1924 United States presidential election in Idaho

The 1924 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. State voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 1924 United States presidential election
1924 United States presidential election in Idaho
November 4, 1924
 
Nominee Calvin Coolidge Robert M. La Follette John W. Davis
Party Republican Progressive Democratic
Home state Massachusetts Wisconsin West Virginia
Running mate Charles G. Dawes Burton K. Wheeler Charles W. Bryan
Electoral vote 4 0 0
Popular vote 69,879 54,160 24,256
Percentage 47.12% 36.52% 16.36%
County Results
President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

 Elected President

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elections in Idaho

Background

At state level, Idaho had begun in 1902 to be very much a one-party Republican state,[1] which it has largely remained since apart from the New Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s. For a time there was also a perception that the William Jennings Bryan-led Democratic Party had failed as a “party of reform”.[2]

However, with the aid of a powerful “peace vote” due to opposition to participation in World War I,[3] and a considerable part of the substantial vote for Eugene Debs,[4] Woodrow Wilson almost completely swept the Western and Plains States in 1916 (Idaho included), losing only South Dakota and Oregon. These gains were to be lost due to growing anti-Asian and isolationist feelings in the West[5] – James M. Cox in 1920 lost every Idaho county by double digits.

To further marginalize the Democrats, in 1922 “Progressive Party”[lower-alpha 1] nominee H.F. Samuels ran ahead of Democratic candidate and former Governor Moses Alexander.[6]

Primaries

During the pre-election primaries the Democratic Party was divided between a rural, southern and Western wing led by Woodrow Wilson’s son-in-law William Giibs McAdoo, opposed to an urban, immigrant and anti-Prohibition faction in major northern cities.[7] The man who would ultimately represent this urban faction was New York Governor Al Smith, whose Catholic faith was vehemently opposed by many rural Appalachian Democrats.[7] Even in his adopted West, McAdoo was not universally liked because of his links to Edward L. Doheny and Harding’s “Teapot Dome” petroleum scandal;[8] nonetheless there was sufficient hostility in Idaho to Smith that the state’s delegation – alongside others in the West – held a parade for McAdoo at the beginning of the party’s convention in New York City.[9] Delegates in Idaho continued to support McAdoo as the convention remained undecided,[10][11] until the one hundred and first ballot when they finally shifted to former Agriculture Secretary David F. Houston and then to Montana Senator Thomas J. Walsh on the one hundred and second.[12] The one hundred and third ballot saw the Gem State switch to West Virgnian John W. Davis,[12] who won the nomination thereon.

Third-party challenge

The conservatism of Coolidge and Davis resulted in Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette senior mountinf a third-party challenge – which La Follette had planned even before the Democratic Convention.[13] In agricultural western and midwestern states like Idaho, there was widespread discontent with the policies of the incumbent Coolidge Administration, and Idaho became one of La Follette’s primary targets from the start of his campaign with running mate Burton K. Wheeler of Montana.[14] By the end of July the GOP was concerned that La Follette was showing strength in the Gem State,[15] and this fear grew as the election drew nearer.[16] It was always clear Democrat Davis had no chance in this GOP bastion,[17] and this was backed up by polls in the middle of October, which showed Davis running third and that many of the state’s small number of Democrats were backing La Follette.[18]

Thinking he had won most of the West, despite polls actually showing him well behind Coolidge except in his home state, Nevada, and the northern Plains States,[19] La Follette did not campaign in the state during October, preferring to work in the eastern states where he felt he could gain more additional support.[20] In Idaho itself, polls in the four weeks of October showed Coolidge well ahead with around fifty percent of the vote.[21]

Vote

As it turned out, Coolidge actually underperformed the October polls in the Gem State, but still comfortably carried the state by a double-digit margin over La Follette. Coolidge’s strong performance in the conservative, highly Mormon southeast and also in Northern Idaho, whilst La Follette did best in rural areas of the southwest and central mountains, in which he carried eight counties.

