1936 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 1936 United States presidential election
1936 United States presidential election in California
← 1932 November 3, 1936 1940 →
Turnout83.36% (of registered voters) Increase 2.71 pp
70.56% (of eligible voters) Increase 5.34 pp[1]
 
Nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt Alf Landon
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New York Kansas
Running mate John N. Garner Frank Knox
Electoral vote 22 0
Popular vote 1,766,836 836,431
Percentage 66.95% 31.70%
County Results
Roosevelt
  40–50%
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%

President before election

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

Elected President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic

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The 1936 United States presidential election in California was held on November 3, 1936, as part of the 1936 United States presidential election. State voters chose twenty-two electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Democratic candidate, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, in a landslide over the Republican challenger, Kansas Governor Alfred Mossman Landon, carrying every county and nearly sixty-seven percent of the vote to Landon’s 31.7%. Roosevelt’s percentage of the vote is the highest of any presidential candidate in California history, besting Warren G. Harding’s 66.2% in 1920.[2] While his 35.25-percentage point margin of victory over Landon is the largest for any Democratic candidate, it is the second largest overall behind Harding’s 41.92% in 1920 and ahead of his cousin Theodore Roosevelt’s 34.9% in 1904.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that a presidential candidate from either political party completely swept all of California’s counties in an election. The only other candidate to manage this was Harding in his landslide 1920 victory.[2]

Roosevelt was the last Democrat until Hillary Clinton in 2016 to carry Orange County in a presidential election, and the last until John Kerry in 2004 to carry Alpine County. Also, this was the only one of FDR’s four presidential campaigns where he carried Riverside County, which had never previously voted Democratic since its first election in 1896[3] and would not do so again until Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. It would also be the first election in the state’s history where the Democratic Party won the state in two consecutive presidential elections.

This was the last election in California where presidential electors were chosen directly by the voters. Starting in 1940, the state adopted the modern "short ballot" where voters could only choose between the actual candidates' names, with the understanding that a vote for a candidate was a vote for their party's entire slate of electors.

