1920 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

Main article: 1920 United States presidential election

1920 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

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Nominee Warren G. Harding James M. Cox Parley P. Christensen Party Republican Democratic Farmer–Labor Home state Ohio Ohio Illinois Running mate Calvin Coolidge Franklin D. Roosevelt Max S. Hayes Electoral vote 7 0 0 Popular vote 223,137 84,298 77,246 Percentage 55.96% 21.14% 19.37%

County Results Harding   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% The 1920 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election in which all 48 states participated. State voters chose seven 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, Governor Calvin Coolidge. 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 [1] – besides which Wilson also had major health problems that had left First Lady Edith 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. [2] Demand in the West for exclusion of Asian immigrants became even stronger than it had been before. [3] Another issue was the anti-Cox position taken by the Ku Klux Klan because Cox was viewed by the Klan as too lenient towards Catholicism, [4] and Cox's inconsistent stance on newly passed Prohibition – he had been a "wet" but announced he would support Prohibition enforcement in August [4] The West had been the chief presidential battleground ever since the "System of 1896" emerged following that election. [5] For this reason, Cox chose to tour the entire nation [6] and after touring the Pacific Northwest Cox went to California to defend his proposed League of Nations and to convince the region that large sums of money were being spent by Harding simply to put Republicans in the White House. [7] 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 Democrat. [8] Moreover, the only attention Cox received in the Western press was severe criticism, [8] and he completely ignored charges against misadministration by the Wilson Administration, and in liberal, heavily unionized Washington State where strikes had been particularly extreme since the war ended, Cox's failure to address labour issues proved also very costly. [7] Results General Election Results [9] Party Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Warren G. Harding Emma Smith De Voe 223,137 Republican Party Warren G. Harding J. P. Todd 222,805 Republican Party Warren G. Harding Peter McGregor 222,564 Republican Party Warren G. Harding Luther Weedin 222,224 Republican Party Warren G. Harding A. C. Rundle 222,202 Republican Party Warren G. Harding George J. Stewart 222,153 Republican Party Warren G. Harding H. L. Geary 222,079 Democratic Party James M. Cox George N. Adams 84,298 Democratic Party James M. Cox Charles D. McCarthy 83,975 Democratic Party James M. Cox Mary B. Harker 83,874 Democratic Party James M. Cox John Reid 83,813 Democratic Party James M. Cox J. W. Austin 83,734 Democratic Party James M. Cox George W. Roupe 83,604 Democratic Party James M. Cox Jim P. Goodwin 83,458 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen Viola C. Crahan 77,246 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen Elizabeth Sullivan 77,088 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen Louis E. Bradley 77,068 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen L. H. Richards 76,987 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen Edith Downing 76,873 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen C. E. Richards 76,834 Farmer–Labor Party Parley P. Christensen Dortha Ing 76,822 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs Mary M. Brown 8,913 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs B. H. Miller 8,749 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs Herman Meyer 8,723 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs Joseph O'Reilly 8,721 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs Lalla Rogers 8,703 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs Walter Price 8,680 Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs