1924 United States presidential election in Indiana

1924 United States presidential election in Indiana

November 4, 1924
 
Nominee Calvin Coolidge John W. Davis Robert M. La Follette
Party Republican Democratic Progressive
Home state Massachusetts West Virginia Wisconsin
Running mate Charles G. Dawes Charles W. Bryan Burton K. Wheeler
Electoral vote 15 0 0
Popular vote 703,042 492,245 71,700
Percentage 55.2% 38.7% 5.6%

County Results

President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elected President

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

A presidential election was held in Indiana on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. The Republican ticket of the incumbent president of the United States Calvin Coolidge and the director of the Bureau of the Budget Charles G. Dawes defeated the Democratic ticket of the former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom John W. Davis and the governor of Nebraska Charles W. Bryan. The Progressive ticket of the senior U.S. senator from Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette and the junior U.S. senator from Montana Burton K. Wheeler finished a distant third. Coolidge defeated Davis and La Follette in the national election with 382 electoral votes.[1]

The Indiana Ku Klux Klan was the subject of major controversy and played an active role in the campaign. The Klan had intervened successfully in the state's Republican primary and dominated the Republican state convention, which nominated a slate of candidates endorsed by Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson.[2] Coolidge attempted to distanced himself from the Klan by campaigning separately from the state Republican candidates,[3] but was endorsed by the Fiery Cross, the official publication of the Klan in Indiana.[4] Davis and the state Democratic ticket denounced the Klan and campaigned for votes from African-Americans, who were a traditionally Republican constituency; prominent Black community leaders formed the Independent Voters League to encourage Black Hoosiers to abandon the Republican Party.[5] Despite his lukewarm response to the Klan's outreach, regression analysis indicates Coolidge received the overwhelming support of Indiana Klansmen, including those who had previously supported Democrats. Klansmen were 10 percent more likely to support La Follette, despite his poor showing in the state,[6] while Davis polled between 70 and 80 percent of the Black vote in Indianapolis.[7]

Primary elections

Republican Party

Indiana Republican primary, May 6, 1924[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Calvin Coolidge 310,618 54.29
Republican Hiram Johnson 261,566 45.71
Total votes 572,184 100.00

Democratic Party

No candidates filed to run in the Indiana Democratic primary, and consequently no primary election was held.[9]

General election

Results

Indiana chose 15 electors on a statewide general ticket. State law required voters to elect each member of the Electoral College individually, rather than as a group.[10] This sometimes resulted in small differences in the number of votes cast for electors pledged to the same presidential candidate, if some voters did not vote for all the electors nominated by a party.[11] The following table quotes the official returns published by the secretary of state of Indiana, which list the votes for the first elector on each ticket.[12]

1924 United States presidential election in Indiana[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Calvin Coolidge
Charles G. Dawes
703,042 55.25 0.11
Democratic John W. Davis
Charles W. Bryan
492,245 38.69 1.80
Progressive Robert M. La Follette
Burton K. Wheeler
71,700 5.64 5.64
Prohibition Herman P. Faris
Marie C. Brehm
4,416 0.35 0.72
Workers William Z. Foster
Benjamin Gitlow
987 0.08 0.08
Total votes 1,272,390 100.00

