Maryland, 1928

[TDAS04]

Why did Maryland swing Republican so much in 1928?

In 1924, John Davis lost by only 4%, but Al Smith lost it four years later by 15%.  I would have thought that the Catholic candidate would have done better.  After all, the state clearly trended JFK's direction in 1960.

Did Maryland have fewer Catholics in 1928?  Was it more demographically/culturally "Southern" than it was in 1960?

[memphis]

People in the South were very leery of the Catholic man from New York. Hoover almost won Alabama. Unthinkable in the days of the Solid South.

[TDAS04]

People in the South were very leery of the Catholic man from New York. Hoover almost won Alabama. Unthinkable in the days of the Solid South.

I know, but I don't think of Maryland as a typical Southern State (I consider Missouri more culturally Southern).  Maryland is a border state, and it might have been less Northeastern (demographically) back then than it is today.  Still, Baltimore received plenty of immigrants, and the state was even founded by the Catholics.  It went from voting for Ike by 20% to voting for the Catholic JFK by 7%.  That's why it seems that Smith should have done better in Maryland.  

[old timey villain]

Yes, the Catholic prejudice was common in the south back then and still exists in some areas today. Of course Maryland was much more southern back then outside of immigrant gateways like Baltimore.

Interesting story: My grandmother moved to Atlanta in the 1940s and since her parents were lapsed Catholics, she took it upon herself to join a church. She went with a friend to a Baptist church and became a member of the denomination. When she was older she met my grandfather, who was Catholic. She asked her pastor to marry them and he refused, saying a Catholic/Protestant marriage would never work. So she left the Baptist church and converted to Catholicism. She told me that attitude was still very prevalent in the south in the 1950s.

Thankfully things have changed but it's not hard to see why Smith would have a hard time winning support even among loyal southern Democrats. If I recall Kennedy faced much of the same prejudice when he was running in 1960.

[tpfkaw]

Did Maryland have fewer Catholics in 1928?  Was it more demographically/culturally "Southern" than it was in 1960?

Yes and yes.

[barfbag]

Did Maryland have fewer Catholics in 1928?  Was it more demographically/culturally "Southern" than it was in 1960?

Yes and yes.

oh yes Maryland has had southern tendencies until recent history

[stevekamp]

The LaFollette 1924 vote (13.51%) all swung to Hoover.

Baltimore City went by 20,000 for Harding, but only 9,000 or so for Coolidge and Hoover.

[minionofmidas]

Yes, the Catholic prejudice was common in the south back then and still exists in some areas today. Of course Maryland was much more southern back then outside of immigrant gateways like Baltimore.

Maryland Whites were much more southern back then - or rather, Maryland Whites were uniformly entirely typically Southern (outside of Baltimore. Which was, however, half the state) then and are by and large not very southern now. The Black population, of course, has if anything become "more" southern (and less Catholic! And also a larger share of the overall population.), but didn't vote in 1928.