In this article, we will explore the impact of 1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries on different aspects of society. From its emergence to the present, 1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries has played a fundamental role in the way we interact, communicate and understand the world around us. Throughout history, 1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries has been the subject of debate and analysis, and its influence has been felt in fields as diverse as politics, technology, the arts, and popular culture. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we will closely examine how 1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries has shaped our experiences and perspectives, and what implications it has for the future.
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1,097 delegates to the Democratic National Convention 732 (two-thirds) votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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.
Democratic Presidential Nominating State Conventions and Primaries | |||||||
Date | State | Contest Type |
Candidate | Votes Won (#) |
Votes Won (%) |
Delegates Won |
Reference(s) |
March 9 | New Hampshire |
Primary (8 of 8 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 7,103 | 100 / 100
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8 / 8
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March 16 | North Dakota |
Primary (10 of 10 delegates) |
William Jennings Bryan | 340 (W) | 87.40 / 100
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 49 (W) | 12.60 / 100
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Uninstructed | 10 / 10
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March 23 | South Dakota |
Primary (10 of 10 delegates) |
James W. Gerard | 2,530 | 38.26 / 100
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10 / 10
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Scattering | 2,162 | 32.70 / 100
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James O. Monroe | 1,920 | 29.04 / 100
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April 5 | Michigan | Primary (0 of 30 delegates) |
Herbert Hoover | 24,006 (W) | 27.17 / 100
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 18,665 (W) | 21.09 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 17,954 (W) | 20.29 / 100
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Edward I. Edwards | 16,642 (W) | 18.81 / 100
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Alexander Mitchell Palmer | 11,187 (W) | 12.64 / 100
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April 6 | New York |
Primary (90 of 90 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 113,300 | 100 / 100
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90 / 90
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Wisconsin | Primary (26 of 26 delegates) |
Scattering | 3,391 | 97.81 / 100
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James M. Cox | 76 (W) | 2.19 / 100
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Uninstructed | 26 / 26
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April 13 | Illinois | Primary (50 of 58 delegates) |
Edward I. Edwards | 6,933 (W) | 32.31 / 100
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Scattering | 6,931 (W) | 32.31 / 100
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 3,838 (W) | 17.89 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 1,968 (W) | 9.17 / 100
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Woodrow Wilson | 931 (W) | 4.34 / 100
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Champ Clark | 548 (W) | 2.55 / 100
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James M. Cox | 266 (W) | 1.24 / 100
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James Hamilton Lewis | 40 (W) | 0.19 / 100
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Uninstructed | 50 / 50
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April 20 | Georgia | Primary (0 of 28 delegates) |
Thomas E. Watson | 51,974 | 35.60 / 100
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Alexander Mitchell Palmer | 48,460 | 33.19 / 100
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Michael Hoke Smith | 45,568 | 31.21 / 100
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Nebraska | Primary (16 of 16 delegates) |
Gilbert Hitchcock | 37,452 | 67.26 / 100
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16 / 16
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Robert G. Ross | 13,179 | 23.67 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 3,466 (W) | 6.23 / 100
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Scattering | 1,585 (W) | 2.85 / 100
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April 23 | Montana | Primary (8 of 8 delegates) |
Scattering | 2,994 | 100 / 100
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Uninstructed | 8 / 8
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April 27 | Massachusetts | Primary (36 of 36 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 28,261 | 100 / 100
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36 / 36
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New Jersey |
Primary (28 of 28 delegates) |
Edward I. Edwards | 4,163 | 88.54 / 100
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28 / 28
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 180 (W) | 3.83 / 100
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Woodrow Wilson | 149 (W) | 3.17 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 64 (W) | 1.36 / 100
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Herbert Hoover | 64 (W) | 1.36 / 100
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Hiram Johnson | 55 (W) | 1.17 / 100
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Scattering | 27 (W) | 0.57 / 100
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Ohio | Primary (48 of 48 delegates) |
James M. Cox | 85,838 | 97.79 / 100
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48 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 971 (W) | 1.11 / 100
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Scattering | 394 (W) | 0.45 / 100
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 292 (W) | 0.33 / 100
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Herbert Hoover | 282 (W) | 0.32 / 100
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April 28 | Alaska | Primary (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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May 4 | California | Primary (26 of 26 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 23,861 | 100 / 100
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26 / 26
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May 10 | Alabama | Primary (24 of 24 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 24 / 24
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May 18 | Pennsylvania | Primary (76 of 76 delegates) |
Alexander Mitchell Palmer | 80,356 | 73.70 / 100
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76 / 76
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William Gibbs McAdoo | 26,875 | 24.65 / 100
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Scattering | 718 (W) | 0.66 / 100
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Edward I. Edwards | 674 (W) | 0.62 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 285 (W) | 0.26 / 100