Results

General Election Results[4]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Mrs. Hancock Banning 1,766,836
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt O. K. Cushing 1,766,013
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Leo J. Smith 1,765,958
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Daniel C. Murphy 1,765,919
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Charles L. Culbert 1,765,843
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Mrs. George J. Knox 1,765,807
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt W. R. Jacob 1,765,739
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt George F. Irvine 1,765,680
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Argyll Campbell 1,765,652
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Stephen P. Galvin 1,765,651
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt H. H. Whitting 1,765,634
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Doris McAdoo 1,765,598
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Lloyd Sheldon 1,765,528
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Daniel Green 1,765,429
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Archibald W. Livingston 1,765,340
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt John H. Burke 1,765,319
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Stanley S. Anderson 1,765,295
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt John Baumgartner 1,765,287
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt C. M. Brown 1,765,262
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt James B. Ogg 1,765,253
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt Charles W. McQuarrie 1,765,193
Democratic Party Franklin D. Roosevelt E. O. Busenburg 1,764,603
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Joseph Scott 836,431
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Tallant Tubbs 836,060
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon James G. Anderson 835,954
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon A. E. Goddard 835,822
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Thomas M. Carlson 835,796
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Charles H. Segerstrom 835,787
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Thomas C. Meagher 835,767
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Albert A. Rosenshine 835,761
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Cecil B. DeMille 835,748
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Raymond Smith 835,745
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young 835,734
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Walter H. Duval 835,713
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Walter S. Hunsaker 835,713
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Louis B. Mayer 835,701
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Mrs. Newton Cleveland 835,689
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Frank J. Buckley 835,683
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Ruth Buchanan 835,651
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Charlotta A. Bass 835,618
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon A. E. Henning 835,618
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Gladys O'Donnell 835,586
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Charles E. Brouse 835,535
Republican Party Alfred M. Landon Charles B. Wincote 835,392
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin W. P. Fassett 12,917
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Minnie Goldthwaite 12,839
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Joseph Fusch 12,835
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin H. A. Johnson 12,831
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Nellie S. Harriss 12,828
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Ethel Hubler 12,812
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Frank G. H. Stevens 12,809
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin W. H. Easterling 12,799
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin James P. M. Jensen 12,795
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin John C. Bell 12,794
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin B. C. Johnson 12,794
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Russell S. Dingley 12,793
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin M. Len Hutchins 12,790
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Percy F. Adams 12,789
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Virgil G. Hinshaw 12,789
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Florence Jeffs 12,779
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin William I. Hull 12,778
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin C. B. Griffin 12,775
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Lucius D. Dale 12,774
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin Errol O. Shour 12,770
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin O. U. Hull 12,759
Prohibition Party D. Leigh Colvin L. B. Steward 12,753
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Ralph W. Musson 11,331
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Joseph A. Plecarpo 11,325
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Eva Randall 11,318
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Willard F. Smith 11,318
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Millie Shapiro 11,311
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Herbert L. Coggins 11,310
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Sybren Cornelius Zondervon 11,310
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Raymond H. Henderson 11,300
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Ernest Norback 11,300
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Edward V. Peterson 11,294
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Glen Trimble 11,290
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Milen Dempster 11,289
Socialist Party Norman Thomas B. A. Zaremba 11,287
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Clarence Rust 11,285
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Catherine McCauley 11,284
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Lillian Elstein 11,283
Socialist Party Norman Thomas A. Dutkiewicz 11,282
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Lyle Loomis 11,275
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Frank O. Rear 11,274
Socialist Party Norman Thomas Trelfa Lund 11,270
Socialist Party Norman Thomas P. Manisculo 11,270
Socialist Party Norman Thomas George A. Garrett 11,267
Communist Party Earl Browder William Schneiderman 10,877
Communist Party Earl Browder Louis Rosser 10,842
Communist Party Earl Browder Pettis Perry 10,841
Communist Party Earl Browder George Maurer 10,839
Communist Party Earl Browder Peter J. Garrison 10,827
Communist Party Earl Browder Thomas Cooney 10,825
Communist Party Earl Browder James Tormey 10,823
Communist Party Earl Browder Carroll Barnes 10,820
Communist Party Earl Browder William J. Prater 10,820
Communist Party Earl Browder Bessie Keckler 10,818
Communist Party Earl Browder E. L. Patterson 10,818
Communist Party Earl Browder Mini Carson 10,816
Communist Party Earl Browder Sam Jaye 10,816
Communist Party Earl Browder D. L. Saunders 10,812
Communist Party Earl Browder Herbert S. Elstein 10,810
Communist Party Earl Browder Eleanor McLauchlan 10,810
Communist Party Earl Browder Leon Vannier 10,810
Communist Party Earl Browder Henry J. Rainer 10,809
Communist Party Earl Browder Harry Schneider 10,809
Communist Party Earl Browder Alex Noral 10,808
Communist Party Earl Browder William A. Standridge 10,806
Communist Party Earl Browder Atanasio E. Torres 10,793
Write-in Scattering 490
Votes cast[a] 2,638,882