Results
Presidential Candidate Running Mate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote (PV)[22]
Calvin Coolidge Charles G. Dawes Republican 4 69,879 47.12%
Robert M. LaFollette Burton K. Wheeler Progressive 0 54,160 36.52%
John W. Davis Charles W. Bryan Democratic 0 24,256 16.36%

Results by county
County John Calvin Coolidge
Republican		 John William Davis
Democratic		 Robert Marion La Follette, Sr.
Progressive		 Margin[lower-alpha 2] Total votes cast[23]
# % # % # % # %
Ada 7,220 54.47% 2,255 17.01% 3,780 28.52% 3,440 25.95% 13,255
Adams 422 42.24% 208 20.82% 369 36.94% 53 5.31% 999
Bannock 4,520 44.99% 1,612 16.05% 3,914 38.96% 606 6.03% 10,046
Bear Lake 1,611 54.19% 881 29.63% 481 16.18% 730[lower-alpha 3] 24.55% 2,973
Benewah 1,158 46.98% 318 12.90% 989 40.12% 169 6.86% 2,465
Bingham 2,693 53.45% 696 13.82% 1,649 32.73% 1,044 20.72% 5,038
Blaine 732 41.59% 543 30.85% 485 27.56% 189[lower-alpha 3] 10.74% 1,760
Boise 388 43.02% 198 21.95% 316 35.03% 72 7.98% 902
Bonner 1,714 40.19% 543 12.73% 2,008 47.08% -294 -6.89% 4,265
Bonneville 2,880 53.62% 431 8.02% 2,060 38.35% 820 15.27% 5,371
Boundary 829 46.97% 244 13.82% 692 39.21% 137 7.76% 1,765
Butte 409 46.01% 196 22.05% 284 31.95% 125 14.06% 889
Camas 226 35.26% 113 17.63% 302 47.11% -76 -11.86% 641
Canyon 3,820 38.40% 965 9.70% 5,163 51.90% -1,343 -13.50% 9,948
Caribou 508 58.80% 148 17.13% 208 24.07% 300 34.72% 864
Cassia 2,031 52.01% 538 13.78% 1,336 34.21% 695 17.80% 3,905
Clark 496 69.47% 43 6.02% 175 24.51% 321 44.96% 714
Clearwater 946 47.47% 322 16.16% 725 36.38% 221 11.09% 1,993
Custer 585 45.99% 394 30.97% 293 23.03% 191[lower-alpha 3] 15.02% 1,272
Elmore 789 38.01% 381 18.35% 906 43.64% -117 -5.64% 2,076
Franklin 1,361 51.87% 540 20.58% 723 27.55% 638 24.31% 2,624
Fremont 1,662 45.30% 530 14.45% 1,477 40.26% 185 5.04% 3,669
Gem 1,072 41.31% 380 14.64% 1,143 44.05% -71 -2.74% 2,595
Gooding 1,097 45.42% 422 17.47% 896 37.10% 201 8.32% 2,415
Idaho 1,363 38.17% 779 21.81% 1,429 40.02% -66 -1.85% 3,571
Jefferson 1,393 50.07% 305 10.96% 1,084 38.96% 309 11.11% 2,782
Jerome 1,117 46.76% 376 15.74% 896 37.51% 221 9.25% 2,389
Kootenai 3,289 44.84% 790 10.77% 3,256 44.39% 33 0.45% 7,335
Latah 3,053 52.28% 838 14.35% 1,949 33.37% 1,104 18.90% 5,840
Lemhi 1,005 54.38% 442 23.92% 401 21.70% 563[lower-alpha 3] 30.47% 1,848
Lewis 650 32.44% 601 29.99% 753 37.57% -103 -5.14% 2,004
Lincoln 692 54.36% 154 12.10% 427 33.54% 265 20.82% 1,273
Madison 1,417 53.82% 601 22.83% 615 23.36% 802 30.46% 2,633
Minidoka 1,046 39.92% 204 7.79% 1,370 52.29% -324 -12.37% 2,620
Nez Perce 2,250 42.42% 1,212 22.85% 1,842 34.73% 408 7.69% 5,304
Oneida 956 42.81% 530 23.73% 747 33.45% 209 9.36% 2,233
Owyhee 564 36.53% 309 20.01% 671 43.46% -107 -6.93% 1,544
Payette 1,160 47.39% 401 16.38% 887 36.23% 273 11.15% 2,448
Power 757 43.13% 314 17.89% 684 38.97% 73 4.16% 1,755
Shoshone 3,034 51.02% 835 14.04% 2,078 34.94% 956 16.08% 5,947
Teton 665 55.70% 186 15.58% 343 28.73% 322 26.97% 1,194
Twin Falls 4,630 51.04% 1,641 18.09% 2,800 30.87% 1,830 20.17% 9,071
Valley 486 40.57% 214 17.86% 498 41.57% -12 -1.00% 1,198
Washington 1,183 41.33% 623 21.77% 1,056 36.90% 127 4.44% 2,862
Totals69,87947.12%24,25616.36%54,16036.52%15,71910.60%148,295

