1928 United States presidential election in Indiana

Main article: 1928 United States presidential election

The 1928 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1928 United States presidential election in Indiana

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Nominee Herbert Hoover Al Smith Party Republican Democratic Home state California New York Running mate Charles Curtis Joseph T. Robinson Electoral vote 15 0 Popular vote 848,290 562,691 Percentage 59.68% 39.59%

County Results Hoover   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Smith   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Calvin Coolidge Republican Elected President Herbert Hoover Republican

Since the Civil War, partisan alliances in Indiana had been related to history of White settlement, with most of Southern Indiana and German-settled counties voting strongly Democratic, opposed to Yankee-settled Northern Indiana which voted Republican.^[1] Some breakdown of these traditional loyalties took place in the 1920s due to German opposition to Woodrow Wilson’s World War I policies,^[2] but these occurred to a lesser extent than in other Midwestern states because of the conservative dominance within Indiana’s Democratic Party.

1928, with most other Democrats standing out as they felt the party had no chance of winning due to the prosperous economy,^[3] saw New York Governor Al Smith nominated almost by default. Many traditionally Democratic Upland Southerners recoiled at the nomination of Smith because he was a devout Catholic, opposed to Prohibition,^[4] and associated with the corruption of the Tammany Hall political machine. Smith’s decision to run with Arkansas Senator Joseph T. Robinson, a “dry” and Protestant, did not alleviate fears of what he would do in the White House.

The Republican nominee, former Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover of California, lost the GOP primary in Indiana,^[5] but won the nomination nationally. The Democratic primary was held very late in the primary season and was won by Smith, who by then had already effectively wrapped up the nomination, despite the state originally casting its vote for favorite son Evans Woollen.^[6]

In a state whose farmers' were suffering a financial crisis amidst national prosperity due to the loss of demand following the war, the Indiana Farm Bureau would not endorse either ticket.^[7] However, Indiana's Senator James E. Watson said that Hoover would carry the state despite these obvious problems.^[8]

After becoming certain to be nominated, it was thought by The Wall Street Journal that Smith would have to carry Indiana to have any chance of winning the Presidency.^[9] However, as early as the beginning of July politicos said that prohibitionist and anti-Catholic forces in Indiana gave Smith no chance of carrying the state,^[4] despite Smith saying he would enforce the law if elected.^[10] At the end of August, pollsters were already suggesting that the latent opposition of the anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan – which had all but ruled Indiana earlier in the 1920s – and the prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League in rural areas of Indiana would of itself make it impossible for Smith to carry the state.^[11]

Hoover visited Indiana late in August as part of the Lake County Fair, focusing on the agricultural crisis and, alongside Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart, blaming the Democrats and the Federal Reserve System for the extant farm crisis.^[12] Smith did not visit the state during the fall campaign, and polls throughout that season saw the state as safe for Hoover.^[13][14]

Ultimately Hoover carried the state by 20.09 percentage points, which was at the time the best Republican result ever achieved in Indiana, although it was beaten in 1956, 1972, 1984 and 2004.^[15] As of the 2020 presidential election^[update], this is nonetheless the last occasion when Indiana voted more Democratic than the modern “blue wall” states of California and Washington.

Results

1928 United States presidential election in Indiana[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Herbert Hoover	848,290	59.68%	15
	Democratic	Alfred E. Smith	562,691	39.59%	0
	Prohibition	William F. Varney	5,496	0.39%	0
	Socialist	Norman Thomas	3,871	0.27%	0
	Socialist Labor	Verne L. Reynolds	645	0.05%	0
	Workers	William Z. Foster	321	0.02%	0
Totals			1,421,314	100.00%	15

