Virginia made national headlines in the Presidential election of 1928. For the first time since 1872, the Republican set of electors in Virginia was chosen by a majority of the Virginia voters. Consequently, the Republican Presidential candidate that year, Herbert Hoover, received the twelve electoral votes of Virginia. Virginia was fortunate in escaping the most severe pangs of the depression years of the 1930's. The great variety of industries and occupations kept the Commonwealth from becoming severely economically stricken as was the case of states having one specialized type of economic activity. Surprisingly enough, some industries such as the tobacco industry and the rayon and cellophane industries expanded considerably. In conjunction with the federal government's construction program during the depression years as an attempt to create new job opportunities, numerous bridges, public school buildings and other structures--such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond--were built. Economy in government administration was stressed and Governor John G. Pollard (1930-1934) reduced his own salary ten per cent for one year as a part of the economy program. Virginia was one of the three states which was successful in maintaining a balanced budget in the depression years of the 1930's. Although the relief cost in Virginia was below the national average relief, at one point during the depression, over 50,000 families and single individuals had become dependent upon the dole system--especially industrial workers in the cities. Job-finding committees were organized in many sections of the state to stimulate re-employment. After the national census of 1930 had been taken and the results had been tabulated, the state legislature of Virginia passed an act dividing the Commonwealth into nine Congressional districts instead of its previous ten districts. This decrease took place because of a smaller increase in population in Virginia in proportion to other states of the United States. This act was found to be objectionable by some residents who stated that the new seventh district was disproportionately large. After suit had been filed, the Virginia Court of Appeals declared the act invalid on the grounds that it did not provide for equal representation as required by the United States Constitution. As a result, in the 1932 national election, all the United States Representatives from Virginia were elected at-large by the whole state electorate rather than by particular districts. Subsequently, the legislature redistricted properly, and at the next election Congressmen from Virginia were chosen by, and represented, particular Congressional districts. Like a large majority of the states in the 1932 national election, Virginians gave Franklin D. Roosevelt a victory at the polls with a plurality of 114,343 popular votes.