1920 United States presidential election in California

The 1920 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election in which all 48 states participated. California voters chose 13 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Democratic nominee, Governor James M. Cox of Ohio and his running mate, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, against Republican challenger U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and his running mate, Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts.

1920 United States presidential election in California

November 2, 1920
Turnout	71.87% (of registered voters) 7.70 pp 47.26% (of eligible voters) 10.65 pp [1]
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 13 0 0 Popular vote 624,992 229,191 64,076 Percentage 66.20% 24.28% 6.79%
County Results Harding   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   90-100%
President before election Woodrow Wilson Democratic Elected President Warren G. Harding Republican

Elections in California
Federal government U.S. President 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 Dem GOP 2000 Dem GOP 2004 Dem GOP 2008 Dem GOP 2012 GOP 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP U.S. Senate 1849 1850 1852 special 1856 1857 special 1860 1860 special 1868 1872 1873 1873 special 1878 1880 1885 1886 special 1887 1891 1891 special 1893 1895 special 1897 1900 special 1903 1905 1909 1911 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 1946 special 1950 1952 1954 special 1956 1958 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1992 special 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024 U.S. House of Representatives 1849 1851 1852 1854 1856 1859 1861 1863 1864 1867 1868 1871 1872 1875 1876 1879 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 12th special 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1987 5th special 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 5th special 48th special 2006 50th special 2007 36th special 2008 12th special 2009 10th special 32nd special 2010 2011 36th special 2012 2014 2016 2017 34th special 2018 2020 25th special
State government (executive) Governor 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1867 1871 1875 1879 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2003 (recall) 2006 2010 2014 2018 Lieutenant governor 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Attorney General 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Secretary of State 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Treasurer 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Controller 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Insurance Commissioner 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Superintendent of Public Instruction 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 State Board of Equalization 2018
State government (legislative) State Senate 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Special State Assembly 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Special
State government (judicial) Court of Appeals 1994 1998 2002 2006
Propositions 1910–1919 1911 4 7 8 1960–1969 1964 14 1970–1979 1974 9 1978 8 13 Briggs Initiative 1980–1989 1982 8 1986 64 65 1988 98 99 1990–1999 1994 187 1996 196 209 215 218 1998 6 10 227 2000–2009 2000 21 22 36 39 2003 53 54 2004 1A 55 56 57 58 59 60 60A 61 62 63 64 65 66 69 71 2005 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 2006 81 82 83 85 87 89 90 2008 91 92 93 94, 95, 96, and 97 98 and 99 1A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2009 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 2010–2019 2010 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2012 29 30 32 34 37 38 39 2014 1 2 41 42 45 46 47 48 2016 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 2018 68 69 70 71 72 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2020–2029 2020 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 Full list
Elections by year State elections 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 sp 2006 Feb 2008 Jun 2008 Nov 2008 2009 Jun 2010 Nov 2010 Jun 2012 Nov 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Anaheim Mayor 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Bakersfield Mayoral elections 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Fresno Mayor 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Irvine Mayoral elections 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Long Beach Mayor 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Los Angeles Mayor 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1909 (M) 1909 (N) 1911 1913 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1929 1933 1937 1938 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2022 General 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2020 City Attorney 2009 Board of Supervisors 1980 1996 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Oakland Mayor 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Riverside Mayor 2012 2016 2020
Sacramento Mayor 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
San Bernardino Mayor 2005–06 2009 2014 2018
San Diego Mayor 1887 1889 1891 1893 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1909 1911 1913 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1932 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 (special) 1984 1986 (special) 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2005 (special) 2008 2012 2013–14 (special) 2016 2020 City Attorney 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Municipal elections 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Special Board of Supervisors 2020
San Francisco Mayor 1971 1975 1979 1983 (recall) 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2018 (special) 2019 Board of Supervisors 1977 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 General elections Mar 2004 Nov 2004 Nov 2005 Jun 2006 Nov 2006 Nov 2007 Feb 2008 Jun 2008 Nov 2008 Nov 2009 Jun 2010 Nov 2010 Nov 2011 Jun 2012 Nov 2012 Nov 2013
San Jose Mayor 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Stockton Mayoral elections 2008 2012 2016 2020

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[2] – besides which Wilson also had major health problems that had left First Lady Edith Wilson 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.[3] Demand in the West for exclusion of Asian immigrants became even stronger than it had been before.[4] Another issue was the anti-Cox position taken by the Ku Klux Klan,[5] and Cox's inconsistent stance on newly passed Prohibition – he had been a "wet" but announced he would support Prohibition enforcement in August[5]

The West had been the chief presidential battleground ever since the "System of 1896" emerged following that election.[6] For this reason, Cox chose to tour the entire nation[7] and after touring the Pacific Northwest Cox went to California to defend his proposed League of Nations. 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 Democratic candidate.[8] Moreover, the only attention Cox received in the Western press was severe criticism.[8]

In September, several opinion polls were conducted, all predicting that Harding would carry California, which had been extremely close in the two preceding elections, by over one hundred thousand votes.[9] By 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.[10] On election day, Warren Harding carried California by a margin much larger than early polls predicted, winning with 66.20 percent of the vote to James Cox's 24.28 percent. Harding became the first of only two presidential nominees to sweep all of California's counties; the only other one was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the losing 1920 vice-presidential candidate, sixteen years later. Harding's 66.20 percent of the vote was the largest fraction for any presidential candidate in California until Roosevelt won with 66.95 percent in 1936, though his 41.92-percentage-point margin of victory is the largest for any candidate in the state.

This was the first time Mariposa County and Colusa County, the only counties in the Pacific States to support Democratic nominee Alton B. Parker in 1904, had ever voted Republican.[11] Plumas County would never vote Republican again until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and Amador, El Dorado and Placer Counties would not vote Republican again until Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.[11]