1920 United States presidential election in Maryland

The 1920 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1920 United States presidential election in Maryland

← 1916 November 2, 1920 1924 →
 
Nominee Warren G. Harding James M. Cox
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Ohio Ohio
Running mate Calvin Coolidge Franklin D. Roosevelt
Electoral vote 8 0
Popular vote 236,117 180,626
Percentage 55.11% 42.16%

County Results

President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

Elected President

Warren G. Harding
Republican

With its history as a slave state and substantial historic secessionist support, Maryland had been strongly Democratic during the Third Party System despite having Federalist and Whig tendencies under previous systems.[1] However, hostility towards William Jennings Bryan’s free silver and Populist tendencies in the cities meant that the state shifted Republican in 1896[2] and became very close in subsequent elections during the “System of 1896”. Unlike former Confederate states and Oklahoma, Maryland did not succeed in disenfranchising its large black population despite several attempts,[3] which helped the Republicans remain highly competitive in early twentieth-century state elections.

Woodrow Wilson had carried Maryland by 4.84 percentage points more than his national margin in 1916, which made it his best state outside the former Confederacy or West. Democratic nominee and former Ohio Governor James M. Cox did not campaign in the state, but Republican nominee and Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, fearing that Cox might add the machine-controlled states of the Northeast to his “Solid South”, did campaign in Maryland during September.[4] The first straw vote in mid-October showed Harding leading by around 300 votes out of 4,300,[5] although that had reversed in a poll a week later,[6] and at the end of October polls were divided with one giving the state to Cox[7] but another saying that it would be safe for Harding if black women could be mustered to vote.[8]

As it turned out, Harding carried the state comfortably: his margin was comparable to the other border states except Kentucky (where Cox was helped by Fayette County political boss Billy Kair[9]) but Maryland was still 13.22 points more Democratic than the nation at-large or an 8 percent bigger differential than in 1916.

Results

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Presidential Candidate Running Mate Party Electoral Vote (EV) Popular Vote (PV)
Warren G. Harding of Ohio Calvin Coolidge Republican 8[10] 236,117 55.11%
James M. Cox Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic 0 180,626 42.16%
Eugene V. Debs Seymour Stedman Socialist 0 8,876 2.07%
Parley P. Christensen Max S. Hayes Third Party 0 1,645 0.38%
William Wesley Cox August Gillhaus Labor 0 1,178 0.27%
Write-ins 0 1 0.00%

