1920 United States presidential election in Minnesota
November 2, 1920
 
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 12 0 0
Popular vote 519,421 142,994 56,106
Percentage 70.59% 19.43% 7.62%
County Results
Harding
  40-50%
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

 Elected President

Warren G. Harding
Republican

The 1920 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 2, 1920 as part of the 1920 United States presidential election in which all contemporary forty-eight states participated. Voters chose 12 electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This election marks the last time a candidate for president won every county in Minnesota.

The 1918 mid-term elections had seen the Midwestern farming community largely desert the Democratic Party due to supposed preferential treatment of Southern farmers:[1] Democratic seats in the Midwest fell from thirty-four to seventeen,[2] whilst Scandinavian-Americans were also vigorously opposed to entering the war.[3] Moreover, Democratic fear of Communism seen in the Palmer Raids and "Red Scare" led to Cox, then Governor of Ohio, to ban German-language instruction in public schools in 1919.[2] Much more critical for German-Americans was the view that outgoing President Woodrow Wilson was deliberately trying to punish Germany and Austria for starting the war, especially via his disregard for the United Kingdom's continuing blockade of Germany.[4] Stressing Harding's German ancestry, the German press drummed up the view that

a vote for Harding is a vote against the persecutions suffered by German-Americans during the war.[5]

As the campaign began after the Republican Party had nominated U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and the Democratic Party former Ohio governor James M. Cox, a further blow to the Democrats – who had never won Minnesota but came tantalizingly close in 1916 when they lost by one vote in 988[6] – occurred when the national economy suffered a major downturn following the wartime boom, resulting in plummeting agricultural prices that were especially problematic in the Midwest.[7] Whereas Cox travelled throughout the nation apart from the "Solid South" during September,[8] Harding, despite having four times the budget, campaigned from his home in Marion, Ohio. A poll by the giant Rexall drug store chain – which in 1916 had been accurate enough to predict Wilson's razor-thin wins in New Hampshire and California[9] – suggested Harding would win 382 electoral votes,[10] and at 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]

Harding overwhelmingly carried Minnesota by a margin of 376,427 votes, or 51.16 points, and nationally won the election, with 404 electoral votes and a 26.17 point lead over Cox in the popular vote, which constitutes the most lopsided result in any United States presidential election held since James Monroe's uncontested re-election in 1820. Cox did not win a single state north of the Mason-Dixon line nor west of the Continental Divide. The percentage of Minnesota's popular vote won by Harding in 1920 is second only to Theodore Roosevelt's 74% of the state's popular vote from 1904,[6] as Harding was helped by mass defection of registered Democratic German-Americans to the Republican ticket.

Harding became the second and last presidential nominee after Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 to sweep all Minnesota’s counties. This was the last time the Republicans won Red Lake County until George W. Bush in 2000[12] and the last time Mahnomen County voted Republican until Ronald Reagan in 1980.[13]

The presidential election of 1920 is also noteworthy for the third party candidacy of the perennial Socialist candidate, Eugene V. Debs. Debs won nearly a million votes nationally, and 7.62 percent in Minnesota with second place ahead of Cox in six counties, despite the fact that he was incarcerated at the time. On September 12, 1918, Debs had been convicted on ten counts of sedition in relation to a speech he had given in Canton, Ohio on June 16, 1918, in which he encouraged conscientious objection to World War I. Of the five presidential elections in which Debs had been a candidate, 1920 was his second-greatest showing in terms of percentage of the popular vote won — he only did better in 1912. 1920 was also his final appearance on the ballot.

Results

1920 United States presidential election in Minnesota[14]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Warren G. Harding 519,421 70.59% 12
Democratic James M. Cox 142,994 19.43% 0
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 56,106 7.62% 0
Prohibition Aaron S. Watkins 11,489 1.56% 0
Socialist Labor William Wesley Cox 5,828 0.79% 0
Totals 735,838 100.00% 12

