1920 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

Main article: 1920 United States presidential election

1920 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

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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 10 0 0 Popular vote 243,831 217,053 25,726 Percentage 50.11% 44.61% 5.29%

County Results Harding   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Cox   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

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

The 1920 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

In its early years, Oklahoma was a “Solid South” Democratic state whose founding fathers like "Alfalfa Bill" Murray and Charles N. Haskell had disfranchised most of its black population via literacy tests and grandfather clauses, ^[1] the latter of which would be declared unconstitutional in Guinn v. United States . ^[2] Partly owing to the absence of the poll taxes found in other Southern states due to the strength of populism amongst the state’s white settlers, ^[3] the state became a stronghold of the Socialist Party in the 1910s, especially in the southeast and the northwestern Plains.

However, despite being less stridently isolationist than states further north in the Great Plains, ^[4] Oklahoma was nonetheless caught up in the hostility towards President Wilson and his various foreign policy proposals, as well as his inability to deal with large-scale domestic conflict. ^[5] In early polls this was thought insufficient to split the state from the “Solid South”, but as it turned out a large swing caused the Democrats to lose the state, alongside Tennessee, for the first break in the “Solid South” since Reconstruction. The Republicans also elected a Senator and five Congressmen, so strong was the hostility towards Wilson. ^[6]

Oklahoma voted for the Republican nominee, Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, over the Democratic nominee, Ohio Governor James M. Cox and Socialist nominee Eugene V. Debs of Indiana. Harding ran with Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, while Cox ran with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York and Debs ran with Seymour Stedman of Illinois. Harding won the state by a margin of 5.5 percentage points. As a result of his win, Harding became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Oklahoma. This was the only election until 2008 in which Oklahoma did not vote the same way as Virginia.

Results

1920 United States presidential election in Oklahoma [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Warren G. Harding	243,831	50.11%	10
	Democratic	James M. Cox	217,053	44.61%	0
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	25,726	5.29%	0
Totals			486,610	100.00%	10

