1932 Florida gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1932 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1932 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932. Democratic nominee David Sholtz defeated Republican nominee William J. Howey with 66.62% of the vote.

1932 Florida gubernatorial election

← 1928 November 8, 1932 1936 →

Nominee David Sholtz William J. Howey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 186,270 93,323 Percentage 66.62% 33.38%

County Results Congressional District Result Sholtz   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%

Governor before election Doyle E. Carlton Democratic Elected Governor David Sholtz Democratic

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 7, 1932.^[1]

Democratic primary

During the Democratic primary, the campaign platforms for several candidates are known. David Sholtz would run on a campaign involving: increasing government services, giving back pay for teachers, making school terms 9 months log, free textbook for school students, creating a workers' compensation law, increasing bank regulation and providing more funding for public welfare. Carl Maples would pitch himself as being someone who supported a localized self-government.^[2] Former governor Cary A. Hardee would emphasize his record when he was governor while running in the primaries. Another former governor, John W. Martin would emphasize that he led to many roads being paved in Florida and would promise that if elected for a second nonconsecutive term as governor he would give: "a dollar in his pocket and a smile on his face."^[3]

Many political observers believed that former governors John W. Martin and Cary A. Hardee would face off against each other in a runoff race.^[3]

Candidates

• David Sholtz, former State Representative
• John W. Martin, former Governor
• Cary A. Hardee, former Governor
• Stafford Caldwell, attorney for Florida East Coast Railway^[3]
• Charles W. Durrance
• T. S. Hart
• Arthur Gomez, State Senator for the 24th District^[4]
• J. Thomas Watson, State Representative

Endorsements

David Sholtz

U.S. Senators

• Duncan Fletcher, U.S. Senator from Florida (1909–1936)^[5]

Results

Democratic Primary Runoff by county

  Sholtz

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Martin

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Democratic primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John W. Martin	66,940	24.19
	Democratic	David Sholtz	55,406	20.02
	Democratic	Cary A. Hardee	50,427	18.22
	Democratic	Stafford Caldwell	44,938	16.24
	Democratic	Charles W. Durrance	36,291	13.12
	Democratic	T. S. Hart	9,525	3.44
	Democratic	Arthur Gomez	9,244	3.34
	Democratic	J. Thomas Watson	3,949	1.43
Total votes			276,720	100.00

Democratic primary runoff results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Sholtz	173,540	62.80
	Democratic	John W. Martin	102,805	37.20
Total votes			276,345	100.00