Results by county

County Warren Gamaliel Harding
Republican		 James Middleton Cox
Democratic		 Eugene Victor Debs[15]
Socialist		 Aaron Sherman Watkins[16]
Prohibition		 William Wesley Cox[16]
Socialist Labor		 Margin Total votes cast[17]
#  % #  % #  % #  % #  % #  %
Aitkin 2,933 70.15% 613 14.66% 503 12.03% 89 2.13% 43 1.03% 2,320 55.49% 4,181
Anoka 3,505 72.13% 865 17.80% 391 8.05% 68 1.40% 30 0.62% 2,640 54.33% 4,859
Becker 4,811 75.78% 901 14.19% 436 6.87% 113 1.78% 88 1.39% 3,910 61.58% 6,349
Beltrami 4,518 61.26% 1,427 19.35% 1,215 16.47% 98 1.33% 117 1.59% 3,091 41.91% 7,375
Benton 2,920 78.83% 554 14.96% 169 4.56% 34 0.92% 27 0.73% 2,366 63.88% 3,704
Big Stone 2,415 78.16% 451 14.60% 127 4.11% 67 2.17% 30 0.97% 1,964 63.56% 3,090
Blue Earth 8,894 79.05% 1,974 17.55% 207 1.84% 117 1.04% 59 0.52% 6,920 61.51% 11,251
Brown 5,841 80.68% 796 10.99% 484 6.69% 50 0.69% 69 0.95% 5,045 69.68% 7,240
Carlton 2,833 59.47% 1,152 24.18% 654 13.73% 94 1.97% 31 0.65% 1,681 35.29% 4,764
Carver 5,073 87.31% 562 9.67% 84 1.45% 29 0.50% 62 1.07% 4,511 77.64% 5,810
Cass 3,242 70.51% 710 15.44% 494 10.74% 96 2.09% 56 1.22% 2,532 55.07% 4,598
Chippewa 3,532 69.75% 960 18.96% 355 7.01% 154 3.04% 63 1.24% 2,572 50.79% 5,064
Chisago 4,361 80.02% 484 8.88% 503 9.23% 69 1.27% 33 0.61% 3,877[lower-alpha 1] 70.79% 5,450
Clay 4,943 73.00% 1,335 19.72% 289 4.27% 126 1.86% 78 1.15% 3,608 53.29% 6,771
Clearwater 1,788 70.73% 340 13.45% 298 11.79% 62 2.45% 40 1.58% 1,448 57.28% 2,528
Cook 467 72.85% 98 15.29% 58 9.05% 13 2.03% 5 0.78% 369 57.57% 641
Cottonwood 3,882 86.27% 451 10.02% 90 2.00% 54 1.20% 23 0.51% 3,431 76.24% 4,500
Crow Wing 5,262 70.34% 1,077 14.40% 933 12.47% 122 1.63% 87 1.16% 4,185 55.94% 7,481
Dakota 5,373 66.45% 2,190 27.08% 395 4.88% 78 0.96% 50 0.62% 3,183 39.36% 8,086
Dodge 3,386 83.40% 516 12.71% 72 1.77% 68 1.67% 18 0.44% 2,870 70.69% 4,060
Douglas 4,428 66.13% 733 10.95% 647 9.66% 824 12.31% 64 0.96% 3,604[lower-alpha 2] 53.82% 6,696
Faribault 6,687 86.01% 869 11.18% 102 1.31% 90 1.16% 27 0.35% 5,818 74.83% 7,775
Fillmore 7,341 85.92% 899 10.52% 125 1.46% 145 1.70% 34 0.40% 6,442 75.40% 8,544
Freeborn 6,772 81.96% 1,131 13.69% 138 1.67% 166 2.01% 56 0.68% 5,641 68.27% 8,263
Goodhue 9,330 85.07% 1,118 10.19% 304 2.77% 180 1.64% 36 0.33% 8,212 74.87% 10,968
Grant 2,427 75.80% 533 16.65% 106 3.31% 106 3.31% 30 0.94% 1,894 59.15% 3,202
Hennepin 90,517 64.58% 28,911 20.63% 18,800 13.41% 1,262 0.90% 679 0.48% 61,606 43.95% 140,169
Houston 4,101 85.67% 598 12.49% 36 0.75% 41 0.86% 11 0.23% 3,503 73.18% 4,787
Hubbard 2,238 73.84% 453 14.95% 237 7.82% 70 2.31% 33 1.09% 1,785 58.89% 3,031
Isanti 3,007 67.57% 405 9.10% 898 20.18% 113 2.54% 27 0.61% 2,602[lower-alpha 1] 47.39% 4,450
Itasca 3,973 58.31% 1,930 28.33% 738 10.83% 80 1.17% 92 1.35% 2,043 29.99% 6,813
Jackson 4,313 83.62% 715 13.86% 75 1.45% 29 0.56% 26 0.50% 3,598 69.76% 5,158
Kanabec 2,436 75.68% 332 10.31% 380 11.80% 41 1.27% 30 0.93% 2,104[lower-alpha 1] 63.87% 3,219
Kandiyohi 4,759 63.67% 1,282 17.15% 718 9.61% 613 8.20% 102 1.36% 3,477 46.52% 7,474
Kittson 2,485 74.65% 599 17.99% 175 5.26% 44 1.32% 26 0.78% 1,886 56.65% 3,329
Koochiching 1,786 55.29% 859 26.59% 485 15.02% 48 1.49% 52 1.61% 927 28.70% 3,230
Lac qui Parle 4,219 82.29% 653 12.74% 107 2.09% 103 2.01% 45 0.88% 3,566 69.55% 5,127
Lake 990 40.93% 594 24.56% 757 31.29% 59 2.44% 19 0.79% 396[lower-alpha 1] 9.63% 2,419
Le Sueur 4,059 66.22% 1,853 30.23% 112 1.83% 54 0.88% 52 0.85% 2,206 35.99% 6,130
Lincoln 2,548 75.30% 673 19.89% 81 2.39% 45 1.33% 37 1.09% 1,875 55.41% 3,384
Lyon 4,557 73.16% 1,232 19.78% 246 3.95% 153 2.46% 41 0.66% 3,325 53.38% 6,229
Mahnomen 1,076 71.97% 215 14.38% 167 11.17% 14 0.94% 23 1.54% 861 57.59% 1,495
