# 1928 United States presidential election in North Dakota

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
Elections in North Dakota :
Federal government
Presidential
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
1996
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2024
U.S. Senate
1889
1891
1893
1897
1899
1903
1905
1909
1911
1911 sp
1914
1916
1920
1922
1926
1926 sp
1928
1932
1934
1938
1940
1944
1946
1946 sp
1950
1952
1956
1958
1960 sp
1962
1964
1968
1970
1974
1976
1980
1982
1986
1988
1992
1992 sp
1994
1998
2000
2004
2006
2010
2012
2016
2018
2022
2024
U.S. House
1889
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1917
1st sp
1918
1920
1922
1924
2nd sp
1926
1928
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1963
1st sp
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
State elections
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1889
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1921 (recall)
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Secretary of State elections
2018
2022
Attorney General elections
2018
2022
State Treasurer elections
2020
2024
State Auditor elections
2020
2024
State Senate elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2004
Constitutional Measure 1
2022
Constitutional Measure 1 :
Fargo
City elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Mayoral elections
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2015
2018
2022 :
Bismarck
City elections
2020
2022
2024
2026
Mayoral elections
2022 :
Grand Forks
City elections
2020
2024
Mayoral elections
2020
2024 :
vte :
The 1928 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Ever since statehood, North Dakota had been overwhelmingly Republican at state level and in many presidential elections, although progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson was able to carry the state in both his campaigns in 1912 and 1916, in the second due to his anti-war platform. In the following two elections, the state's voting would be shaped by its extreme isolationism in the aftermath of President Wilson's pushing of the nation into World War I and his “League of Nations” proposal, to which the Russian-Germans who dominated North Dakota's populace were vehemently opposed. To North Dakota's predominantly German-American populace, Wilson's entry into the war and his support for the Treaty of Versailles was a betrayal, and farmers were also faced with a postwar agricultural depression as prices fell with reduced demand in Europe. Consequently, North Dakota went for the isolationist Republican Warren G. Harding over the pro-League Democrat James M. Cox by four-to-one in 1920. In 1924, Robert M. La Follette under the Nonpartisan League banner attracted North Dakota's isolationist electorate so strongly that he went within two percentage points of carrying the state. When La Follette died in 1925, his family did not endorse a Republican, but rather New York City Catholic Democrat Al Smith.

## Results

| Presidential Candidate | Running Mate | Party | Electoral Vote (EV) | Popular Vote (PV) | Popular Vote (PV) |
| Herbert Hoover of California | Charles Curtis | Republican | 5 | 131,441 | 54.80% |
| Al Smith | Joseph T. Robinson | Democratic | 0 | 106,648 | 44.46% |
| Norman Thomas | James Maurer | Social Production and Distribution | 0 | 936 | 0.39% |
| William Z. Foster | Benjamin Gitlow | Workers’ and Farmers’ Government | 0 | 842 | 0.35% |

