The 1928 United States presidential election in California took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Republican nominee, former Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, in a landslide over the Democratic nominee, New York Governor Al Smith. This was also the first election in California where the winning candidate received over 1 million votes. This also remains the last time that a Republican got more than 60% of the vote in California.

This was the last time until 1952 that a Republican presidential nominee carried California. After this election, no Republican candidate would win Plumas County again until 1980, and no Republican would carry Fresno County, Kings County, Lassen County, Madera County, and Solano County again until 1972.

Smith won in a few unionized mining/logging counties in the Sierras, and the substantially Catholic (Irish and Italian) city of San Francisco. Hoover’s largest victories in California were scored in Southern California (largely settled from the white, Protestant Lower Midwest).

Results + General Election ResultsParty Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Harriet W. Works1,162,323 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Rolfe L. Thompson1,160,780 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Ben R. Meyer1,160,770 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover John A. O'Connell1,160,539 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Harry K. Wolff1,160,536 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Aurelia H. Reinhardt1,160,490 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Marshall DeMotte1,160,488 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover James F. Collins1,160,443 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover C. P. Rendon1,160,407 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover A. W. McPherson1,160,332 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover L. L. Dennett1,160,308 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover Fred H. Schauer1,160,296 Republican Party & Prohibition Party Herbert Hoover R. Y. Williams1,160,126 Democratic Party Al Smith James D. Phelan614,365 Democratic Party Al Smith Clara Hellman Heller611,430 Democratic Party Al Smith John H. Young611,348 Democratic Party Al Smith R. M. Fitzgerald611,321 Democratic Party Al Smith Ross W. Pool611,316 Democratic Party Al Smith Justus S. Wardell611,279 Democratic Party Al Smith A. L. Conrad611,236 Democratic Party Al Smith Estill Stephens Bartell611,220 Democratic Party Al Smith Milton K. Young611,156 Democratic Party Al Smith Julia Babcock611,143 Democratic Party Al Smith C. M. Brown Jr.611,083 Democratic Party Al Smith Phil Dodson611,004 Democratic Party Al Smith Curtis Hillyer610,680 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Upton Sinclair19,595 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Addie M. Benedict19,240 Socialist Party Norman Thomas E. Backus19,170 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Mary M. Morgan19,168 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Agnes H. Downing19,157 Socialist Party Norman Thomas N. A. Richardson19,154 Socialist Party Norman Thomas W. H. Eastman19,153 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Allen K. Clifford19,152 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Philip Bernstein19,150 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Walter E. Walker19,144 Socialist Party Norman Thomas Julius Levitt19,135 Socialist Party Norman Thomas W. T. Tipton19,091 Socialist Party Norman Thomas F. L. Neustein19,082 Write-in William Z. Foster112 Write-in Benjamin Gitlow104 Write-in H. Morgan6 Write-in Scattering151Votes cast 1,796,656