Results by county

1928 United States presidential election in Indiana by county

County	Herbert Clark Hoover[17] Republican		Alfred Emmanuel Smith[17] Democratic		William Frederick Varney[17] Prohibition		Norman Mattoon Thomas[17] Socialist		Various candidates[17] Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	4,045	49.70%	4,066	49.96%	22	0.27%	6	0.07%	0	0.00%	-21	-0.26%	8,139
Allen	34,234	56.38%	26,292	43.30%	87	0.14%	64	0.11%	43	0.07%	7,942	13.08%	60,720
Bartholomew	6,788	57.76%	4,881	41.53%	39	0.33%	40	0.34%	4	0.03%	1,907	16.23%	11,752
Benton	3,360	58.37%	2,368	41.14%	18	0.31%	7	0.12%	3	0.05%	992	17.23%	5,756
Blackford	3,882	59.35%	2,576	39.38%	31	0.47%	47	0.72%	5	0.08%	1,306	19.97%	6,541
Boone	6,556	58.81%	4,500	40.37%	73	0.65%	15	0.13%	3	0.03%	2,056	18.44%	11,147
Brown	959	48.51%	999	50.53%	13	0.66%	3	0.15%	3	0.15%	-40	-2.02%	1,977
Carroll	4,780	59.54%	3,182	39.64%	64	0.80%	2	0.02%	0	0.00%	1,598	19.91%	8,028
Cass	10,522	61.31%	6,522	38.00%	68	0.40%	46	0.27%	5	0.03%	4,000	23.31%	17,163
Clark	8,056	56.39%	6,193	43.35%	28	0.20%	8	0.06%	0	0.00%	1,863	13.04%	14,285
Clay	7,103	56.19%	5,358	42.39%	60	0.47%	111	0.88%	9	0.07%	1,745	13.80%	12,641
Clinton	7,606	55.89%	5,895	43.31%	95	0.70%	13	0.10%	1	0.01%	1,711	12.57%	13,610
Crawford	2,672	57.39%	1,933	41.52%	33	0.71%	17	0.37%	1	0.02%	739	15.87%	4,656
Daviess	7,116	56.73%	5,324	42.45%	24	0.19%	74	0.59%	5	0.04%	1,792	14.29%	12,543
Dearborn	6,334	58.49%	4,459	41.18%	22	0.20%	12	0.11%	2	0.02%	1,875	17.31%	10,829
Decatur	5,400	58.40%	3,791	41.00%	36	0.39%	15	0.16%	4	0.04%	1,609	17.40%	9,246
DeKalb	7,373	64.04%	4,077	35.41%	52	0.45%	12	0.10%	0	0.00%	3,296	28.63%	11,514
Delaware	19,102	68.79%	8,532	30.72%	72	0.26%	54	0.19%	10	0.04%	10,570	38.06%	27,770
Dubois	3,301	35.18%	6,044	64.41%	15	0.16%	17	0.18%	7	0.07%	-2,743	-29.23%	9,384
Elkhart	20,876	74.76%	6,900	24.71%	71	0.25%	62	0.22%	15	0.05%	13,976	50.05%	27,924
Fayette	5,874	62.63%	3,455	36.84%	29	0.31%	18	0.19%	3	0.03%	2,419	25.79%	9,379
Floyd	10,471	58.49%	7,327	40.93%	51	0.28%	42	0.23%	11	0.06%	3,144	17.56%	17,902
Fountain	4,960	55.60%	3,894	43.65%	43	0.48%	23	0.26%	1	0.01%	1,066	11.95%	8,921
Franklin	3,426	47.19%	3,817	52.58%	11	0.15%	5	0.07%	1	0.01%	-391	-5.39%	7,260
Fulton	4,627	61.09%	2,881	38.04%	62	0.82%	4	0.05%	0	0.00%	1,746	23.05%	7,574
Gibson	8,137	57.07%	5,882	41.25%	123	0.86%	99	0.69%	18	0.13%	2,255	15.81%	14,259
Grant	14,659	65.98%	7,273	32.74%	123	0.55%	146	0.66%	15	0.07%	7,386	33.25%	22,216
Greene	8,262	57.81%	5,761	40.31%	70	0.49%	172	1.20%	26	0.18%	2,501	17.50%	14,291