### Results by county

| County | Herbert Clark Hoover Republican | Herbert Clark Hoover Republican | Alfred Emmanuel Smith Democratic | Alfred Emmanuel Smith Democratic | Norman Mattoon Thomas Social Production and Distribution | Norman Mattoon Thomas Social Production and Distribution | William Z. Foster Workers’ and Farmers’ Government | William Z. Foster Workers’ and Farmers’ Government | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 1,590 | 70.67% | 644 | 28.62% | 13 | 0.58% | 3 | 0.13% | 946 | 42.04% | 2,250 |
| Barnes | 3,755 | 53.01% | 3,293 | 46.49% | 15 | 0.21% | 20 | 0.28% | 462 | 6.52% | 7,083 |
| Benson | 2,621 | 53.80% | 2,194 | 45.03% | 13 | 0.27% | 44 | 0.90% | 427 | 8.76% | 4,872 |
| Billings | 458 | 52.22% | 412 | 46.98% | 6 | 0.68% | 1 | 0.11% | 46 | 5.25% | 877 |
| Bottineau | 2,680 | 49.79% | 2,648 | 49.19% | 13 | 0.24% | 42 | 0.78% | 32 | 0.59% | 5,383 |
| Bowman | 1,031 | 54.99% | 821 | 43.79% | 12 | 0.64% | 11 | 0.59% | 210 | 11.20% | 1,875 |
| Burke | 2,002 | 58.38% | 1,336 | 38.96% | 70 | 2.04% | 21 | 0.61% | 666 | 19.42% | 3,429 |
| Burleigh | 3,955 | 55.59% | 3,076 | 43.23% | 68 | 0.96% | 16 | 0.22% | 879 | 12.35% | 7,115 |
| Cass | 12,480 | 66.18% | 6,315 | 33.49% | 14 | 0.07% | 49 | 0.26% | 6,165 | 32.69% | 18,858 |
| Cavalier | 3,068 | 54.86% | 2,510 | 44.89% | 11 | 0.20% | 3 | 0.05% | 558 | 9.98% | 5,592 |
| Dickey | 2,250 | 52.90% | 1,977 | 46.48% | 11 | 0.26% | 15 | 0.35% | 273 | 6.42% | 4,253 |
| Divide | 1,963 | 60.36% | 1,250 | 38.44% | 25 | 0.77% | 14 | 0.43% | 713 | 21.92% | 3,252 |
| Dunn | 1,360 | 46.50% | 1,561 | 53.37% | 4 | 0.14% | 0 | 0.00% | -201 | -6.87% | 2,925 |
| Eddy | 1,071 | 46.12% | 1,240 | 53.40% | 9 | 0.39% | 2 | 0.09% | -169 | -7.28% | 2,322 |
| Emmons | 1,792 | 46.25% | 2,066 | 53.32% | 12 | 0.31% | 5 | 0.13% | -274 | -7.07% | 3,875 |
| Foster | 1,137 | 48.99% | 1,178 | 50.75% | 5 | 0.22% | 1 | 0.04% | -41 | -1.77% | 2,321 |
| Golden Valley | 937 | 63.78% | 522 | 35.53% | 4 | 0.27% | 6 | 0.41% | 415 | 28.25% | 1,469 |
| Grand Forks | 8,024 | 64.86% | 4,300 | 34.76% | 15 | 0.12% | 32 | 0.26% | 3,724 | 30.10% | 12,371 |
| Grant | 1,759 | 54.59% | 1,434 | 44.51% | 14 | 0.43% | 15 | 0.47% | 325 | 10.09% | 3,222 |
| Griggs | 1,329 | 52.45% | 1,182 | 46.65% | 13 | 0.51% | 10 | 0.39% | 147 | 5.80% | 2,534 |
| Hettinger | 1,553 | 53.87% | 1,323 | 45.89% | 4 | 0.14% | 3 | 0.10% | 230 | 7.98% | 2,883 |
| Kidder | 1,200 | 49.94% | 1,190 | 49.52% | 6 | 0.25% | 7 | 0.29% | 10 | 0.42% | 2,403 |
| LaMoure | 2,245 | 55.00% | 1,800 | 44.10% | 16 | 0.39% | 21 | 0.51% | 445 | 10.90% | 4,082 |
| Logan | 1,013 | 43.64% | 1,293 | 55.71% | 14 | 0.60% | 1 | 0.04% | -280 | -12.06% | 2,321 |
| McHenry | 2,914 | 53.04% | 2,535 | 46.14% | 21 | 0.38% | 24 | 0.44% | 379 | 6.90% | 5,494 |
| McIntosh | 1,196 | 44.79% | 1,474 | 55.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -278 | -10.41% | 2,670 |
| McKenzie | 2,100 | 61.14% | 1,289 | 37.53% | 35 | 1.02% | 11 | 0.32% | 811 | 23.61% | 3,435 |
| McLean | 2,730 | 47.51% | 2,855 | 49.69% | 21 | 0.37% | 140 | 2.44% | -125 | -2.18% | 5,746 |
| Mercer | 971 | 37.45% | 1,619 | 62.44% | 3 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | -648 | -24.99% | 2,593 |
| Morton | 2,881 | 42.04% | 3,946 | 57.58% | 17 | 0.25% | 9 | 0.13% | -1,065 | -15.54% | 6,853 |
| Mountrail | 2,354 | 52.30% | 2,003 | 44.50% | 108 | 2.40% | 36 | 0.80% | 351 | 7.80% | 4,501 |
| Nelson | 2,364 | 60.18% | 1,542 | 39.26% | 11 | 0.28% | 11 | 0.28% | 822 | 20.93% | 3,928 |
| Oliver | 680 | 51.67% | 631 | 47.95% | 4 | 0.30% | 1 | 0.08% | 49 | 3.72% | 1,316 |
| Pembina | 3,324 | 60.75% | 2,141 | 39.13% | 7 | 0.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,183 | 21.62% | 5,472 |
| Pierce | 1,469 | 47.60% | 1,606 | 52.04% | 5 | 0.16% | 6 | 0.19% | -137 | -4.44% | 3,086 |
| Ramsey | 3,246 | 54.62% | 2,672 | 44.96% | 8 | 0.13% | 17 | 0.29% | 574 | 9.66% | 5,943 |
| Ransom | 2,613 | 60.43% | 1,505 | 34.81% | 198 | 4.58% | 8 | 0.19% | 1,108 | 25.62% | 4,324 |
| Renville | 1,473 | 55.09% | 1,174 | 43.90% | 15 | 0.56% | 12 | 0.45% | 299 | 11.18% | 2,674 |
| Richland | 4,251 | 53.89% | 3,604 | 45.68% | 15 | 0.19% | 19 | 0.24% | 647 | 8.20% | 7,889 |
| Rolette | 1,327 | 37.50% | 2,181 | 61.63% | 12 | 0.34% | 19 | 0.54% | -854 | -24.13% | 3,539 |
| Sargent | 1,772 | 46.88% | 1,989 | 52.62% | 11 | 0.29% | 8 | 0.21% | -217 | -5.74% | 3,780 |
| Sheridan | 1,242 | 56.61% | 944 | 43.03% | 1 | 0.05% | 7 | 0.32% | 298 | 13.58% | 2,194 |
| Sioux | 687 | 40.46% | 988 | 58.19% | 14 | 0.82% | 9 | 0.53% | -301 | -17.73% | 1,698 |
| Slope | 873 | 60.88% | 542 | 37.80% | 10 | 0.70% | 9 | 0.63% | 331 | 23.08% | 1,434 |
| Stark | 1,924 | 37.28% | 3,231 | 62.60% | 4 | 0.08% | 2 | 0.04% | -1,307 | -25.32% | 5,161 |
| Steele | 1,574 | 57.34% | 1,152 | 41.97% | 6 | 0.22% | 13 | 0.47% | 422 | 15.37% | 2,745 |
| Stutsman | 4,782 | 55.07% | 3,873 | 44.60% | 16 | 0.18% | 13 | 0.15% | 909 | 10.47% | 8,684 |
| Towner | 1,588 | 54.23% | 1,324 | 45.22% | 12 | 0.41% | 4 | 0.14% | 264 | 9.02% | 2,928 |
| Traill | 3,638 | 71.36% | 1,447 | 28.38% | 5 | 0.10% | 8 | 0.16% | 2,191 | 42.98% | 5,098 |
| Walsh | 3,657 | 48.94% | 3,798 | 50.83% | 8 | 0.11% | 9 | 0.12% | -141 | -1.89% | 7,472 |
| Ward | 6,561 | 59.72% | 4,362 | 39.71% | 22 | 0.20% | 41 | 0.37% | 2,199 | 20.02% | 10,986 |
| Wells | 2,364 | 52.39% | 2,123 | 47.05% | 18 | 0.40% | 7 | 0.16% | 241 | 5.34% | 4,512 |
| Williams | 3,591 | 57.25% | 2,503 | 39.91% | 121 | 1.93% | 57 | 0.91% | 1,088 | 17.35% | 6,272 |
| Totals | 131,419 | 54.79% | 106,648 | 44.47% | 936 | 0.39% | 842 | 0.35% | 24,771 | 10.33% | 239,845 |