Results by county

County	Warren Gamaliel Harding Republican		James Middleton Cox Democratic		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Margin		Total votes cast [8]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	2,181	57.99%	1,559	41.45%	21	0.56%	622	16.54%	3,761
Alfalfa	3,005	63.71%	1,350	28.62%	362	7.67%	1,655	35.09%	4,717
Atoka	2,081	43.19%	2,100	43.59%	637	13.22%	-19	-0.39%	4,818
Beaver	1,973	59.99%	1,076	32.72%	240	7.30%	897	27.27%	3,289
Beckham	1,755	36.99%	2,347	49.46%	643	13.55%	-592	-12.48%	4,745
Blaine	2,786	61.64%	1,296	28.67%	438	9.69%	1,490	32.96%	4,520
Bryan	3,127	38.83%	4,502	55.90%	424	5.27%	-1,375	-17.07%	8,053
Caddo	4,823	53.17%	3,594	39.62%	654	7.21%	1,229	13.55%	9,071
Canadian	3,881	52.14%	3,268	43.90%	295	3.96%	613	8.23%	7,444
Carter	3,561	35.14%	5,997	59.18%	575	5.67%	-2,436	-24.04%	10,133
Cherokee	2,524	56.48%	1,859	41.60%	86	1.92%	665	14.88%	4,469
Choctaw	2,094	42.67%	2,531	51.57%	283	5.77%	-437	-8.90%	4,908
Cimarron	630	53.48%	465	39.47%	83	7.05%	165	14.01%	1,178
Cleveland	2,283	45.80%	2,397	48.08%	305	6.12%	-114	-2.29%	4,985
Coal	1,744	43.63%	1,768	44.23%	485	12.13%	-24	-0.60%	3,997
Comanche	3,332	49.18%	3,037	44.83%	406	5.99%	295	4.35%	6,775
Cotton	1,820	42.80%	2,260	53.15%	172	4.05%	-440	-10.35%	4,252
Craig	3,094	50.88%	2,903	47.74%	84	1.38%	191	3.14%	6,081
Creek	7,948	56.88%	5,408	38.70%	618	4.42%	2,540	18.18%	13,974
Custer	3,224	55.22%	2,271	38.90%	343	5.88%	953	16.32%	5,838
Delaware	2,059	59.17%	1,282	36.84%	139	3.99%	777	22.33%	3,480
Dewey	1,738	51.76%	995	29.63%	625	18.61%	743	22.13%	3,358
Ellis	1,786	59.30%	845	28.05%	381	12.65%	941	31.24%	3,012
Garfield	6,611	60.89%	3,671	33.81%	576	5.30%	2,940	27.08%	10,858
Garvin	2,922	40.09%	4,093	56.15%	274	3.76%	-1,171	-16.07%	7,289
Grady	3,403	41.71%	4,277	52.43%	478	5.86%	-874	-10.71%	8,158
Grant	3,210	60.58%	1,883	35.54%	206	3.89%	1,327	25.04%	5,299
Greer	1,013	32.75%	1,854	59.94%	226	7.31%	-841	-27.19%	3,093
Harmon	643	34.18%	1,123	59.70%	115	6.11%	-480	-25.52%	1,881
Harper	1,404	60.03%	753	32.19%	182	7.78%	651	27.83%	2,339
Haskell	2,673	52.67%	2,201	43.37%	201	3.96%	472	9.30%	5,075
Hughes	3,049	45.60%	3,487	52.15%	150	2.24%	-438	-6.55%	6,686
Jackson	1,345	30.18%	2,694	60.46%	417	9.36%	-1,349	-30.27%	4,456
Jefferson	1,733	39.36%	2,289	51.99%	381	8.65%	-556	-12.63%	4,403
Johnston	1,950	43.73%	2,117	47.48%	392	8.79%	-167	-3.75%	4,459
Kay	5,959	55.50%	4,546	42.34%	231	2.15%	1,413	13.16%	10,736
Kingfisher	3,220	61.77%	1,744	33.45%	249	4.78%	1,476	28.31%	5,213
Kiowa	2,649	47.22%	2,518	44.88%	443	7.90%	131	2.34%	5,610
Latimer	1,410	47.94%	1,200	40.80%	331	11.25%	210	7.14%	2,941
Le Flore	4,934	54.32%	3,764	41.44%	386	4.25%	1,170	12.88%	9,084
Lincoln	5,261	59.24%	2,980	33.55%	640	7.21%	2,281	25.68%	8,881
Logan	4,618	64.96%	2,209	31.07%	282	3.97%	2,409	33.89%	7,109
Love	711	28.16%	1,662	65.82%	152	6.02%	-951	-37.66%	2,525
Major	1,921	60.01%	784	24.49%	496	15.50%	1,137	35.52%	3,201
Marshall	1,487	44.45%	1,589	47.50%	269	8.04%	-102	-3.05%	3,345
Mayes	2,447	53.23%	1,987	43.22%	163	3.55%	460	10.01%	4,597
McClain	1,733	40.32%	2,315	53.86%	250	5.82%	-582	-13.54%	4,298
McCurtain	1,966	40.23%	2,603	53.26%	318	6.51%	-637	-13.03%	4,887
McIntosh	2,358	44.84%	2,642	50.24%	259	4.92%	-284	-5.40%	5,259
Murray	1,362	42.21%	1,744	54.04%	121	3.75%	-382	-11.84%	3,227
