Assumption Parish, Lousiana

[A18]

This is a pretty weird county.

In 1932, it voted 79.9% for FDR. In 1936, it voted 60.9% for Landon, making it the only county in the state to vote Republican - and by a large margin.

In 1940, it then went back to voting 70.9% for FDR.

What happened?

[Alcon]

This was posted before, but I can't seem to find it.

Basically, I believe there was one person who more or less controlled the politics in the county. I may be making this up from the contents of this post, though:

And as to your Assumption Parish question, I really have no idea.  My guess, and this is a wild one, is that part of Louisiana is very much controlled by oil and gas companies.  They certainly influenced Billy Tauzin while he was in Congress.  I don't know how strong they were then in 1936, but it's possible they could have influenced the vote greatly in 1936, if they were anti-Roosevelt, because Assumption Parish is very lightly populated.

Another Louisianan explains:

Assumption Parish is easier to explain: suburbanization

When I first went to NOLA from BR about 15 years ago, there was nothing in that parish except the town of Gonzales and a few shotgun shacks lining the smaller highways. Now, most of the narrow highways have been widened, Gonzales melds with south Baton Rouge,  and the shotgun shacks are replaced by the usual strip-mall fare.

EDIT: The only problem with the second explanation, though, is that Gonzales is in Ascension Parish. Oh well.

[A18]

Interesting... speaking of isolated GOP counties in the solid south, what do you think of Fannin County, Georgia? They're kind of out in the middle of nowhere in 1936, voting 55.1% for Landon.

What made the country so different from the state?

[Alcon]

Interesting... speaking of isolated GOP counties in the solid south, what do you think of Fannin County, Georgia? They're kind of out in the middle of nowhere in 1936, voting 55.1% for Landon.

What made the country so different from the state?

Well, if you look at surrounding areas, it isn't too different. Looking at Tennessee pretty much confirms this, too.

1932, on the other hand, is something to see. I really can't explain it. Perhaps some agricultural differences?

[Rob]

Interesting... speaking of isolated GOP counties in the solid south, what do you think of Fannin County, Georgia? They're kind of out in the middle of nowhere in 1936, voting 55.1% for Landon.

What made the country so different from the state?

It's a mountain county that's been Republican since the Civil War.

BTW, I posted the other thread about Assumption. Interestingly, it was the only parish to go Republican in 1924 as well- it gave Coolidge over 66 percent of the vote. Very, very weird... I like Spade's take on it. It's the only possible explanation.

[A18]

Not in 1976...

https://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/statesub.php?fips=13111&year=1976

[Rob]

Not in 1976...

https://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/statesub.php?fips=13111&year=1976

I know that. It also voted for Wilson (shudder) in 1912, because of the GOP split. It has been a Republican bastion for the most part, though.