Results by county

1924 United States presidential election in Indiana by county[12]
County Calvin Coolidge
Republican
John W. Davis
Democratic
Robert M. La Follette
Progressive
Herman P. Faris
Prohibition
William Z. Foster
Workers
Margin Total
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Adams 3,330 41.34% 4,300 53.38% 391 4.85% 33 0.41% 1 0.01% -970 -12.04% 8,055
Allen 25,207 54.12% 17,244 37.03% 3,889 8.35% 125 0.27% 108 0.23% 7,963 17.10% 46,573
Bartholomew 6,606 56.62% 4,760 40.80% 272 2.33% 30 0.26% 0 0.00% 1,846 15.82% 11,668
Benton 3,250 58.14% 2,104 37.64% 216 3.86% 19 0.34% 1 0.02% 1,146 20.50% 5,590
Blackford 3,553 51.10% 3,094 44.50% 264 3.80% 40 0.58% 2 0.03% 459 6.60% 6,953
Boone 6,256 52.57% 5,466 45.93% 156 1.31% 18 0.15% 4 0.03% 790 6.64% 11,900
Brown 756 36.93% 1,229 60.04% 47 2.30% 14 0.68% 1 0.05% -473 -23.11% 2,047
Carroll 4,543 53.52% 3,660 43.11% 254 2.99% 31 0.37% 1 0.01% 883 10.40% 8,489
Cass 9,939 55.89% 5,276 29.67% 2,480 13.95% 43 0.24% 45 0.25% 4,663 26.22% 17,783
Clark 5,944 51.70% 5,218 45.38% 315 2.74% 21 0.18% 0 0.00% 726 6.31% 11,498
Clay 5,955 48.86% 5,349 43.88% 843 6.92% 42 0.34% 0 0.00% 606 4.97% 12,189
Clinton 7,469 53.88% 6,070 43.79% 261 1.88% 57 0.41% 5 0.04% 1,399 10.09% 13,862
Crawford 1,917 43.08% 2,384 53.57% 123 2.76% 26 0.58% 0 0.00% -467 -10.49% 4,450
Daviess 6,427 51.42% 5,558 44.46% 488 3.90% 25 0.20% 2 0.02% 869 6.95% 12,500
Dearborn 4,588 48.11% 4,330 45.41% 582 6.10% 35 0.37% 1 0.01% 258 2.71% 9,536
Decatur 4,907 52.94% 4,092 44.15% 246 2.65% 22 0.24% 2 0.02% 815 8.79% 9,269
DeKalb 6,093 54.63% 4,133 37.05% 872 7.82% 56 0.50% 0 0.00% 1,960 17.57% 11,154
Delaware 14,411 61.74% 7,830 33.55% 767 3.29% 299 1.28% 33 0.14% 6,581 28.20% 23,340
Dubois 2,708 30.53% 5,651 63.71% 504 5.68% 5 0.06% 2 0.02% -2,943 -33.18% 8,870
Elkhart 13,096 64.50% 4,729 23.29% 2,343 11.54% 123 0.61% 13 0.06% 8,367 41.21% 20,304
Fayette 5,284 62.16% 2,940 34.58% 244 2.87% 31 0.36% 2 0.02% 2,344 27.57% 8,501
Floyd 6,733 46.50% 6,971 48.15% 738 5.10% 29 0.20% 8 0.06% -238 -1.64% 14,479
Fountain 4,796 51.28% 4,282 45.78% 249 2.66% 18 0.19% 8 0.09% 514 5.50% 9,353
Franklin 3,296 44.43% 3,915 52.78% 190 2.56% 15 0.20% 2 0.03% -619 -8.34% 7,418
Fulton 4,329 55.53% 3,244 41.61% 192 2.46% 21 0.27% 10 0.13% 1,085 13.92% 7,796
Gibson 7,100 49.62% 6,149 42.98% 993 6.94% 61 0.43% 5 0.03% 951 6.65% 14,308
Grant 11,173 55.10% 7,086 34.95% 1,884 9.29% 120 0.59% 13 0.06% 4,087 20.16% 20,276
Greene 6,670 45.93% 5,966 41.09% 1,832 12.62% 53 0.36% 0 0.00% 704 4.85% 14,521
Hamilton 7,463 64.91% 3,785 32.92% 192 1.67% 58 0.50% 0 0.00% 3,678 31.99% 11,498
Hancock 4,063 47.27% 4,364 50.77% 113 1.31% 54 0.63% 1 0.01% -301 -3.50% 8,595
Harrison 3,896 48.31% 4,005 49.67% 147 1.82% 16 0.20% 0 0.00% -109 -1.35% 8,064
Hendricks 5,766 61.02% 3,489 36.92% 168 1.78% 23 0.24% 3 0.03% 2,277 24.10% 9,449
Henry 8,800 60.85% 5,376 37.18% 205 1.42% 72 0.50% 8 0.06% 3,424 23.68% 14,461
Howard 10,438 60.05% 5,451 31.36% 1,378 7.93% 116 0.67% 0 0.00% 4,987 28.69% 17,383
Huntington 7,437 51.42% 5,506 38.07% 1,446 10.00% 70 0.48% 3 0.02% 1,931 13.35% 14,462
Jackson 4,187 41.63% 5,332 53.02% 506 5.03% 31 0.31% 1 0.01% -1,145 -11.39% 10,057
Jasper 3,679 64.36% 1,744 30.51% 281 4.92% 12 0.21% 0 0.00% 1,935 33.85% 5,716
Jay 5,753 52.83% 4,812 44.19% 269 2.47% 53 0.49% 3 0.03% 941 8.64% 10,890
Jefferson 5,192 55.50% 3,914 41.84% 221 2.36% 25 0.27% 3 0.03% 1,278 13.66% 9,355
Jennings 3,506 54.41% 2,730 42.36% 184 2.86% 22 0.34% 2 0.03% 776 12.04% 6,444
Johnson 4,954 50.77% 4,699 48.16% 90 0.92% 13 0.13% 1 0.01% 255 2.61% 9,757
Knox 8,493 44.31% 8,603 44.88% 1,986 10.36% 57 0.30% 29 0.15% -110 -0.57% 19,168
Kosciusko 6,819 58.33% 4,384 37.50% 419 3.58% 64 0.55% 4 0.03% 2,435 20.83% 11,690
LaGrange 3,081 63.34% 1,566 32.20% 203 4.17% 13 0.27% 1 0.02% 1,515 31.15% 4,864
Lake 30,990 64.61% 10,918 22.76% 5,822 12.14% 150 0.31% 88 0.18% 20,072 41.84% 47,968
