1920 United States presidential election in Arizona

Main article: 1920 United States presidential election

1920 United States presidential election in Arizona

←  1916 November 2, 1920 1924  →

Nominee Warren G. Harding James M. Cox Party Republican Democratic Home state Ohio Ohio Running mate Calvin Coolidge Franklin D. Roosevelt Electoral vote 3 0 Popular vote 37,016 29,546 Percentage 55.61% 44.39%

County results Harding   50–60%   60–70% Cox   50–60%

President before election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Elected President Warren G. Harding Republican

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

By the beginning of 1920 skyrocketing inflation and Wilson's focus upon his proposed League of Nations at the expense of domestic policy had helped make the incumbent President Woodrow Wilson very unpopular ^[1] – besides which Wilson also had major health problems that had left First Lady Edith effectively running the nation. Political unrest seen 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. ^[2] Demand in the West for exclusion of Asian immigrants became even stronger than it had been before, ^[3] and the factionalism that would almost destroy the Democratic Party later in the decade had already simmered. ^[4]

Resultant opposition to the Democrats allowed Warren Harding to win the election in Arizona with 55.61% of the vote to James Cox' 44.39%. Harding won all but two counties; Graham and Greenlee in the state by a landslide. ^[5]

Results

1920 United States presidential election in Arizona [6]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Warren G. Harding	Calvin Coolidge	37,016	55.61%	3
	Democratic	James M. Cox	Franklin D. Roosevelt	29,546	44.39%	0
Totals				66,562	100.00%	3

Results by county

County [6]	Warren G. Harding Republican		James M. Cox Democratic		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Apache	679	52.35%	618	47.65%	61	4.70%	1,297
Cochise	5,341	54.66%	4,430	45.34%	911	9.32%	9,771
Coconino	1,342	63.21%	781	36.79%	561	26.42%	2,123
Gila	3,311	53.36%	2,894	46.64%	417	6.72%	6,205
Graham	1,062	45.72%	1,261	54.28%	-199	-8.57%	2,323
Greenlee	905	44.45%	1,131	55.55%	-226	-11.10%	2,036
Maricopa	11,336	56.23%	8,825	43.77%	2,511	12.45%	20,161
Mohave	996	57.97%	722	42.03%	274	15.95%	1,718
Navajo	1,078	51.11%	1,031	48.89%	47	2.23%	2,109
Pima	3,392	58.01%	2,455	41.99%	937	16.03%	5,847
Pinal	1,493	54.15%	1,264	45.85%	229	8.31%	2,757
Santa Cruz	850	54.63%	706	45.37%	144	9.25%	1,556
Yavapai	3,625	61.69%	2,251	38.31%	1,374	23.38%	5,876
Yuma	1,606	57.71%	1,177	42.29%	429	15.42%	2,783
Totals	37,016	55.61%	29,456	44.39%	7,470	11.22%	66,562

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Apache
• Cochise
• Coconino
• Gila
• Maricopa
• Mohave
• Navajo
• Pinal
• Santa Cruz
• Yavapai
• Yuma

Electors

Upon becoming a state in 1912, Arizona used the then-standard method of choosing presidential electors where voters could pick the names directly, rather than voting for a specific presidential candidate. This method was gradually abandoned state by state throughout the first half of the 20th century; Arizona switched to the modern "short ballot" for the election in 1920. Voters would now select from among the actual presidential candidates' names with each vote treated as being for the candidate's entire slate of electors. The electors were chosen by their party's voters in primary elections held on September 7, 1920. ^{[6] [7]}

James M. Cox & Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Party	Warren G. Harding & Calvin Coolidge Republican Party
B. F. Billingsley May Belle Craig H. T. Southworth	James P. Boyle Joseph W. Smith Frank R. Stweart

References

1. Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 44 ISBN   0801860059
2. Leuchtenburg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932, p. 75 ISBN   0226473724
3. Vought, Hans P. ; The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents And The Immigrant, 1897–1933, p. 167 ISBN   0865548870
4. 'Arizona and the West', Journal of the Southwest 14(1972), p. 89
5. Menendez Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, p. 121 ISBN   0786422173
6. "General Election Returns, State of Arizona, November 2, 1920". Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
7. "Primary Election Returns, State of Arizona, Sept. 7, 1920". Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved July 30, 2024.