1920 United States presidential election in New York

1920 United States presidential election in New York
Turnout	56.4% 15.2 pp
County Results Harding 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
President before election; Woodrow Wilson; Democratic	Elected President ; Warren G. Harding; Republican

The 1920 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 2, 1920. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1920 United States presidential election. Voters chose 45 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New York was won by Republican Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio, who was running against Democratic Ohio Governor James M. Cox. Harding's running mate was Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, while Cox ran with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York. Also running that year was Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs of Indiana and his running mate Seymour Stedman of Illinois.

Harding won New York State with an overwhelming landslide of 64.56% of the vote to Cox's 26.95%, a victory margin of 37.61%. Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs finished with a relatively strong showing for a third party candidate, taking 7.01% of the vote, more than twice his national vote share, making New York his third strongest state in the nation. The strongest county for Debs within the state was the New York City borough of the Bronx, where Debs broke 15% of the vote.

With the deeply unpopular Democratic administration of Woodrow Wilson as the backdrop for the 1920 campaign,^[2] Warren G. Harding promised a "return to normalcy" that appealed to many voters,^[3] while Cox was tied to the policies of the Wilson administration, which had even in 1916 been criticized for insensitivity to Irish-American wishes.^[4] Harding won nationally in one of the most decisive landslides in American history, and New York, already a fiercely Republican state during the Fourth Party System, went even harder for Harding than the nation, making New York a solid 12% more Republican than the national average.^[5] The Irish-Americans were offended by Cox' close ties to Wilson's proposed League of Nations;^[6] whilst Palatine Germans who had been the Democratic Party's other base in New York since before the Civil War were similarly offended by Wilson's pro-British policies. Schoharie County, which had been the only New York county to stay Democratic during the "free silver" election of 1896, went Republican for the first time ever^[7] and has only twice voted Democratic since.^{[note 1]}

Results[edit]

1920 United States presidential election in New York^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Warren G. Harding	1,871,167	64.56%	45
	Democratic	James Cox	781,238	26.95%	0
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	203,201	7.01%	0
	Prohibition	Aaron S. Watkins	19,653	0.68%	0
	Farmer-Labor	Parley P. Christensen	18,413	0.64%	0
	Socialist Labor	William Wesley Cox	4,841	0.17%	0
Totals			2,898,513	100.0%	45

New York City results[edit]

1920 Presidential Election in New York City			Manhattan	The Bronx	Brooklyn	Queens	Staten Island	Total
	Republican	Warren G. Harding	275,013	106,050	292,692	94,360	17,844	785,959	61.42%
	Republican	Warren G. Harding	59.22%	56.61%	63.32%	68.71%	63.15%	785,959	61.42%
	Democratic	James M. Cox	135,249	45,741	119,612	35,296	9,373	345,271	26.98%
	Democratic	James M. Cox	29.12%	24.42%	25.88%	25.70%	33.17%	345,271	26.98%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	46,049	32,923	45,100	6,143	712	130,927	10.23%
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	9.92%	17.57%	9.76%	4.47%	2.52%	130,927	10.23%
	Farmer-Labor	Parley P. Christensen	7,079	1,949	3,473	1,204	170	13,875	1.08%
	Farmer-Labor	Parley P. Christensen	1.52%	1.04%	0.75%	0.88%	0.60%	13,875	1.08%
	Socialist Labor	William W. Cox	567	452	638	179	48	1,884	0.15%
	Socialist Labor	William W. Cox	0.12%	0.24%	0.14%	0.13%	0.17%	1,884	0.15%
	Prohibition	Aaron S. Watkins	463	214	733	142	111	1,663	0.13%
	Prohibition	Aaron S. Watkins	0.10%	0.11%	0.16%	0.10%	0.39%	1,663	0.13%
TOTAL			464,420	187,329	462,248	137,324	28,258	1,279,579	100.00%

Results by county[edit]