LaPorte 11,597 61.22% 5,214 27.52% 2,078 10.97% 29 0.15% 25 0.13% 6,383 33.70% 18,943
Lawrence 7,438 60.70% 4,414 36.02% 376 3.07% 24 0.20% 2 0.02% 3,024 24.68% 12,254
Madison 18,447 57.64% 12,061 37.69% 1,282 4.01% 187 0.58% 26 0.08% 6,386 19.95% 32,003
Marion 95,135 59.13% 59,498 36.98% 5,842 3.63% 230 0.14% 175 0.11% 35,637 22.15% 160,880
Marshall 5,354 53.22% 4,277 42.51% 377 3.75% 49 0.49% 3 0.03% 1,077 10.71% 10,060
Martin 2,470 46.77% 2,669 50.54% 134 2.54% 7 0.13% 1 0.02% -199 -3.77% 5,281
Miami 6,796 51.49% 4,976 37.70% 1,335 10.11% 65 0.49% 27 0.20% 1,820 13.79% 13,199
Monroe 6,247 55.22% 4,689 41.45% 348 3.08% 24 0.21% 4 0.04% 1,558 13.77% 11,312
Montgomery 8,366 58.52% 5,708 39.93% 186 1.30% 31 0.22% 4 0.03% 2,658 18.59% 14,295
Morgan 5,328 55.58% 4,042 42.17% 184 1.92% 31 0.32% 1 0.01% 1,286 13.42% 9,586
Newton 2,705 60.37% 1,523 33.99% 240 5.36% 12 0.27% 1 0.02% 1,182 26.38% 4,481
Noble 5,793 55.72% 4,163 40.04% 398 3.83% 35 0.34% 8 0.08% 1,630 15.68% 10,397
Ohio 989 46.98% 1,058 50.26% 44 2.09% 14 0.67% 0 0.00% -69 -3.28% 2,105
Orange 4,538 56.04% 3,374 41.66% 161 1.99% 23 0.28% 2 0.02% 1,164 14.37% 8,098
Owen 2,627 47.41% 2,670 48.19% 225 4.06% 18 0.32% 1 0.02% -43 -0.78% 5,541
Parke 4,877 59.12% 2,898 35.13% 415 5.03% 35 0.42% 24 0.29% 1,979 23.99% 8,249
Perry 3,240 44.30% 3,895 53.25% 170 2.32% 9 0.12% 0 0.00% -655 -8.96% 7,314
Pike 3,885 48.78% 3,604 45.25% 442 5.55% 22 0.28% 12 0.15% 281 3.53% 7,965
Porter 5,613 67.76% 1,640 19.80% 1,009 12.18% 22 0.27% 0 0.00% 3,973 47.96% 8,284
Posey 4,173 48.82% 4,115 48.14% 227 2.66% 29 0.34% 4 0.05% 58 0.68% 8,548
Pulaski 2,725 55.03% 1,953 39.44% 253 5.11% 12 0.24% 9 0.18% 772 15.59% 4,952
Putnam 4,930 49.14% 4,759 47.44% 326 3.25% 16 0.16% 1 0.01% 171 1.70% 10,032
Randolph 7,397 64.10% 3,768 32.65% 262 2.27% 108 0.94% 4 0.03% 3,629 31.45% 11,539
Ripley 4,694 49.02% 4,257 44.45% 605 6.32% 18 0.19% 2 0.02% 437 4.56% 9,576
Rush 5,958 62.58% 3,415 35.87% 110 1.16% 36 0.38% 2 0.02% 2,543 26.71% 9,521
Scott 1,532 44.59% 1,824 53.08% 64 1.86% 15 0.44% 1 0.03% -292 -8.50% 3,436
Shelby 6,664 51.52% 5,976 46.20% 228 1.76% 67 0.52% 1 0.01% 688 5.32% 12,936
Spencer 4,395 48.59% 4,409 48.75% 211 2.33% 20 0.22% 10 0.11% -14 -0.15% 9,045
St. Joseph 23,682 57.65% 15,056 36.65% 2,202 5.36% 108 0.26% 34 0.08% 8,626 21.00% 41,082
Starke 2,329 53.00% 1,555 35.39% 501 11.40% 8 0.18% 1 0.02% 774 17.61% 4,394
Steuben 4,046 68.52% 1,610 27.27% 216 3.66% 32 0.54% 1 0.02% 2,436 41.25% 5,905
Sullivan 5,139 42.64% 5,213 43.25% 1,610 13.36% 71 0.59% 20 0.17% -74 -0.61% 12,053
Switzerland 2,346 48.29% 2,414 49.69% 73 1.50% 25 0.51% 0 0.00% -68 -1.40% 4,858
Tippecanoe 12,161 58.40% 7,619 36.59% 976 4.69% 56 0.27% 11 0.05% 4,542 21.81% 20,823
Tipton 4,183 51.33% 3,660 44.91% 261 3.20% 46 0.56% 0 0.00% 523 6.42% 8,150
Union 1,907 58.77% 1,284 39.57% 40 1.23% 13 0.40% 1 0.03% 623 19.20% 3,245
Vanderburgh 25,907 55.29% 17,186 36.68% 3,640 7.77% 79 0.17% 44 0.09% 8,721 18.61% 46,856
Vermillion 4,489 49.14% 2,779 30.42% 1,800 19.70% 43 0.47% 24 0.26% 1,710 18.72% 9,135
Vigo 19,545 52.74% 12,999 35.08% 4,320 11.66% 146 0.39% 49 0.13% 6,546 17.66% 37,059
Wabash 7,277 60.44% 4,054 33.67% 610 5.07% 89 0.74% 10 0.08% 3,223 26.77% 12,040
Warren 3,035 69.66% 1,150 26.39% 159 3.65% 12 0.28% 1 0.02% 1,885 43.26% 4,357
Warrick 4,437 51.49% 3,797 44.06% 343 3.98% 19 0.22% 21 0.24% 640 7.43% 8,617
Washington 3,479 46.37% 3,942 52.55% 64 0.85% 16 0.21% 1 0.01% -463 -6.17% 7,502
Wayne 11,487 59.75% 6,211 32.31% 1,445 7.52% 81 0.42% 1 0.01% 5,276 27.44% 19,225
Wells 3,932 44.92% 4,537 51.83% 210 2.40% 73 0.83% 2 0.02% -605 -6.91% 8,754
White 4,475 56.36% 3,138 39.52% 305 3.84% 22 0.28% 0 0.00% 1,337 16.84% 7,940
Whitley 4,420 54.84% 3,484 43.23% 128 1.59% 28 0.35% 0 0.00% 936 11.61% 8,060
TOTAL 703,042 55.25% 492,245 38.69% 71,700 5.64% 4,416 0.35% 987 0.08% 210,797 16.57% 1,272,390

