1948 United States presidential election in North Carolina

The 1948 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 2, 1948, as part of the 1948 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

As a former Confederate state, North Carolina had a history of Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement of its African-American population and dominance of the Democratic Party in state politics. However, unlike the Deep South, the Republican Party had sufficient historic Unionist white support from the mountains and northwestern Piedmont to gain one-third of the statewide vote total in most general elections,Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 210, 242 where turnout was higher than elsewhere in the former Confederacy due substantially to the state's early abolition of the poll tax in 1920.Key, Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation, p. 502, Alfred A. Knopf (1949) Like Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, the relative strength of Republican opposition meant that North Carolina did not have statewide white primaries, although certain counties did use the white primary. Consequently, local response to the landmark 1944 court case of Smith v. Allwright was generally calm.

Nevertheless, the state was highly dissatisfied with the influence of blacks and labor unions on the national Democratic Party, and was initially satisfied when liberal Vice-president Henry A. Wallace was replaced on the Democratic ticket in 1944. However, by the beginning of 1946 most white North Carolinians were disapproving of President Truman, primarily because he appointed the first black federal judge and made overtures – though symbolic – toward civil rights. When Truman actually developed a proposal for black civil rights titled To Secure These Rights, however, North Carolina was the only Southern state where there was relatively little overt anger, and the state provided the only three votes from the former Confederacy for Truman as Democratic nominee during the party's 1948 National Convention. Combined with the persistent local Republican threat from mountain Unionist descendants, this meant that there was never any question of the state Democratic Party supporting South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond.

Thurmond won 9% of white voters.

Polls SourceRankingAs ofChattanooga Daily TimesOctober 15, 1948The Montgomery AdvertiserOctober 24, 1948The Miami NewsOctober 25, 1948The Charlotte ObserverOctober 27, 1948Mount Vernon ArgusNovember 1, 1948Oakland TribuneNovember 1, 1948

