1920 United States presidential election in California explained

See main article: 1920 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1920 United States presidential election in California
Country:	California
Flag Image:	Flag of California (1911–1924).pngborder
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1916 United States presidential election in California
Previous Year:	1916
Next Election:	1924 United States presidential election in California
Next Year:	1924
Turnout:	71.87% (of registered voters) 7.70 pp 47.26% (of eligible voters) 10.65 pp^[1]
Election Date:	November 2, 1920
Image1:	Warren G Harding-Harris & Ewing crop.jpg
Nominee1:	Warren G. Harding
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	Ohio
Running Mate1:	Calvin Coolidge
Electoral Vote1:	13
Popular Vote1:	624,992
Percentage1:	66.20%
Nominee2:	James M. Cox
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Ohio
Running Mate2:	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	229,191
Percentage2:	24.28%
Image3:	Debs penitentiary.jpg
Nominee3:	Eugene V. Debs
Party3:	Socialist Party of America
Home State3:	Indiana
Running Mate3:	Seymour Stedman
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	64,076
Percentage3:	6.79%
Map Size:	300px
President
Before Election:	Woodrow Wilson
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Warren G. Harding
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1920 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election in which all 48 states participated. California voters chose 13 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Democratic nominee, Governor James M. Cox of Ohio and his running mate, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, against Republican challenger U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and his running mate, Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts.

By the beginning of 1920 skyrocketing inflation and President Woodrow Wilson's focus upon his proposed League of Nations at the expense of domestic policy had helped make the incumbent president very unpopular^[2] – besides which Wilson also had major health problems that had left First Lady Edith Wilson effectively running the nation.

Political unrest observed in the Palmer Raids and the "Red Scare" further added to the unpopularity of the Democratic Party, since this global political turmoil produced considerable fear of alien revolutionaries invading the country.^[3] Demand in the West for exclusion of Asian immigrants became even stronger than it had been before.^[4] Another issue was the anti-Cox position taken by the Ku Klux Klan,^[5] at the time a dominant force in Southern Democratic politics, and Cox's inconsistent stance on newly passed Prohibition – he had been a "wet" before, but announced he would support Prohibition enforcement in August.^[5]

The West had been the chief presidential battleground ever since the "System of 1896" emerged following that election.^[6] For this reason, Cox chose to tour the entire nation^[7] and after touring the Pacific Northwest Cox went to California to defend his proposed League of Nations. Cox argued that the League could have stopped the Asian conflicts – like the Japanese seizure of Shandong – but his apparent defence of Chinese immigrants in the Bay Area was very unpopular and large numbers of hecklers attacked the Democratic candidate.^[8] Moreover, the only attention Cox received in the Western press was severe criticism.^[8]

In September, several opinion polls were conducted, all predicting that Harding would carry California, which had been extremely close in the two preceding elections, by over one hundred thousand votes.^[9] By the end of October, although no more opinion polls had been published, most observers were even more convinced that the Republicans would take complete control of all branches of government.^[10] On election day, Warren Harding carried California by a margin much larger than early polls predicted, winning with 66.20 percent of the vote to James Cox's 24.28 percent. Harding became the first of only two presidential nominees to sweep all of California's counties; the only other one was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the losing 1920 vice-presidential candidate, sixteen years later. Harding's 66.20 percent of the vote was the largest fraction for any presidential candidate in California until Roosevelt won with 66.95 percent in 1936, though his 41.92-percentage-point margin of victory is the largest for any candidate in the state.