Muskogee	5,187	44.47%	6,378	54.68%	99	0.85%	-1,191	-10.21%	11,664
Noble	2,467	59.69%	1,515	36.66%	151	3.65%	952	23.03%	4,133
Nowata	2,679	60.19%	1,697	38.13%	75	1.69%	982	22.06%	4,451
Okfuskee	1,760	48.19%	1,650	45.18%	242	6.63%	110	3.01%	3,652
Oklahoma	15,350	44.68%	17,820	51.86%	1,189	3.46%	-2,470	-7.19%	34,359
Okmulgee	5,367	51.33%	4,495	42.99%	593	5.67%	872	8.34%	10,455
Osage	4,567	52.97%	3,801	44.08%	254	2.95%	766	8.88%	8,622
Ottawa	5,270	54.80%	3,974	41.33%	372	3.87%	1,296	13.48%	9,616
Pawnee	2,976	56.12%	1,955	36.87%	372	7.01%	1,021	19.25%	5,303
Payne	4,583	54.76%	3,238	38.69%	549	6.56%	1,345	16.07%	8,370
Pittsburg	5,371	47.17%	5,361	47.08%	655	5.75%	10	0.09%	11,387
Pontotoc	2,370	37.17%	3,800	59.60%	206	3.23%	-1,430	-22.43%	6,376
Pottawatomie	5,355	47.56%	5,310	47.16%	595	5.28%	45	0.40%	11,260
Pushmataha	1,864	53.32%	1,365	39.04%	267	7.64%	499	14.27%	3,496
Roger Mills	1,193	46.75%	931	36.48%	428	16.77%	262	10.27%	2,552
Rogers	2,844	51.53%	2,459	44.56%	216	3.91%	385	6.98%	5,519
Seminole	3,382	60.73%	1,869	33.56%	318	5.71%	1,513	27.17%	5,569
Sequoyah	3,195	54.96%	2,505	43.09%	113	1.94%	690	11.87%	5,813
Stephens	2,035	39.16%	2,816	54.19%	346	6.66%	-781	-15.03%	5,197
Texas	1,762	53.47%	1,398	42.43%	135	4.10%	364	11.05%	3,295
Tillman	1,539	35.48%	2,649	61.07%	150	3.46%	-1,110	-25.59%	4,338
Tulsa	14,357	57.43%	10,025	40.10%	617	2.47%	4,332	17.33%	24,999
Wagoner	1,432	48.30%	1,375	46.37%	158	5.33%	57	1.92%	2,965
Washington	4,105	57.83%	2,805	39.51%	189	2.66%	1,300	18.31%	7,099
Washita	2,070	45.85%	2,125	47.07%	320	7.09%	-55	-1.22%	4,515
Woods	2,827	60.32%	1,530	32.64%	330	7.04%	1,297	27.67%	4,687
Woodward	2,492	59.07%	1,437	34.06%	290	6.87%	1,055	25.01%	4,219
Totals	243,831 [lower-alpha 1]	50.11%	217,053 [lower-alpha 2]	44.61%	25,726 [lower-alpha 3]	5.29%	26,778	5.50%	486,610

See also

• United States presidential elections in Oklahoma

Notes

1. The county totals sum to 243,840, although sources vary because the Senatorial vote has been used instead of the Presidential elector vote. ^[9]
2. The county totals sum to 216,122, although sources vary because the Senatorial vote has been used instead of the Presidential elector vote. ^[9]
3. The county totals sum to 25,716, although sources vary because the Senatorial vote has been used instead of the Presidential elector vote. ^[9]

References

1. Ewing, Cortez Arthur Milton; An Introduction to the Government of Oklahoma (1939), p. 72. Published by Americanism Committee, American Legion, Department of Oklahoma
2. Fairclough, Adam; Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000, p. 82 ISBN   0142001295
3. Finkelman, Paul; African-Americans and the right to vote (Garland Publishing, 1992), pp. 418, 438
4. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 420, 424 ISBN   9780691163246
5. Cooper, John Milton, junior; Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations, pp. 398-399 ISBN   9780521807869
6. Debo, Angie; And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes, pp. 318-319 ISBN   9780691005782
7. "1920 Presidential General Election Results – Oklahoma". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
8. Scammon, Richard M. America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics, 1920-1964, pp. 357-358 ISBN   0405077114
9. Scammon; America at the Polls, p. 369