The Dixiecrats were a group of Southern Democrats who broke away from the Democratic National party in 1948 after its national convention adopted a plank favoring civil rights legislation. They chose Gov. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as their presidential candidate, hoping to prevent either the Democratic candidate, President Harry S. Truman, or his Republican opponent, Thomas E. Dewey, from receiving a majority of the Electoral votes. They failed in their strategy, winning only 39 electoral votes and 22.5 percent of the popular vote in the South.