Electoral history of Franklin D. Roosevelt

This is the electoral history of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as the 32nd president of the United States (1933–1945) and the 44th governor of New York (1929–1932).

A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt was first elected to the New York State Senate in 1910, representing the 26th district. He won re-election in 1912 before resigning shortly after starting his second term to accept the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. He served throughout World War I, then resigned in 1920 to run for Vice President of the United States as a part of James M. Cox's campaign. They would lose in a landslide to the Republican ticket of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. After a break from electoral politics following his polio diagnosis, Roosevelt made his political comeback when he was narrowly elected Governor of New York in the 1928 election. His popularity as a result of his handling of the Great Depression in the state allowed him to win re-election by a much wider margin in 1930.

Roosevelt re-entered national politics when he announced his bid for the presidency in the 1932 election. After securing the Democratic nomination, he unseated incumbent President Herbert Hoover, becoming the first Democrat to win an outright majority of the popular vote since Samuel J. Tilden in 1876 and effectively jumpstarting the Fifth Party System. His re-election in 1936 was the greatest electoral landslide since the largely uncontested 1820 election, receiving the highest percentage of the electoral vote won by any candidate since then. He became the first and only president to win an unprecedented third and fourth terms in 1940 and 1944, in which he continued to enjoy relatively comfortable margins of victory due to his favorable handling of World War II and the persisting popularity of the New Deal. Roosevelt would die in office less than three months into his fourth term, being succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.

New York State Senate elections (1910–1912)

1910

1910 New York's 26th State Senate district election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	15,708	51.88	+5.99
	Republican	John F. Schlosser (incumbent)	14,568	48.12	−3.61
Total votes			30,276	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

1912

1912 New York's 26th State Senate district election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	15,590	48.45	−3.43
	Republican	Jacob G. Southard	13,959	43.38	−4.74
	Progressive	George A. Vossler	2,628	8.17	N/A
Total votes			32,177	100.00
	Democratic hold

United States Senate election (1914)

Primary election

1914 United States Senate election in New York, Democratic primary^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James W. Gerard	133,815	62.08
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	63,879	29.64
	Democratic	James S. McDonough	17,862	8.29
Total votes			215,556	100.00

Vice presidential campaign (1920)

Nomination

1920 Democratic National Convention, vice presidential tally^[4]
Candidate		Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt		1,094	100.00
Total votes		1,094	100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 1920 presidential election

1920 United States presidential election
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Warren G. Harding	Calvin Coolidge	Republican	16,144,093	60.32	404	76.08
	James M. Cox	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	9,139,661	34.15	127	23.92
	Eugene V. Debs	Seymour Stedman	Socialist	913,693	3.41
	Parley P. Christensen	Max S. Hayes	Farmer–Labor	265,398	0.99
	Aaron S. Watkins	D. Leigh Colvin	Prohibition	188,787	0.71
	James E. Ferguson	William J. Hough	American	47,968	0.18
	William Wesley Cox	August Gillhaus	Socialist Labor	31,084	0.12
Others				34,496	0.13
Total				26,765,180	100.00	531	100.00

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

New York gubernatorial elections (1928–1930)

1928

1928 New York gubernatorial election^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	2,130,193	48.96	−3.34
	Republican	Albert Ottinger	2,104,129	48.36	+4.56
	Socialist	Louis Waldman	101,859	2.34	−0.53
	Workers	William F. Dunne	10,741	0.25	+0.06
	Socialist Labor	Charles Hunter Corregan	4,213	0.10	−0.02
Total votes			4,351,135	100.00
	Democratic hold

1930

1930 New York gubernatorial election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	1,770,342	56.13	+7.18
	Republican	Charles H. Tuttle	1,045,341	33.14	−15.22
	Law Preservation	Robert P. Carroll	190,666	6.05	N/A
	Socialist	Louis Waldman	120,444	3.82	+1.48
	Communist	William Z. Foster	18,034	0.57	N/A
	Socialist Labor	Jeremiah D. Crowley	9,096	0.29	+0.19
Total votes			3,153,923	100.00
	Democratic hold

