McPherson County, South Dakota, 1956

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why was there a 73% swing from Ike to Adlai in 1956?  Is it an error?

[Rob]

It's farming country (wheat?), and mostly German. The people there have usually been solidly Republican, from statehood to the present, but that didn't stop them from voting for LaFollette in 1924, Smith in 1928, Roosevelt in 1932, and (almost) for Stevenson this year.

In other words, I don't know specifically what happened in 1956, but it's far from unprecedented and it probably involved the Mormon reactionary Ezra Taft Benson. Benson was loathed by farmers across the country by then, and Ike ran well behind his 1952 percentages in most of the West and Great Plains. The biggest swings were in sparsely populated, inbred backwaters like McPherson, iirc.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

This county has had some weird swings throughout that era. >80% for FDR in 1932 to >80% for Dewey in 1944.

[Husker]

Part of that could be attributed to a prolonged drought that plagued much of the Plains states in the 1950's. A similar thing was repeated in 1988. During a severe drought, some farmers who normally vote republican will vote democrat as they are typically thought of as increasing relief.