Crucial_Waukesha
Rookie
Posts: 21
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« on: February 06, 2021, 02:23:58 AM » |
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In 1928 Hoover ran against Al Smith, the first Catholic major party nominee. Smith performed significantly worse than his '24 predecessor John W. Davis in every Southern state except two: Arkansas (where Smith's VP nominee was from) and Louisiana, where the largest population of Southern Catholics lived. He also specifically performed better in south-central Louisiana where the highest proportion of French Catholics were; he won those counties with percentages in the 60's and 70's while Davis had only won them in the 50's. Democratic candidates for a decade prior to Davis also won them by less than Smith, or didn't win them at all.
It's only one state, but that data at least suggests that Catholics in the South had a strong affinity for Smith while showing varying support for other Democratic candidates.
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