1920 United States presidential election in Arizona

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.

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

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Elected President

Warren G. Harding
Republican

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

edit
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

edit
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

edit

Electors

edit

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

edit
  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. ^ a b c "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.