1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From March 9 to June 5, 1920, voters of the Democratic Party elected delegates to the 1912 Democratic National Convention, for the purposing of choosing a nominee for president in the 1920 United States presidential election.^[1]

1920 Democratic Party presidential primaries

← 1916 March 9 to June 5, 1920 1924 →
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 Owen Edward I. Edwards Home state New York Oklahoma New Jersey Contests won 2 2 1
First place by popular vote^[a] First place by convention roll call^[b]      McAdoo      Palmer      Cox      Gerard      Owen      Edwards      Uncommitted      Various^[b]^[a]
Previous Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson Democratic nominee James M. Cox

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

• Governor James M. Cox of Ohio
• Former Ambassador to Germany James Watson Gerard of New York
• Governor Edward I. Edwards of New Jersey
• Attorney General of the U.S. A. Mitchell Palmer from Pennsylvania
• Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo from California
• Senator Robert Latham Owen of Oklahoma

Not placed in nomination

• Former United States Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska
• House Minority Leader Champ Clark of Missouri
• President of the United States Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey

Favorite sons

• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Edwin T. Meredith of Iowa
• Senator Carter Glass of Virginia
• Governor Al Smith of New York
• Senator Gilbert Hitchcock of Nebraska
• Ambassador to the United Kingdom John W. Davis of West Virginia
• Senator John Sharp Williams of Mississippi
• Party Chairman Homer Stille Cummings of Connecticut
• Senator Furnifold Simmons of North Carolina
• Senator Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana

