United States presidential election in Texas, 1948
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The 1948 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 2, 1948.
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
voters chose 23 electors to represent the state in the Electoral College, which chose the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
.


Background

As a former Confederate state,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
had a history of
Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
,
disenfranchisement Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
of its
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
and
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
populations, and single-party Democratic rule outside a few Unionist German-American counties (chiefly Gillespie and Kendall) of Central Texas. However, President
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
was attempting to launch a
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
bill, involving desegregation of the military, which led to severe opposition from Southern Democrats, who aimed to have
South Carolina Governor The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making yearl ...
Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Caro ...
listed as Democratic presidential nominee and Mississippi Governor
Fielding Wright Fielding Lewis Wright (May 16, 1895May 4, 1956) was an American politician who served as the 19th Lieutenant Governor and 49th and 50th Governor of Mississippi. During the 1948 presidential election he served as the vice presidential nominee ...
as the vice-presidential nominee. Thurmond, whose ticket was formally called the States’ Rights Democratic Party and more popularly known as the Dixiecrats, was leading Truman in early polls even in the major metropolitan counties of
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
and
Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle o ...
, which suggested he would claim the state. Texas’ large number of electoral votes made it a coveted prize in Thurmond's quest to take the election into the House of Representatives.Frederickson, Kari; ''The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968'', p. 158 At the time of this poll it remained uncertain as to whether Truman or Thurmond would be the official Democratic nominee in Texas. Unlike Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina or Virginia, Texas did not have a major threat from the Republican Party to block local Democratic support for Thurmond, but it had only a third the proportion of blacks found in Mississippi or South Carolina.Key; ''Southern Politics'', p. 254 More critically, Texas’ party hierarchy was dominated by Truman loyalists,Cohodas, Nadine; ''Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change'', p. 182 most critically Governor
Beauford Jester Beauford Halbert Jester (January 12, 1893 – July 11, 1949) was an American politician who was the 36th governor of Texas, serving from 1947 until his death in office in 1949. He is the only Texas governor ever to have died in office. Jester ...
, and by mid-September it was clear that Truman would be the official Democratic nominee. Truman campaigned in the Lone Star State during late September, ignoring civil rights and focusing entirely upon Dewey.‘Truman, in Texas, Ducks Civil Rights: President Ignores Challenge From Gov. Thurmond, Attacks GOP on Power Policy’, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', September 26, 1948, p. 8
The President's criticism of Dewey was largely focused on improving the transmission of hydroelectric power from dams at lower rates than Dewey had planned.


Vote

Texas overwhelmingly voted for incumbent Democratic President Harry. S. Truman, who took 66 percent of the state’s vote, to
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
’s Texas 25.3 percent. Texas was Truman's strongest state, and one of only four in the country which gave him at least sixty percent of the popular vote. Truman carried 246 out of the state's 254 counties, to Dewey’s eight.
South Carolina Governor The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making yearl ...
Storm Thurmond, a
segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...
Democrat, ran as the
Dixiecrat The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats) was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States, active primarily in the South. It arose due to a Southern regional split in opposition t ...
nominee. Despite dominating in the neighboring
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
, Thurmond received only nine percent of Texas’ popular vote and failed to carry any counties in the state. including those in East Texas, the region in Texas most closely culturally tied to the Deep South. The Dixiecrat ticket did, nonetheless, run second behind Truman in thirty counties. Dewey’s strongest performance was
Gillespie County Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...
in the Texas Hill Country, which gave him over eighty percent of the vote. This is one of the last presidential elections in Texas in which the following regions were considered strongholds for the Democratic Party:
West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
, the
Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
, and the
Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...
. Although several Democratic candidates would win a majority of the counties in these regions in future presidential elections, notably Texas native
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
in
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, these regions were amongst the first in the state to begin splitting their tickets by voting for Republicans on the national level while continuing to vote Democratic at the state level. This is the last occasion the
Plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...
counties of Ector,
Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
, Hansford, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Midland,
Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found in ...
, Randall, and Roberts have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004'', pp. 311–319 In the 21st century, these counties typically give over ninety percent of their vote to Republican nominees, while Roberts and Ochiltree have alternated as the nation's most Republican county. Additionally, 1948 constitutes the last election when
Gregg County Gregg County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 124,239. Its county seat is Longview. The county is named after John Gregg, a Confederate general killed in action duri ...
and Smith County in East Texas, plus Edwards County at the western extremity of its namesake plateau, have voted for the Democratic presidential nominee. As a result of
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
and
Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle o ...
counties seeing their populations increase as a result of Republican-leaning northern expatriates moving into the state, this would be the last occasion with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide win in the state in 1964 that these two counties backed Democratic presidential candidates until
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
won them back in
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. As of 2020, Dewey remains the last Republican candidate to fail to win at least thirty percent of Texas’s popular vote in a presidential election.


Results


Results by county


Notes


References

{{Elections in Texas footer
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
1948 Texas elections
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...