Runoff Results by county

County[6]	David Sholtz		John W. Martin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%
Alachua	2,836	60.55%	1,848	39.45%	4,684
Baker	647	41.66%	906	58.34%	1,553
Bay	1,903	50.22%	1,886	49.78%	3,789
Bradford	1,029	60.57%	670	39.43%	1,699
Brevard	1,482	57.33%	1,103	42.67%	2,585
Broward	3,231	79.90%	813	20.10%	4,044
Calhoun	890	43.65%	1,149	56.35%	2,039
Charlotte	716	65.93%	370	34.07%	1,086
Citrus	1,029	59.51%	700	40.49%	1,729
Clay	1,137	57.08%	855	42.92%	1,992
Collier	158	33.83%	309	66.17%	467
Columbia	1,676	52.00%	1,547	48.00%	3,223
Dade	15,630	71.90%	6,109	28.10%	21,739
DeSoto	1,936	72.78%	724	27.22%	2,660
Dixie	563	42.91%	749	57.09%	1,312
Duval	16,877	62.53%	10,115	37.47%	26,992
Escambia	5,545	64.19%	3,093	35.81%	8,638
Flagler	323	52.35%	294	47.65%	617
Franklin	303	24.32%	943	75.68%	1,246
Gadsden	1,052	46.22%	1,224	53.78%	2,276
Gilchrist	319	29.24%	772	70.76%	1,091
Glades	363	45.43%	436	54.57%	799
Gulf	272	30.73%	613	69.27%	885
Hamilton	602	36.31%	1,056	63.69%	1,658
Hardee	2,430	71.85%	952	28.15%	3,382
Hendry	482	52.85%	430	47.15%	912
Hernando	1,105	68.17%	516	31.83%	1,621
Hillsborough	21,510	80.18%	5,316	19.82%	26,826
Holmes	1,564	36.46%	2,726	63.54%	4,290
Indian River	1,048	52.96%	931	47.04%	1,979
Jackson	2,590	32.55%	5,368	67.45%	7,958
Jefferson	763	42.63%	1,027	57.37%	1,790
Lafayette	280	23.61%	906	76.39%	1,186
Lake	2,415	64.73%	1,316	35.27%	3,731
Lee	2,409	61.52%	1,507	38.48%	3,916
Leon	857	22.12%	3,018	77.88%	3,875
Levy	1,257	56.78%	957	43.22%	2,214
Liberty	259	22.62%	886	77.38%	1,145
Madison	1,294	58.39%	922	41.61%	2,216
Manatee	3,546	84.41%	922	15.59%	4,201
Marion	2,365	56.04%	1,855	43.96%	4,220
Martin	460	46.05%	539	53.95%	999
Monroe	2,245	66.44%	1,134	33.56%	3,379
Nassau	995	55.65%	793	44.35%	1,788
Okaloosa	1,561	54.68%	1,294	45.32%	2,855
Okeechobee	694	66.79%	345	33.21%	1,039
Orange	5,151	77.92%	1,460	22.08%	6,611
Osceola	1,583	70.32%	668	29.68%	2,251
Palm Beach	8,600	77.52%	2,494	22.48%	11,094
Pasco	2,582	75.23%	850	24.77%	3,432
Pinellas	7,124	75.71%	2,285	24.29%	9,409
Polk	8,873	78.89%	2,375	21.11%	11,248
Putnam	1,889	58.16%	1,359	41.84%	3,248
Santa Rosa	1,740	46.30%	2,018	53.70%	3,758
Sarasota	1,904	73.20%	697	26.80%	2,601
Seminole	2,155	70.04%	922	29.96%	3,077
St. Johns	2,792	63.34%	1,616	36.66%	4,408
St. Lucie	1,287	63.15%	1,616	36.85%	2,038
Sumter	1,389	58.51%	985	41.49%	2,374
Suwannee	1,142	40.73%	1,662	59.27%	2,804
Taylor	753	41.28%	1,071	58.72%	1,824
Union	628	53.09%	555	46.91%	1,183
Volusia	6,830	71.96%	2,661	28.04%	9,491
Wakulla	358	22.28%	1,249	77.72%	1,607
Walton	1,700	46.81%	1,932	53.19%	3,632
Washington	1,189	31.17%	2,625	68.83%	3,814
Totals	173,540	62.80%	102,805	37.20%	276,345

General election

William J. Howey ran on a similar campaign platform to 1928. During his 1932 platform he promised to reduce the amount of circuit courts, replace county school boards with appointed superintendents and give parole to prisoners after serving 1/3 of their sentence. He supported refinancing the state's bonds at lower interest rates. As a way to pay off the state's debts, he proposed stopping all road construction and diverting the funds instead to paying off the state's debts. Howey was in favor of giving more legal rights to women and was fond of the benefits of having a two party system in the state. The Republicans favored abolishing the poll tax in the state while the Democrats were against this as they saw this as a major blow to white supremacy in the state.^[7]

Candidates

• David Sholtz, Democratic
• William J. Howey, Republican, businessman, real estate developer and mayor of Howey-in-the-Hills.

Results

1932 Florida gubernatorial election^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	David Sholtz	186,270	66.62%
	Republican	William J. Howey	93,323	33.38%
Majority			92,947
Turnout
	Democratic hold		Swing

