by Lee Cazort in the Democratic primary.

Odell Pollard American political activist

Odell Pollard was an attorney in Searcy in White County in central Arkansas, who was a pioneer in the revitalization of the Arkansas Republican Party in the 1960s and 1970s.

Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands

Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands is an executive position and constitutional officer within the Arkansas government which has been an elective post since 1874. Land Commissioners are elected to four year terms. The current state Land Commissioner is Republican Tommy Land.

1914 Arizona gubernatorial election

The 1914 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1914 for the post of the Governor of Arizona. The Supreme Court of Arizona ruled that there would be no statewide elections in 1912, thus extending the terms to sync up with elections on even years. The Democratic nominee was incumbent governor George W. P. Hunt, his Republican opponent was the final Delegate to Congress from Arizona Territory, Ralph H. Cameron. Cameron was disadvantaged by the same reason the previous Republican nominee Wells was: he had opposed statehood with the present Constitution.

Lee Seamster

Lee A. Seamster was a lawyer and politician from Northwest Arkansas. Passing the bar in 1913, Seamster practiced law in Bentonville, and represented the area in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1919-1920, and served as mayor of Bentonville from 1921-1922, until he resigned to move to Fayetteville to open a law practice. Over the next two decades, Seamster practiced law and served as Chancery Judge of the 13th District for eighteen years before representing the Fayetteville area in the Arkansas House from 1947–1948. He was appointed to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas from 1955 to 1956 by Governor Orval Faubus.

Roberta Fulbright American journalist, newspaper editor, businesswoman

Roberta Fulbright (1874–1953) was an American businesswoman who consolidated her husband's business enterprises and became an influential newspaper publisher, editor and journalist. She used her paper to push civic responsibility and women's rights. Fulbright was the 1946 Arkansas Mother of the Year, a co-founder of the Arkansas Newspaper Women, and was posthumously inducted into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame in its inaugural group of honorees.

1959 Philadelphia municipal election

Philadelphia's municipal election of November 3, 1959 involved contests for mayor, all seventeen city council seats, and several other executive and judicial offices. Citywide, the Democrats took majorities of over 200,000 votes, continuing their success from the elections four years earlier. Richardson Dilworth, who had been elected mayor in 1955, was re-elected over Republican nominee Harold Stassen. The Democrats also took fifteen of seventeen city council seats, the most seats allowed to any one party under the 1951 city charter. They further kept control of the other citywide offices. The election represented a continued consolidation of control by the Democrats after their citywide victories of the previous eight years.

1961 Philadelphia municipal election

Philadelphia's municipal election of November 7, 1961, involved the election of the district attorney, city controller, and several judgeships. Democrats swept all of the city races but saw their vote totals much reduced from those of four years earlier, owing to a growing graft scandal in city government. District Attorney James C. Crumlish, Jr. and City Controller Alexander Hemphill, both incumbents, were returned to office. Several ballot questions were also approved, including one permitting limited sales of alcohol on Sundays.

1932 Arkansas elections

Arkansas held a general election on November 8, 1932. At the top of the ticket, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state handily in his successful bid to become 32nd President of the United States. Arkansans elected Hattie Caraway to the United States Senate, the first woman elected to a full term in history. For the United States House of Representatives, Bill Cravens, a former Representative from 1907 to 1913, returned to politics and defeated a wide field in the Arkansas 4th. Tilman Parks defeated several challengers to retain the Arkansas 7th. All of Arkansas's statewide constitutional offices were up for reelection, including governor. Incumbent Harvey Parnell declined to run for reelection, and was supplanted by Junius Marion Futrell.

48th Arkansas General Assembly

The Forty-Eighth Arkansas General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 1931 and 1932. In this General Assembly, the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Democrats. In the Senate, all 35 senators were Democrats, and in the House, 99 representatives were Democrats, with one Republican. It was the first General Assembly to use redistricted legislative districts from the 1930 United States Census.

J. P. Carnahan

Jacob Preston Carnahan (1832-1912) was an American Confederate officer, a professor of mathematics, and Populist politician.

William U. McCabe was an attorney and politician from Mountain Home, Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas Senate from 1921 to 1924, and the Arkansas House of Representatives from January 1931 until his death on May 6, 1931. McCabe worked to reform the Arkansas Constitution and state highway funding system during a period of good government reforms in the state.

1930 Arkansas gubernatorial election

The 1930 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930, to elect the Governor of Arkansas, concurrently with the election to Arkansas's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

J. Oscar Humphrey was a politician from Southwest Arkansas. He served as the Arkansas State Auditor from 1929–1935 and 1937–1956, despite having both arms amputated above the elbow due to a sawmill accident as a child.

References

  1. "Elections" (1950), pp. 25-26.
  2. "Elections" (1950), pp. 25-26.
  3. "Arkansas" (2002) , p. 321.
  4. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (August 10, 1932). "Next Governor". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 37 (222). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  5. "Denying" (1932) , p. 1.
  6. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  7. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 7.
  8. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 7.
  9. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 7.
  10. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 7.
  11. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 9.
  12. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 9.
  13. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  14. "Caudle" (1932) , p. 9.
  15. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  16. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (June 3, 1932). "Gubernatorial Candidate to Speak Sat'day". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 37 (165). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 6. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  17. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  18. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  19. "Seeking" (1932) , p. 1.
  20. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (February 12, 1932). "Seamster Now in Little Rock". Fayetteville Daily Democrat . 38 (69). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  21. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (February 8, 1932). "Lee Seamster May Run for Governorship". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 38 (65). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  22. Staff of the United Press (July 11, 1932). "Lee Seamster to Guide Blackwood's Campaign". Blytheville Courier News . 29 (98). Blytheville: The Courier News Company. p. 1 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  23. Staff of the Hope Star (April 11, 1932). "Five Now in Race for Governorship". Hope Star . 33 (142). Hope: Star Publishing Company. pp. 1, 3. OCLC   23187909 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  24. "Denying" (1932) , p. 1.
  25. "Capacity" (1932) , p. 1.
  26. "Personal" (1932) , p. 1.
  27. "Priddy" (1932) , p. 13.
  28. "Personal" (1932) , p. 1.
  29. "Arkansas" (2002) , p. 321.
  30. "Governors" (1995) , p. 185.
  31. "Elections" (1950), p. 25.
  32. "Priddy" (1932) , p. 13.
  33. "Denying" (1932) , p. 1.
  34. "Denying" (1932) , p. 1.
  35. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (August 17, 1932). "Many Against Parnell Move". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 37 (228). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  36. "Personal" (1932) , p. 1.
  37. "Personal" (1932) , p. 1.
  38. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (September 10, 1932). "Futrell Not to Urge Any Solon Choice". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 37 (249). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  39. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (April 27, 1932). "'Bone Dry' Plank G.O.P. State Move". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 38 (133). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 5. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  40. "Ballot" (1932) , p. 1.
  41. "Ballot" (1932) , p. 1.
  42. Staff of the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (November 7, 1932). "State Voters Ready to Poll to New Record". Fayetteville Daily Democrat. 37 (298). Fayetteville: Fayetteville Democrat Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   18126013 via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  43. "Elections" (1950), pp. 25-26.