The 1920 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2 1920 as part of the 1920 United Stat

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.

1920 United States presidential election in California

← 1916

November 2, 1920

1924 →

Turnout

71.87% (of registered voters)

7.70 pp
47.26% (of eligible voters)

10.65 pp


Nominee	Warren G. Harding	James M. Cox	Eugene V. Debs
Party	Republican	Democratic	Socialist
Home state	Ohio	Ohio	Indiana
Running mate	Calvin Coolidge	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Seymour Stedman
Electoral vote	13	0	0
Popular vote	624,992	229,191	64,076
Percentage	66.20%	24.28%	6.79%

County Results

Harding

40–50%

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

90–100%

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Elected President

Warren G. Harding
Republican

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 – 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. Demand in the West for exclusion of Asian immigrants became even stronger than it had been before. Another issue was the anti-Cox position taken by the Ku Klux Klan, 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.

The West had been the chief presidential battleground ever since the "System of 1896" emerged following that election. For this reason, Cox chose to tour the entire nation 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. Moreover, the only attention Cox received in the Western press was severe criticism.

Results

General Election Results
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
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	E. L. Doheny	229,191
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Robert M. Fitzgerald	228,994
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Francis J. Heney	228,969
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Thomas Rutledge	228,792
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	John A. Livingston	228,728
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	L. O. Stephens	228,719
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Arthur C. Huston	228,693
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	James F. Peck	228,579
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	E. S. Heller	228,568
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Mary E. Foy	228,541
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Sarah Hagan	228,509
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	Peter F. Zabala	228,477
	Democratic Party	James M. Cox	William G. Irving	228,458
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	R. W. Anderson	64,076
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Isabel King	63,829
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Joseph Lawrence	63,813
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Mary Morgan	63,784
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Fred Bergstrom	63,778
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Frithiof Sundman	63,761
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Karl Hellman	63,750
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Bird E. Morehouse	63,742
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Anna Macy	63,739
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Abraham Levin	63,713
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	A. T. Pruess	63,693
	Socialist Party	Eugene V. Debs	Clarissa Kneeland	63,692
	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
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	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

Analysis

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. 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. 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. 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.

Notes

Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
Based on the highest elector on each ticket

References

"Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 44 ISBN 0801860059
Leuchtenburg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932, p. 75 ISBN 0226473724
Vought, Hans P. ; The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents And The Immigrant, 1897-1933, p. 167 ISBN 0865548870
Brake, Robert J.; 'The porch and the stump: Campaign strategies in the 1920 presidential election'; Quarterly Journal of Speech, 55(3), pp. 256-267
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
Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 69
Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 74
Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 2, 1920 in the State of California. Sacramento, California. 1968. pp. 8–15. Retrieved July 15, 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
'Predict Republican Victory in California: Senator Harding Pleases Delegation; Majority of 100,000 Forecast'; Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1920, p. 12
'Republicans Going to Win: Prospects of a Complete Victory'; The Observer, October 31, 1920, p. 13
Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155 ISBN 0786422173

[10] Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket

[11] Based on the highest elector on each ticket

[1] "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.

[2] Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 44 ISBN 0801860059

[3] Leuchtenburg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932, p. 75 ISBN 0226473724

[4] Vought, Hans P. ; The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents And The Immigrant, 1897-1933, p. 167 ISBN 0865548870

[Porch-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

[Front74-8] Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 74

[9] Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 2, 1920 in the State of California. Sacramento, California. 1968. pp. 8–15. Retrieved July 15, 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[12] 'Predict Republican Victory in California: Senator Harding Pleases Delegation; Majority of 100,000 Forecast'; Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1920, p. 12

[13] 'Republicans Going to Win: Prospects of a Complete Victory'; The Observer, October 31, 1920, p. 13

[Geography-14] Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155 ISBN 0786422173