This was the first time Colusa County, the one of only two counties in the Pacific States to support Democratic nominee Alton B. Parker in 1904, ever voted Republican. The other such county, Mariposa County, backed a Republican for the first time since 1872.^[11] Plumas County would never vote Republican again until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and Amador, El Dorado and Placer Counties would not vote Republican again until Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.^[11]

Results

+ General Election Results^[12]	Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	John H. Rosseter	624,992
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	W. L. Hollingsworth	624,291
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	A. H. Hewitt	624,067
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	A. J. Mathews	624,041
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	George M. Francis	623,964
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	C. C. Young	623,920
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Wylie M. Giffen	623,778
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Lawrence J. Flaherty	623,686
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	George R. Davis	623,670
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Mrs. Edward F. Glaser	623,393
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Ed Fletcher	623,333
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Mrs. D. C. Stephens	623,279
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Mrs. Charles C. Teague	623,172
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	E. L. Doheny	229,191
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Robert M. Fitzgerald	228,994
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Francis J. Heney	228,969
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Thomas Rutledge	228,792
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John A. Livingston	228,728
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	L. O. Stephens	228,719
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Arthur C. Huston	228,693
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	James F. Peck	228,579
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	E. S. Heller	228,568
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Mary E. Foy	228,541
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Sarah Hagan	228,509
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Peter F. Zabala	228,477
bgcolor=		Democratic Party	James M. Cox	William G. Irving	228,458
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	R. W. Anderson	64,076
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Isabel King	63,829
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Joseph Lawrence	63,813
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Mary Morgan	63,784
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Fred Bergstrom	63,778
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Frithiof Sundman	63,761
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Karl Hellman	63,750
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Bird E. Morehouse	63,742
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Anna Macy	63,739
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Abraham Levin	63,713
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	A. T. Pruess	63,693
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Clarissa Kneeland	63,692
bgcolor=		Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Addie Benedict	63,686
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	H. A. Johnson	25,204
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	H. P. Stipp	25,085
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Stella B. Irvine	25,057
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Edward Beach	25,047
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Elam Biggs	25,033
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Wiley J. Phillips	24,973
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Ada Ferris	24,953
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	F. A. Densmore	24,934
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	E. F. Van Vlear	24,930
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	T. K. Beard	24,929
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Anna M. De Yo	24,895
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Joseph Fusch	24,886
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	O. U. Hull	24,864
	Write-in		Scattering	587
Votes cast				944,050

