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| Turnout | 71.87% (of registered voters) 7.70pp47.26% (of eligible voters) 10.65pp[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results Harding 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 90–100%
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The1920 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the1920 United States presidential election in which all 48 states participated.California voters chose 13 electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote pittingDemocratic nominee,GovernorJames M. Cox ofOhio and his running mate,Assistant Secretary of the NavyFranklin D. Roosevelt ofNew York, againstRepublican challengerU.S. SenatorWarren G. Harding of Ohio and his running mate,GovernorCalvin Coolidge ofMassachusetts.
By the beginning of 1920 skyrocketinginflation and PresidentWoodrow Wilson's focus upon his proposedLeague 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 LadyEdith Wilson effectively running the nation.
Political unrest observed in thePalmer 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 theKu 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 ofShandong – but his apparent defence of Chinese immigrants in theBay 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]
| 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[a] | 944,050 | |||
| County | Warren G. Harding Republican | James M. Cox Democratic | Eugene V. Debs Socialist | Aaron S. Watkins Prohibition | Scattering Write-in | Margin | Total votes cast[b] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| 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 |
In September, several opinion polls were conducted, all predicting that Harding would carry California, which had been extremely close in thetwopreceding elections, by over one hundred thousand votes.[10] 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.[11] 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 timeColusa County, the one of only two counties in thePacific States to support Democratic nomineeAlton B. Parker in1904, ever voted Republican. The other such county,Mariposa County, backed a Republican for the first time since1872.[12]Plumas County would never vote Republican again untilRonald Reagan in1980, andAmador,El Dorado andPlacer Counties would not vote Republican again untilDwight D. Eisenhower in1952.[12]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)State and district results of the1920 United States presidential election | ||
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