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Woodrow Wilson | 129 (W) | 0.12 / 100
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Vermont | Primary (0 of 8 delegates) |
William Gibbs McAdoo | 137 (W) | 33.83 / 100
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Woodrow Wilson | 68 (W) | 16.79 / 100
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Edward I. Edwards | 58 (W) | 14.32 / 100
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Herbert Hoover | 39 (W) | 9.63 / 100
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William Jennings Bryan | 26 (W) | 6.42 / 100
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Hiram Johnson | 18 (W) | 4.44 / 100
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Champ Clark | 16 (W) | 3.95 / 100
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James M. Cox | 14 (W) | 3.46 / 100
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Eugene V. Debs | 8 (W) | 1.93 / 100
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Henry Ford | 7 (W) | 1.73 / 100
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Thomas R. Marshall | 7 (W) | 1.73 / 100
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Alexander Mitchell Palmer | 7 (W) | 1.73 / 100
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May 21 | Oregon | Primary (10 of 10 delegates) |
William Gibbs McAdoo | 24,951 | 98.57 / 100
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10 / 10
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Scattering | 361 (W) | 1.43 / 100
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May 22 | Hawaii | Primary (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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May 25 | Texas | Primary (40 of 40 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 40 / 40
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West Virginia |
Primary (16 of 16 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 16 / 16
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June 8 | Florida | Primary (12 of 12 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 12 / 12
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June 10 | Washington, D.C. | Primary (11 of 11 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 11 / 11
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Many delegations were not selected in public primaries. The following table shows delegates awarded at a state level by convention, committees, and other means.
Delegates not awarded via primaries | |||||||
Other delegate allocation | |||||||
Date | State | Contest Type |
Candidate | Votes Won (#) |
Votes Won (%) |
Delegates Won |
Reference(s) |
February 5 | Oklahoma | Convention (20 of 20 delegates) |
Robert Latham Owen | 20 / 20
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February 27 | Arizona | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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February 28 | Iowa | Convention (26 of 26 delegates) |
Uninstructed (Later Supported Edwin T. Meredith) |
26 / 26
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March 9 | Nevada | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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April 6 | Minnesota | Convention (24 of 24 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 24 / 24
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Philippines | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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April 8 | North Carolina |
Convention (24 of 24 delegates) |
Furnifold McLendel Simmons | 24 / 24
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April 10 | Puerto Rico | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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May 3 | Maryland | Convention (16 of 16 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 16 / 16
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May 4 | Kentucky | Convention (26 of 26 delegates) |
James M. Cox | 26 / 26
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May 6 | Connecticut | Convention (14 of 14 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 14 / 14
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Rhode Island |
Convention (10 of 10 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 10 / 10
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May 10 | Illinois | Convention (8 of 50 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 8 / 8
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Michigan | Convention (30 of 30 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 30 / 30
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Wyoming | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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April 22 | Missouri | Convention (36 of 36 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 36 / 36
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April 23 | Kansas | Convention (20 of 20 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 20 / 20
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May 17 | Colorado | Convention (12 of 12 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 12 / 12
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Washington | Convention (14 of 14 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 14 / 14
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May 18 | Georgia | Convention (28 of 28 delegates) |
Alexander Mitchell Palmer | 28 / 28
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May 19 | Virginia | Convention (24 of 24 delegates) |
Carter Glass | 24 / 24
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May 20 | Indiana | Convention (30 of 30 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 30 / 30
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May 25 | Delaware | Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 30 / 30
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May 26 | South Carolina |
Convention (18 of 18 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 18 / 18
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June 1 | Indiana | State Committee (18 of 18 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 18 / 18
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June 2 | Vermont | Convention (8 of 8 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 8 / 8
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June 3 | Louisiana | Convention (20 of 20 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 20 / 20
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New Mexico |
Convention (6 of 6 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 6 / 6
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June 8 | Tennessee | Convention (24 of 24 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 24 / 24
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June 12 | Utah | Convention (8 of 8 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 8 / 8
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June 15 | Idaho | Convention (8 of 8 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 8 / 8
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June 16 | Mississippi | Convention (20 of 20 delegates) |
Uninstructed | 20 / 20
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