Results by county

County	Warren G. Harding Republican		James M. Cox Democratic		Eugene V. Debs Socialist		Aaron S. Watkins Prohibition		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Alameda		73,177		69.11%		21,468		20.27%		9,266		8.75%		1,978		1.87%		0		0.00%		51,709		48.83%		105,889
	Alpine		64		91.43%		6		8.57%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		58		82.86%		70
	Amador		1,350		64.13%		639		30.36%		63		2.99%		53		2.52%		0		0.00%		711		33.78%		2,105
	Butte		5,409		65.69%		2,262		27.47%		339		4.12%		224		2.72%		0		0.00%		3,147		38.22%		8,234
	Calaveras		1,480		63.96%		641		27.70%		111		4.80%		82		3.54%		0		0.00%		839		36.26%		2,314
	Colusa		1,645		61.24%		907		33.77%		72		2.68%		62		2.31%		0		0.00%		738		27.48%		2,686
	Contra Costa		9,041		63.75%		3,483		24.56%		1,410		9.94%		248		1.75%		0		0.00%		5,558		39.19%		14,182
	Del Norte		596		62.61%		279		29.31%		49		5.15%		28		2.94%		0		0.00%		317		33.30%		952
	El Dorado		1,636		64.36%		726		28.56%		115		4.52%		65		2.56%		0		0.00%		910		35.80%		2,542
	Fresno		14,621		55.36%		9,613		36.39%		1,426		5.40%		753		2.85%		0		0.00%		5,008		18.96%		26,413
	Glenn		1,916		64.19%		902		30.22%		89		2.98%		78		2.61%		0		0.00%		1,014		33.97%		2,985
	Humboldt		6,528		69.89%		1,778		19.04%		763		8.17%		271		2.90%		0		0.00%		4,750		50.86%		9,340
	Imperial		4,699		64.51%		2,022		27.76%		374		5.13%		189		2.59%		0		0.00%		2,677		36.75%		7,284
	Inyo		1,195		57.20%		682		32.65%		180		8.62%		32		1.53%		0		0.00%		513		24.56%		2,089
	Kern		7,079		49.01%		6,095		42.20%		933		6.46%		337		2.33%		0		0.00%		984		6.81%		14,444
	Kings		2,806		59.61%		1,604		34.08%		180		3.82%		117		2.49%		0		0.00%		1,202		25.54%		4,707
	Lake		993		57.23%		571		32.91%		75		4.32%		96		5.53%		0		0.00%		422		24.32%		1,735
	Lassen		1,582		66.22%		643		26.92%		97		4.06%		67		2.80%		0		0.00%		939		39.31%		2,389
	Los Angeles		178,117		69.10%		55,661		21.59%		14,674		5.69%		8,812		3.42%		506		0.20%		122,456		47.51%		257,770
	Madera		1,779		55.46%		1,145		35.69%		181		5.64%		103		3.21%		0		0.00%		634		19.76%		3,208
	Marin		5,375		68.80%		1,688		21.61%		632		8.09%		118		1.51%		0		0.00%		3,687		47.19%		7,813
	Mariposa		484		55.38%		320		36.61%		53		6.06%		17		1.95%		0		0.00%		164		18.76%		874
	Mendocino		4,443		65.83%		1,789		26.51%		401		5.94%		116		1.72%		0		0.00%		2,654		39.32%		6,749
	Merced		3,457		62.99%		1,537		28.01%		331		6.03%		163		2.97%		0		0.00%		1,920		34.99%		5,488
	Modoc		992		62.59%		535		33.75%		36		2.27%		22		1.39%		0		0.00%		457		28.83%		1,585
	Mono		170		67.73%		56		22.31%		22		8.76%		3		1.20%		0		0.00%		114		45.42%		251
	Monterey		4,817		67.76%		1,771		24.91%		263		3.70%		258		3.63%		0		0.00%		3,046		42.85%		7,109
	Napa		4,448		70.99%		1,444		23.05%		274		4.37%		100		1.60%		0		0.00%		3,004		47.94%		6,266
	Nevada		2,055		64.97%		747		23.62%		279		8.82%		82		2.59%		0		0.00%		1,308		41.35%		3,163
	Orange		12,797		71.52%		3,502		19.57%		632		3.53%		962		5.38%		0		0.00%		9,295		51.95%		17,893
	Placer		2,894		59.44%		1,559		32.02%		288		5.91%		128		2.63%		0		0.00%		1,335		27.42%		4,869
	Plumas		999		63.96%		403		25.80%		114		7.30%		46		2.94%		0		0.00%		596		38.16%		1,562
	Riverside		9,124		69.55%		2,798		21.33%		690		5.26%		506		3.86%		0		0.00%		6,326		48.22%		13,118
	Sacramento		15,634		64.87%		7,150		29.67%		944		3.92%		372		1.54%		0		0.00%		8,484		35.20%		24,100
	San Benito		1,965		65.00%		900		29.77%		74		2.45%		84		2.78%		0		0.00%		1,065		35.23%		3,023
	San Bernardino		12,518		62.84%		5,620		28.21%		890		4.47%		893		4.48%		0		0.00%		6,898		34.63%		19,921
	San Diego		19,286		63.78%		8,478		27.27%		1,812		5.83%		971		3.12%		0		0.00%		11,348		36.50%		31,087
	San Francisco		96,105		65.18%		32,637		22.13%		17,049		11.56%		1,630		1.11%		29		0.02%		63,468		43.04%		147,450
	San Joaquin		12,003		60.94%		6,487		32.93%		695		3.53%		513		2.60%		0		0.00%		5,516		28.00%		19,698
	San Luis Obispo		4,123		61.31%		1,606		23.88%		643		9.56%		301		4.48%		52		0.77%		2,517		37.43%		6,725
	San Mateo		7,205		70.52%		1,958		19.16%		956		9.36%		98		0.96%		0		0.00%		5,247		51.36%		10,217
	Santa Barbara		6,970		67.48%		2,586		25.04%		496		4.80%		277		2.68%		0		0.00%		4,384		42.44%		10,329
	Santa Clara		19,565		68.09%		6,485		22.57%		1,667		5.80%		1,015		3.53%		0		0.00%		13,080		45.52%		28,732
	Santa Cruz		5,285		66.28%		1,957		24.54%		412		5.17%		320		4.01%		0		0.00%		3,328		41.74%		7,974
	Shasta		2,108		62.07%		1,028		30.27%		205		6.04%		55		1.62%		0		0.00%		1,080		31.80%		3,396
	Sierra		506		72.18%		158		22.54%		24		3.42%		13		1.85%		0		0.00%		348		49.64%		701
	Siskiyou		2,909		60.05%		1,502		31.01%		337		6.96%		96		1.98%		0		0.00%		1,407		29.05%		4,844
	Solano		7,102		64.77%		2,954		26.94%		743		6.78%		166		1.51%		0		0.00%		4,148		37.83%		10,965
	Sonoma		10,377		66.90%		4,070		26.24%		680		4.38%		385		2.48%		0		0.00%		6,307		40.66%		15,512
	Stanislaus		7,038		61.61%		3,055		26.74%		582		5.09%		748		6.55%		0		0.00%		3,983		34.87%		11,423
	Sutter		1,862		70.32%		636		24.02%		69		2.61%		81		3.06%		0		0.00%		1,226		46.30%		2,648
	Tehama		2,462		61.81%		1,079		27.09%		231		5.80%		211		5.30%		0		0.00%		1,383		34.72%		3,983
	Trinity		622		62.89%		285		28.82%		75		7.58%		7		0.71%		0		0.00%		337		34.07%		989
	Tulare		9,136		61.26%		4,837		32.43%		527		3.53%		414		2.78%		0		0.00%		4,299		28.83%		14,914
	Tuolumne		1,285		59.38%		659		30.45%		157		7.26%		63		2.91%		0		0.00%		626		28.93%		2,164
	Ventura		5,231		76.00%		1,305		18.96%		181		2.63%		166		2.41%		0		0.00%		3,926		57.04%		6,883
	Yolo		3,375		61.95%		1,787		32.80%		133		2.44%		153		2.81%		0		0.00%		1,588		29.15%		5,448
	Yuba		2,012		70.70%		696		24.46%		82		2.88%		56		1.97%		0		0.00%		1,316		46.24%		2,846
Total	624,992	66.20%	229,191	24.28%	64,076	6.79%	25,204	2.67%	587	0.06%	395,801	41.93%	944,050