W. H. Maynick 8,597 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins Lucy C. Cotrael 3,800 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins Arthur S. Caton 3,790 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins Mattie Reynolds 3,784 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins Olin L. Fowler 3,754 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins W. A. Davis 3,750 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins W. E. Haycox 3,749 Prohibition Party Aaron S. Watkins Emmett D. Nichols 3,712 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox Andrew Rynning 1,321 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox James F. Stark 1,316 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox George B. Sargent 1,297 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox Frederick Kurtzman 1,284 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox Daniel L. Barnet 1,272 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox Joseph Tottenhoff 1,258 Socialist Labor Party Wesley W. Cox Abraham L. Bearcliff 1,247 Votes cast [lower-alpha 1] 398,715 Results by county County James M. Cox Democratic Warren G. Harding Republican Parley P. Christensen Farmer–Labor Eugene V. Debs Socialist Aaron S. Watkins Prohibition William W. Cox Socialist Labor Margin Total votes cast [lower-alpha 2] # % # % # % # % # % # % # % Adams 1,525 67.15% 515 22.68% 167 7.35% 42 1.85% 17 0.75% 5 0.22% 1,010 44.47% 2,271 Asotin 1,210 64.84% 497 26.63% 61 3.27% 49 2.63% 46 2.47% 3 0.16% 713 38.21% 1,866 Benton 2,001 52.01% 975 25.34% 764 19.86% 51 1.33% 50 1.30% 6 0.16% 1,026 26.67% 3,847 Chelan 3,885 58.55% 1,540 23.21% 957 14.42% 110 1.66% 132 1.99% 11 0.17% 2,345 35.34% 6,635 Clallam 1,775 53.76% 489 14.81% 966 29.25% 43 1.30% 20 0.61% 9 0.27% 809 [lower-alpha 3] 24.50% 3,302 Clark 4,852 52.20% 2,941 31.64% 1,127 12.12% 234 2.52% 125 1.34% 16 0.17% 1,911 20.56% 9,295 Columbia 1,376 64.18% 662 30.88% 57 2.66% 36 1.68% 10 0.47% 3 0.14% 714 33.30% 2,144 Cowlitz 2,267 61.49% 801 21.72% 464 12.58% 115 3.12% 34 0.92% 6 0.16% 1,466 39.76% 3,687 Douglas 1,587 57.86% 918 33.47% 171 6.23% 45 1.64% 19 0.69% 3 0.11% 669 24.39% 2,743 Ferry 592 43.56% 505 37.16% 214 15.75% 41 3.02% 3 0.22% 4 0.29% 87 6.40% 1,359 Franklin 839 44.46% 571 30.26% 397 21.04% 62 3.29% 14 0.74% 4 0.21% 268 14.20% 1,887 Garfield 869 66.03% 370 28.12% 62 4.71% 7 0.53% 8 0.61% 0 0.00% 499 37.92% 1,316 Grant 1,378 58.24% 684 28.91% 216 9.13% 60 2.54% 28 1.18% 0 0.00% 694 29.33% 2,366 Grays Harbor 5,920 50.94% 3,378 29.07% 1,978 17.02% 240 2.07% 81 0.70% 25 0.22% 2,542 21.87% 11,622 Island 883 51.19% 285 16.52% 488 28.29% 52 3.01% 15 0.87% 2 0.12% 395 [lower-alpha 3] 22.90% 1,725 Jefferson 1,128 61.57% 322 17.58% 321 17.52% 36 1.97% 22 1.20% 3 0.16% 806 44.00% 1,832 King 58,584 54.69% 17,369 16.21% 26,768 24.99% 3,081 2.88% 690 0.64% 632 0.59% 31,816 [lower-alpha 3] 29.70% 107,124 Kitsap 4,989 49.41% 1,350 13.37% 3,326 32.94% 325 3.22% 85 0.84% 23 0.23% 1,663 [lower-alpha 3] 16.47% 10,098 Kittitas 2,837 54.54% 1,119 21.51% 1,054 20.26% 134 2.58% 41 0.79% 17 0.33% 1,718 33.03% 5,202 Klickitat 1,649 59.38% 745 26.83% 298 10.73% 45 1.62% 39 1.40% 1 0.04% 904 32.55% 2,777 Lewis 6,160 54.59% 2,212 19.60% 2,520 22.33% 259 2.30% 117 1.04% 17 0.15% 3,640 [lower-alpha 3] 32.26% 11,285 Lincoln 3,038 65.04% 1,395 29.87% 144 3.08% 55 1.18% 34 0.73% 5 0.11% 1,643 35.17% 4,671 Mason 997 56.04% 383 21.53% 351 19.73% 25 1.41% 19 1.07% 4 0.22% 614 34.51% 1,779 Okanogan 2,784 54.98% 1,260 24.88% 809 15.98% 128 2.53% 66 1.30% 17 0.34% 1,524 30.09% 5,064 Pacific 2,607 65.57% 874 21.98% 372 9.36% 87 2.19% 28 0.70% 8 0.20% 1,733 43.59% 3,976 Pend Oreille 1,079 54.30% 651 32.76% 167 8.40% 67 3.37% 12 0.60% 11 0.55% 428 21.54% 1,987 Pierce 22,048 51.89% 8,259 19.44% 10,836 25.50% 779 1.83% 436 1.03% 133 0.31% 11,212 [lower-alpha 3] 26.39% 42,491 San Juan 833 66.64% 196 15.68% 172 13.76% 37 2.96% 10 0.80% 2 0.16% 637 50.96% 1,250 Skagit 5,320 51.62% 1,840 17.85% 2,756 26.74% 208 2.02% 159 1.54% 23 0.22% 2,564 [lower-alpha 3] 24.88% 10,306 Skamania 409 52.71% 247 31.83% 87 11.21% 24 