1936 - beginning of the rural urban divide?

[freepcrusher]

One thing I've noticed from my CQ book. If one was to look at the election from how it would go in a tied election, the number of counties FDR wins drops dramatically. Major losses in MO, OK, NE, IA, IN, IL, NE, and SD. Is compensated for by huge pro-FDR swings in areas like Duluth, Chicago, Gary, Madison, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh etc.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Well, most of the rural areas that went maybe 55-45 for Roosevelt were staunchly Republican. The trend is just amplified because for the first time, the New Deal coalition comes out in full force in the cities.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1928?

[freepcrusher]

so here's the information I've found as to how many votes the D presidential nominee would win in a tied election. I'll be back with more

1920 1818
1924 1883
1928 1532
1932 2080
1936 1687
1940 1593
1944 1516
1948 (not including Alabama) 1615
1952 1350
1956 1607 (blame ETB)
1960 1236

[jaichind]

1928?

Exactly.  1928 was when the cities started to go toward the Democrats.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It is a reflection of the growth of unionization and the the African American vote shifting from about 65-35 Republican to 65-35 Democrat.

[soniquemd21921]

Mahoning County, Ohio (Youngstown) had one of the biggest pro-FDR swings. In 1932 it gave Hoover 53% of the vote, but in 1936 it gave FDR 71% of the vote. Did Youngstown have a strong local GOP machine the way Philadelphia did?

[stevekamp]

Yes -- in the 1934 House election, the Ds won a net + 9 nationally, but this included a loss of 14 seats outside PA (mostly rural), wins of 13 outside PA, and a win of 11 in PA, plus a loss of Madison WI-2 to the Progressives.

In 1936, Ds went + 11 net national, but lost rural seat Kansas-4.

Starting in 1940, urban Areas were D, rural outside the south R.  Suburbs became the swing vote in the 1950s.

Big D % in urban counties started in the 1990's.

[barfbag]

If you think about it, this would've been the center of the depression. More people live in cities and would've been benefited from Roosevelt's programs which would've turned cities into Democratic strongholds. In times of desperation, it doesn't take much to get large groups of people on your side. Nothing comparable has happened since to turn them around.