Presidential elections (1932–1944)

1932

Primary elections

1932 Democratic Party presidential primaries^[7]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt	1,464,607	49.44
J. Hamilton Lewis	590,130	19.92
Al Smith	415,795	14.04
John Nance Garner	249,816	8.43
William H. Murray	226,392	7.64
Leo J. Chassee	7,372	0.25
Gus H. Howard	5,541	0.19
Others	2,972	0.10
Total votes	2,962,625	100.00

Nomination


Candidate	Ballot
Candidate	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Franklin D. Roosevelt	666.25	677.75	682.75	945
Al Smith	201.75	194.25	190.25	190.25
John Nance Garner	90.25	90.25	101.25
Albert Ritchie	21	23.5	23.5	3.5
George White	52	50.5	52.5	3
Melvin Alvah Traylor	42.25	40.25	40.25
James A. Reed	24	18	27.5
Harry F. Byrd	25	24	25
Will Rogers		22
William H. Murray	23
Newton D. Baker	8.5	8	8.5	5.5
James M. Cox				1
Not voting		5.5	2.5	5.75

General election

Electoral College map of the 1932 presidential election

1932 United States presidential election
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Franklin D. Roosevelt	John Nance Garner	Democratic	22,821,277	57.41	472	88.89
	Herbert Hoover (inc.)	Charles Curtis (inc.)	Republican	15,761,254	39.65	59	11.11
	Norman Thomas	James H. Maurer	Socialist	884,885	2.23
	William Z. Foster	James W. Ford	Communist	103,307	0.26
	William David Upshaw	Frank S. Regan	Prohibition	81,905	0.21
	William Hope Harvey	Frank Hemenway	Liberty	53,425	0.13
Others				45,845	0.12
Total				39,751,898	100.00	531	100.00

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

1936

Primary elections

1936 Democratic Party presidential primaries^[9]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	4,830,730	93.19
Henry Skillman Breckinridge	136,407	2.63
Upton Sinclair	106,068	2.05
John S. McGroarty	61,391	1.18
Joseph A. Coutremarsh	39,730	0.77
Others	9,329	0.18
Total votes	5,183,655	100.00

Nomination

1936 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally
Candidate		Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)		^[a]–	100.00
Total votes		–	100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 1936 presidential election

1936 United States presidential election
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Franklin D. Roosevelt (inc.)	John Nance Garner (inc.)	Democratic	27,752,648	60.80	523	98.49
	Alf Landon	Frank Knox	Republican	16,681,862	36.54	8	1.51
	William Lemke	Thomas C. O'Brien	Union	892,378	1.95
	Norman Thomas	George A. Nelson	Socialist	187,910	0.41
	Earl Browder	James W. Ford	Communist	79,315	0.17
Others				53,586	0.12
Total				45,647,699	100.00	531	100.00

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

1940

Primary elections

1940 Democratic Party presidential primaries^[10]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	3,250,555	72.16
John Nance Garner	426,641	9.47
Charles W. Sawyer	283,952	6.30
William B. Bankhead	196,508	4.36
H. C. Allen	102,729	2.28
Willis Allen	90,718	2.01
James Farley	76,919	1.71
Ellis E. Patterson	48,337	1.07
Unpledged	27,636	0.61
Others	636	0.01
Total votes	4,504,631	100.00

Nomination

1940 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally^[11]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	946	86.32
James Farley	72	6.57
John Nance Garner	61	5.57
Millard Tydings	9	0.82
Cordell Hull	5	0.47
Total votes	1,093	100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 1940 presidential election