Notes
  1. This party was actually allied with the Nonpartisan League prominent in the Dakotas at that time, rather than with the Theodore Roosevelt or La Follette “Progressives”.
  2. Because La Follette finished ahead of Davis in Idaho as a whole, all margins given are Coolidge vote minus La Follette vote and all percentage margins Coolidge percentage minus La Follette percentage unless otherwise stated for the county in question.
  3. In this county where Davis did run second ahead of La Follette, margin given is Coolidge vote minus Davis vote and percentage margin Coolidge percentage minus Davis percentage.
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References
  1. Burnham, Walter Dean; ‘The System of 1896’, in Kleppner, Paul (editor), The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 176-179 ISBN 0313213798
  2. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; ‘The Decline of the Democratic Party’; American Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, no. 3 (November 1914), pp. 313-334
  3. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 47 ISBN 0786422173
  4. Sarasohn, David; 'The Election of 1916: Realigning the Rockies', Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (July 1980), pp. 285-305
  5. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 498 ISBN 9780691163246
  6. Weinstein, James; ‘Radicalism in the Midst of Normalcy’; The Journal of American History, Volume 52, No. 4 (March 1966), pp. 773-790
  7. Tucker, Garland; High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election, pp. 81-82 ISBN 9781937110291
  8. Ranson, Edward; ‘“A Snarling Roughhouse”: The Democratic Convention of 1924’; History Today; volume 44, issue 7, (July 1994), pp. 27-33
  9. ‘Westerners Hold Parade for McAdoo: Californians and Other Groups Demonstrate on Fifth Avenue – Audience Is Cool’; New York Times, June 24, 1924, p. 2
  10. Henning, Arthur Sears; ‘Vote Four Days with Deadlock: Tight as Ever’; The Chicago Tribune; July 4, 1924, p. 1
  11. ‘Efforts at Peace Are Fruitless: Smith Polls a New High Vote; McAdoo Sliding’; The Bee, July 5, 1924, p. 1
  12. ‘How the States Voted’; The Charlotte Observer, July 10, 1924, p. 11
  13. Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180 ISBN 0595481264
  14. ‘Electoral Arthimetic’; New York Times, July 13, 1924, p. E2
  15. ‘La Follette Boom Is Scanned by Anxious Eyes’; The Gazette Bedford, PA, July 25, 1924, p. 4
  16. ‘Republicans Fear La Follette in West: Campaign Leaders Now Consider That His Strength There Is a Menace’; Special to the New York Times, September 15, 1924, p. 1
  17. ‘Borah Big Factor in Idaho Contest: Politicians Say the Candidate He Endorses Will Carry the State’; Special to the New York Times, October 7, 1924, p. 3
  18. ‘5 Mountain States Still Uncertain: Neither Republicans Nor Progressives Are Really Confident of the Outcome, but Say Davis Runs Third’; Special to the New York Times, 12 October 1924, p. E1
  19. ‘Latest Polls in Nationwide Straw Ballot’; The San Francisco Examiner, October 19, 1924, pp. 1, 8
  20. ‘Senator Drops Plan to Stump Pacific States: La Follette Believes Partisan Contest Will Be Decided in Eastern Territory’; Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, October 19, 1924, p. 2
  21. “Idaho” in ‘Big Coolidge Lead Held in “Digest” Poll’; San Francisco Examiner, October 24, 1924, p. 9
  22. "1924 Presidential General Election Results – Idaho". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  23. Idaho Secretary of State Election Division; State of Idaho Presidential Vote Cast at the General Election November 4, 1924
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