Results by county

County[9]	David Sholtz Democratic		William J. Howey Republican		Total votes
	#	%	#	%
Alachua	3,099	67.92%	1,464	32.08%	4,563
Baker	1,019	75.76%	326	24.24%	1,345
Bay	2,493	79.50%	643	20.50%	3,136
Bradford	1,217	79.65%	311	20.35%	1,528
Brevard	1,606	54.76%	1,327	45.24%	2,933
Broward	3,173	61.34%	2,000	38.66%	5,173
Calhoun	1,049	72.44%	399	27.56%	1,448
Charlotte	835	60.20%	552	39.80%	1,387
Citrus	1,081	77.60%	312	22.40%	1,393
Clay	1,082	58.52%	767	41.48%	1,849
Collier	373	80.91%	88	19.09%	461
Columbia	2,213	82.39%	473	17.61%	2,686
Dade	16,530	59.88%	11,077	40.12%	27,607
DeSoto	1,504	67.69%	718	32.31%	2,222
Dixie	1,002	84.56%	183	15.44%	1,185
Duval	15,949	62.77%	9,460	37.23%	25,409
Escambia	5,441	68.70%	2,479	31.30%	7,920
Flagler	415	71.43%	166	28.57%	581
Franklin	893	83.61%	175	16.39%	1,068
Gadsden	1,660	82.71%	347	17.29%	2,007
Gilchrist	629	72.80%	235	27.20%	864
Glades	448	62.14%	273	37.86%	721
Gulf	567	83.14%	115	16.86%	682
Hamilton	867	69.36%	383	30.64%	1,250
Hardee	2,200	69.38%	971	30.62%	3,171
Hendry	624	72.64%	235	27.36%	859
Hernando	975	70.14%	415	29.86%	1,390
Highlands	1,539	66.22%	785	33.78%	2,324
Hillsborough	17,962	73.55%	6,460	26.45%	24,422
Holmes	2,384	75.44%	776	24.56%	3,160
Indian River	1,033	59.27%	710	40.73%	1,743
Jackson	4,127	77.30%	1,212	22.70%	5,339
Jefferson	1,287	87.25%	188	12.75%	1,475
Lafayette	826	86.40%	130	13.60%	956
Lake	2,601	51.35%	2,464	48.65%	5,065
Lee	2,381	66.34%	1,208	33.66%	3,589
Leon	2,656	81.70%	595	18.30%	3,251
Levy	1,418	79.40%	368	20.60%	1,786
Liberty	584	82.14%	127	17.86%	711
Madison	1,484	80.17%	367	19.83%	1,851
Manatee	2,834	65.25%	1,509	34.75%	4,343
Marion	2,385	57.32%	1,776	42.68%	4,161
Martin	700	58.53%	496	41.47%	1,196
Monroe	2,648	87.11%	392	12.89%	3,040
Nassau	907	59.91%	607	40.09%	1,514
Okaloosa	1,841	79.15%	485	20.85%	2,326
Okeechobee	717	78.79%	193	21.21%	910
Orange	4,859	56.61%	3,725	43.39%	8,584
Osceola	1,467	55.40%	1,181	44.60%	2,648
Palm Beach	7,732	65.04%	4,156	34.96%	11,888
Pasco	2,217	64.43%	1,224	35.57%	3,441
Pinellas	9,787	57.83%	7,138	42.17%	16,925
Polk	8,785	66.66%	4,393	33.34%	13,178
Putnam	1,894	57.73%	1,387	42.27%	3,281
Santa Rosa	2,318	73.08%	854	26.92%	3,172
Sarasota	1,839	67.61%	881	32.39%	2,720
Seminole	2,008	63.10%	1,174	36.90%	3,182
St. Johns	3,043	66.07%	1,563	33.93%	4,606
St. Lucie	1,479	73.55%	532	26.45%	2,011
Sumter	1,523	65.25%	811	34.75%	2,334
Suwannee	1,758	77.31%	516	22.69%	2,274
Taylor	1,134	73.21%	415	26.79%	1,549
Union	846	83.60%	166	16.40%	1,012
Volusia	7,197	59.44%	4,910	40.56%	12,107
Wakulla	913	84.85%	163	15.15%	1,076
Walton	2,238	80.13%	555	19.87%	2,793
Washington	1,975	70.23%	837	29.77%	2,812
Total	186,270	66.62%	93,323	33.38%	279,593

References

1. The Florida Handbook. 1987. ISBN 9780961600006. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
2. Evans, Jon S. (2011). "Weathering the Storm: Florida Politics during the Administration of Spessard L. Holland in World War II (thesis)". Florida State University Libraries. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021.
3. Cox, Merlin G. (1964) "David Sholtz: New Deal Governor of Florida," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 43 : No. 2 , Article 5.
4. "Journal of the Senate" (PDF). Florida Senate. April 4, 1933.
5. Lambright, E. D. (June 18, 1932). "Senator Fletcher Endorse Sholtz; Predicts Victory". The Tampa Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
6. Gray, R. A. (n.d.). (rep.). Tabulation of Official Vote Florida Primary Elections : Democratic and Republican (Vol. 1932, p. 16).
7. Hughes, Jr., Melvin (January 1988). "WILLIAM J. HOWEY AND HIS FLORIDA DREAMS". The Florida Historical Quarterly. LXVI (3) – via University of Central Florida Digital Library.
8. McGovern, Bernie (2007). Florida Almanac 2007-2008. ISBN 9781455604418. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
9. Gray, R. A. (1932). (rep.). Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida (Vol. 1931–1932, p. 309). Tallahassee, FL: Rose Ptg. Co.