Davis-Dewey '48 counties

These are the counties that voted for Davis in 1924 and for Dewey in 1948. This is part of an in-progress series of posts documenting sets of counties that, at various points, transitioned from counties that 'used to stick with' a party 'even in their absolute darkest hour, but now favor' the other party. In this case, Dewey narrowly lost in 1948. While Cox, Davis, and Smith all lost in landslides in the 1920s, 1924 was the election that offered the most 'legitimate test of the Democrats' national appeal' of the three, and the one in which, arguably, the Democratic nominee best succeeded at 'hold[ing] onto [the party's] core voters'. In 1920, many traditional Democratic constituencies were put off by the League of Nations and Wilsonian internationalism. In 1928, many traditionally Democratic counties in the South turned against Al Smith, the first Catholic major-party presidential nominee. (Conversely, Smith carried a number of counties, some of them [e.g., Queens, St Louis City, Chittenden County, VT] significant, that had voted for Hughes just twelve years prior. 1928 was the first time Chittenden County ever voted Democratic.) As noted earlier, 1924--unlike 1920 or 1928--was not responsible for any county that would otherwise have a long ( > 14-election) Democratic voting streak, not having one.

There were some Hughes-Davis counties: Shelby, AL; Spencer, IN; Hancock and Lee, KY; Ashe, Cabarrus, Carteret, and Davidson, NC; Decatur, Lewis, and Rhea, TN; DeWitt, Lee, Washington, and Zapata, TX; Dickenson, Grayson, Greene, Montgomery, and Wise, VA; and Boone and Putnam, WV. The most votes any of these cast in 1924 was 12,790 (by Davidson, NC). These 22 counties were located in these states, with Virginia (at five) having more than any other one state, and 16 of the 22 being clustered in five adjoining Upper Southern states that all lie partly or wholly in Appalachia. These might highlight Davis' favourite-son appeal in Southern Appalachia (Davis being a West Virginian). Furthermore, eight of these counties were arguably already behaving strangely in voting for Hughes in 1916, as they had voted for Parker in 1904 (Shelby, AL, Cabarrus and Carteret, NC, Lewis, TN, DeWitt, Lee, and Washington, TX, and Boone, WV).

Madison, AR

La Plata, CO

Kent, DE

Broward, FL
Charlotte, FL
Lake, FL
Lee, FL
Manatee, FL
Orange, FL
Sarasota, FL

Dawson, GA

Hamilton, IL
Jasper, IL
Schuyler, IL

Adams, IN
Franklin, IN
Owen, IN
Spencer, IN

Iberia, LA

Anne Arundel, MD
Baltimore County, MD
Caroline, MD
Harford, MD
Howard, MD
Montgomery, MD
Talbot, MD
Worcester, MD

Johnson, MO

Thomas, NE

Ormsby, NV

Burke, NC
Davidson, NC
Lincoln, NC
Stanly, NC

Holmes, OH

Columbia, PA
Fulton, PA
Monroe, PA

Rhea, TN

Austin, TX
Washington, TX

Augusta, VA
Botetourt, VA
Fairfax, VA
Grayson, VA
Greene, VA
Highland, VA
King George, VA
Madison, VA
Mathews, VA
Montgomery, VA
Northumberland, VA
Page, VA
Pulaski, VA
Radford City, VA
Richmond County, VA
Roanoke City, VA
Roanoke County, VA
Rockbridge, VA
Rockingham, VA
Stafford, VA
Staunton City, VA
Washington, VA
Westmoreland, VA
Williamsburg City, VA
Winchester City, VA

Pleasants, WV
Wirt, WV

There were 69 Davis-Dewey '48 counties in total, with three peripheral (and growing) Southern states accounting for a majority: Florida had seven, Maryland had nine, and Virginia had 25; the three of them together accounted for 41 of the 69. No other state had more than four. However, there was at least one in 18 states. Most of these were in the South, but each of the Route 30 states save New Jersey also had at least one, along with three Western states, each of which Bryan carried at least twice (Nebraska, Colorado, and Nevada).