1920 United States presidential election in Wisconsin explained

See main article: article and 1920 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1920 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Country:	Wisconsin
Flag Year:	1913
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Previous Year:	1916
Next Election:	1924 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Next Year:	1924
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:	498,576
Percentage1:	71.09%
Nominee2:	James M. Cox
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Ohio
Running Mate2:	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	113,422
Percentage2:	16.17%
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:	80,635
Percentage3:	11.50%
Map Size:	315px
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 Wisconsin was held on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Wisconsin had ever since the decline of the Populist movement been substantially a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party.^[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan's agrarian and free silver sympathies.^[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction.^[3]

The beginning of the 1910s would see a minor Democratic revival as many La Follette progressives endorsed Woodrow Wilson,^[4] but this flirtation would not be long-lasting as Wilson's "Anglophile" foreign policies were severely opposed by Wisconsin's largely German- and Scandinavian-American populace.^[5] The 1918 mid-term elections saw the Midwestern farming community largely desert the Democratic Party due to supposed preferential treatment of Southern farmers:^[6] Democratic seats in the Midwest fell from thirty-four to seventeen,^[7] whilst Scandinavian-Americans were also vigorously opposed to entering the war.^[8] Furthermore, Democratic fear of Communism seen in the Palmer Raids and "Red Scare" led to ultimate nominee James M. Cox, then Governor of Ohio, to ban German-language instruction in public schools in 1919.^[7] Still more critical for German-Americans was the view that outgoing President Woodrow Wilson was deliberately trying to punish Germany and Austria for starting the war, especially via his disregard for the United Kingdom's continuing blockade of Germany.^[9] Stressing Harding's German ancestry, the German press drummed up the view that

As the campaign began after the Republican Party had nominated U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and the Democratic Party former Ohio governor James M. Cox, a further blow to the Democrats came when the national economy suffered a major downturn following the wartime boom, resulting in plummeting agricultural prices that were especially problematic in the Midwest.^[10] Whereas Cox travelled throughout the nation apart from the "Solid South" during September,^[11] Harding, despite having four times the budget, campaigned from his home in Marion, Ohio.

A poll by the giant Rexall drug store chain – which in 1916 had been accurate enough to predict Wilson's razor-thin wins in New Hampshire and California^[12] – suggested Harding would win 382 electoral votes,^[13] and at 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.^[14] Polls were similarly confident in Wisconsin, despite forecasts of a big vote for imprisoned fifth-time Socialist nominee Eugene V. Debs.^[15] Expectations of a landslide were fully realized: whereas Charles Evans Hughes had carried Wisconsin by only 6.59 points in 1916, Harding won this arch-isolationist state by a nine-to-two majority. Wisconsin would prove to be Harding's fourth strongest state in the 1920 election terms of popular vote percentage after North Dakota, Vermont and Michigan.^[16] Wisconsin would prove Cox's weakest state in the largest landslide loss in United States presidential election history, and Debs' strongest state in his last campaign for the presidency.^[16] Despite Debs' substantial vote, Harding carried all Wisconsin's counties with absolute majorities, becoming the only candidate to ever win every single Wisconsin county in a presidential election, and Cox cracked twenty-three percent of the vote in just three counties. This would be the last time a Republican presidential candidate carried Iron County until Richard Nixon in 1972.^[17]

