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1944 United States presidential election in Wyoming

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1944 United States presidential election in Wyoming

← 1940 November 7, 1944 1948 →
 
Nominee Thomas E. Dewey Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party Republican Democratic
Home state New York New York
Running mate John W. Bricker Harry S. Truman
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 51,921 49,419
Percentage 51.23% 48.77%

County Results

President before election

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

Elected President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

The 1944 United States presidential election in Wyoming took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Wyoming was won by the Republican nominee, Governor of New York Thomas Dewey, running with Governor of Ohio John W. Bricker, by a 2.5% margin of victory, with 51.23 percent of the popular vote against incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, running with Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, with 48.77 percent of the popular vote, becoming the first Republican to win Wyoming since Herbert Hoover in 1928, sixteen years earlier.[1]

This election was conducted in the midst of The Second World War, which was going well for America and the Allied Powers, Dewey campaigned against The New Deal, arguing in support of a smaller government and repealing many of the wartime regulations on the economy, as the end of the war appeared in sight. Roosevelt, now running for an unprecedented 4th term, faced allegations of poor health, which he would attempt to dispel by campaigning vigorously across the country, especially in the last month of the campaign, in October.[2] Though many were weary of Roosevelt's long tenure, as Americans were used to Presidents only seeking two terms, Roosevelt's longstanding popularity would prove too difficult to overcome, and major American victories in Europe and the Pacific, such as The Liberation of Paris in France, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines gave Americans little to no reason to switch leadership in this election, and made Roosevelt unbeatable, with him leading Dewey in all pre-election polls.

Though voters nationwide would prefer Roosevelt over Dewey, voters in Wyoming, despite the fact that they had voted for Roosevelt by 6 points just 4 years ago in 1940, choose Dewey over Roosevelt, a sign of the conservative bastion that the state would become in future elections; indeed, Wyoming has only voted for the Democratic nominee twice since then, in 1948 and 1964. Dewey flipped 4 counties that Roosevelt won in 1940; Teton, Natrona, Park, and Platte. Additionally, he significantly closed the gaps in the rest of Wyoming's counties, losing the bellwether county of Albany by just 4.2%, compared to Wendell Willkie who had lost it by 18.5%, losing Sheridan by just 0.8% compared to Willkie's 7.5% loss, Laramie by 1.5% versus Willkie's 13.4% margin, Hot Springs and Carbon counties by 5% versus Willkie's 16.1% and 8.7% losses, respectively. Though his margin was narrow, and the state would remain a tossup in the next cycle, Wyoming's growing Republican trend was evidenced not only by Dewey being the first Republican to win it since 1928, but by Republican success in the 1942 midterm elections, when Republicans gained control of the state's Class II Senate seat and lone House seat.

This marked the first time since Grover Cleveland in 1892 that a Democrat won the presidency without carrying Wyoming. Despite his victory in this election, Dewey would go on to lose the state to Harry Truman in 1948, when he lost in an upset. This would be the last time until 1992 that a Republican would win Wyoming without getting 70% of the vote in at least one county. Wyoming weighed in as 10 points more Republican than the rest of the nation in this election.

Results

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1944 United States presidential election in Wyoming[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas E. Dewey 51,921 51.23%
Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt (incumbent) 49,419 48.77%
Total votes 101,340 100.00%

Results by county

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County[3] Thomas E. Dewey
Republican
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democrat
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # %
Albany 2,970 47.91% 3,229 52.09% -259 -4.18% 6,199
Big Horn 2,659 53.47% 2,314 46.53% 345 6.94% 4,973
Campbell 1,514 62.87% 894 37.13% 620 25.74% 2,408
Carbon 2,698 47.49% 2,983 52.51% -285 -5.02% 5,681
Converse 1,601 62.05% 979 37.95% 622 24.10% 2,580
Crook 1,244 64.32% 690 35.68% 554 28.64% 1,934
Fremont 3,193 59.46% 2,177 40.54% 1,016 18.92% 5,370
Goshen 2,674 63.85% 1,514 36.15% 1,160 27.70% 4,188
Hot Springs 877 47.51% 969 52.49% -92 -4.98% 1,846
Johnson 1,384 64.67% 756 35.33% 628 29.34% 2,140
Laramie 7,326 49.27% 7,542 50.73% -216 -1.46% 14,868
Lincoln 1,649 43.52% 2,140 56.48% -491 -12.96% 3,789
Natrona 5,196 51.52% 4,890 48.48% 306 3.04% 10,086
Niobrara 1,312 61.37% 826 38.63% 486 22.74% 2,138
Park 2,571 53.25% 2,257 46.75% 314 6.50% 4,828
Platte 1,776 53.49% 1,544 46.51% 232 6.98% 3,320
Sheridan 3,802 49.61% 3,862 50.39% -60 -0.78% 7,664
Sublette 683 59.24% 470 40.76% 213 18.48% 1,153
Sweetwater 2,623 31.90% 5,599 68.10% -2,976 -36.20% 8,222
Teton 637 56.07% 499 43.93% 138 12.14% 1,136
Uinta 1,305 42.66% 1,754 57.34% -449 -14.68% 3,059
Washakie 1,130 59.26% 777 40.74% 353 18.52% 1,907
Weston 1,097 59.27% 754 40.73% 343 18.54% 1,851
Totals 51,921 51.23% 49,419 48.77% 2,502 2.46% 101,340
County flips from 1940:

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1944 Presidential Election Results – Wyoming".
  2. ^ Jordan, David M.; FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944, pp. 119
  3. ^ a b Wyoming Secretary of State (1945). "Total Vote by Counties, General Election, November 7, 1944". 1945 Wyoming Official Directory and 1944 Election Returns. pp. 88–89. Retrieved October 18, 2024.