Hamilton	7,690	67.60%	3,611	31.75%	70	0.62%	4	0.04%	0	0.00%	4,079	35.86%	11,375
Hancock	4,788	56.49%	3,626	42.78%	51	0.60%	10	0.12%	1	0.01%	1,162	13.71%	8,476
Harrison	4,440	54.43%	3,664	44.91%	39	0.48%	11	0.13%	4	0.05%	776	9.51%	8,158
Hendricks	5,954	64.79%	3,181	34.61%	40	0.44%	13	0.14%	2	0.02%	2,773	30.17%	9,190
Henry	10,502	68.53%	4,554	29.72%	224	1.46%	41	0.27%	3	0.02%	5,948	38.81%	15,324
Howard	12,632	66.89%	5,930	31.40%	205	1.09%	106	0.56%	12	0.06%	6,702	35.49%	18,885
Huntington	8,323	58.88%	5,678	40.17%	85	0.60%	42	0.30%	8	0.06%	2,645	18.71%	14,136
Jackson	5,151	49.78%	5,130	49.58%	48	0.46%	15	0.14%	3	0.03%	21	0.20%	10,347
Jasper	3,700	65.65%	1,915	33.98%	19	0.34%	1	0.02%	1	0.02%	1,785	31.67%	5,636
Jay	5,998	55.31%	4,759	43.89%	74	0.68%	9	0.08%	4	0.04%	1,239	11.43%	10,844
Jefferson	5,295	57.24%	3,906	42.22%	40	0.43%	8	0.09%	2	0.02%	1,389	15.01%	9,251
Jennings	3,705	60.76%	2,369	38.85%	20	0.33%	3	0.05%	1	0.02%	1,336	21.91%	6,098
Johnson	5,513	54.30%	4,548	44.80%	76	0.75%	14	0.14%	1	0.01%	965	9.51%	10,152
Knox	10,035	49.92%	9,837	48.93%	69	0.34%	144	0.72%	19	0.09%	198	0.98%	20,104
Kosciusko	7,973	63.18%	4,537	35.95%	82	0.65%	20	0.16%	8	0.06%	3,436	27.23%	12,620
LaGrange	3,171	64.40%	1,720	34.93%	27	0.55%	3	0.06%	3	0.06%	1,451	29.47%	4,924
Lake	48,768	59.68%	32,321	39.55%	179	0.22%	242	0.30%	209	0.26%	16,447	20.13%	81,719
LaPorte	14,763	61.32%	9,254	38.44%	25	0.10%	25	0.10%	8	0.03%	5,509	22.88%	24,075
Lawrence	9,844	68.70%	4,428	30.90%	33	0.23%	22	0.15%	2	0.01%	5,416	37.80%	14,329
Madison	23,083	64.45%	12,496	34.89%	124	0.35%	104	0.29%	7	0.02%	10,587	29.56%	35,814
Marion	109,630	59.55%	73,309	39.82%	457	0.25%	479	0.26%	225	0.12%	36,321	19.73%	184,100
Marshall	6,738	60.24%	4,377	39.13%	60	0.54%	10	0.09%	0	0.00%	2,361	21.11%	11,185
Martin	2,450	51.88%	2,245	47.54%	11	0.23%	16	0.34%	0	0.00%	205	4.34%	4,722
Miami	8,318	59.19%	5,592	39.80%	100	0.71%	36	0.26%	6	0.04%	2,726	19.40%	14,052
Monroe	8,883	67.00%	4,317	32.56%	36	0.27%	23	0.17%	0	0.00%	4,566	34.44%	13,259
Montgomery	8,863	63.69%	4,960	35.64%	72	0.52%	20	0.14%	0	0.00%	3,903	28.05%	13,915
Morgan	5,464	57.76%	3,933	41.58%	39	0.41%	21	0.22%	3	0.03%	1,531	16.18%	9,460
Newton	3,053	64.48%	1,649	34.83%	21	0.44%	10	0.21%	2	0.04%	1,404	29.65%	4,735
Noble	6,338	59.76%	4,207	39.67%	42	0.40%	17	0.16%	1	0.01%	2,131	20.09%	10,605
Ohio	1,230	57.10%	911	42.29%	12	0.56%	1	0.05%	0	0.00%	319	14.81%	2,154
Orange	5,086	61.77%	3,112	37.79%	20	0.24%	10	0.12%	6	0.07%	1,974	23.97%	8,234
Owen	3,036	55.03%	2,420	43.86%	32	0.58%	28	0.51%	1	0.02%	616	11.17%	5,517
Parke	4,729	59.25%	3,165	39.66%	39	0.49%	47	0.59%	1	0.01%	1,564	19.60%	7,981
