[4] North Dakota thus shifted markedly from voting four-to-one for Warren G. Harding against the pro-League James M. Cox in 1920, to being the second-strongest state for Robert La Follette under the Nonpartisan League banner in 1924, to strong pro-Catholic and anti-Prohibition voting for Al Smith in 1928 that made the state 7 points more Democratic than the nation at-large.

After he had won the state's primary against Oklahoma populist "Alfalfa Bill" Murray,[6] Roosevelt cultivated favor with North Dakota congressmen William Lemke, Lynn J. Frazier and Gerald P. Nye,[7] and as Smith had in 1928, gained the support of former Senator Henry C.

Late proposals by Hoover to offer relief failed to make any impression,[7] especially as the President had refused to support the bankruptcy and refinance bills advocated by Senator Frazier.

With the farming areas decimated by drought, Hoover support held up best in the cities of the Red River valley, but FDR still carried all 53 counties by double-digit majorities.

Roosevelt became the first Democrat to win a majority of North Dakota's vote in a presidential election, a feat he emulated in 1936 but which has otherwise only been achieved by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.