Wow. Harding killed it in LA, AL, GA.
I know why Harding did well in Cajun Louisiana and in North Georgia-it was due to isolationist backlash against World War I (Georgia), which was also the same reason why he won Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, and Oklahoma, and almost won Kentucky-and due to opposition by Cajuns to Wilson's policies towards France and the League of Nations (Louisiana). But I don't understand how Harding was able to get to 37% in Alabama. Hoover of course, almost won the state in 1928 because of anti-Catholic backlash against Smith, but Harding posted the second-best performance of any Republican in Alabama between Blaine in 1884 and Eisenhower in 1956.
Until 1944, the number of Republican voters in the Deep South was very low, but not zero.
Examples
Teddy 1904
National: 56.42%
Louisiana: 9.66%
Mississippi: 5.59%
Alabama: 20.65%
Georgia: 18.33%
South Carolina: 4.63%
Harding 1920:
National: 60.35%
Louisiana: 30.49%
Mississippi: 14.03%
Alabama: 37.11%
Georgia: 27.63%
South Carolina: 3.91%
Landon 1936
National: 36.54%
Louisiana: 11.16%
Mississippi: 2.75%
Alabama: 12.82%
Georgia: 12.60%
South Carolina: 1.43%
Dewey 1944
National: 45.89%
Louisiana: 19.39%
Mississippi: 6.44%
Alabama: 18.20%
Georgia: 18.25%
South Carolina: 4.46%
Were these voters richer or poorer than the average? Were they more urban or more rural? Were they more liberal or more conservative?
What is especially fascinating to me is that between 1868 and 1964, only two Republicans won even 40% of the vote in Georgia: Grant in 1872 and Hoover in 1928. From 1904 through 1940, Democrats always received at least 90% of the vote in South Carolina, and during that same period, always received at least 80% of the vote in Mississippi.
1872: high % of blacks voted due to Reconstruction.
1928: Al Smith's catholicism hurt him in the South. The county map of FL for instance is interesting, as Hoover massively outperformed Coolidge in the state despite doing worse nationwide.
Aware of the reasons for both. As for Georgia, however, it's interesting how the state never voted Republican during Reconstruction. It and Texas were the only Southern states to remain loyally Democratic during that period. I am not sure exactly why. Perhaps the black population in Georgia was lower than in the other states.