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Amador
• Butte
• Calaveras
• Colusa
• Contra Costa
• El Dorado
• Fresno
• Glenn
• Imperial
• Inyo
• Kern
• Kings
• Lake
• Lassen
• Madera
• Mariposa
• Merced
• Modoc
• Mono
• Monterey
• Nevada
• Placer
• Plumas
• Sacramento
• San Benito
• San Francisco
• San Joaquin
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Barbara
• Santa Cruz
• Shasta
• Sierra
• Siskiyou
• Solano
• Stanislaus
• Sutter
• Tehama
• Trinity
• Tulare
• Tuolumne
• Yolo
• Yuba

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018 . California Secretary of State . 2022-05-05.
2. Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 44
3. Leuchtenburg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932, p. 75
4. Vought, Hans P. ; The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents And The Immigrant, 1897-1933, p. 167
5. Brake, Robert J.; 'The porch and the stump: Campaign strategies in the 1920 presidential election'; Quarterly Journal of Speech, 55(3), pp. 256-267
6. Faykosh, Joseph D., Bowling Green State University; The Front Porch of the American People: James Cox and the Presidential Election of 1920 (thesis), p. 68
7. Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 69
8. Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 74
9. 'Predict Republican Victory in California: Senator Harding Pleases Delegation; Majority of 100,000 Forecast'; Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1920, p. 12
10. 'Republicans Going to Win: Prospects of a Complete Victory'; The Observer, October 31, 1920, p. 13
11. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155
12. Book: Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 2, 1920 in the State of California. Sacramento, California . 8-15 . 15 July 2024.