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Petersen 1963, p. 86.
  2. ^ Moore 1991, pp. 184, 186–87.
  3. ^ Madison 2016, p. 66.
  4. ^ McVeigh 2009, p. 187.
  5. ^ Giffin 1983, pp. 153, 141.
  6. ^ Moore 1991, p. 102.
  7. ^ Giffin 1983, p. 158.
  8. ^ Congressional Quarterly 1985, p. 395.
  9. ^ Congressional Quarterly 1985, p. 395n7.
  10. ^ Spencer, Tennant & Lesh 1924, p. 54.
  11. ^ Petersen 1963, pp. vii.
  12. ^ a b c Indiana 1925, pp. 48–49.

Bibliography

  • Congressional Quarterly (1985). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (2nd ed.). Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly. ISBN 978-0-87187-339-2.
  • Giffin, William W. (June 1983). "The Political Realignment of Black Voters in Indianapolis, 1924". Indiana Magazine of History. 79 (2): 158. JSTOR 27790698.
  • Indiana (1925). Year Book of the State of Indiana for the Year 1924. Indianapolis: Legislative Reference Bureau.
  • Madison, James H. (2016). Indiana through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920–1945. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society.
  • McVeigh, Rory (2009). The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan: Right-Wing Movements and National Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Moore, Leonard J. (1991). Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921–1928. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
  • Petersen, Svend (1963). A Statistical History of the American Presidential Elections. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. LCCN 62-21786.
  • Spencer, William W.; Tennant, Maurice E.; Lesh, Ulysses S., eds. (1924). Election Laws of Indiana [...]. Indianapolis: State Board of Election Commissioners.