1920 United States presidential election in Georgia explained

See main article: 1920 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1920 United States presidential election in Georgia
Country:Georgia (U.S. state)
Flag Year:1920
Type:presidential
Vote Type:Popular
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1916 United States presidential election in Georgia
Previous Year:1916
Next Election:1924 United States presidential election in Georgia
Next Year:1924
Image1:James M. Cox 1920.jpg
Nominee1:James M. Cox
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Ohio
Running Mate1:Franklin Roosevelt
Electoral Vote1:14
Popular Vote1:107,162
Percentage1:72.06%
Nominee2:Warren Harding
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Ohio
Running Mate2:Calvin Coolidge
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:41,089
Percentage2:27.63%
Map Size:x300px
President
Before Election:Woodrow Wilson
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
Posttitle:Elected President
After Election:Warren Harding
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 1920 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the wider United States presidential election. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

With the exception of a handful of historically Unionist North Georgia counties – chiefly Fannin but also to a lesser extent Pickens, Gilmer and Towns – Georgia since the 1880s had been a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. Disfranchisement of almost all African-Americans and most poor whites had made the Republican Party virtually nonexistent outside of local governments in those few hill counties,[1] and the national Democratic Party served as the guardian of white supremacy against a Republican Party historically associated with memories of Reconstruction. The only competitive elections were Democratic primaries, which state laws restricted to whites on the grounds of the Democratic Party being legally a private club.[2]

Nonetheless, the largely white but secessionist “upcountry” regions of the state – lying immediately south of the few substantially unionist counties – had seen strong opposition to the policies of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson since World War I broke out.[3] Wilson had attempted to purge anti-war Southern Democrats in the 1918 midterm elections, and with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and his League of Nations proposal, further hostility to him emerged in Georgia.[4]

All these factors meant Cox lost significantly in the upcountry areas of the state[5] where Harding carried many areas that had supported Populist Thomas E. Watson or Progressives in recent elections.[3] Elsewhere, however, partisan loyalties remained extremely strong, so that Harding’s gain was less than most other Southern states and Georgia surpassed Louisiana – where a major anti-Wilson revolt was occurring at the polls in Acadiana[6] – as the third-most Democratic state behind Mississippi and South Carolina.

Results

1920 United States presidential election in Georgia[7]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticJames M. Cox107,16272.06%14
RepublicanWarren Harding41,08927.63%0
SocialistEugene Debs4650.31%0