Results

Results by county +1948 United States presidential election in North Carolina by countyCountyHarry S. TrumanDemocraticThomas Edmund DeweyRepublicanJames Strom ThurmondStates’ RightsHenry Agard WallaceProgressiveMargin % # % # % # % # % # Greene 96.45% 2,687 2.33% 65 1.18% 33 0.04% 1 94.11% 2,622 Bertie 95.71% 3,034 2.68% 85 1.48% 47 0.13% 4 93.03% 2,949 Martin 95.53% 4,636 3.36% 163 1.07% 52 0.04% 2 92.17% 4,473 Northampton 92.17% 3,591 4.59% 179 3.05% 119 0.18% 7 87.58% 3,412 Franklin 91.55% 4,538 4.72% 234 3.57% 177 0.16% 8 86.83% 4,304 Pitt 89.47% 8,519 6.32% 602 3.40% 324 0.81% 77 83.14% 7,917 Edgecombe 89.75% 6,410 6.69% 478 3.00% 214 0.56% 40 83.06% 5,932 Hertford 88.80% 2,165 8.04% 196 2.67% 65 0.49% 12 80.76% 1,969 Nash 88.50% 7,590 7.98% 684 3.38% 290 0.14% 12 80.53% 6,906 Lenoir 88.54% 5,445 8.37% 515 2.63% 162 0.46% 28 80.16% 4,930 Jones 88.05% 1,238 8.04% 113 3.70% 52 0.21% 3 80.01% 1,125 Halifax 86.82% 6,172 7.10% 505 5.95% 423 0.13% 9 79.72% 5,667 Onslow 87.34% 3,318 8.32% 316 4.32% 164 0.03% 1 79.02% 3,002 Warren 85.75% 2,376 6.93% 192 7.25% 201 0.07% 2 78.49% 2,175 Gates 86.94% 939 8.24% 89 4.63% 50 0.19% 2 78.70% 850 Granville 85.25% 3,513 8.10% 334 6.16% 254 0.49% 20 77.14% 3,179 Wilson 86.25% 6,008 9.55% 665 3.57% 249 0.63% 44 76.70% 5,343 Chowan 83.99% 1,070 9.73% 124 5.65% 72 0.63% 8 74.25% 946 Currituck 83.63% 1,144 9.50% 130 6.36% 87 0.51% 7 74.12% 1,014 Hoke 80.71% 1,339 8.56% 142 10.61% 176 0.12% 2 70.10% 1,163 Person 82.28% 3,087 12.79% 480 4.80% 180 0.13% 5 69.48% 2,607 Craven 80.26% 5,039 11.87% 745 7.66% 481 0.21% 13 68.40% 4,294 Vance 79.51% 3,679 11.87% 549 8.06% 373 0.56% 26 67.65% 3,130 Perquimans 80.09% 849 12.74% 135 6.98% 74 0.19% 2 67.36% 714 Duplin 81.25% 5,866 14.18% 1,024 4.47% 323 0.10% 7 67.06% 4,842 Robeson 77.26% 7,056 11.34% 1,036 10.79% 985 0.61% 56 65.91% 6,020 Washington 81.43% 1,675 16.19% 333 1.70% 35 0.68% 14 65.24% 1,342 Anson 72.54% 2,692 12.05% 447 15.20% 564 0.22% 8 57.34% 2,128 Beaufort 77.53% 4,675 17.50% 1,055 4.89% 295 0.08% 5 60.03% 3,620 Columbus 74.79% 5,511 15.00% 1,105 10.06% 741 0.16% 12 59.79% 4,406 Bladen 72.33% 2,831 12.77% 500 14.67% 574 0.23% 9 57.66% 2,257 Richmond 71.95% 4,376 14.24% 866 13.58% 826 0.23% 14 57.71% 3,510 Camden 73.94% 576 16.30% 127 9.11% 71 0.64% 5 57.64% 449 Scotland 69.42% 1,957 12.74% 359 17.45% 492 0.39% 11 51.97% 1,465 Hyde 76.05% 800 20.34% 214 3.61% 38 0.00% 0 55.70% 586 Lee 74.38% 3,234 20.03% 871 5.47% 238 0.11% 5 54.35% 2,363 Caswell 68.82% 1,651 14.63% 351 16.22% 389 0.33% 8 52.61% 1,262 Wake 73.45% 17,939 19.86% 4,850 5.90% 1,441 0.79% 193 53.59% 13,089 Wayne 73.20% 6,111 19.86% 1,658 6.62% 553 0.31% 26 53.34% 4,453 Union 66.23% 3,407 14.35% 738 19.23% 989 0.19% 10 47.01% 2,418 Harnett 74.11% 6,608 22.26% 1,985 3.50% 312 0.12% 11 51.85% 4,623 Pender 62.39% 1,334 14.22% 304 21.94% 469 1.45% 31 40.46% 865 Johnston 70.69% 9,188 24.71% 3,211 4.39% 571 0.21% 27 45.99% 5,977 Haywood 71.82% 7,373 26.14% 2,684 1.97% 202 0.07% 7 45.68% 4,689 Rockingham 68.89% 8,553 23.65% 2,936 7.24% 899 0.22% 27 45.24% 5,617 Cleveland 65.21% 6,039 20.57% 1,905 13.77% 1,275 0.45% 42 44.64% 4,134 Pasquotank 67.76% 1,976 24.04% 701 7.72% 225 0.48% 14 43.72% 1,275 Durham 65.45% 11,530 25.72% 4,531 5.61% 989 3.20% 563 39.73% 6,999 Carteret 67.66% 3,491 29.46% 1,520 2.60% 134 0.29% 15 38.20% 1,971 Cumberland 55.13% 4,996 19.21% 1,741 25.26% 2,289 0.40% 36 29.87% 2,707 Tyrrell 65.77% 732 30.19% 336 3.86% 43 0.18% 2 35.58% 396 Dare 66.06% 802 30.72% 373 3.05% 37 0.16% 2 35.34% 429 Pamlico 62.36% 1,370 31.18% 685 6.14% 135 0.32% 7 31.18% 685 Orange 60.29% 3,523 31.03% 1,813 6.20% 362 2.48% 145 29.27% 1,710 Chatham 58.60% 3,396 34.65% 2,008 6.59% 382 0.16% 9 23.95% 1,388 Jackson 59.55% 4,005 37.47% 2,520 2.74% 184 0.24% 16 22.08% 1,485 Alamance 53.88% 8,287 33.32% 5,124 12.61% 1,939 0.20% 30 20.57% 3,163 Yancey 59.69% 3,481 39.13% 2,282 1.13% 66 0.05% 3 20.56% 1,199 New Hanover 47.92% 5,364 28.25% 3,162 23.24% 2,601 0.59% 66 19.67% 2,202 Surry 56.77% 6,956 37.89% 4,643 5.13% 629 0.20% 25 18.88% 2,313 Buncombe 55.34% 17,072 37.15% 11,460 6.94% 2,140 