Perry	3,772	49.89%	3,782	50.02%	2	0.03%	5	0.07%	0	0.00%	-10	-0.13%	7,561
Pike	4,190	54.61%	3,409	44.43%	32	0.42%	36	0.47%	6	0.08%	781	10.18%	7,673
Porter	7,107	70.44%	2,921	28.95%	26	0.26%	32	0.32%	4	0.04%	4,186	41.49%	10,090
Posey	4,396	51.80%	4,052	47.74%	22	0.26%	14	0.16%	3	0.04%	344	4.05%	8,487
Pulaski	2,738	56.43%	2,040	42.04%	68	1.40%	6	0.12%	0	0.00%	698	14.39%	4,852
Putnam	5,351	55.72%	4,177	43.50%	24	0.25%	43	0.45%	8	0.08%	1,174	12.23%	9,603
Randolph	8,368	71.32%	3,264	27.82%	93	0.79%	7	0.06%	1	0.01%	5,104	43.50%	11,733
Ripley	5,059	53.39%	4,387	46.30%	12	0.13%	15	0.16%	3	0.03%	672	7.09%	9,476
Rush	6,640	68.38%	2,996	30.85%	68	0.70%	7	0.07%	0	0.00%	3,644	37.52%	9,711
Scott	1,719	52.68%	1,527	46.80%	15	0.46%	2	0.06%	0	0.00%	192	5.88%	3,263
Shelby	7,516	56.14%	5,790	43.24%	70	0.52%	11	0.08%	2	0.01%	1,726	12.89%	13,389
Spencer	4,672	52.83%	4,152	46.95%	15	0.17%	2	0.02%	3	0.03%	520	5.88%	8,844
St. Joseph	36,844	57.56%	26,846	41.94%	169	0.26%	106	0.17%	41	0.06%	9,998	15.62%	64,006
Starke	2,759	57.32%	2,016	41.89%	12	0.25%	23	0.48%	3	0.06%	743	15.44%	4,813
Steuben	4,435	71.35%	1,730	27.83%	41	0.66%	9	0.14%	1	0.02%	2,705	43.52%	6,216
Sullivan	6,199	51.09%	5,642	46.50%	79	0.65%	184	1.52%	30	0.25%	557	4.59%	12,134
Switzerland	2,617	58.62%	1,805	40.43%	39	0.87%	3	0.07%	0	0.00%	812	18.19%	4,464
Tippecanoe	15,165	63.25%	8,720	36.37%	59	0.25%	28	0.12%	6	0.03%	6,445	26.88%	23,978
Tipton	4,774	59.30%	3,186	39.58%	74	0.92%	14	0.17%	2	0.02%	1,588	19.73%	8,050
Union	2,101	65.99%	1,069	33.57%	13	0.41%	1	0.03%	0	0.00%	1,032	32.41%	3,184
Vanderburgh	29,067	59.44%	19,646	40.17%	90	0.18%	62	0.13%	40	0.08%	9,421	19.26%	48,905
Vermillion	5,192	51.41%	4,793	47.46%	31	0.31%	75	0.74%	9	0.09%	399	3.95%	10,100
Vigo	22,962	54.71%	18,509	44.10%	95	0.23%	360	0.86%	42	0.10%	4,453	10.61%	41,968
Wabash	8,537	68.25%	3,872	30.96%	68	0.54%	25	0.20%	6	0.05%	4,665	37.30%	12,508
Warren	2,644	68.57%	1,188	30.81%	12	0.31%	10	0.26%	2	0.05%	1,456	37.76%	3,856
Warrick	4,603	54.12%	3,744	44.02%	138	1.62%	15	0.18%	5	0.06%	859	10.10%	8,505
Washington	3,835	51.96%	3,518	47.66%	19	0.26%	9	0.12%	0	0.00%	317	4.29%	7,381
Wayne	15,936	67.52%	7,547	31.98%	59	0.25%	56	0.24%	3	0.01%	8,389	35.55%	23,601
Wells	4,142	48.93%	4,246	50.16%	66	0.78%	8	0.09%	3	0.04%	-104	-1.23%	8,465
White	4,534	60.01%	2,980	39.44%	28	0.37%	13	0.17%	1	0.01%	1,554	20.57%	7,556
Whitley	4,519	57.43%	3,294	41.86%	51	0.65%	2	0.03%	3	0.04%	1,225	15.57%	7,869
Totals	848,290	59.68%	562,691	39.59%	5,496	0.39%	3,871	0.27%	966	0.07%	285,599	20.09%	1,421,314