Results by county

County Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democratic 		Alf Landon
Republican 		D. Leigh Colvin
Prohibition 		Norman Thomas
Socialist 		Earl Browder
Communist 		Scattering
Write-in 		Margin Total votes cast[b]
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 149,323 63.63% 82,352 35.09% 725 0.31% 1,178 0.50% 1,108 0.47% 0 0.00% 66,971 28.54% 234,686
Alpine 85 53.46% 74 46.54% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 11 6.92% 159
Amador 2,506 75.41% 777 23.38% 14 0.42% 20 0.60% 6 0.18% 0 0.00% 1,729 52.03% 3,323
Butte 10,490 65.86% 5,103 32.04% 108 0.68% 130 0.82% 97 0.61% 0 0.00% 5,387 33.82% 15,928
Calaveras 2,520 71.31% 960 27.16% 17 0.48% 26 0.74% 11 0.31% 0 0.00% 1,560 44.14% 3,534
Colusa 2,965 70.38% 1,186 28.15% 34 0.81% 24 0.57% 4 0.09% 0 0.00% 1,779 42.23% 4,213
Contra Costa 26,007 72.29% 9,604 26.70% 89 0.25% 178 0.49% 97 0.27% 0 0.00% 16,403 45.60% 35,975
Del Norte 1,292 59.43% 853 39.24% 4 0.18% 18 0.83% 7 0.32% 0 0.00% 439 20.19% 2,174
El Dorado 4,019 75.66% 1,228 23.12% 18 0.34% 39 0.73% 8 0.15% 0 0.00% 2,791 52.54% 5,312
Fresno 42,859 77.75% 11,545 20.94% 334 0.61% 255 0.46% 133 0.24% 0 0.00% 31,314 56.80% 55,126
Glenn 3,288 65.97% 1,620 32.50% 39 0.78% 32 0.64% 5 0.10% 0 0.00% 1,668 33.47% 4,984
Humboldt 11,909 62.93% 6,808 35.97% 67 0.35% 93 0.49% 48 0.25% 0 0.00% 5,101 26.95% 18,925
Imperial 7,560 60.75% 4,771 38.34% 49 0.39% 26 0.21% 38 0.31% 0 0.00% 2,789 22.41% 12,444
Inyo 1,560 62.38% 912 36.47% 6 0.24% 20 0.80% 3 0.12% 0 0.00% 648 25.91% 2,501
Kern 25,726 74.61% 8,345 24.20% 146 0.42% 219 0.64% 43 0.12% 0 0.00% 17,381 50.41% 34,479
Kings 7,062 75.10% 2,226 23.67% 76 0.81% 35 0.37% 5 0.05% 0 0.00% 4,836 51.42% 9,404
Lake 1,837 49.82% 1,797 48.74% 22 0.60% 24 0.65% 7 0.19% 0 0.00% 40 1.08% 3,687
Lassen 4,193 79.47% 1,035 19.62% 18 0.34% 13 0.25% 17 0.32% 0 0.00% 3,158 59.86% 5,276
Los Angeles 757,351 67.00% 357,401 31.62% 5,827 0.52% 4,159 0.37% 5,217 0.46% 460 0.04% 399,950 35.38% 1,130,415
Madera 4,646 75.74% 1,387 22.61% 43 0.70% 36 0.59% 22 0.36% 0 0.00% 3,259 53.13% 6,134
Marin 12,152 65.43% 6,211 33.44% 39 0.21% 85 0.46% 85 0.46% 0 0.00% 5,941 31.99% 18,572
Mariposa 1,907 74.40% 621 24.23% 10 0.39% 22 0.86% 3 0.12% 0 0.00% 1,286 50.18% 2,563
Mendocino 6,432 62.65% 3,670 35.75% 33 0.32% 68 0.66% 63 0.61% 0 0.00% 2,762 26.90% 10,266
Merced 9,208 72.69% 3,230 25.50% 108 0.85% 91 0.72% 31 0.24% 0 0.00% 5,978 47.19% 12,668
Modoc 1,828 64.57% 968 34.19% 16 0.57% 7 0.25% 12 0.42% 0 0.00% 860 30.38% 2,831
Mono 458 64.78% 241 34.09% 0 0.00% 6 0.85% 2 0.28% 0 0.00% 217 30.69% 707
Monterey 12,267 61.13% 7,565 37.70% 79 0.39% 101 0.50% 55 0.27% 0 0.00% 4,702 23.43% 20,067
Napa 6,270 60.35% 3,973 38.24% 52 0.50% 78 0.75% 17 0.16% 0 0.00% 2,297 22.11% 10,390
Nevada 5,128 71.91% 1,913 26.83% 16 0.22% 59 0.83% 15 0.21% 0 0.00% 3,215 45.08% 7,131
Orange 29,836 55.00% 23,494 43.31% 535 0.99% 237 0.44% 149 0.27% 0 0.00% 6,342 11.69% 54,251
Placer 7,959 76.62% 2,321 22.34% 35 0.34% 52 0.50% 21 0.20% 0 0.00% 5,638 54.27% 10,388
Plumas 2,707 78.81% 680 19.80% 14 0.41% 14 0.41% 20 0.58% 0 0.00% 2,027 59.01% 3,435