0.58% 179 18.19% 5,612 Swain 56.67% 1,908 41.25% 1,389 1.96% 66 0.12% 4 15.41% 519 McDowell 53.20% 3,805 37.88% 2,709 8.63% 617 0.29% 21 15.32% 1,096 Graham 56.24% 1,527 41.07% 1,115 2.43% 66 0.26% 7 15.17% 412 Gaston 47.27% 8,966 32.58% 6,180 19.80% 3,755 0.35% 67 14.69% 2,786 Stokes 56.15% 4,431 41.71% 3,291 1.96% 155 0.18% 14 14.45% 1,140 Rutherford 51.00% 5,992 36.95% 4,342 11.86% 1,394 0.19% 22 14.04% 1,650 Polk 52.07% 2,078 40.99% 1,636 6.82% 272 0.13% 5 11.07% 442 Iredell 47.47% 5,761 36.59% 4,441 15.76% 1,913 0.17% 21 10.88% 1,320 Moore 51.80% 3,341 42.16% 2,719 5.81% 375 0.23% 15 9.64% 622 Alleghany 51.43% 1,667 42.39% 1,374 5.86% 190 0.31% 10 9.04% 293 Guilford 48.73% 17,224 40.08% 14,167 10.06% 3,557 1.13% 401 8.65% 3,057 Mecklenburg 43.24% 14,353 34.70% 11,518 21.61% 7,172 0.43% 142 8.54% 2,835 Forsyth 49.35% 12,201 41.04% 10,147 6.79% 1,679 2.82% 698 8.31% 2,054 Macon 52.46% 2,785 44.98% 2,388 2.45% 130 0.11% 6 7.48% 397 Rowan 43.30% 6,799 36.44% 5,722 20.04% 3,146 0.22% 35 6.86% 1,077 Cabarrus 39.44% 5,059 33.48% 4,294 26.80% 3,437 0.28% 36 5.96% 765 Montgomery 47.50% 2,165 43.33% 1,975 9.10% 415 0.07% 3 4.17% 190 Ashe 50.76% 4,633 46.74% 4,266 2.39% 218 0.11% 10 4.02% 367 Clay 50.76% 1,307 47.11% 1,213 1.90% 49 0.23% 6 3.65% 94 Brunswick 43.82% 2,052 40.49% 1,896 15.27% 715 0.43% 20 3.33% 156 Cherokee 49.73% 2,771 46.93% 2,615 2.98% 166 0.36% 20 2.80% 156 Transylvania 48.27% 2,975 46.42% 2,861 5.05% 311 0.26% 16 1.85% 114 Caldwell 46.67% 5,033 46.24% 4,987 6.89% 743 0.20% 22 0.43% 46 Sampson 47.07% 4,965 46.76% 4,932 5.75% 607 0.42% 44 0.31% 33 Lincoln 42.71% 3,570 43.49% 3,635 13.58% 1,135 0.22% 18 -0.78% -65 Burke 46.16% 6,226 47.26% 6,374 6.47% 872 0.12% 16 -1.10% -148 Catawba 44.36% 8,844 47.50% 9,471 7.90% 1,576 0.23% 46 -3.14% -627 Davidson 46.15% 7,991 49.32% 8,539 4.33% 750 0.20% 34 -3.17% -548 Alexander 42.65% 2,057 47.98% 2,314 9.10% 439 0.27% 13 -5.33% -257 Watauga 45.66% 3,379 52.04% 3,851 2.14% 158 0.16% 12 -6.38% -472 Randolph 41.88% 6,567 53.39% 8,372 4.62% 724 0.12% 19 -11.51% -1,805 Stanly 37.82% 4,415 50.56% 5,902 11.39% 1,330 0.23% 27 -12.74% -1,487 Madison 42.67% 2,558 55.73% 3,341 1.32% 79 0.28% 17 -13.06% -783 Davie 38.66% 1,917 54.02% 2,679 7.10% 352 0.22% 11 -15.37% -762 Wilkes 40.17% 5,784 57.18% 8,234 2.50% 360 0.15% 22 -17.01% -2,450 Henderson 34.38% 3,311 51.61% 4,971 13.69% 1,319 0.32% 31 -17.23% -1,660 Yadkin 35.10% 2,083 61.19% 3,631 3.51% 208 0.20% 12 -26.09% -1,548 Avery 23.28% 933 74.73% 2,995 1.77% 71 0.22% 9 -51.45% -2,062 Mitchell 21.48% 818 76.35% 2,908 1.97% 75 0.21% 8 -54.87% -2,090

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Lincoln Burke Catawba Davidson Henderson

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Sampson

Analysis North Carolina was won by incumbent President Harry S. Truman (D–Missouri), running with Senator Alben W. Barkley, with 58.02 percent of the popular vote, against Governor Thomas E. Dewey (R–New York), running with Governor Earl Warren, with 32.68 percent of the popular vote. North Carolina was the worst former Confederate state for Thurmond, and one of only two, the other being Texas, in which he did not win at least one county. Because the Black Belt of the state, unlike the economically conservative Black Belts of the Deep South, was economically more liberal than the Piedmont region where the establishment Democratic faction led since 1929 by O. Max Gardner was based,Key, Southern Politics in State and Nation, pp. 215-217 its entirely white electorate stayed exceedingly loyal to Truman. The greatest support for Thurmond was instead found in middle- and upper-class urban areas of the Piedmont,Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 297 to such an extent that the best Dixiecrat counties correlated strongly with the largest urban areas.See

, this is the last election in which Cabarrus County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the last time a Democratic candidate won North Carolina by at least 15 points.

See also United States presidential elections in North Carolina

Notes

References

Works cited