1948 United States presidential election in Vermont

The 1948 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1948 United States presidential election in Vermont

← 1944 November 2, 1948 1952 →
 
Nominee Thomas E. Dewey Harry S. Truman
Party Republican Democratic
Home state New York Missouri
Running mate Earl Warren Alben W. Barkley
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 75,926 45,557
Percentage 61.54% 36.92%


President before election

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

Elected President

Harry S. Truman
Democratic

Vermont voted for the Republican nominee, former Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, over the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Harry S. Truman of Missouri. Dewey's running mate was Governor Earl Warren of California, while Truman ran with Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky.

Dewey took a landslide 61.54% of the vote to Truman’s 36.92%, a victory margin of 24.61%. Progressive Party candidate Henry A. Wallace came in a distant third, with 1.04%.

Vermont historically was a bastion of Northeastern Republicanism, and by 1948 Vermont had gone Republican in every presidential election since the founding of the Republican Party. From 1856 to 1944, Vermont had had the longest streak of voting Republican of any state, having never voted Democratic before, and this tradition easily continued in 1948 with Dewey's decisive win.

Vermont had been one of only two states (along with nearby Maine) to reject Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in all 4 of his presidential campaigns, even in the nationwide Democratic landslides of 1932 and 1936. Nevertheless, FDR had improved dramatically on previous Democrats’ performances in Vermont, and in an opposite trend of the nation, had been more Democratic in the 1940s than in either of the 1930s landslides, with Roosevelt coming within just under 10 points of winning Vermont in 1940. Thus Dewey's decisive win with 61.54% marked the first time since 1928 that a Republican broke sixty percent of the vote in Vermont. With 61.54% of the popular vote, Vermont was his strongest victory in the nation.[1]

Dewey carried eleven of the state’s 14 counties, breaking 60% in 9, and 70% in 5 of these. However, the three northwestern counties of Vermont had been Democratic enclaves in an otherwise Republican state throughout the 1930s and 1940s, and Truman once again won Chittenden County, Franklin County and Grand Isle County for the Democrats. Dewey did win back sparsely populated Essex County, in the northeast of the state, which had defected to the Democrats and voted for Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944.

Results

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1948 United States presidential election in Vermont[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Thomas E. Dewey 75,926 61.54% 3
Democratic Harry S. Truman (incumbent) 45,557 36.92% 0
Progressive Henry A. Wallace 1,279 1.04% 0
Socialist Norman Thomas 585 0.47% 0
N/A Write-ins 35 0.03% 0
Totals 123,382 100.00% 3

Results by county

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County Thomas Edmund Dewey[3]
Republican
Harry S. Truman[3]
Democratic
Henry Agard Wallace[4]
Progressive
Various candidates[4]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Addison 4,148 70.68% 1,615 27.52% 62 1.06% 44 0.75% 2,533 43.16% 5,869
Bennington 5,840 62.30% 3,340 35.63% 110 1.17% 84 0.90% 2,500 26.67% 9,374
Caledonia 5,873 68.75% 2,585 30.26% 57 0.67% 27 0.32% 3,288 38.49% 8,542
Chittenden 8,509 47.97% 8,903 50.19% 250 1.41% 77 0.43% -394 -2.22% 17,739
Essex 1,055 54.21% 881 45.27% 5 0.26% 5 0.26% 174 8.94% 1,946
Franklin 4,897 46.89% 5,455 52.23% 63 0.60% 29 0.28% -558 -5.34% 10,444
Grand Isle 724 46.32% 822 52.59% 13 0.83% 4 0.26% -98 -6.27% 1,563
Lamoille 2,344 73.69% 816 25.65% 11 0.35% 10 0.31% 1,528 48.04% 3,181
Orange 4,061 76.97% 1,139 21.59% 56 1.06% 20 0.38% 2,922 55.38% 5,276
Orleans 3,775 62.87% 2,204 36.71% 10 0.17% 15 0.25% 1,571 26.17% 6,004
Rutland 10,206 60.56% 6,452 38.28% 122 0.72% 73 0.43% 3,754 22.27% 16,853
Washington 7,720 59.92% 4,839 37.56% 234 1.82% 90 0.70% 2,881 22.36% 12,883
Windham 7,148 70.49% 2,770 27.32% 144 1.42% 78 0.77% 4,378 43.18% 10,140
Windsor 9,626 70.95% 3,736 27.54% 142 1.05% 64 0.47% 5,890 43.41% 13,568
Total 75,926 61.54% 45,557 36.92% 1,279 1.04% 620 0.50% 30,369 24.61% 123,382

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1948 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "1948 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Géoelections; 1948 Presidential Election Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
  4. ^ a b Géoelections; Popular Vote for Henry Wallace (.xlsx file for €15)