Results by county

CountyJames Middleton Cox
Democratic
Warren Gamaliel Harding
Republican
MarginTotal votes cast[8]
data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %
Appling31361.49%19638.51%11722.99%509
Atkinson45379.20%11920.80%33458.39%572
Bacon30758.37%21941.63%8816.73%526
Baker14163.80%8036.20%6127.60%221
Baldwin55485.76%9214.24%46271.52%646
Banks47958.34%34241.66%13716.69%821
Barrow73163.95%41236.05%31927.91%1,143
Bartow92255.01%75444.99%16810.02%1,676
Ben Hill54370.06%23229.94%31140.13%775
Berrien62391.48%588.52%56582.97%681
Bibb2,03081.59%45818.41%1,57263.18%2,488
Bleckley262100.00%00.00%262100.00%262
Brooks59788.71%7611.29%52177.41%673
Bryan17589.29%2110.71%15478.57%196
Bulloch1,09881.58%24818.42%85063.15%1,346
Burke38790.85%399.15%34881.69%426
Butts50278.07%14121.93%36156.14%643
Calhoun44998.90%51.10%44497.80%454
Camden15291.57%148.43%13883.13%166
Campbell26371.08%10728.92%15642.16%370
Candler67390.82%689.18%60581.65%741
Carroll1,63257.08%1,22742.92%40514.17%2,859
Catoosa5562.50%3337.50%2225.00%88
Charlton15784.86%2815.14%12969.73%185
Chatham4,24381.00%99519.00%3,24862.01%5,238
Chattahoochee8794.57%55.43%8289.13%92
Chattooga88763.31%51436.69%37326.62%1,401
Cherokee54432.34%1,13867.66%-594-35.32%1,682
Clarke1,41986.74%21713.26%1,20273.47%1,636
Clay23078.50%6321.50%16757.00%293
Clayton47593.32%346.68%44186.64%509
Clinch29479.25%7720.75%21758.49%371
Cobb1,20852.45%1,09547.55%1134.91%2,303
Coffee42664.94%23035.06%19629.88%656
Colquitt76859.49%52340.51%24518.98%1,291
Columbia476100.00%00.00%476100.00%476
Cook26046.18%30353.82%-43-7.64%563
Coweta1,09486.62%16913.38%92573.24%1,263
Crawford23578.33%6521.67%17056.67%300
Crisp56587.19%8312.81%48274.38%648
Dade49481.25%11418.75%38062.50%608
Dawson25441.78%35458.22%-100-16.45%608
Decatur98276.60%30023.40%68253.20%1,282
DeKalb1,84769.70%80330.30%1,04439.40%2,650
Dodge62777.99%17722.01%45055.97%804
Dooly54493.31%396.69%50586.62%583
Dougherty62185.54%10514.46%51671.07%726
Douglas42747.34%47552.66%-48-5.32%902
Early38191.81%348.19%34783.61%415
Effingham72686.02%11813.98%60872.04%844
Elbert1,24786.96%18713.04%1,06073.92%1,434
Emanuel1,44488.37%19011.63%1,25476.74%1,634
Evans43296.43%163.57%41692.86%448
Fannin54933.64%1,08366.36%-534-32.72%1,632
Fayette23174.28%8025.72%15148.55%311
Floyd1,92374.25%66725.75%1,25648.49%2,590
Forsyth81352.32%74147.68%724.63%1,554
Franklin88966.54%44733.46%44233.08%1,336
Fulton6,63566.54%3,33633.46%3,29933.09%9,971
Gilmer54645.20%66254.80%-116-9.60%1,208
Glascock23273.65%8326.35%14947.30%315
Glynn42276.17%13223.83%29052.35%554
Gordon71343.42%92956.58%-216-13.15%1,642
Grady88779.27%23220.73%65558.53%1,119
Greene68179.28%17820.72%50358.56%859
Gwinnett1,64559.07%1,14040.93%50518.13%2,785
Habersham50344.55%62655.45%-123-10.89%1,129
Hall1,47563.39%85236.61%62326.77%2,327
Hancock49890.38%539.62%44580.76%551
Haralson43828.33%1,10871.67%-670-43.34%1,546
Harris39897.79%92.21%38995.58%407
Hart69468.24%32331.76%37136.48%1,017
Heard46197.05%142.95%44794.11%475
Henry608100.00%00.00%608100.00%608
Houston72394.88%395.12%68489.76%762
Irwin52582.16%11417.84%41164.32%639
Jackson1,06976.19%33423.81%73552.39%1,403
Jasper42991.08%428.92%38782.17%471
Jeff Davis26046.18%30353.82%-43-7.64%563
Jefferson83791.08%828.92%75582.15%919
Jenkins33187.11%4912.89%28274.21%380
Johnson30680.53%7419.47%23261.05%380
Jones8773.73%3126.27%5647.46%118
Laurens1,16776.93%35023.07%81753.86%1,517
Lee25192.96%197.04%23285.93%270
Liberty30363.39%17536.61%12826.78%478
Lincoln50999.41%30.59%50698.83%512
Lowndes1,30885.60%22014.40%1,08871.20%1,528
