1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries

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From March 9 to June 5, 1920, voters of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1920 Democratic National Convention, for the purposing of choosing a nominee for president in the 1920 United States presidential election.[1]

Quick facts 1,097 delegates to the Democratic National Convention 732 (two-thirds) votes needed to win, Candidate ...
1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries
← 1916
March 9 to June 5, 1920
1924 â†’
1,097 delegates to the Democratic National Convention
732 (two-thirds) votes needed to win
 
Candidate A. Mitchell Palmer James M. Cox William G. McAdoo
Home state Pennsylvania Ohio California
Delegate count 104 (256) 74 (134) 10 (266)
Contests won 2 2 1
Popular vote 140,010 86,194 74,987
Percentage 19.32% 11.89% 10.35%
 
Candidate James Watson Gerard Robert Latham Owen Edward I. Edwards
Home state New York Oklahoma New Jersey
Contests won 2 2 1
     McAdoo      Palmer      Cox      Gerard
     Owen      Edwards      Uncommitted      Various[b][a]
Previous Democratic nominee

Woodrow Wilson

 Democratic nominee

James M. Cox

Close

The race for delegates was made under a cloud of uncertainty because the party's two leading names, President Woodrow Wilson and three-time nominee William Jennings Bryan, withheld their intentions; both men privately hoped for the nomination, but neither's name was formally submitted before the voters or the convention as a candidate.

The delegate elections were inconclusive, with Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo, and Ohio governor James A. Cox leading the candidate field. With no clear front-runner, many states withheld their delegates from any one candidate, instead sending an uncommitted slate of delegates or preferring to back a favorite son on the first ballot. At the convention, Cox was ultimately nominated on the forty-fourth ballot.

Candidates

Not placed in nomination

Favorite sons

Further information: Favorite son

Primary and caucus results

More information Date, Pledged delegates ...
Date Pledged
delegates		 Contest
and total popular vote		 Delegates won and popular vote[2][c]
William Jennings Bryan James M. Cox Edward I. Edwards Herbert Hoover William Gibbs McAdoo A. Mitchell Palmer Other Uncommitted
February 5 20 Oklahoma
convention		 – – – – – – 20[d] –
February 27 6 Arizona
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
February 28 26 Iowa
convention		 – – – – – – – 26[e]
March 9
(14)		 6 Nevada
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
8 New Hampshire
primary		 – – – – – – – 8
7,103 (100.0%)
March 16 10 North Dakota
primary
340 (87.4%)		 – – –
49 (12.6%)		 – – 10
March 23 10 South Dakota
primary		 – – – – – –
10[f]
6,612 (100.00%)[g]		 –
March 30 12 Maine
convention		 – – – – – – – 12
April 5 0 (of 30) Michigan
primary
17,954 (20.3%)		 –
16,642 (18.8%)
24,006 (27.2%)
18,665 (21.1%)
11,187 (12.6%)		 – –
April 6
(146)		 24 Minnesota
convention		 – – – – – – – 24
90 New York
primary		 – – – – – – – 90
113,300 (100.0%)
6 Philippines
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
26 Wisconsin
primary		 –
76 (2.2%)		 – – – –
3,391 (97.8%)		 26
April 8 24 North Carolina
convention		 – – – – – – 24[h] –
April 10 6 Puerto Rico
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
April 13 50 (of 58) Illinois
primary
1,968 (9.2%)
266 (1.2%)
6,933 (32.3%)		 – – –
8,450 (39.4%)[i]		 50
April 20
(44)		 28 Georgia[3][4]
primary		 – – – – – 28[j]
48,460 (33.2%)
97,542 (66.8%)[k]		 –
16 Nebraska
primary
3,466 (6.2%)		 – – – – – 16[l]
52,216 (93.8%)[m]		 –
April 22 36 Missouri
convention		 – – – – – – – 36
April 23 20 Kansas
convention		 – – – – – – – 20
8 Montana
primary		 – – – – – –
2,994 (100.0%)[n]		 8
April 27
(112)		 32 Massachusetts
primary		 – – – – – – – 36
28,261 (100.0%)
28 New Jersey
primary
64 (1.4%)		 – 28
4,163 (88.5%)
64 (1.4%)
180 (3.8%)		 –
231 (4.9%)[o]		 –
32 Ohio
primary
971 (1.1%)		 48
85,838 (97.8%)		 – –
292 (0.3%)
282 (0.3%)
394 (0.4%)		 –
April 28 6 Alaska Territory
primary		 – – – – – – – 6
May 3 16 Maryland
convention		 – – – – – – – 16
May 4
(52)		 26 California
primary		 – – – – – – – 26
23,861 (100.0%)
26 Kentucky
convention		 – 26 – – – – – –
May 6
(24)		 14 Connecticut
primary		 – – – – – – – 14
10 Rhode Island
convention		 – – – – – – – 10
May 10 8 (of 50) Illinois
convention		 – – – – – – – 8
30 Michigan
convention		 – – – – – – – 30
6 Wyoming
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
May 11 24 Alabama
primary		 – – – – – – – 24
May 17
(76)		 12 Colorado
convention		 – – – – – – – 12
14 Washington
convention		 – – – – – – – 14
May 18
(76)		 76 Pennsylvania
primary
285 (0.3%)		 –
674 (0.6%)		 –
26,875 (24.6%)		 76
80,356 (73.7%)
847 (0.8%)[p]		 –
0 (of 8) Vermont
primary
26 (6.4%)
14 (3.5%)
58 (14.3%)
39 (9.6%)
137 (33.8%)
7 (1.7%)
124 (30.5%)[q]		 –
May 19 24 Virginia
convention		 – – – – – – – 24
May 20 30 Indiana
convention		 – – – – – – – 30
May 21 10 Oregon
primary		 – – – – 10
24,951 (98.6%)		 –
361 (1.4%)		 –
May 22 6 Territory of Hawaii
primary		 – – – – – – – 6
May 25
(62)		 6 Delaware
primary		 – – – – – – – 6
40 Texas
primary		 – – – – – – – 40
16 West Virginia
primary		 – – – – – – – 16
May 26 18 South Carolina
convention		 – – – – – – – 18
June 1 18 Arkansas
state committee		 – – – – – – – 18
June 2 8 Vermont
convention		 – – – – – – – 8
June 3 20 Louisiana
convention		 – – – – – – – 20
6 New Mexico
convention		 – – – – – – – 6
June 8
(37)		 24 Tennessee
convention		 – – – – – – – 24
12 Florida
primary		 – – – – – – – 12
June 10 11 Washington, D.C.
primary		 – – – – – – – 11
June 12 8 Utah
convention		 – – – – 8[r] – – –
June 15 8 Idaho
convention		 – – – – – – – 8
June 16 20 Mississippi
convention		 – – – – – – – 20
Close