County	Warren G. Harding Republican		James M. Cox Democratic		Eugene V. Debs Socialist		Aaron Watkins Prohibition		Parley P. Christensen Farmer-Labor		William W. Cox Socialist Labor		Margin		Total votes cast^[9]
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast^[9]
Albany	48,750	61.72%	28,376	35.92%	1,438	1.82%	244	0.31%	118	0.15%	63	0.08%	20,374	25.79%	78,989
Allegany	10,898	74.15%	2,799	19.04%	513	3.49%	441	3.00%	22	0.15%	24	0.16%	8,099	55.11%	14,697
Bronx	106,050	56.61%	45,741	24.42%	32,923	17.57%	214	0.11%	1,949	1.04%	452	0.24%	60,309	32.19%	187,329
Broome	24,759	68.96%	9,251	25.77%	1,120	3.12%	623	1.74%	90	0.25%	60	0.17%	15,508	43.19%	35,903
Cattaraugus	16,083	66.93%	6,693	27.85%	658	2.74%	481	2.00%	75	0.31%	39	0.16%	9,390	39.08%	24,029
Cayuga	15,234	67.68%	6,343	28.18%	639	2.84%	191	0.85%	33	0.15%	70	0.31%	8,891	39.50%	22,510
Chautauqua	27,618	71.57%	6,781	17.57%	3,143	8.15%	869	2.25%	62	0.16%	114	0.30%	20,837	54.00%	38,587
Chemung	17,864	68.53%	7,060	27.08%	431	1.65%	633	2.43%	46	0.18%	34	0.13%	10,804	41.45%	26,068
Chenango	10,116	71.12%	3,735	26.26%	68	0.48%	282	1.98%	14	0.10%	9	0.06%	6,381	44.86%	14,224
Clinton	9,062	67.70%	4,110	30.71%	29	0.22%	166	1.24%	11	0.08%	7	0.05%	4,952	37.00%	13,385
Columbia	9,284	62.63%	5,203	35.10%	211	1.42%	95	0.64%	15	0.10%	15	0.10%	4,081	27.53%	14,823
Cortland	9,606	76.75%	2,541	20.30%	136	1.09%	218	1.74%	6	0.05%	9	0.07%	7,065	56.45%	12,516
Delaware	11,719	70.17%	4,528	27.11%	150	0.90%	269	1.61%	27	0.16%	8	0.05%	7,191	43.06%	16,701
Dutchess	21,152	65.60%	9,938	30.82%	882	2.74%	167	0.52%	71	0.22%	36	0.11%	11,214	34.78%	32,246
Erie	99,762	63.22%	40,436	25.63%	15,111	9.58%	1,430	0.91%	521	0.33%	536	0.34%	59,326	37.60%	157,796
Essex	8,042	77.48%	2,218	21.37%	47	0.45%	61	0.59%	9	0.09%	2	0.02%	5,824	56.11%	10,379
Franklin	9,786	70.58%	3,825	27.59%	62	0.45%	178	1.28%	12	0.09%	2	0.01%	5,961	42.99%	13,865
Fulton	10,946	70.44%	3,192	20.54%	888	5.71%	436	2.81%	35	0.23%	42	0.27%	7,754	49.90%	15,539
Genesee	9,628	74.50%	2,570	19.89%	539	4.17%	152	1.18%	13	0.10%	21	0.16%	7,058	54.62%	12,923
Greene	6,323	61.50%	3,498	34.02%	264	2.57%	160	1.56%	20	0.19%	17	0.17%	2,825	27.48%	10,282
Hamilton	881	62.66%	516	36.70%	3	0.21%	4	0.28%	2	0.14%	0	0.00%	365	25.96%	1,406
Herkimer	14,310	65.27%	6,507	29.68%	793	3.62%	264	1.20%	25	0.11%	25	0.11%	7,803	35.59%	21,924
Jefferson	22,072	70.74%	7,925	25.40%	252	0.81%	406	1.30%	510	1.63%	36	0.12%	14,147	45.34%	31,201
Kings	292,692	63.32%	119,612	25.88%	45,100	9.76%	733	0.16%	3,473	0.75%	638	0.14%	173,080	37.44%	462,248
Lewis	5,906	67.95%	2,673	30.75%	24	0.28%	76	0.87%	10	0.12%	3	0.03%	3,233	37.20%	8,692
Livingston	9,488	68.84%	3,571	25.91%	497	3.61%	192	1.39%	17	0.12%	18	0.13%	5,917	42.93%	13,783
Madison	11,094	72.28%	3,797	24.74%	230	1.50%	182	1.19%	22	0.14%	23	0.15%	7,297	47.54%	15,348
Monroe	73,809	63.78%	28,523	24.65%	11,089	9.58%	1,324	1.14%	678	0.59%	298	0.26%	45,286	39.13%	115,721
Montgomery	12,835	66.07%	5,911	30.43%	476	2.45%	134	0.69%	26	0.13%	43	0.22%	6,924	35.64%	19,425
Nassau	33,099	76.39%	8,595	19.84%	1,254	2.89%	155	0.36%	182	0.42%	46	0.11%	24,504	56.55%	43,331