1940 United States presidential election
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Franklin D. Roosevelt (inc.)	Henry A. Wallace	Democratic	27,313,945	54.74	449	84.56
	Wendell Willkie	Charles L. McNary	Republican	22,347,744	44.78	82	15.44
	Norman Thomas	Maynard C. Krueger	Socialist	116,599	0.23
	Roger Babson	Edgar Moorman	Prohibition	57,903	0.12
	Earl Browder	James W. Ford	Communist	48,557	0.10
Others				17,365	0.03
Total				49,902,113	100.00	531	100.00

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

1944

Primary elections

1944 Democratic Party presidential primaries^[12]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	1,566,218	79.24
Joseph T. Ferguson	164,915	8.34
Harry F. Byrd	109,000	5.51
Claude R. Linger	59,282	3.00
Unpledged	57,299	2.90
Fred H. Hildebrandt	7,414	0.38
A. W. Powell	6,727	0.34
Others	5,754	0.29
Total votes	1,976,609	100.00

Nomination

1944 Democratic National Convention, presidential tally^[13]
Candidate	Votes	%
Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent)	1,086	92.35
Harry F. Byrd	89	7.56
James Farley	1	0.09
Total votes	1,176	100.00

General election

Electoral College map of the 1944 presidential election

1944 United States presidential election
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Popular vote		Electoral vote
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Franklin D. Roosevelt (inc.)	Harry S. Truman	Democratic	25,612,916	53.38	432	81.36
	Thomas E. Dewey	John W. Bricker	Republican	22,017,929	45.89	99	18.64
	Unpledged	Unpledged	Texas Regulars	143,238	0.30
	Norman Thomas	Darlington Hoopes	Socialist	79,017	0.16
	Claude A. Watson	Andrew N. Johnson	Prohibition	74,758	0.16
Others				57,004	0.12
Total				47,984,862	100.00	531	100.00

Source: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Notes

^ Chosen by acclamation.

References

^ "NY State Senate 26 Race - Nov 08, 1910". Our Campaigns. December 23, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "NY State Senate 26 Race - Nov 05, 1912". Our Campaigns. October 29, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 28, 1914". Our Campaigns. May 30, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "US Vice President - D Convention Race - Jun 28, 1920". Our Campaigns. March 29, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "NY Governor Race - Nov 06, 1928". Our Campaigns. November 22, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "NY Governor Race - Nov 04, 1930". Our Campaigns. November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1932". Our Campaigns. November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ Krock, Arthur (July 2, 1932). "Roosevelt Nominated on Fourth Ballot; Garner Expected to be His Running Mate; Governor Will Fly to Convention Today". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
^ "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1936". Our Campaigns. April 28, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1940". Our Campaigns. December 28, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ "The Only Ballot". The New York Times. July 18, 1940.
^ "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1944". Our Campaigns. November 15, 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^ For the Fourth Time – TIME

[10] Chosen by acclamation.

[1] "NY State Senate 26 Race - Nov 08, 1910". Our Campaigns. December 23, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[2] "NY State Senate 26 Race - Nov 05, 1912". Our Campaigns. October 29, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[3] "NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 28, 1914". Our Campaigns. May 30, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[4] "US Vice President - D Convention Race - Jun 28, 1920". Our Campaigns. March 29, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[5] "NY Governor Race - Nov 06, 1928". Our Campaigns. November 22, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[6] "NY Governor Race - Nov 04, 1930". Our Campaigns. November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[7] "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1932". Our Campaigns. November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[8] Krock, Arthur (July 2, 1932). "Roosevelt Nominated on Fourth Ballot; Garner Expected to be His Running Mate; Governor Will Fly to Convention Today". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2015.

[9] "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1936". Our Campaigns. April 28, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[11] "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1940". Our Campaigns. December 28, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[12] "The Only Ballot". The New York Times. July 18, 1940.

