1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

The 1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 16 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Main article: 1944 United States presidential election

1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

November 7, 1944
Turnout	71.0%[1] 7.7 pp
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas E. Dewey Party Democratic Republican Home state New York New York Running mate Harry S. Truman John W. Bricker Electoral vote 16 0 Popular vote 1,035,296 921,350 Percentage 52.80% 46.99%
County Results Roosevelt   50–60%   60–70% Dewey   50–60%   60–70%
President before election Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic

Massachusetts voted for the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, over the Republican nominee, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Roosevelt ran with Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, while Dewey’s running mate was Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio.

Roosevelt carried the state with 52.80% of the vote to Dewey’s 46.99%, a Democratic victory margin of 5.81%.

As Roosevelt was re-elected nationally to his fourth and final term, Massachusetts weighed in as about 2% more Republican than the national average.

Once a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the Civil War, Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, when a coalition of Irish Catholic and other ethnic immigrant voters primarily based in urban areas turned Massachusetts and neighboring Rhode Island into New England’s only reliably Democratic states. Massachusetts voted for Al Smith in 1928, and for Franklin Roosevelt in his three election campaigns preceding 1944. Roosevelt’s 1944 victory thus marked the fifth straight win for the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, although Roosevelt’s victory margin was slightly reduced from 1940.

Roosevelt and Dewey would split the state’s 14 counties, winning 7 counties each. However Roosevelt won the most heavily populated parts of the state including the cities of Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, while most of Dewey’s wins were small or island counties.

Results

1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1,035,296	52.80%	16
	Republican	Thomas E. Dewey	921,350	46.99%	0
	Socialist Labor	Edward A. Teichert	2,780	0.14%	0
	Prohibition	Claude A. Watson	973	0.05%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins	266	0.01%	0
Totals			1,960,665	100.00%	16

Results by county

County	Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic		Wendell Lewis Willkie Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Total votes cast[3]
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Barnstable	4,938	29.88%	11,543	69.85%	44	0.27%	16,525
Berkshire	31,212	55.51%	24,830	44.16%	185	0.33%	56,227
Bristol	90,529	59.68%	60,880	40.13%	283	0.19%	151,692
Dukes	861	38.54%	1,372	61.41%	1	0.04%	2,234
Essex	118,228	51.24%	111,958	48.52%	570	0.25%	230,756
Franklin	9,400	41.40%	13,252	58.37%	51	0.22%	22,703
Hampden	91,819	59.05%	63,293	40.71%	374	0.24%	155,486
Hampshire	17,676	54.09%	14,907	45.62%	97	0.30%	32,680
Middlesex	210,253	47.03%	236,102	52.81%	725	0.16%	447,080
Nantucket	569	42.18%	779	57.75%	1	0.07%	1,349
Norfolk	69,606	41.56%	97,490	58.21%	383	0.23%	167,479
Plymouth	32,290	40.51%	47,245	59.27%	174	0.22%	79,709
Suffolk	234,475	62.61%	139,285	37.19%	727	0.19%	374,487
Worcester	123,440	55.54%	98,414	44.28%	404	0.18%	222,258
Totals	1,035,296	52.80%	921,350	46.99%	4,019	0.20%	1,960,665

References

1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
2. "1944 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
3. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 215 ISBN 0405077114