Riverside 17,011 49.88% 16,674 48.89% 200 0.59% 181 0.53% 41 0.12% 0 0.00% 337 0.99% 34,107
Sacramento 47,265 78.53% 12,119 20.14% 241 0.40% 303 0.50% 247 0.41% 9 0.01% 35,146 58.40% 60,184
San Benito 2,565 61.93% 1,515 36.58% 12 0.29% 31 0.75% 19 0.46% 0 0.00% 1,050 25.35% 4,142
San Bernardino 33,955 59.55% 22,219 38.97% 461 0.81% 212 0.37% 169 0.30% 0 0.00% 11,736 20.58% 57,016
San Diego 64,628 63.45% 35,686 35.04% 579 0.57% 524 0.51% 437 0.43% 0 0.00% 28,942 28.42% 101,854
San Francisco 196,197 74.04% 65,436 24.69% 1,227 0.46% 757 0.29% 1,366 0.52% 18 0.01% 130,761 49.34% 265,001
San Joaquin 29,078 73.20% 10,172 25.61% 159 0.40% 210 0.53% 104 0.26% 0 0.00% 18,906 47.59% 39,723
San Luis Obispo 7,889 61.13% 4,812 37.28% 90 0.70% 75 0.58% 40 0.31% 0 0.00% 3,077 23.84% 12,906
San Mateo 27,087 65.67% 13,650 33.09% 81 0.20% 253 0.61% 177 0.43% 0 0.00% 13,437 32.58% 41,248
Santa Barbara 15,923 61.14% 9,728 37.35% 91 0.35% 164 0.63% 138 0.53% 1 0.00% 6,195 23.79% 26,045
Santa Clara 38,346 58.48% 26,498 40.41% 160 0.24% 399 0.61% 173 0.26% 0 0.00% 11,848 18.07% 65,576
Santa Cruz 9,326 52.08% 8,260 46.12% 82 0.46% 120 0.67% 120 0.67% 0 0.00% 1,066 5.95% 17,908
Shasta 5,236 69.72% 2,159 28.75% 42 0.56% 35 0.47% 38 0.51% 0 0.00% 3,077 40.97% 7,510
Sierra 1,152 76.44% 340 22.56% 6 0.40% 4 0.27% 5 0.33% 0 0.00% 812 53.88% 1,507
Siskiyou 6,865 69.28% 2,919 29.46% 42 0.42% 50 0.50% 33 0.33% 0 0.00% 3,946 39.82% 9,909
Solano 13,459 78.05% 3,603 20.89% 66 0.38% 69 0.40% 47 0.27% 0 0.00% 9,856 57.16% 17,244
Sonoma 17,273 60.17% 11,185 38.96% 65 0.23% 83 0.29% 100 0.35% 0 0.00% 6,088 21.21% 28,706
Stanislaus 15,341 63.13% 8,613 35.44% 190 0.78% 80 0.33% 78 0.32% 0 0.00% 6,728 27.68% 24,302
Sutter 4,019 70.04% 1,613 28.11% 35 0.61% 56 0.98% 15 0.26% 0 0.00% 2,406 41.93% 5,738
Tehama 3,687 59.68% 2,376 38.46% 64 1.04% 43 0.70% 8 0.13% 0 0.00% 1,311 21.22% 6,178
Trinity 1,424 67.11% 655 30.87% 13 0.61% 7 0.33% 23 1.08% 0 0.00% 769 36.24% 2,122
Tulare 18,956 67.66% 8,624 30.78% 265 0.95% 115 0.41% 55 0.20% 0 0.00% 10,332 36.88% 28,015
Tuolumne 3,303 72.72% 1,199 26.40% 5 0.11% 28 0.62% 7 0.15% 0 0.00% 2,104 46.32% 4,542
Ventura 13,384 63.14% 7,579 35.75% 97 0.46% 94 0.44% 42 0.20% 2 0.01% 5,805 27.38% 21,198
Yolo 5,992 68.94% 2,594 29.84% 44 0.51% 47 0.54% 15 0.17% 0 0.00% 3,398 39.09% 8,692
Yuba 4,125 74.18% 1,332 23.95% 27 0.49% 46 0.83% 31 0.56% 0 0.00% 2,793 50.22% 5,561
Total 1,766,836 66.95% 836,431 31.70% 12,917 0.49% 11,331 0.43% 10,877 0.41% 490 0.02% 930,405 35.26% 2,638,882

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

  1. ^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  2. ^ Based on the highest elector on each ticket

References

  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, p. 421 ISBN 0313257957
  3. ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 152-155 ISBN 0786422173
  4. ^ California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at General Election Held On November 3, 1936 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. pp. 4–23. Retrieved July 17, 2024.