Results

+ General Election Results^[18] ^[19]	Party		Pledged to	Elector	Votes
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Mrs. Theodore Youmans	498,576
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Z. G. Simmons	497,664
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	John Turner	497,243
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Myron E. Keats	497,099
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Sam Blum	496,920
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Max Sell	496,875
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	William Mauthe	496,821
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	James T. Drought	496,786
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	John Fitzgibbons	496,677
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Anton Kuckuk	496,661
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	David A. Bogue	496,509
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	Mrs. Al C. Anderson	496,236
	Republican Party	Warren G. Harding	John T. Murphy	496,161
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John C. Karel	113,422
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Anthony Szczerbinski	113,298
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Charles Mulberger	113,236
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Mrs. A. Tupper	113,196
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	M. K. Reilly	113,119
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Vilas W. Whaley	113,118
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John W. Hogan	112,962
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	H. A. Pfeffer	112,790
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John P. Diener	112,765
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Henry E. Fitch	112,742
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Earl Y. Sangster	112,730
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	M. R. Strouse	112,619
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John O'Day	112,531
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Cora Wuethrick	80,635
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Casimir Kowalski	80,629
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Richard Holtz	80,601
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Mrs. E. T. Melms	80,597
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Louis Pauls	80,555
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	John G. Justen	80,554
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	R. W. Koehn	80,554
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Mrs. John H. Sims	80,541
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Fred Heath	80,513
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	G. P. Haus	80,495
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Mrs. Frank Hilger	80,481
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Ray M. Empey	53,101
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	F. E. Withrow	52,213
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	J. Verchota	27,886
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	A. C. Krueger	27,069
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Marcia A. B. Smith	8,647
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	David W. Emerson	8,529
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Francis Baker	8,517
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Peter T. James	8,498
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Frank E. Cummings	8,470
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Joseph V. Collins	8,467
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Benjamin F. Skiff	8,466
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	August F. Fehlandt	8,445
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Walter R. Drought	8,431
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	John H. Malloch	8,425
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	William R. Nethercut	8,425
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Lily Shimmin	8,413
	Prohibition Party	Aaron S. Watkins	Ole H. Caspers	8,408
	Write-in		Scattering	82
Votes cast				701,362

