1932 Florida gubernatorial election
1932 Florida gubernatorial election
County Results
Congressional District Result
Sholtz 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
The 1932 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932. Democratic nominee David Sholtz defeated Republican nominee William J. Howey with 66.62% of the vote.
Primary elections
Primary elections were held on June 7, 1932.[1]
Democratic primary
During the Democratic primary, the campaign platforms for several candidates are known. David Sholtz would run on a campaign involving: increasing government services, giving back pay for teachers, making school terms 9 months log, free textbook for school students, creating a workers' compensation law, increasing bank regulation and providing more funding for public welfare. Carl Maples would pitch himself as being someone who supported a localized self-government.[2] Former governor Cary A. Hardee would emphasize his record when he was governor while running in the primaries. Another former governor, John W. Martin would emphasize that he led to many roads being paved in Florida and would promise that if elected for a second nonconsecutive term as governor he would give: "a dollar in his pocket and a smile on his face."[3]
Many political observers believed that former governors John W. Martin and Cary A. Hardee would face off against each other in a runoff race.[3]
Candidates
Endorsements
Results
Democratic Primary Runoff by county 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Runoff Results by county
County[6]
David Sholtz
John W. Martin
Total votes
#
%
#
%
Alachua
2,836
60.55%
1,848
39.45%
4,684
Baker
647
41.66%
906
58.34%
1,553
Bay
1,903
50.22%
1,886
49.78%
3,789
Bradford
1,029
60.57%
670
39.43%
1,699
Brevard
1,482
57.33%
1,103
42.67%
2,585
Broward
3,231
79.90%
813
20.10%
4,044
Calhoun
890
43.65%
1,149
56.35%
2,039
Charlotte
716
65.93%
370
34.07%
1,086
Citrus
1,029
59.51%
700
40.49%
1,729
Clay
1,137
57.08%
855
42.92%
1,992
Collier
158
33.83%
309
66.17%
467
Columbia
1,676
52.00%
1,547
48.00%
3,223
Dade
15,630
71.90%
6,109
28.10%
21,739
DeSoto
1,936
72.78%
724
27.22%
2,660
Dixie
563
42.91%
749
57.09%
1,312
Duval
16,877
62.53%
10,115
37.47%
26,992
Escambia
5,545
64.19%
3,093
35.81%
8,638
Flagler
323
52.35%
294
47.65%
617
Franklin
303
24.32%
943
75.68%
1,246
Gadsden
1,052
46.22%
1,224
53.78%
2,276
Gilchrist
319
29.24%
772
70.76%
1,091
Glades
363
45.43%
436
54.57%
799
Gulf
272
30.73%
613
69.27%
885
Hamilton
602
36.31%
1,056
63.69%
1,658
Hardee
2,430
71.85%
952
28.15%
3,382
Hendry
482
52.85%
430
47.15%
912
Hernando
1,105
68.17%
516
31.83%
1,621
Hillsborough
21,510
80.18%
5,316
19.82%
26,826
Holmes
1,564
36.46%
2,726
63.54%
4,290
Indian River
1,048
52.96%
931
47.04%
1,979
Jackson
2,590
32.55%
5,368
67.45%
7,958
Jefferson
763
42.63%
1,027
57.37%
1,790
Lafayette
280
23.61%
906
76.39%
1,186
Lake
2,415
64.73%
1,316
35.27%
3,731
Lee
2,409
61.52%
1,507
38.48%
3,916
Leon
857
22.12%
3,018
77.88%
3,875
Levy
1,257