Marshall 4,738 75.41% 885 14.09% 456 7.26% 139 2.21% 65 1.03% 3,853 61.32% 6,283
Martin 5,142 78.46% 1,221 18.63% 101 1.54% 66 1.01% 24 0.37% 3,921 59.83% 6,554
McLeod 5,430 77.62% 1,139 16.28% 263 3.76% 92 1.32% 72 1.03% 4,291 61.34% 6,996
Meeker 4,693 78.40% 878 14.67% 223 3.73% 123 2.05% 69 1.15% 3,815 63.73% 5,986
Mille Lacs 3,521 73.17% 526 10.93% 640 13.30% 84 1.75% 41 0.85% 2,995[lower-alpha 1] 59.87% 4,812
Morrison 5,371 77.57% 1,131 16.33% 316 4.56% 64 0.92% 42 0.61% 4,240 61.24% 6,924
Mower 6,339 82.06% 1,061 13.73% 192 2.49% 78 1.01% 55 0.71% 5,278 68.32% 7,725
Murray 3,270 79.16% 698 16.90% 102 2.47% 39 0.94% 22 0.53% 2,572 62.26% 4,131
Nicollet 4,115 83.45% 556 11.28% 140 2.84% 101 2.05% 19 0.39% 3,559 72.18% 4,931
Nobles 4,420 79.64% 982 17.69% 81 1.46% 38 0.68% 29 0.52% 3,438 61.95% 5,550
Norman 3,451 74.17% 481 10.34% 481 10.34% 175 3.76% 65 1.40% 2,970 63.83% 4,653
Olmsted 7,130 77.12% 1,756 18.99% 176 1.90% 145 1.57% 38 0.41% 5,374 58.13% 9,245
Otter Tail 11,084 78.50% 1,741 12.33% 788 5.58% 336 2.38% 170 1.20% 9,343 66.17% 14,119
Pennington 2,320 60.70% 768 20.09% 581 15.20% 95 2.49% 58 1.52% 1,552 40.61% 3,822
Pine 3,879 66.83% 1,127 19.42% 654 11.27% 86 1.48% 58 1.00% 2,752 47.42% 5,804
Pipestone 3,106 79.89% 490 12.60% 232 5.97% 35 0.90% 25 0.64% 2,616 67.28% 3,888
Polk 8,197 69.47% 2,111 17.89% 1,057 8.96% 288 2.44% 147 1.25% 6,086 51.58% 11,800
Pope 3,466 76.34% 709 15.62% 163 3.59% 167 3.68% 35 0.77% 2,757 60.73% 4,540
Ramsey 40,204 58.62% 21,110 30.78% 6,201 9.04% 504 0.73% 568 0.83% 19,094 27.84% 68,587
Red Lake 1,308 62.37% 558 26.61% 159 7.58% 44 2.10% 28 1.34% 750 35.77% 2,097
Redwood 5,589 83.07% 880 13.08% 159 2.36% 64 0.95% 36 0.54% 4,709 69.99% 6,728
Renville 5,995 73.64% 1,283 15.76% 478 5.87% 299 3.67% 86 1.06% 4,712 57.88% 8,141
Rice 6,500 74.58% 2,040 23.41% 72 0.83% 61 0.70% 42 0.48% 4,460 51.18% 8,715
Rock 3,121 84.53% 442 11.97% 67 1.81% 31 0.84% 31 0.84% 2,679 72.56% 3,692
Roseau 2,387 64.13% 500 13.43% 698 18.75% 90 2.42% 47 1.26% 1,887[lower-alpha 1] 45.38% 3,722
Saint Louis 27,987 56.98% 14,767 30.07% 5,378 10.95% 533 1.09% 450 0.92% 13,220 26.92% 49,115
Scott 3,015 68.96% 1,253 28.66% 52 1.19% 24 0.55% 28 0.64% 1,762 40.30% 4,372
Sherburne 2,747 85.18% 307 9.52% 115 3.57% 37 1.15% 19 0.59% 2,440 75.66% 3,225
Sibley 4,198 85.94% 502 10.28% 111 2.27% 50 1.02% 24 0.49% 3,696 75.66% 4,885
Stearns 13,566 86.33% 1,616 10.28% 318 2.02% 106 0.67% 108 0.69% 11,950 76.05% 15,714
Steele 4,243 76.45% 1,167 21.03% 56 1.01% 55 0.99% 29 0.52% 3,076 55.42% 5,550
Stevens 2,339 79.83% 457 15.60% 71 2.42% 47 1.60% 16 0.55% 1,882 64.23% 2,930
Swift 3,553 70.22% 985 19.47% 209 4.13% 260 5.14% 53 1.05% 2,568 50.75% 5,060
Todd 5,448 71.10% 1,464 19.11% 443 5.78% 191 2.49% 116 1.51% 3,984 52.00% 7,662
Traverse 1,759 73.20% 550 22.89% 49 2.04% 18 0.75% 27 1.12% 1,209 50.31% 2,403
Wabasha 4,907 77.11% 1,275 20.03% 78 1.23% 44 0.69% 60 0.94% 3,632 57.07% 6,364
Wadena 2,635 75.57% 503 14.43% 203 5.82% 86 2.47% 60 1.72% 2,132 61.14% 3,487
Waseca 3,626 71.79% 1,257 24.89% 102 2.02% 37 0.73% 29 0.57% 2,369 46.90% 5,051
Washington 5,852 74.84% 1,558 19.93% 267 3.41% 96 1.23% 46 0.59% 4,294 54.92% 7,819
Watonwan 3,510 81.40% 647 15.00% 100 2.32% 31 0.72% 24 0.56% 2,863 66.40% 4,312
Wilkin 2,106 75.19% 561 20.03% 76 2.71% 39 1.39% 19 0.68% 1,545 55.16% 2,801
Winona 7,888 69.81% 2,896 25.63% 271 2.40% 80 0.71% 165 1.46% 4,992 44.18% 11,300
Wright 7,013 79.51% 1,299 14.73% 303 3.44% 133 1.51% 72 0.82% 5,714 64.78% 8,820
Yellow Medicine 4,225 72.48% 814 13.96% 233 4.00% 497 8.53% 60 1.03% 3,411 58.52% 5,829
Totals519,42170.59%142,99419.43%56,1067.62%11,4891.56%5,8280.79%376,42751.16%735,838