Results by county

County	Warren G. Harding Republican		James M. Cox Democratic		Eugene V. Debs Socialist		Aaron S. Watkins Prohibition		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,528		75.42%		392		19.35%		60		2.96%		27		1.335%		1,136		56.07%		2,026
	Ashland		4,005		70.94%		1,081		19.15%		497		8.80%		63		1.12%		2,924		51.79%		5,646
	Barron		6,887		84.09%		742		9.06%		336		4.10%		211		2.58%		6,145		75.03%		8,190
	Bayfield		2,536		73.34%		589		17.03%		257		7.43%		76		2.20%		1,947		56.30%		3,458
	Brown		8,845		61.66%		3,877		27.03%		1,501		10.46%		122		0.85%		4,968		34.63%		14,345
	Buffalo		3,082		85.40%		299		8.28%		172		4.77%		56		1.55%		2,783		77.11%		3,609
	Burnett		2,025		79.57%		187		7.35%		275		10.81%		58		2.28%		1,750		68.76%		2,545
	Calumet		3,730		78.26%		586		12.30%		415		8.71%		35		0.73%		3,144		65.97%		4,766
	Chippewa		6,750		82.57%		1,103		13.49%		186		2.28%		136		1.66%		5,647		69.08%		8,175
	Clark		6,246		79.74%		745		9.51%		692		8.83%		150		1.91%		5,501		70.23%		7,833
	Columbia		7,394		83.25%		1,201		13.52%		157		1.77%		130		1.46%		6,193		69.73%		8,882
	Crawford		3,600		74.27%		1,112		22.94%		70		1.44%		64		1.32%		2,488		51.33%		4,847
	Dane		22,842		77.46%		4,879		16.55%		1,277		4.33%		490		1.66%		17,963		60.92%		29,488
	Dodge		11,354		77.46%		2,293		15.64%		865		5.90%		146		1.00%		9,061		61.82%		14,658
	Door		3,817		88.34%		385		8.91%		76		1.76%		43		1.00%		3,432		79.43%		4,321
	Douglas		7,250		67.53%		2,111		19.66%		1,271		11.84%		104		0.97%		5,139		47.87%		10,736
	Dunn		5,596		87.81%		491		7.70%		170		2.67%		113		1.77%		5,105		80.10%		6,373
	Eau Claire		7,856		81.62%		1,193		12.39%		351		3.65%		225		2.34%		6,663		69.23%		9,625
	Florence		912		86.86%		98		9.33%		30		2.86%		10		0.95%		814		77.52%		1,050
	Fond du Lac		12,543		74.58%		3,409		20.27%		695		4.13%		172		1.02%		9,134		54.31%		16,819
	Forest		1,429		75.13%		379		19.93%		72		3.79%		22		1.16%		1,050		55.21%		1,902
	Grant		9,638		80.92%		1,971		16.55%		119		1.00%		183		1.54%		7,667		64.37%		11,911
	Green		5,466		84.68%		633		9.81%		109		1.69%		247		3.83%		4,833		74.87%		6,455
	Green Lake		3,457		75.45%		890		19.42%		179		3.91%		54		1.18%		2,567		56.02%		4,582
	Iowa		5,428		81.42%		942		14.13%		67		1.00%		230		3.45%		4,486		67.29%		6,667
	Iron		1,714		77.70%		268		12.15%		179		8.11%		45		2.04%		1,446		65.55%		2,206
	Jackson		3,652		85.93%		410		9.65%		106		2.49%		82		1.93%		3,242		76.28%		4,250
	Jefferson		8,865		80.38%		1,844		16.72%		203		1.84%		117		1.06%		7,021		63.66%		11,029
	Juneau		4,385		81.22%		774		14.34%		174		3.22%		66		1.22%		3,611		66.88%		5,399
	Kenosha		9,791		77.81%		1,724		13.70%		990		7.87%		79		0.63%		8,067		64.11%		12,584
	Kewaunee		2,622		78.81%		598		17.97%		97		2.92%		9		0.27%		2,024		60.84%		3,327
	La Crosse		10,067		73.96%		2,588		19.01%		606		4.45%		350		2.57%		7,479		54.94%		13,612
	Lafayette		4,893		76.11%		1,357		21.11%		45		0.70%		134		2.08%		3,536		55.00%		6,429
	Langlade		4,059		68.65%		1,619		27.38%		189		3.20%		46		0.78%		2,440		41.27%		5,913
	Lincoln		3,713		72.11%		838		16.28%		542		10.53%		56		1.09%		2,875		55.84%		5,149
	Manitowoc		8,378		61.70%		2,018		14.86%		3,116		22.95%		67		0.49%		5,262		38.75%		13,579
	Marathon		11,356		65.53%		2,133		12.31%		3,709		21.40%		131		0.76%		7,647		44.13%		17,329
	Marinette		6,138		75.55%		1,314		16.17%		584		7.19%		88		1.08%		4,824		59.38%		8,124
	Marquette		2,436		76.01%		687		21.44%		42		1.31%		31		0.97%		1,749		54.57%		3,205
	Milwaukee		73,410		51.58%		25,464		17.89%		42,914		30.16%		523		0.37%		30,496		21.43%		142,311
	Monroe		6,784		83.15%		978		11.99%		206		2.52%		178		2.18%		5,806		71.16%		8,159
	Oconto		4,735		78.16%		1,030		17.00%		234		3.86%		59		0.97%		3,705		61.16%		6,058
	Oneida		2,424		64.93%		833		22.31%		426		11.41%		50		1.34%		1,591		42.62%		3,733
	Outagamie		11,140		74.69%		3,121		20.93%		510		3.42%		144		0.97%		8,019		53.76%		14,915
	Ozaukee		3,523		75.60%		835		17.92%		279		5.99%		23		0.49%		2,688		57.68%		4,660
	Pepin		1,817		84.91%		265		12.38%		36		1.68%		22		1.03%		1,552		72.52%		2,140
	Pierce		4,441		82.62%		644		11.98%		167		3.11%		123		2.29%		3,797		70.64%		5,375
	Polk		4,796		80.47%		752		12.62%		303		5.08%		109		1.83%		4,044		67.85%		5,960
	Portage		5,527		65.39%		2,656		31.42%		199		2.35%		70		0.83%		2,871		33.97%		8,452
	Price		2,990		74.23%		551		13.68%		441		10.95%		46		1.14%		2,439		60.55%		4,028
	Racine		14,406		71.95%		3,650		18.23%		1,714		8.56%		251		1.25%		10,756		53.72%		20,021
	Richland		3,862		76.63%		917		18.19%		82		1.63%		179		3.55%		2,945		58.43%		5,040
	Rock		16,152		83.53%		2,447		12.65%		421		2.18%		317		1.64%		13,705		70.87%		19,337
	Rusk		2,609		77.53%		441		13.11%		231		6.86%		81		2.41%		2,168		64.43%		3,365
	Sauk		8,074		84.79%		946		9.93%		216		2.27%		286		3.00%		7,128		74.86%		9,522
	Sawyer		1,668		79.28%		302		14.35%		98		4.66%		36		1.71%		1,366		64.92%		2,104
	Shawano		5,836		73.64%		525		6.62%		1,496		18.88%		68		0.86%		4,340		54.76%		7,925
	Sheboygan		11,994		68.95%		1,895		10.89%		3,416		19.64%		91		0.52%		8,578		49.31%		17,396
	St. Croix		5,601		73.34%		1,638		21.45%		263		3.44%		135		1.77%		3,963		51.89%		7,637
	Taylor		2,707		72.71%		282		7.57%		685		18.40%		49		1.32%		2,022		54.31%		3,723
	Trempealeau		4,748		84.05%		718		12.71%		70		1.24%		100		1.77%		4,030		71.50%		5,649
	Vernon		5,694		86.00%		629		9.50%		98		1.48%		200		3.02%		5,065		76.50%		6,621
	Vilas		903		66.06%		255		18.65%		185		13.53%		24		1.76%		648		47.40%		1,367
	Walworth		8,437		80.68%		1,631		15.60%		151		1.44%		239		2.29%		6,806		65.08%		10,458
	Washburn		2,023		78.26%		352		13.62%		150		5.80%		60		2.32%		1,671		64.64%		2,585
	Washington		5,949		76.78%		1,328		17.14%		421		5.43%		50		0.65%		4,621		59.64%		7,748
	Waukesha		8,665		71.63%		2,759		22.81%		487		4.03%		186		1.54%		5,906		48.82%		12,097
	Waupaca		8,302		83.04%		888		8.88%		697		6.97%		110		1.10%		7,414		74.16%		9,997
	Waushara		4,176		85.17%		482		9.83%		196		4.00%		49		1.00%		3,694		75.34%		4,903
	Winnebago		12,035		69.52%		3,397		19.62%		1,697		9.80%		179		1.03%		8,638		49.90%		17,311
	Wood		6,863		70.60%		1,051		10.81%		1,665		17.13%		142		1.46%		5,198		53.47%		9,721
Totals	498,576	71.09%	113,422	16.17%	80,635	11.50%	8,647	1.23%	385,154	54.92%	701,362