56.78%
957
43.22%
2,214
Liberty
259
22.62%
886
77.38%
1,145
Madison
1,294
58.39%
922
41.61%
2,216
Manatee
3,546
84.41%
922
15.59%
4,201
Marion
2,365
56.04%
1,855
43.96%
4,220
Martin
460
46.05%
539
53.95%
999
Monroe
2,245
66.44%
1,134
33.56%
3,379
Nassau
995
55.65%
793
44.35%
1,788
Okaloosa
1,561
54.68%
1,294
45.32%
2,855
Okeechobee
694
66.79%
345
33.21%
1,039
Orange
5,151
77.92%
1,460
22.08%
6,611
Osceola
1,583
70.32%
668
29.68%
2,251
Palm Beach
8,600
77.52%
2,494
22.48%
11,094
Pasco
2,582
75.23%
850
24.77%
3,432
Pinellas
7,124
75.71%
2,285
24.29%
9,409
Polk
8,873
78.89%
2,375
21.11%
11,248
Putnam
1,889
58.16%
1,359
41.84%
3,248
Santa Rosa
1,740
46.30%
2,018
53.70%
3,758
Sarasota
1,904
73.20%
697
26.80%
2,601
Seminole
2,155
70.04%
922
29.96%
3,077
St. Johns
2,792
63.34%
1,616
36.66%
4,408
St. Lucie
1,287
63.15%
1,616
36.85%
2,038
Sumter
1,389
58.51%
985
41.49%
2,374
Suwannee
1,142
40.73%
1,662
59.27%
2,804
Taylor
753
41.28%
1,071
58.72%
1,824
Union
628
53.09%
555
46.91%
1,183
Volusia
6,830
71.96%
2,661
28.04%
9,491
Wakulla
358
22.28%
1,249
77.72%
1,607
Walton
1,700
46.81%
1,932
53.19%
3,632
Washington
1,189
31.17%
2,625
68.83%
3,814
Totals
173,540
62.80%
102,805
37.20%
276,345
General election
William J. Howey ran on a similar campaign platform to 1928. During his 1932 platform he promised to reduce the amount of circuit courts, replace county school boards with appointed superintendents and give parole to prisoners after serving 1/3 of their sentence. He supported refinancing the state's bonds at lower interest rates. As a way to pay off the state's debts, he proposed stopping all road construction and diverting the funds instead to paying off the state's debts. Howey was in favor of giving more legal rights to women and was fond of the benefits of having a two party system in the state. The Republicans favored abolishing the poll tax in the state while the Democrats were against this as they saw this as a major blow to white supremacy in the state.[7]
Candidates
Results
Results by county
County[9]
David Sholtz Democratic
William J. Howey Republican
Total votes
#
%
#
%
Alachua
3,099
67.92%
1,464
32.08%
4,563
Baker
1,019
75.76%
326
24.24%
1,345
Bay
2,493
79.50%
643
20.50%
3,136
Bradford
1,217
79.65%
311
20.35%
1,528
Brevard
1,606
54.76%
1,327
45.24%
2,933
Broward
3,173
61.34%
2,000
38.66%
5,173
Calhoun
1,049
72.44%
399
27.56%
1,448
Charlotte
835
60.20%
552
39.80%
1,387
Citrus
1,081
77.60%
312
22.40%
1,393
Clay
1,082
58.52%
767
41.48%
1,849
Collier
373
80.91%
88
19.09%
461
Columbia
2,213
82.39%
473
17.61%
2,686
Dade
16,530
59.88%
11,077
40.12%
27,607
DeSoto
1,504
67.69%
718
32.31%
2,222
Dixie
1,002
84.56%
183
15.44%
1,185
Duval
15,949
62.77%
9,460
37.23%
25,409
Escambia
5,441
68.70%
2,479
31.30%
7,920
Flagler
415
71.43%
166
28.57%
581
Franklin
893
83.61%
175
16.39%
1,068
Gadsden
1,660
82.71%
347
17.29%
2,007
Gilchrist
629
72.80%
235
27.20%
864
Glades
448
62.14%
273
37.86%
721
Gulf
567
83.14%
115
16.86%
682
Hamilton
867
69.36%
383
30.64%