Lumpkin15543.06%20556.94%-50-13.89%360
Macon48387.66%6812.34%41575.32%551
Madison69371.15%28128.85%41242.30%974
Marion23656.73%18043.27%5613.46%416
McDuffie38277.80%10922.20%27355.60%491
McIntosh11975.32%3924.68%8050.63%158
Meriwether1,05985.06%18614.94%87370.12%1,245
Miller15583.78%3016.22%12567.57%185
Milton27854.62%23145.38%479.23%509
Mitchell93086.59%14413.41%78673.18%1,074
Monroe83790.98%839.02%75481.96%920
Montgomery16953.31%14846.69%216.62%317
Morgan45071.88%17628.12%27443.77%626
Murray72846.11%85153.89%-123-7.79%1,579
Muscogee1,37293.14%1016.86%1,27186.29%1,473
Newton75368.33%34931.67%40436.66%1,102
Oconee34175.95%10824.05%23351.89%449
Oglethorpe84495.26%424.74%80290.52%886
Paulding34026.28%95473.72%-614-47.45%1,294
Pickens43734.49%83065.51%-393-31.02%1,267
Pierce40776.94%12223.06%28553.88%529
Pike1,27782.02%28017.98%99764.03%1,557
Polk65839.59%1,00460.41%-346-20.82%1,662
Pulaski33885.57%5714.43%28171.14%395
Putnam42098.82%51.18%41597.65%425
Quitman13597.12%42.88%13194.24%139
Rabun31267.97%14732.03%16535.95%459
Randolph53491.28%518.72%48382.56%585
Richmond2,65683.86%51116.14%2,14567.73%3,167
Rockdale48870.83%20129.17%28741.65%689
Schley23581.60%5318.40%18263.19%288
Screven63971.08%26028.92%37942.16%899
Spalding83082.10%18117.90%64964.19%1,011
Stephens41562.22%25237.78%16324.44%667
Stewart34491.73%318.27%31383.47%375
Sumter1,07678.43%29621.57%78056.85%1,372
Talbot37989.81%4310.19%33679.62%422
Taliaferro33096.49%123.51%31892.98%342
Tattnall44759.76%30140.24%14619.52%748
Taylor49169.94%21130.06%28039.89%702
Telfair1,06996.65%373.35%1,03293.31%1,106
Terrell50091.24%488.76%45282.48%548
Thomas1,13087.06%16812.94%96274.11%1,298
Tift57678.90%15421.10%42257.81%730
Toombs39761.74%24638.26%15123.48%643
Towns25639.14%39860.86%-142-21.71%654
Treutlen26371.08%10728.92%15642.16%370
Troup1,45180.93%34219.07%1,10961.85%1,793
Turner39368.35%18231.65%21136.70%575
Twiggs27386.12%4413.88%22972.24%317
Union46945.49%56254.51%-93-9.02%1,031
Upson95784.92%17015.08%78769.83%1,127
Walker1,34755.75%1,06944.25%27811.51%2,416
Walton1,18990.63%1239.38%1,06681.25%1,312
Ware90180.73%21519.27%68661.47%1,116
Warren40282.89%8317.11%31965.77%485
Washington1,13490.58%1189.42%1,01681.15%1,252
Wayne40794.21%255.79%38288.43%432
Webster18588.52%2411.48%16177.03%209
Wheeler35077.61%10122.39%24955.21%451
White20944.19%26455.81%-55-11.63%473
Whitfield76241.53%1,07358.47%-311-16.95%1,835
Wilcox48181.94%10618.06%37563.88%587
Wilkes87698.65%121.35%86497.30%888
Wilkinson25687.37%3712.63%21974.74%293
Worth62674.52%21425.48%41249.05%840
EcholsN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
Totals107,16272.06%41,08927.63%66,07344.43%148,716

Notes and References

  1. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  2. Springer, Melanie Jean; How the States Shaped the Nation: American Electoral Institutions and Voter Turnout, 1920-2000, p. 155
  3. Smith, Zachary; ‘Tom Watson and Resistance to Federal War Policies in Georgia during World War I’; The Journal of Southern History; Vol. 78, No. 2 (May 2012), pp. 293-326
  4. McRae, Elizabeth Gillespie; ‘Caretakers of Southern Civilization: Georgia Women and the Anti-Suffrage Campaign, 1914-1920’; The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 4, (Winter 1998), pp. 801-828
  5. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 261
  6. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 268
  7. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1920 Presidential General Election Results – Georgia
  8. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 96-98