See also

• United States presidential elections in Indiana

References

1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 343 ISBN 9780691163246
2. Phillips, The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 356
3. Paulson, Arthur C.; Electoral Realignment and the Outlook for American Democracy; p. 61 ISBN 1555536670
4. Henning, Arthur Sears; ‘Democrats’ Hopes Seen in Corn Belt and the West East: Two Battlegrounds Chosen for Inroads on States Normally Republican’; The Washington Post, July 1, 1928, p. 4
5. ‘Last Chance Gone for Nomination in the Open: Hoover's Defeat in Indiana Throws Control of Republican Convention Back Into Hands of Professionals’; Daily Boston Globe, May 13, 1928, p. B2
6. ‘Indiana Offers to Shift to Gov. Smith On First Ballot After Casting Votes for Woolen’; The New York Times, June 23, 1928, p. 1
7. ‘Farmers Urge Hoover to State Relief Plans: Indianans Ask for Specific Outline in Acceptance – Neither Ticket Is Endorsed’; The New York Times, July 13, 1928, p. 3
8. ‘Declares Indiana Will Go for Hoover: Senator Watson Says Here That Nominee’s Farm Views Will Cut Present Disaffection’; The New York Times, July 17, 1928, p. 2
9. ‘Indicated Strength of 1928 Candidates: Smith’s Chances in National Contest Compared with Coolidge and Hoover Slate of Votes’; The Wall Street Journal, May 26, 1928, p. 2
10. ‘Indiana Democrats Uphold Dry Plank: Smith Will Enforce the Law Better Than Those in Power, It Is Held’; The Washington Post, July 17, 1928, p. 5
11. Oulahan, Richard V.; ‘Republicans Turn to Fight in East; Think West Is Safe: Work’s Coming Visit to This Region Stresses Belief That This Is Chief Battleground’; The New York Times, August 26, 1928, p. 1
12. ‘Brookhart Visions Hoover Prosperity: Iowa Insurgent Asserts Republican Victory Will Solve Agricultural Problem’; The New York Times, August 27, 1928, p. 5
13. Tucker, Robert G.; ‘Indiana for Hoover Party Leaders Say: But Figures on Majority Are Being Reduced; Klan Backs G.O.P. State Fight Is in Doubt’; The Washington Post, September 16, 1928, p. M4
14. Tucker, Robert G.; ‘Big Odd Are Faced by Smith in Indiana: Held to Have Hardest Fight of Any Democrat in Recent Years. G.O.P. Majority Claimed’; The Washington Post, September 30, 1928, p. M4
15. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Indiana". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
16. "1928 Presidential General Election Results – Indiana". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
17. "IN US President Race, November 06, 1928". Our Campaigns.