1,250
Hardee
2,200
69.38%
971
30.62%
3,171
Hendry
624
72.64%
235
27.36%
859
Hernando
975
70.14%
415
29.86%
1,390
Highlands
1,539
66.22%
785
33.78%
2,324
Hillsborough
17,962
73.55%
6,460
26.45%
24,422
Holmes
2,384
75.44%
776
24.56%
3,160
Indian River
1,033
59.27%
710
40.73%
1,743
Jackson
4,127
77.30%
1,212
22.70%
5,339
Jefferson
1,287
87.25%
188
12.75%
1,475
Lafayette
826
86.40%
130
13.60%
956
Lake
2,601
51.35%
2,464
48.65%
5,065
Lee
2,381
66.34%
1,208
33.66%
3,589
Leon
2,656
81.70%
595
18.30%
3,251
Levy
1,418
79.40%
368
20.60%
1,786
Liberty
584
82.14%
127
17.86%
711
Madison
1,484
80.17%
367
19.83%
1,851
Manatee
2,834
65.25%
1,509
34.75%
4,343
Marion
2,385
57.32%
1,776
42.68%
4,161
Martin
700
58.53%
496
41.47%
1,196
Monroe
2,648
87.11%
392
12.89%
3,040
Nassau
907
59.91%
607
40.09%
1,514
Okaloosa
1,841
79.15%
485
20.85%
2,326
Okeechobee
717
78.79%
193
21.21%
910
Orange
4,859
56.61%
3,725
43.39%
8,584
Osceola
1,467
55.40%
1,181
44.60%
2,648
Palm Beach
7,732
65.04%
4,156
34.96%
11,888
Pasco
2,217
64.43%
1,224
35.57%
3,441
Pinellas
9,787
57.83%
7,138
42.17%
16,925
Polk
8,785
66.66%
4,393
33.34%
13,178
Putnam
1,894
57.73%
1,387
42.27%
3,281
Santa Rosa
2,318
73.08%
854
26.92%
3,172
Sarasota
1,839
67.61%
881
32.39%
2,720
Seminole
2,008
63.10%
1,174
36.90%
3,182
St. Johns
3,043
66.07%
1,563
33.93%
4,606
St. Lucie
1,479
73.55%
532
26.45%
2,011
Sumter
1,523
65.25%
811
34.75%
2,334
Suwannee
1,758
77.31%
516
22.69%
2,274
Taylor
1,134
73.21%
415
26.79%
1,549
Union
846
83.60%
166
16.40%
1,012
Volusia
7,197
59.44%
4,910
40.56%
12,107
Wakulla
913
84.85%
163
15.15%
1,076
Walton
2,238
80.13%
555
19.87%
2,793
Washington
1,975
70.23%
837
29.77%
2,812
Total
186,270
66.62%
93,323
33.38%
279,593
References
^ a b c The Florida Handbook . 1987. ISBN 9780961600006 . Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
^ Evans, Jon S. (2011). "Weathering the Storm: Florida Politics during the Administration of Spessard L. Holland in World War II (thesis)" . Florida State University Libraries . Archived from the original on August 6, 2021.
^ a b c Cox, Merlin G. (1964) "David Sholtz: New Deal Governor of Florida," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 43 : No. 2 , Article 5.
^ "Journal of the Senate" (PDF) . Florida Senate. April 4, 1933.
^ Lambright, E. D. (June 18, 1932). "Senator Fletcher Endorse Sholtz; Predicts Victory" . The Tampa Tribune . p. 1. Retrieved May 12, 2023 .
^ Gray, R. A. (n.d.). (rep.). Tabulation of Official Vote Florida Primary Elections : Democratic and Republican (Vol. 1932, p. 16).
^ Hughes, Jr., Melvin (January 1988). "WILLIAM J. HOWEY AND HIS FLORIDA DREAMS" . The Florida Historical Quarterly . LXVI (3) – via University of Central Florida Digital Library.
^ McGovern, Bernie (2007). Florida Almanac 2007-2008 . ISBN 9781455604418 . Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
^ Gray, R. A. (1932). (rep.). Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida (Vol. 1931–1932, p. 309). Tallahassee, FL: Rose Ptg. Co.