Results by county County Herbert HooverRepublican/Prohibition Al SmithDemocratic Norman ThomasSocialist William Z. FosterCommunist ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda118,53965.42%60,87533.60%1,7170.95%00.00%630.03%57,66431.82%181,194Alpine4994.23%35.77%00.00%00.00%00.00%4688.46%52Amador99044.12%1,24655.53%80.36%00.00%00.00%-256-11.41%2,244Butte6,30660.45%3,94637.83%1801.73%00.00%00.00%2,36022.62%10,432Calaveras1,26253.79%1,06645.44%180.77%00.00%00.00%1968.35%2,346Colusa1,75256.30%1,33842.99%220.71%00.00%00.00%41413.30%3,112Contra Costa13,49560.38%8,57338.36%2811.26%00.00%00.00%4,92222.02%22,349Del Norte77155.87%59943.41%100.72%00.00%00.00%17212.46%1,380El Dorado1,22844.25%1,51654.63%311.12%00.00%00.00%-288-10.38%2,775Fresno20,68754.30%16,88444.32%5271.38%00.00%00.00%3,8039.98%38,098Glenn2,46665.03%1,29734.20%290.76%00.00%00.00%1,16930.83%3,792Humboldt9,16269.75%3,72628.37%2471.88%00.00%00.00%5,43641.39%13,135Imperial5,41767.61%2,48631.03%1091.36%00.00%00.00%2,93136.58%8,012Inyo1,20657.37%86140.96%351.67%00.00%00.00%34516.41%2,102Kern14,69262.67%8,54136.43%2120.90%00.00%00.00%6,15126.24%23,445Kings2,94751.51%2,70147.21%731.28%00.00%00.00%2464.30%5,721Lake1,82065.37%92633.26%381.36%00.00%00.00%89432.11%2,784Lassen2,11156.73%1,59742.92%130.35%00.00%00.00%51413.81%3,721Los Angeles513,52670.22%209,94528.71%7,5891.04%780.01%1630.02%303,58141.51%731,301Madera2,35454.88%1,89644.21%370.86%10.02%10.02%45810.68%4,289Marin7,86257.44%5,68641.54%1401.02%00.00%00.00%2,17615.90%13,688Mariposa65655.03%51743.37%191.59%00.00%00.00%13911.66%1,192Mendocino4,81063.39%2,62834.63%1501.98%00.00%00.00%2,18228.76%7,588Merced4,64460.17%2,97038.48%1041.35%00.00%00.00%1,67421.69%7,718Modoc94256.75%71142.83%70.42%00.00%00.00%23113.92%1,660Mono22061.80%12735.67%92.53%00.00%00.00%9326.12%356Monterey7,22863.12%4,13836.13%860.75%00.00%00.00%3,09026.98%11,452Napa4,69957.48%3,42241.86%540.66%00.00%00.00%1,27715.62%8,175Nevada2,17352.00%1,95946.88%471.12%00.00%00.00%2145.12%4,179Orange30,57279.35%7,61119.75%3440.89%00.00%00.00%22,96159.60%38,527Placer3,66949.25%3,68549.46%961.29%00.00%00.00%-16-0.21%7,450Plumas94745.64%1,07952.00%492.36%00.00%00.00%-132-6.36%2,075Riverside17,60077.94%4,76921.12%2120.94%00.00%00.00%12,83156.82%22,581Sacramento20,76250.83%19,68448.19%4030.99%00.00%00.00%1,0782.64%40,849San Benito1,97158.87%1,36640.80%110.33%00.00%00.00%60518.07%3,348San Bernardino29,22974.73%9,43624.13%4471.14%00.00%00.00%19,79350.61%39,112San Diego47,76967.14%22,74931.97%6330.89%00.00%00.00%25,02035.16%71,151San Francisco95,98749.11%96,63249.44%2,7991.43%240.01%260.01%-645-0.33%195,468San Joaquin16,69561.10%10,34337.85%2881.05%00.00%00.00%6,35223.25%27,326San Luis Obispo5,42560.82%3,33637.40%1591.78%00.00%00.00%2,08923.42%8,920San Mateo14,36058.87%9,75539.99%2671.09%50.02%50.02%4,60518.88%24,392Santa Barbara11,66669.44%4,95429.49%1791.07%00.00%00.00%6,71223.25%16,799Santa Clara31,71063.81%17,58935.39%3880.78%40.01%30.01%14,12128.42%49,694Santa Cruz8,27568.53%3,68830.54%1120.93%00.00%00.00%4,58737.99%12,075Shasta2,30152.20%2,02545.94%821.86%00.00%00.00%2766.26%4,408Sierra45751.52%42047.35%101.13%00.00%00.00%374.17%887Siskiyou3,75855.49%2,91643.06%981.45%00.00%00.00%84212.43%6,772Solano7,06152.32%6,27846.51%1581.17%00.00%00.00%7835.80%13,497Sonoma12,89159.71%8,50639.40%1940.90%00.00%00.00%4,38520.31%21,591Stanislaus10,75367.13%5,06331.61%2031.27%00.00%00.00%5,69035.52%16,019Sutter2,23953.98%1,87545.20%340.82%00.00%00.00%3648.78%4,148Tehama3,39365.58%1,65031.89%1312.53%00.00%00.00%1,74333.69%5,174Trinity44748.85%43347.32%353.83%00.00%00.00%141.53%915Tulare12,05763.76%6,63535.09%2181.15%00.00%00.00%5,42228.67%18,910Tuolumne1,73154.80%1,36043.05%682.15%00.00%00.00%37111.74%3,159Ventura9,01770.17%3,71728.92%1170.91%00.00%00.00%5,30041.24%12,851Yolo3,54556.96%2,64142.43%380.61%00.00%00.00%90414.52%6,224Yuba2,02250.02%1,99049.23%300.74%00.00%00.00%320.79%4,042Total 1,162,32364.69%614,36534.19%19,5951.09%1120.01%2610.01%547,95830.50%1,796,656

Counties that flipped from Socialist to Republican

Butte Calaveras Lassen Nevada Sacramento Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Trinity Tuolumne

Counties that flipped from Socialist to Democratic Amador El Dorado Plumas Placer

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic San Francisco

Notes

References