1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

The 1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose 16 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

← 1940 November 7, 1944 1948 →
Turnout71.0%[1] Decrease 7.7 pp
 
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas E. Dewey
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York New York
Running mate Harry S. Truman John W. Bricker
Electoral vote 16 0
Popular vote 1,035,296 921,350
Percentage 52.80% 46.99%


President before election

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

Elected President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

Massachusetts voted for the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, over the Republican nominee, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Roosevelt ran with Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, while Dewey’s running mate was Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio.

Roosevelt carried the state with 52.80% of the vote to Dewey’s 46.99%, a Democratic victory margin of 5.81%.

As Roosevelt was re-elected nationally to his fourth and final term, Massachusetts weighed in as about 2% more Republican than the national average.

Once a typical Yankee Republican bastion in the wake of the Civil War, Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, when a coalition of Irish Catholic and other ethnic immigrant voters primarily based in urban areas turned Massachusetts and neighboring Rhode Island into New England’s only reliably Democratic states. Massachusetts voted for Al Smith in 1928, and for Franklin Roosevelt in his three election campaigns preceding 1944. Roosevelt’s 1944 victory thus marked the fifth straight win for the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, although Roosevelt’s victory margin was slightly reduced from 1940.

Roosevelt and Dewey would split the state’s 14 counties, winning 7 counties each. However Roosevelt won the most heavily populated parts of the state including the cities of Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, while most of Dewey’s wins were small or island counties.

Results

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1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent) 1,035,296 52.80% 16
Republican Thomas E. Dewey 921,350 46.99% 0
Socialist Labor Edward A. Teichert 2,780 0.14% 0
Prohibition Claude A. Watson 973 0.05% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 266 0.01% 0
Totals 1,960,665 100.00% 16

Results by county

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County Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic
Thomas E. Dewey
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast[3]
# % # % # % # %
Barnstable 4,938 29.88% 11,543 69.85% 44 0.27% -6,605 -39.97% 16,525
Berkshire 31,212 55.51% 24,830 44.16% 185 0.33% 6,382 11.35% 56,227
Bristol 90,529 59.68% 60,880 40.13% 283 0.19% 29,649 19.55% 151,692
Dukes 861 38.54% 1,372 61.41% 1 0.04% -511 -22.87% 2,234
Essex 118,228 51.24% 111,958 48.52% 570 0.25% 6,270 2.72% 230,756
Franklin 9,400 41.40% 13,252 58.37% 51 0.22% -3,852 -16.97% 22,703
Hampden 91,819 59.05% 63,293 40.71% 374 0.24% 28,526 18.34% 155,486
Hampshire 17,676 54.09% 14,907 45.62% 97 0.30% 2,769 8.47% 32,680
Middlesex 210,253 47.03% 236,102 52.81% 725 0.16% -25,849 -5.78% 447,080
Nantucket 569 42.18% 779 57.75% 1 0.07% -210 -15.57% 1,349
Norfolk 69,606 41.56% 97,490 58.21% 383 0.23% -27,884 -16.65% 167,479
Plymouth 32,290 40.51% 47,245 59.27% 174 0.22% -14,955 -18.76% 79,709
Suffolk 234,475 62.61% 139,285 37.19% 727 0.19% 95,190 25.42% 374,487
Worcester 123,440 55.54% 98,414 44.28% 404 0.18% 25,026 11.26% 222,258
Totals 1,035,296 52.80% 921,350 46.99% 4,019 0.20% 113,946 5.81% 1,960,665

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
  2. ^ "1944 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 215 ISBN 0405077114