[13] "US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1944". Our Campaigns. November 15, 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[14] For the Fourth Time – TIME

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v t e Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) 44th Governor of New York (1929–1932) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913–1920) New York State Senator (1911–1913)
Presidency (timeline)	Transition Inaugurations (1st 2nd 3rd 4th) First and second terms Third and fourth terms Foreign policy New Deal overview New Deal coalition First 100 days Second New Deal Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civilian Conservation Corps Agricultural Adjustment Act Emergency Banking Act Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Tennessee Valley Authority National Labor Relations Act of 1935 National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 Public Works Administration National Recovery Administration Works Progress Administration National Youth Administration Social Security Act Aid to Families with Dependent Children Communications Act of 1934 Federal Communications Commission Securities and Exchange Commission Monetary gold ownership Gold Reserve Act Silver seizure Record on civil rights Defense industry non-discrimination Fair Employment Practice Committee Indian Reorganization Act Executive Orders 9066, 9102 War Relocation Authority Japanese American internment German-American internment Italian-American internment Brownlow Committee Executive Office of the President G.I. Bill of Rights Cullen–Harrison Act Roerich Pact Four Freedoms Four Freedoms Monument Black Cabinet Jefferson's Birthday holiday Jefferson Memorial Judicial Court-Packing Bill Cannabis policy Federal Judicial appointments Supreme Court Harlan F. Stone Supreme Court nomination Wiley Rutledge Supreme Court nomination Cabinet "Brain Trust" March of Dimes Modern Oval Office Official car Criticism Franksgiving Executive Orders Presidential Proclamations
Presidential foreign policy	Banana Wars U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, 1912–1933 U.S. occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934 Good Neighbor Policy (1933–1945) Montevideo Convention (1933) Second London Naval Treaty (1936) ABCD line (1940) Export Control Act Four Policemen Destroyers-for-bases deal Lend-Lease 1940 Selective Service Act Hull note Atlantic Charter (1941) Military history of the United States during World War II Home front during World War II Combined Munitions Assignments Board War Production Board Declaration by United Nations (1942) Dumbarton Oaks Conference World War II conferences Quebec Agreement Europe first Morgenthau Plan support
Presidential speeches	1932 Acceptance speech Commonwealth Club Address Madison Square Garden speech "Four Freedoms" Day of Infamy speech Arsenal of Democracy "...is fear itself" Fireside chats "Look to Norway" Quarantine Speech "The More Abundant Life" State of the Union Address (1934 1938 1939 1940 1941 (Four Freedoms) 1944 (Second Bill of Rights) 1945)
Other events	Early life, education, career Warm Springs Institute Governorship of New York Business Plot Assassination attempt
Elections	1928 New York state election 1930 Democratic National Convention, 1920 1924 1932 1936 1940 1944 1920 United States presidential election 1932 theme song 1936 1940 1944
Life and homes	Early life and education Groton School Springwood birthplace, home, and gravesite Adams House FDR Suite Campobello home Paralytic illness Top Cottage Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia
Legacy	Bibliography Statues Presidential Library and Museum Roosevelt Institute Roosevelt Institute Campus Network Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Roosevelt Island Four Freedoms Park White House Roosevelt Room Roosevelt Institute for American Studies USS Franklin D. Roosevelt USS Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award Four Freedoms paintings Unfinished portrait U.S. Postage stamps Roosevelt dime I'd Rather Be Right 1937 musical Films The Roosevelt Story 1947 Sunrise at Campobello 1960 Eleanor and Franklin 1976, The White House Years 1977 Backstairs at the White House 1979 miniseries World War II: When Lions Roared 1997 miniseries Warm Springs 2005 Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 The Roosevelts 2014 documentary The First Lady 2022 miniseries FDR 2023 miniseries The Six Triple Eight 2024 film Other namesakes
Family (Roosevelt • Delano)	Eleanor Roosevelt (wife) Anna Roosevelt Halsted (daughter) James Roosevelt II (son) Elliott Roosevelt (son) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (son) John Aspinwall Roosevelt II (son) James Roosevelt I (father) Sara Ann Delano (mother) James Roosevelt Roosevelt (half-brother) Isaac Roosevelt (grandfather) Warren Delano Jr. (grandfather) Fala (family dog) Major (family dog)
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