Lemke strongholds outside of North Dakota

[RBH]

The best county for Lemke (and/or) counties where Lemke topped 5% in 1936

AZ: Yavapai (4.53%)
CO: Moffat (9.28%), Delta (8.21%), Mesa (6.86%)
CT: New Haven (4.17%)
ID: Payette (12.61%), 11 other counties gave Lemke over 5%
IL: Clinton (18.68%), Kankakee (8.96%)
IN: Franklin (4.34%)
IA: Des Moines (11.51%), Plymouth (11.30%), Dubuque (10%), five other counties gave Lemke over 5%
ME: Penobscot (7.40%)
MA: Essex (8.15%), Suffolk (7.94%), Bristol, Middlesex, Plymouth, Hampden, Norfolk
MI: Huron (17.54%), Lemke topped 5% in 24 counties
MN: Stearnes (19.86%), Lemke topped 5% in 38 counties (he topped 10% in 17 counties, the map)
MO: St. Charles - 7.47%
MT: Lake (7.71%), Mineral (7.6%), Lemke topped 5% in 7 counties
NE: Greeley (12.21%), Lemke topped 5% in 5 counties
NH: Hillsborough (4.94%)
NJ: Passaic (0.91%)
NM: Roosevelt (5.01%)
OH: Putnam (20.50%). Lemke topped 10% in 6 counties and topped 5% in 18 counties
OR: Josephine (17.92%). Lemke topped 5% in 25 counties
PA: Erie (9.4%), Elk (6.65%)
RI: Providence (7.24%)
SD: Lincoln (9.41%), Lemke topped 5% in 9 counties
WA: Benton (10.5%), Lemke topped 5% in 10 counties
WI: St. Croix (19.19%), Lemke topped 5% in 33 counties
WY: Johnson (4.67%)

[Cubby]

What is strange about Lemke in '36 is how random his support was. There wasn't a regional pattern as to where he performed strongly (unlike say, 1968 where Wallace did great in the South or 1980 where Anderson did well in the Northeast and Colorado but poorly in most other places).

[mianfei]

What is strange about Lemke in '36 is how random his support was. There wasn't a regional pattern as to where he performed strongly (unlike say, 1968 where Wallace did great in the South or 1980 where Anderson did well in the Northeast and Colorado but poorly in most other places).

Actually, there was a very strong ethnic pattern as to where Lemke did well.

Almost all his strongest counties were German Catholic or Irish Catholic, and the few exceptions, like Josephine County, Oregon, were counties with an extreme isolationist culture. Strong Lemke support has past and future connections with:

• historical Democratic voting before 1920, or in some cases before 1896
• a strong shift towards Harding in his 1920 landslide
• a strong vote for anti-League of Nations La Follette in 1924
• overwhelming support for Roosevelt against Hoover in 1932
• powerful Republican support from 1940 onwards

Much of Lemke’s support was related to the view that the Roosevelt Administration was too sympathetic towards leftist regimes abroad like the Spanish Republicans, and especially to fear that the United States would repeat its war with Germany and Wilson’s anti-Irish policies thereafter.

[VPH]

The Union Party ran well in some states due to the popularity of its constituent elements there. Father Coughlin was very popular among Catholics in places like MA. Gerald LK Smith and Francis Townsend had their fans too, Townsend being very popular with seniors.

"Demagogues in the depression: American radicals and the Union Party, 1932-1936" is one of the best books on the subject.