Historical voting behavior of German Catholics in the U.S.

[All Along The Watchtower]

So I was curious about how German Catholics tended to vote historically. IIRC, they were a fairly Democratic group overall back in the late 1800s and up until the Wilson administration - after which they swung heavily R (for obvious reasons); then, they swung back to the Democrats in 1928 (again, for reasons which I don't think I need to spell out here). Then, the picture gets murkier for me during WWII. Was there a significant movement away from FDR among German Catholics (or indeed, Germans in general)? And what about JFK? IIRC, didn't he get a smaller percentage of the German Catholic vote than Al Smith had received in 1928?

Other questions: How much of the German immigrant population in the US was Catholic (vs. Protestant or Jewish) in the mid-1800s, vs. the late 1800s or early 1900s, and to what extent did assimilation (or lack thereof) of German Catholics, or how recently they or their families had come over to the U.S. influence their voting behavior? I'm also curious about the effect of social class (if there was one) on German Catholics' voting behavior.  Furthermore, what about different parts of the country? Did Germans in Milwaukee or Chicago vote differently from Germans in Cincinnati or St. Louis or Kansas City, etc.? Were there any urban-rural differences?

Finally, I am also curious about the prevalence of ticket splitting among German Catholics during the 1800s and early 1900s. I remember reading something about that occurring in MN, but I'm not sure.

Obviously nowadays, the (relatively few) areas of the U.S. that have remained heavily German Catholic are quite Republican. But again, I'm interested in their historical voting patterns and behavior. Any knowledge or insight would be greatly appreciated.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Forgot to mention...German Catholics voted for McKinley in 1896, at least. 

[Torie]

Take a look at this county map of election results in 1940. You can see that along the upper Mississippi River, and around Milwaukee and in NW Ohio, all with large numbers of German Catholics, that Roosevelt lost those counties.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Willkie won Campbell County? Never would have guessed!

[Torie]

Willkie won Campbell County? Never would have guessed!

One would guess it when you know that yes, it's German Catholic. The little blue blob below is Campbell County. The blue color means that circa 2010, it was majority Catholic, obviously mostly German, and no doubt more so in 1940, when it was less suburbanized.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I'm wondering if the growing anti-Catholicism in the Republican Party will hurt the GOP in Catholic areas.

[Torie]

I'm wondering if the growing anti-Catholicism in the Republican Party will hurt the GOP in Catholic areas.

I am unaware of any of that going on. Actually, church going folks have sort of bonded politically. Evangelical Protestants have political and cultural enemies more important than Catholics these days, and conservative church going Catholics and Evangelicals have aligned on various issues. The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I am unaware of any of that going on. Actually, church going folks have sort of bonded politically. Evangelical Protestants have political and cultural enemies more important than Catholics these days, and conservative church going Catholics and Evangelicals have aligned on various issues. The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

The Republicans lately have done nothing but attack the Pope.

[traininthedistance]

I am unaware of any of that going on. Actually, church going folks have sort of bonded politically. Evangelical Protestants have political and cultural enemies more important than Catholics these days, and conservative church going Catholics and Evangelicals have aligned on various issues. The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

The Republicans lately have done nothing but attack the Pope.

And a lot of conservative Catholics are A-OK with that.