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Brown
• Dane
• Kewaunee
• La Crosse
• Langlade
• Manitowoc
• Milwaukee
• Portage
• Racine
• Sawyer
• Waukesha

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

Notes and References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; 'Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980'; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168
4. Crews, Kenneth D.; 'Woodrow Wilson, Wisconsin, and the Election of 1912'; Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3: 'Presidents, Vice Presidents and Political Parties: Performance and Prospects' (Summer, 1982), pp. 369-376
5. Leary, William M. (jr.); 'Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916'; The Journal of American History, Vol. 54, No. 1 (June 1967), pp. 57-72
6. Morello, John A.; Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding, p. 64
7. Hough, Jerry F.; Changing Party Coalitions: The Mystery of the Red State-Blue State Alignment, pp. 86-87
8. Saldin, Robert P., 'World War I and the System of 1896' (2010); Political Science Faculty Publications, Paper 1, pp. 825-836
9. Lichtman, Allan J.; Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928, pp. 102, 115
10. Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 47
11. Faykosh, Joseph D., Bowling Green State University; The Front Porch of the American People: James Cox and the Presidential Election of 1920 (thesis), p. 69
12. Pietrusza, David; 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, p. 398
13. Bagby, Rexby; The Road to Normalcy: The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1920, pp. 158-159
14. 'Republicans Going to Win: Prospects of a Complete Victory'; The Observer, October 31, 1920, p. 13
15. 'Blaine Is Big Choice in Betting'; The Capital Times, November 2, 1920, p. 1
16. Web site: 1920 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
17. Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 337-342
18. Wisconsin Historical Society, Certificate of Board of Canvassers of the State of Wisconsin - Presidential Electors - 1920
19. Book: State Printing Board . Presidential Electors . https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AQEHAMYTSP3ADT86/pages/ARFNAH6W2PPWQT8S . Wisconsin Blue Book. 1921. 214–221.