New York	275,013	59.22%	135,249	29.12%	46,049	9.92%	463	0.10%	7,079	1.52%	567	0.12%	139,764	30.09%	464,420
Niagara	21,193	68.29%	7,416	23.90%	1,872	6.03%	380	1.22%	104	0.34%	67	0.22%	13,777	44.40%	31,032
Oneida	36,311	66.27%	15,560	28.40%	2,297	4.19%	412	0.75%	78	0.14%	133	0.24%	20,751	37.87%	54,791
Onondaga	57,008	66.25%	23,308	27.09%	4,707	5.47%	640	0.74%	163	0.19%	221	0.26%	33,700	39.16%	86,047
Ontario	13,361	66.20%	5,678	28.13%	914	4.53%	186	0.92%	24	0.12%	21	0.10%	7,683	38.06%	20,184
Orange	24,558	66.13%	10,567	28.46%	1,573	4.24%	292	0.79%	93	0.25%	52	0.14%	13,991	37.68%	37,135
Orleans	8,305	72.79%	2,266	19.86%	620	5.43%	176	1.54%	30	0.26%	13	0.11%	6,039	52.93%	11,410
Oswego	17,905	66.37%	8,045	29.82%	491	1.82%	474	1.76%	36	0.13%	28	0.10%	9,860	36.55%	26,979
Otsego	12,112	63.88%	6,275	33.09%	134	0.71%	391	2.06%	36	0.19%	13	0.07%	5,837	30.78%	18,961
Putnam	3,447	70.19%	1,405	28.61%	23	0.47%	20	0.41%	8	0.16%	8	0.16%	2,042	41.58%	4,911
Queens	94,360	68.71%	35,296	25.70%	6,143	4.47%	142	0.10%	1,204	0.88%	179	0.13%	59,064	43.01%	137,324
Rensselaer	28,810	56.08%	20,224	39.37%	1,849	3.60%	278	0.54%	116	0.23%	94	0.18%	8,586	16.71%	51,371
Richmond	17,844	63.15%	9,373	33.17%	712	2.52%	111	0.39%	170	0.60%	48	0.17%	8,471	29.98%	28,258
Rockland	11,169	66.10%	5,057	29.93%	498	2.95%	80	0.47%	67	0.40%	26	0.15%	6,112	36.17%	16,897
Saratoga	16,222	67.99%	6,905	28.94%	351	1.47%	290	1.22%	73	0.31%	17	0.07%	9,317	39.05%	23,858
Schenectady	19,208	57.20%	8,741	26.03%	4,941	14.71%	509	1.52%	66	0.20%	117	0.35%	10,467	31.17%	33,582
Schoharie	5,572	58.43%	3,697	38.76%	30	0.31%	215	2.25%	12	0.13%	11	0.12%	1,875	19.66%	9,537
Schuyler	3,827	71.29%	1,231	22.93%	151	2.81%	138	2.57%	9	0.17%	12	0.22%	2,596	48.36%	5,368
Seneca	6,260	64.56%	3,023	31.18%	250	2.58%	135	1.39%	12	0.12%	16	0.17%	3,237	33.38%	9,696
St. Lawrence	24,651	75.60%	7,213	22.12%	372	1.14%	282	0.86%	56	0.17%	32	0.10%	17,438	53.48%	32,606
Steuben	18,335	65.79%	7,401	26.56%	1,217	4.37%	784	2.81%	52	0.19%	79	0.28%	10,934	39.23%	27,868
Suffolk	26,737	73.10%	8,852	24.20%	596	1.63%	233	0.64%	118	0.32%	38	0.10%	17,885	48.90%	36,574
Sullivan	8,029	64.45%	3,623	29.08%	671	5.39%	98	0.79%	26	0.21%	11	0.09%	4,406	35.37%	12,458
Tioga	6,772	71.20%	2,406	25.30%	83	0.87%	223	2.34%	16	0.17%	11	0.12%	4,366	45.90%	9,511
Tompkins	9,508	70.05%	3,487	25.69%	288	2.12%	250	1.84%	21	0.15%	19	0.14%	6,021	44.36%	13,573
Ulster	19,001	66.41%	8,759	30.61%	301	1.05%	455	1.59%	76	0.27%	20	0.07%	10,242	35.80%	28,612
Warren	9,009	71.76%	3,227	25.70%	189	1.51%	101	0.80%	20	0.16%	9	0.07%	5,782	46.05%	12,555
Washington	13,647	75.43%	4,124	22.79%	162	0.90%	123	0.68%	24	0.13%	13	0.07%	9,523	52.63%	18,093
Wayne	13,333	73.24%	4,289	23.56%	304	1.67%	241	1.32%	18	0.10%	20	0.11%	9,044	49.68%	18,205
Westchester	76,020	68.28%	28,060	25.20%	6,097	5.48%	435	0.39%	485	0.44%	238	0.21%	47,960	43.08%	111,335
Wyoming	9,134	75.48%	2,442	20.18%	294	2.43%	194	1.60%	21	0.17%	16	0.13%	6,692	55.30%	12,101
Yates	5,638	76.28%	1,571	21.26%	52	0.70%	122	1.65%	6	0.08%	2	0.03%	4,067	55.03%	7,391
Totals	1,871,167	64.56%	781,238	26.95%	203,201	7.01%	19,653	0.68%	18,413	0.64%	4,841	0.17%	1,089,929	37.60%	2,898,513

