1936 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

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1936 Democratic Party presidential primaries

* * *

| <- 1932 | March 10 to May 19, 1936 | 1940 ->

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|  |  |

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Candidate  | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Henry Skillman Breckinridge
Home state  | New York | New York
Contests won  | 13 | 1
Popular vote  | 4,814,978 | 136,407
Percentage  | 92.9% | 2.6%

* * *

Results map by state.

* * *

| Previous Democratic nominee

Franklin D. Roosevelt

| Democratic nominee

Franklin D. Roosevelt

|

From March 10 to May 19, 1936, voters of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1936 Democratic National Convention for the purpose of selecting the party's nominee for president in the 1936 United States presidential election.[1] Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1936 Democratic National Convention held from June 23 to June 27, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

## Candidates

[edit]

Before his assassination, there was a challenge from Louisiana Senator Huey Long. But, due to his untimely assassination, President Roosevelt faced only one primary opponent other than various favorite sons.

Franklin D. Roosevelt | Henry Skillman Breckinridge | Upton Sinclair | John S. McGroarty | Al Smith
|  |  |  |

U.S. President
(1933–1945)

Assistant Secretary of War
(1913–1916)

Novelist and Journalist from California

Representative from California
(1935–1939)

Governor of New York
(1919–1920, 1923–1928)

4,830,730 votes

136,407 votes

106,068 votes

61,391 votes

8,856 votes

## Primaries

[edit]

|  | Franklin
Roosevelt | Henry
Breckinridge | Upton
Sinclair | John
McGroarty | Joseph
Coutremarsh  | Uncommitted  | Others

|
|
|
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|
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|
|

March 10  | New Hampshire
(Primary) | 100.00%
(15,752) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
April 7  | Wisconsin
(Primary) | 99.96%
(401,773) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 0.04%
(154)
April 14  | Illinois
(Primary) | 99.97%
(1,416,411) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 0.03%
(446)
Nebraska
(Primary) | 100.00%
(139,743) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
April 28  | Massachusetts
(Primary) | 85.85%
(W) (51,924) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 14.15%
(W) (8,556)
Pennsylvania
(Primary) | 95.32%
(720,309) | 4.68%
(35,351) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
May 4  | Maryland
(Primary) | 83.45%
(100,269) | 15.11%
(18,150) | \-  | \-  | \-  | 1.45%
(1,739) | \-
May 5  | California
(Primary) | 82.51%
(790,235) | \-  | 11.08%
(106,068) | 6.41%
(61,391) | \-  | \-  | \-
South Dakota
(Primary) | 100.00%
(48,262) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
May 12  | Ohio
(Primary) | 93.98%
(514,366) | 6.02%
(32,950) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-
West Virginia
(Primary) | 97.25%
(288,799) | \-  | \-  | \-  | 2.75%
(8,162) | \-  | \-
May 15  | Oregon
(Primary) | 99.77%
(88,305) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 0.24%
(208)
May 19  | New Jersey
(Primary) | 18.94%
(W) (11,676) | 81.04%
(49,956) | \-  | \-  | \-  | \-  | 0.02%
(14)
June 6  | Florida
(Primary)[2] | 89.67%
(242,906) | \-  | \-  | \-  | 10.33%
(27,982) | \-  | \-
Legend: |  | 1st place
(popular vote) |  | 2nd place
(popular vote) |  | 3rd place
(popular vote) |  | Candidate has Withdrawn
or Ceased Campaigning |  | (W) - Votes are Write-In

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## See also

[edit]

* Republican Party presidential primaries, 1936
* White primary

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Kalb, Deborah (February 19, 2016). Guide to U.S. Elections - Google Books. ISBN 9781483380353. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
2. ^ Gray, R.A. (1936). Tabulation of official vote. Florida primary elections: Democratic and Republican (1936). Florida Secretary of State. p. 3. Retrieved March 4, 2025 - via Internet Archive.

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* v
* t
* e

(1935<-)  1936 United States elections (->1937)

President|

* 1936 United States presidential election
* Democratic primaries
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* v
* t
* e

(<- 1932) 1936 United States presidential election (-> 1940)

Democratic Party|

* Convention
* Primaries

Candidates|

* Incumbent nominee: Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Incumbent VP nominee: John Nance Garner

* Other candidates: Henry S. Breckinridge

Republican Party|

* Convention
* Primaries

Candidates|

* Nominee: Alf Landon
* VP nominee: Frank Knox

* Other candidates: William Borah
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* Warren Green
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Third-party and independent candidates

Communist Party|

* Nominee: Earl Browder
* VP nominee: James W. Ford

Prohibition Party|

* Nominee: D. Leigh Colvin
* VP nominee: Claude A. Watson

Socialist Party|

* Nominee: Norman Thomas
* VP nominee: George A. Nelson

Union Party|

* Nominee: William Lemke
* VP nominee: Thomas C. O'Brien

Socialist Labor Party|

* Nominee: John W. Aiken
* VP nominee: Emil F. Teichert

Christian Party|

* Nominee: William Dudley Pelley
* VP nominee: Willard Kemp

* Other 1936 elections: House
* Senate

* v
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Democratic Party

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State and
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|

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