See also

Notes

  1. [b]
    Favorite sons received the support of the delegations of Nebraska (Gilbert Hitchcock), West Virginia (John W. Davis), Virginia (Carter Glass), New York (Al Smith), Mississippi (John Sharp Williams), Connecticut (Homer Stille Cummings), North Carolina (Furnifold Simmons), Iowa (Edwin T. Meredith), and Indiana(Thomas R. Marshall). Former Speaker of the House Champ Clark won the Louisiana delegation.
  2. [c]
    This should not be taken as a finalized list of results. While a significant amount of research was done, there were a number of Delegates who were not bound by the instruction, or "pledged" to a candidate, and to simplify the data these delegates were considered "uncommitted". Many states also held primaries for delegate positions; as these elections allowed for a single person to vote for multiple delegate candidates, it is difficult to determine how many people actually voted in these primaries. For this reason, while such results may be found, they are not included in popular vote summaries.
  3. [d]
    All twenty Oklahoma delegates were committed to support Robert Latham Owen.
  4. [e]
    Although the Iowa delegates were elected at the convention as uncommitted and uninstructed, they were later instructed to support favorite son Edwin T. Meredith by a state committee meeting ahead of the convention.
  5. [f]
    All ten delegates were pledged to support James W. Gerard.
  6. [g]
    2,530 votes for James W. Gerard, 1,920 votes for James O. Monroe and 2,162 votes for other candidates.
  7. [h]
    All 24 delegates were instructed to support favorite son Furnifold McLendel Simmons.
  8. [i]
    931 votes for Woodrow Wilson, 548 votes for Champ Clark, 40 votes for J. Hamilton Lewis, and 6,931 votes for others.
  9. [j]
    Delegates to the state convention (which officially chose delegates and their instruction) were elected not on the popular vote but the county unit system. Palmer came second in the popular vote to Thomas E. Watson but won the most unit votes. Despite attempts by Watson and some Hoke Smith supporters to send an uninstructed delegation to the national convention, the Palmer delegation was seated by the credentials committee.
  10. [k]
    51,974 votes for Thomas E. Watson and 45,568 votes for Hoke Smith.
  11. [l]
    All delegates were pledged to support favorite son Gilbert Hitchcock
  12. [m]
    37,452 for Gilbert Hitchcock, 13,179 for Robert G. Ross, and 1,585 votes for others
  13. [n]
    No candidate filed for the Montana ballot and all votes were considered scattered.
  14. [o]
    149 votes for Woodrow Wilson, 55 votes for Hiram Johnson, and 27 votes for others.
  15. [p]
    129 votes for Woodrow Wilson and 718 for others.
  16. [q]
    68 votes for Woodrow Wilson, 18 votes for Hiram Johnson, 16 votes for Champ Clark, 8 votes for Eugene Debs, 7 votes for Henry Ford, and 7 votes for Thomas R. Marshall.
  17. [r]
    Although the Utah delegation was formally uninstructed, the convention passed a resolution endorsing McAdoo.

References

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