3.09% 7 0.90% 2 0.26% 162 20.88% 776 Snohomish 10,793 52.48% 3,056 14.86% 6,146 29.88% 356 1.73% 181 0.88% 35 0.17% 4,647 [lower-alpha 3] 22.59% 20,567 Spokane 26,219 60.55% 13,412 30.97% 2,373 5.48% 777 1.79% 360 0.83% 160 0.37% 12,807 29.58% 43,301 Stevens 3,282 55.68% 1,452 24.64% 914 15.51% 175 2.97% 61 1.03% 10 0.17% 1,830 31.05% 5,894 Thurston 3,899 52.77% 1,367 18.50% 1,849 25.03% 114 1.54% 147 1.99% 12 0.16% 2,050 [lower-alpha 3] 27.75% 7,388 Wahkiakum 494 57.64% 164 19.14% 75 8.75% 109 12.72% 3 0.35% 12 1.40% 330 38.51% 857 Walla Walla 5,957 67.60% 2,338 26.53% 349 3.96% 79 0.90% 74 0.84% 15 0.17% 3,619 41.07% 8,812 Whatcom 9,157 57.52% 2,288 14.37% 3,744 23.52% 481 3.02% 205 1.29% 45 0.28% 5,413 [lower-alpha 3] 34.00% 15,920 Whitman 6,344 64.68% 2,806 28.61% 425 4.33% 119 1.21% 99 1.01% 16 0.16% 3,538 36.07% 9,809 Yakima 11,571 59.39% 4,062 20.85% 3,301 16.94% 226 1.16% 303 1.56% 21 0.11% 7,509 38.54% 19,484 Totals 223,137 55.96% 84,298 21.14% 77,246 19.47% 8,913 2.24% 3,800 0.95% 1,321 0.33% 138,839 34.82% 398,715 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Adams Asotin Columbia Douglas Ferry Franklin Grant Island King Kitsap Kittitas Lincoln Mason Okanogan Pend Oreille Pierce San Juan Skagit Spokane Stevens Walla Walla Whitman Analysis By October, it was clear that the Northwest – where Charles Evans Hughes had carried only Oregon in 1916 – was strongly in favor of the Republicans: in Washington Harding led a combined poll of male and female voters 680 to Cox's 256. [10] A week later polls strongly suggested Cox would not register a majority in any antebellum free or postbellum state, and in Washington he was trialing four to one out of around 2,100 people polled. [11] Although there were some gains by the Democratic ticket in later polls, with Cox approaching a 1-to-2 ratio to Harding's support at the end of October, [12] a minimum forty thousand vote plurality was predicted by the Washington Post at the same time. [13] Ultimately Harding took Washington in a landslide beyond the late-October polls' prediction, defeating Cox by a 138,839 vote margin. Parley Christensen, the nominee of the recently created Farmer–Labor Party, performed very well in the state and nearly drove Cox into third place, with only 7,052 votes between the two. Harding proved the third and last Republican, following on from Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 and William Howard Taft in 1908, to sweep every county in Washington State. This feat has been equaled only by Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who ironically was Cox's running mate in this election, in both 1932 and 1936. This would prove the last election until Richard Nixon in 1968 when the Republican Party carried Ferry County. [14] See also United States presidential elections in Washington (state) Notes Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket Based on highest elector on each ticket In this county where Christensen ran second ahead of James Cox, margin given is Harding vote minus Christensen vote and percentage margin Harding percentage minus Christensen percentage. References 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 'The Passing of Woodrow Wilson', The Round Table, 11:41 (November 1920), pp. 14-31 Faykosh, The Front Porch of the American People (thesis), p. 74 Washington Secretary of State. "Presidential Electors". Abstract of Votes Polled in the State of Washington at the General Election held November 2, 1920. Olympia, Washington. pp. 5–10. 'First Straw Vote Favors Harding'; Boston Daily Globe , September 26, 1920, p. 6 'Harding Leads in the Straw Vote: Cox Weak in North and West in Rexall Balloting'; Boston Daily Globe, October 3, 1920, p. 'Cox Gains in Straw Vote: Late Returns Give Him Missouri – Some Other States Close'; The New York Times , October 31, 1920, p. 6 "Harding 363 Votes, Cox 168, Is Result Obtained From Estimates by 47 Editors". The Washington Post. October 31, 1920. p. 1. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, pp. 332-333 ISBN   0786422173 This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.