How would the District of Columbia have voted before 1964?
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 02:42:59 PM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  Presidential Elections - Analysis and Discussion
  Presidential Election Trends (Moderator: 15 Down, 35 To Go)
  How would the District of Columbia have voted before 1964?
« previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: How would the District of Columbia have voted before 1964?  (Read 2366 times)
Adlai Stevenson
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 3,403
United Kingdom


WWW Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: March 19, 2006, 04:06:47 PM »
« edited: March 20, 2006, 05:22:46 AM by Adlai Stevenson »

Before 1964 when it was first granted the right to vote in presidential elections, how would D.C. have voted do you think?  Would there have been any cases where it was close or went Republican in the twentieth century?
Logged
True Democrat
true democrat
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 7,368
United States


Political Matrix
E: 1.10, S: -2.87

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2006, 04:15:11 PM »

Democrat going all the way back to 1932, at least (though the off chance of voting Republican in 56 considering African-Americans can't vote).  Before that, I'm guessing Democratic still, kind of a Southern thing with backlash against the Republicans.  I'm guessing it would vote similarly to Maryland.
Logged
memphis
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,959


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2006, 03:41:30 AM »

Democrat going all the way back to 1932, at least (though the off chance of voting Republican in 56 considering African-Americans can't vote).  Before that, I'm guessing Democratic still, kind of a Southern thing with backlash against the Republicans.  I'm guessing it would vote similarly to Maryland.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that blacks couldn't vote in DC 1956. Before the Voting Rights Act, there were black voters (they were key to Truman's 1948 victory). It was only in certain locations, many in the Deep South, where blacks were stopped by local authorities. By the 1950s, even many  anti-Civil Rights officials, such as Louisiana Governor Earl Long, advocating giving blacks the vote (presuming that this would mean more votes for them). Anybody know the racial makeup of DC back then?
Logged
Cubby
Pim Fortuyn
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,067
Israel


Political Matrix
E: -3.74, S: -6.96

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2006, 05:06:17 AM »

Anybody know the racial makeup of DC back then?

From the Official Census-es:

1940- 663,091 Total    187,266 "Negroes" (29.6%)

1950- 802,178 Total    280,803 "Negroes" (35.0%)

Back in these years the only racial categories were White (foreign and native), Negro, Indian (Native American), Chinese and Japanese. So probably 99% of the city was either white or black.
Logged
jimrtex
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 11,828
Marshall Islands


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2006, 04:10:38 AM »

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that blacks couldn't vote in DC 1956. Before the Voting Rights Act, there were black voters (they were key to Truman's 1948 victory). It was only in certain locations, many in the Deep South, where blacks were stopped by local authorities. By the 1950s, even many  anti-Civil Rights officials, such as Louisiana Governor Earl Long, advocating giving blacks the vote (presuming that this would mean more votes for them). Anybody know the racial makeup of DC back then?
Negro suffrage in DC was passed by Congress in 1866, before passage of either the 14th or 15th amendments.   Of course, later in the 19th century, Congress eliminated municipal self-government for Washington and Georgetown (which were separate cities at that time).
Logged
minionofmidas
Lewis Trondheim
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 58,207
India


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2006, 03:18:35 PM »

It was a well to do, white collar, government officials, conservative (not a contradiction these last two, and anyone who thinks so clearly hasn't a clue about anything that's more than 30 years ago) city. There is absolutely no way in hell it could have gone Democrat between 1896 and 1932 at the earliest, possibly until the Projects were built.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.027 seconds with 11 queries.