## Analysis

Despite much antagonism with the Catholic Church amongst the German and Scandinavian Lutherans in North Dakota, Smith would capitalize extremely well upon La Folette's endorsement, due to the state being the most Catholic in the Midwest and a concurrent statewide repeal of Prohibition with the election, further adding to support for the “wet” Smith. The local press in mid-September believed Smith would carry North Dakota. and he later received further endorsement from the Nonpartisan League despite opposition from Senators Lynn J. Frazier and Gerald P. Nye. Smith visited the state during his midwestern tour in late September and early October, but during October the lessened unpopularity with farmers of Republican nominee Herbert Hoover’s led pundits to imagine the GOP would retain the state.
In the days leading up to the actual poll, forecasts suggested Hoover would retain North Dakota for the GOP, and he did this by a margin of 10.33 percent. Despite losing the state, Smith made a massive advance upon James M. Cox’ and John W. Davis’ performances earlier in the decade. Whereas North Dakota had been Cox’ and Davis’ second-weakest state in 1920 and 1924, it voted 7.07 points more Democratic than the nation at-large in 1928. In some counties that were largely Lutheran, Smith still made tremendous gains because of his opposition to Prohibition, which was powerfully opposed by liturgical German Lutherans. This allowed Smith to become the first Democrat to carry McIntosh County – which had been the nation's most Republican county in 1920 and where no Democrat had previously gained over 22 percent of the vote – Logan County, Mercer County, Morton County and Sioux County.