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 In this county where Debs ran second ahead of James M. Cox, margin given is Harding vote minus Debs vote and percentage margin Harding percentage minus Debs percentage.
  2. ↑ In this county where Watkins ran ahead of James M. Cox, margin given is Harding vote minus Watkins vote and percentage margin Harding percentage minus Watkins percentage.

References

  1. ↑ Morello, John A.; Albert D. Lasker, Advertising, and the Election of Warren G. Harding, p. 64 ISBN 0275970302
  2. 1 2 Hough, Jerry F.; Changing Party Coalitions: The Mystery of the Red State-Blue State Alignment, pp. 86-87 ISBN 0875864090
  3. ↑ Saldin, Robert P., 'World War I and the System of 1896' (2010); Political Science Faculty Publications, Paper 1, pp. 825-836
  4. ↑ Lichtman, Allan J.; Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928, pp. 102, 115
  5. ↑ Lubell, Samuel; The Future of American Politics, p. 135 Published 1952 by Harper and Brothers, New York
  6. 1 2 Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Minnesota
  7. ↑ Goldberg, David Joseph; Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s, p. 47 ISBN 0801860059
  8. ↑ Faykosh, Joseph D., Bowling Green State University; The Front Porch of the American People: James Cox and the Presidential Election of 1920 (thesis), p. 69
  9. ↑ Pietrusza, David; 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, p. 398 ISBN 0786721022
  10. ↑ Bagby, Rexby; The Road to Normalcy: The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1920, pp. 158-159 ISBN 0801800455
  11. ↑ 'Republicans Going to Win: Prospects of a Complete Victory'; The Observer, October 31, 1920, p. 13
  12. ↑ Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 121 ISBN 0786422173
  13. ↑ Menendez; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, pp. 228-232
  14. ↑ "1920 Presidential Election Results – Minnesota". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ Géoelections; Popular Vote for Eugene Debs (1920) (.xlsx file for €15)
  16. 1 2 Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State Elections; The Legislative Manual for the State of Minnesota (1921) pp. 524-525
  17. ↑ Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, pp. 234-241 ISBN 9780804716963
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