Analysis[edit]

Harding swept every county in the state of New York, winning every upstate county as well as winning all five boroughs of New York City and Long Island. All but five of New York State's 62 counties went Republican with more than 60% of the vote.

Harding won heavily populated New York City as a whole with a commanding majority, sweeping all 5 boroughs. Harding received over 60% of the vote in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, and also won majorities in Manhattan and the Bronx.^[10] 1920 was the first of only two occasions in which a Republican presidential candidate won all 5 boroughs of New York City since the city's incorporation in 1898, the other occasion being 1924. 1920 remains the only election ever in which a Republican presidential candidate has won an absolute majority of the vote in all five boroughs as well as in New York City as a whole. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge would win New York City for the GOP once more, but with a plurality in every borough sans Queens. This is the second of three elections in which Republicans won New York City as a whole (along with 1908 and 1924).

Likewise, this was the first of only two occasions (the other being 1924) in which a Republican has won the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx since they took their modern forms with the creation of Bronx County in 1914.^[11]

Harding also won decisive majorities in upstate New York in rural and urban counties. Harding won over 60% in Albany County, home to the state capital of Albany, as well as in Erie County, home to the city of Buffalo, and in Monroe County, home to the city of Rochester. 1920 made Warren G. Harding the first of three presidential candidates of either party who has been able to sweep every county in New York State, the only others being Republican Calvin Coolidge in 1924 and Democrat Lyndon Johnson in 1964. As of 2020, this is the most recent election where New York's most Democratic county was not one of the five boroughs of New York City, as Cox had his best performance in Upstate Rensselaer County.

Harding's 64.56% of the vote in New York State remains the highest vote share any Republican presidential candidate has ever received in the state, and the second-highest vote share any candidate of either party has ever gotten in the state, beaten only by Democrat Lyndon Johnson's 68.56% in the Democratic landslide of 1964. Harding's landslide victory margin of 37.61% remains the widest margin by which any candidate of either party has ever won New York State, beating even Lyndon Johnson's 37.25% in 1964.^[12]

Notes[edit]

^ These were for Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater in 1964 and for Bill Clinton against Bob Dole in 1996.

References[edit]

^ Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.
^ McGerr, Michael E.; The Decline of Popular Politics: The American North, 1865-1928; p. 169 ISBN 0195363760
^ Carr, Richard and Hart, Bradley W.; The Global 1920s: Politics, Economics and Society, p. 143 ISBN 1317277872
^ Lichtman, Allan J.; Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928, p. 103 ISBN 0739101269
^ Counting the Votes; New York
^ Yanoso, Nicole Anderson; The Irish and the American Presidency, p. 143 ISBN 1351480642
^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 121 ISBN 9780691163246
^ "1920 Presidential Election Results - New York". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
^ New York State Board of Elections; 'Vote for Electors of President in 1920'; New York Red Book (1921) p. 530
^ Keuchtenberg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932; p. 88 ISBN 0226473716
^ Sullivan, Robert David; 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
^ Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New York

[8] These were for Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater in 1964 and for Bill Clinton against Bob Dole in 1996.

[1] Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, part 2, p. 1072.

[2] McGerr, Michael E.; The Decline of Popular Politics: The American North, 1865-1928; p. 169 ISBN 0195363760

[3] Carr, Richard and Hart, Bradley W.; The Global 1920s: Politics, Economics and Society, p. 143 ISBN 1317277872

[4] Lichtman, Allan J.; Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928, p. 103 ISBN 0739101269

[5] Counting the Votes; New York

[6] Yanoso, Nicole Anderson; The Irish and the American Presidency, p. 143 ISBN 1351480642

[7] Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 121 ISBN 9780691163246

[9] "1920 Presidential Election Results - New York". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved July 27, 2013.

[10] New York State Board of Elections; 'Vote for Electors of President in 1920'; New York Red Book (1921) p. 530

[11] Keuchtenberg, William E.; The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932; p. 88 ISBN 0226473716

[How-12] Sullivan, Robert David; 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century'; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

[13] Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New York

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