Results by county

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County Warren Gamaliel Harding
Republican
James Middleton Cox
Democratic
Eugene Victor Debs
Socialist
Parley Parker Christensen
Third Party
William Wesley Cox
Labor
Margin Total votes cast[11]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Allegany 9,595 57.37% 5,643 33.74% 1,291 7.72% 96 0.57% 100 0.60% 3,952 23.63% 16,725
Anne Arundel 6,199 54.52% 5,053 44.44% 70 0.62% 15 0.13% 33 0.29% 1,146 10.08% 11,370
Baltimore 12,432 56.04% 9,365 42.22% 233 1.05% 113 0.51% 40 0.18% 3,067 13.83% 22,183
Baltimore City 125,526 57.02% 86,748 39.40% 6,272 2.85% 1,091 0.50% 509 0.23% 38,778 17.61% 220,146
Calvert 1,741 58.01% 1,230 40.99% 8 0.27% 12 0.40% 10 0.33% 511 17.03% 3,001
Caroline 2,929 48.90% 3,012 50.28% 29 0.48% 17 0.28% 3 0.05% -83 -1.39% 5,990
Carroll 5,784 57.13% 4,273 42.20% 18 0.18% 25 0.25% 25 0.25% 1,511 14.92% 10,125
Cecil 3,435 49.37% 3,468 49.85% 7 0.10% 26 0.37% 21 0.30% -33 -0.47% 6,957
Charles 2,585 60.54% 1,642 38.45% 12 0.28% 2 0.05% 29 0.68% 943 22.08% 4,270
Dorchester 4,218 51.38% 3,950 48.11% 15 0.18% 6 0.07% 21 0.26% 268 3.26% 8,210
Frederick 9,559 54.57% 7,747 44.22% 98 0.56% 44 0.25% 70 0.40% 1,812 10.34% 17,518
Garrett 2,805 70.25% 1,070 26.80% 91 2.28% 6 0.15% 21 0.53% 1,735 43.45% 3,993
Harford 4,175 49.86% 4,134 49.37% 36 0.43% 13 0.16% 16 0.19% 41 0.49% 8,374
Howard 2,608 51.46% 2,397 47.30% 23 0.45% 13 0.26% 27 0.53% 211 4.16% 5,068
Kent 2,838 48.22% 3,034 51.55% 2 0.03% 4 0.07% 8 0.14% -196 -3.33% 5,886
Montgomery 5,948 47.96% 6,277 50.61% 76 0.61% 50 0.40% 51 0.41% -329 -2.65% 12,402
Prince George's 6,628 56.83% 4,857 41.64% 110 0.94% 45 0.39% 23 0.20% 1,771 15.18% 11,663
Queen Anne's 2,157 37.43% 3,519 61.07% 38 0.66% 29 0.50% 19 0.33% -1,362 -23.64% 5,762
St. Mary's 2,175 53.13% 1,861 45.46% 27 0.66% 7 0.17% 24 0.59% 314 7.67% 4,094
Somerset 3,658 57.57% 2,634 41.45% 16 0.25% 3 0.05% 43 0.68% 1,024 16.12% 6,354
Talbot 3,050 49.19% 3,130 50.48% 11 0.18% 2 0.03% 7 0.11% -80 -1.29% 6,200
Washington 8,757 54.75% 6,852 42.84% 353 2.21% 8 0.05% 25 0.16% 1,905 11.91% 15,995
Wicomico 4,225 45.39% 5,054 54.29% 12 0.13% 6 0.06% 12 0.13% -829 -8.91% 9,309
Worcester 3,090 45.13% 3,676 53.69% 28 0.41% 12 0.18% 41 0.60% -586 -8.56% 6,847
Totals 236,117 55.11% 180,626 42.16% 8,876 2.07% 1,645 0.38% 1,178 0.27% 55,491 12.95% 428,442

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 30, 130 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
  2. ^ Diamond, William; ‘Urban and Rural Voting in 1896’; The American Historical Review, vol. 46, no. 2 (January 1941), pp. 281-305
  3. ^ Shufelt, Gordeon H.; 'Jim Crow among strangers: The growth of Baltimore's Little Italy and Maryland's disfranchisement campaigns'; Journal of American Ethnic History; vol. 19, issue 4 (Summer 2000), pp. 49-78
  4. ^ Price, Harry N.; ‘Alter Harding Tour: Managers Abridge Western Trip; Arrange Tryout in East. Now Aim to Win Maryland’; The Washington Post, September 17, 1920, p. 1
  5. ^ ‘Shows Harding Leading: Nation-Wide Straw Vote Gives Him 371,461, Against 242,432 for Cox’; New York Times, October 10, 1920, p. 6
  6. ^ ‘Cox Gains Slightly in Big Straw Vote: But Harding Leads on Ballot with 495,961 Against 325,004 for Governor’; New York Times, October 17, 1920, p. 5
  7. ^ ‘Harding 363 Votes, Cox 168, Is Result Obtained From Estimates by 47 Editors: Maryland, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Arizona, With Solid South, Are Only States Conceded to Democratic Candidate in Nation-Wide Canvass’; Special to the Washington Post, October 31, 1920, p. 1
  8. ^ ‘Maryland Appears Safely Republican: Harding May Get Record Vote if Colored Women Can Master Ballot’; The Washington Post, October 31, 1920, p. 4
  9. ^ Bolin, Janes Duane; Bossism and Reform in a Southern City: Lexington, Kentucky, 1880-1940, pp. 82-83 ISBN 9780813121505
  10. ^ "1920 Presidential General Election Results – Maryland". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  11. ^ Maryland State Board of Elections; ‘Maryland Election Returns, 1920’; Maryland Manual (1921) pp. 133-137