Primary and caucus results

Democratic Presidential Nominating State Conventions and Primaries
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	^[2]
February 27	Arizona	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[3]
February 28	Iowa	Convention (26 of 26 delegates)	Uninstructed (Later Supported Edwin T. Meredith)			26 / 26	^[4]
March 9	Nevada	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[5]
	New Hampshire	Primary (8 of 8 delegates)	Uninstructed	7,103	100 / 100	8 / 8
March 16	North Dakota	Primary (10 of 10 delegates)	William Jennings Bryan	340 (W)	87.40 / 100
			William Gibbs McAdoo	49 (W)	12.60 / 100
			Uninstructed			10 / 10
March 23	South Dakota	Primary (10 of 10 delegates)	James W. Gerard	2,530	38.26 / 100	10 / 10
			Scattering	2,162	32.70 / 100
			James O. Monroe	1,920	29.04 / 100
April 5	Michigan	Primary (0 of 30 delegates)	Herbert Hoover	24,006 (W)	27.17 / 100
			William Gibbs McAdoo	18,665 (W)	21.09 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	17,954 (W)	20.29 / 100
			Edward I. Edwards	16,642 (W)	18.81 / 100
			Alexander Mitchell Palmer	11,187 (W)	12.64 / 100
April 6	Minnesota	Convention (24 of 24 delegates)	Uninstructed			24 / 24	^[6]
	New York	Primary (90 of 90 delegates)	Uninstructed	113,300	100 / 100	90 / 90
	Philippines	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[7]
	Wisconsin	Primary (26 of 26 delegates)	Scattering	3,391	97.81 / 100		^[8]
			James M. Cox	76 (W)	2.19 / 100
			Uninstructed			26 / 26
April 8	North Carolina	Convention (24 of 24 delegates)	Furnifold McLendel Simmons			24 / 24	^[9]
April 10	Puerto Rico	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[10]
April 13	Illinois	Primary (50 of 58 delegates)	Edward I. Edwards	6,933 (W)	32.31 / 100		^[11]
			Scattering	6,931 (W)	32.31 / 100
			William Gibbs McAdoo	3,838 (W)	17.89 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	1,968 (W)	9.17 / 100
			Woodrow Wilson	931 (W)	4.34 / 100
			Champ Clark	548 (W)	2.55 / 100
			James M. Cox	266 (W)	1.24 / 100
			James Hamilton Lewis	40 (W)	0.19 / 100
			Uninstructed			50 / 50
April 20	Georgia	Primary (0 of 28 delegates)	Thomas E. Watson	51,974	35.60 / 100		^[12]^[13]
			Alexander Mitchell Palmer	48,460^[c]	33.19 / 100
			Michael Hoke Smith	45,568	31.21 / 100
	Nebraska	Primary (16 of 16 delegates)	Gilbert Hitchcock	37,452	67.26 / 100	16 / 16
			Robert G. Ross	13,179	23.67 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	3,466 (W)	6.23 / 100
			Scattering	1,585 (W)	2.85 / 100
April 22	Missouri	Convention (36 of 36 delegates)	Uninstructed			36 / 36	^[14]
April 23	Kansas	Convention (20 of 20 delegates)	Uninstructed			20 / 20	^[15]
	Montana	Primary (8 of 8 delegates)	Scattering^[d]	2,994	100 / 100		^[16]
			Uninstructed			8 / 8
April 27	Massachusetts	Primary (36 of 36 delegates)	Uninstructed	28,261	100 / 100	36 / 36
	New Jersey	Primary (28 of 28 delegates)	Edward I. Edwards	4,163	88.54 / 100	28 / 28
			William Gibbs McAdoo	180 (W)	3.83 / 100
			Woodrow Wilson	149 (W)	3.17 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	64 (W)	1.36 / 100
			Herbert Hoover	64 (W)	1.36 / 100
			Hiram Johnson	55 (W)	1.17 / 100
			Scattering	27 (W)	0.57 / 100
	Ohio	Primary (48 of 48 delegates)	James M. Cox	85,838	97.79 / 100	48 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	971 (W)	1.11 / 100
			Scattering	394 (W)	0.45 / 100
			William Gibbs McAdoo	292 (W)	0.33 / 100
			Herbert Hoover	282 (W)	0.32 / 100
April 28	Alaska	Primary (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[17]
May 3	Maryland	Convention (16 of 16 delegates)	Uninstructed			16 / 16	^[18]
May 4	California	Primary (26 of 26 delegates)	Uninstructed	23,861	100 / 100	26 / 26
	Kentucky	Convention (26 of 26 delegates)	James M. Cox			26 / 26	^[19]
May 6	Connecticut	Convention (14 of 14 delegates)	Uninstructed			14 / 14	^[20]
	Rhode Island	Convention (10 of 10 delegates)	Uninstructed			10 / 10	^[21]
May 10	Illinois	Convention (8 of 50 delegates)	Uninstructed			8 / 8	^[22]
	Michigan	Convention (30 of 30 delegates)	Uninstructed			30 / 30	^[23]
	Wyoming	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[24]
May 10	Alabama	Primary (24 of 24 delegates)	Uninstructed			24 / 24	^[25]
May 17	Colorado	Convention (12 of 12 delegates)	Uninstructed			12 / 12	^[26]
	Washington	Convention (14 of 14 delegates)	Uninstructed			14 / 14	^[27]
May 18	Georgia	Convention (28 of 28 delegates)	Alexander Mitchell Palmer			28 / 28	^[28]
	Pennsylvania	Primary (76 of 76 delegates)	Alexander Mitchell Palmer	80,356	73.70 / 100	76 / 76
			William Gibbs McAdoo	26,875	24.65 / 100
			Scattering	718 (W)	0.66 / 100
			Edward I. Edwards	674 (W)	0.62 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	285 (W)	0.26 / 100
			Woodrow Wilson	129 (W)	0.12 / 100
	Vermont	Primary (0 of 8 delegates)	William Gibbs McAdoo	137 (W)	33.83 / 100
			Woodrow Wilson	68 (W)	16.79 / 100
			Edward I. Edwards	58 (W)	14.32 / 100
			Herbert Hoover	39 (W)	9.63 / 100
			William Jennings Bryan	26 (W)	6.42 / 100
			Hiram Johnson	18 (W)	4.44 / 100
			Champ Clark	16 (W)	3.95 / 100
			James M. Cox	14 (W)	3.46 / 100
			Eugene V. Debs	8 (W)	1.93 / 100
			Henry Ford	7 (W)	1.73 / 100
			Thomas R. Marshall	7 (W)	1.73 / 100
			Alexander Mitchell Palmer	7 (W)	1.73 / 100
May 19	Virginia	Convention (24 of 24 delegates)	Carter Glass			24 / 24	^[29]
May 20	Indiana	Convention (30 of 30 delegates)	Uninstructed			30 / 30	^[30]
May 21	Oregon	Primary (10 of 10 delegates)	William Gibbs McAdoo	24,951	98.57 / 100	10 / 10
			Scattering	361 (W)	1.43 / 100
May 22	Hawaii	Primary (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[31]
May 25	Delaware	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			30 / 30	^[32]
	Texas	Primary (40 of 40 delegates)	Uninstructed			40 / 40	^[33]
	West Virginia	Primary (16 of 16 delegates)	Uninstructed			16 / 16	^[34]
May 26	South Carolina	Convention (18 of 18 delegates)	Uninstructed			18 / 18	^[35]
June 1	Indiana	State Committee (18 of 18 delegates)	Uninstructed			18 / 18	^[36]
June 2	Vermont	Convention (8 of 8 delegates)	Uninstructed			8 / 8	^[37]
June 3	Louisiana	Convention (20 of 20 delegates)	Uninstructed			20 / 20	^[38]
	New Mexico	Convention (6 of 6 delegates)	Uninstructed			6 / 6	^[39]
June 8	Tennessee	Convention (24 of 24 delegates)	Uninstructed			24 / 24	^[40]
	Florida	Primary (12 of 12 delegates)	Uninstructed			12 / 12	^[41]
June 10	Washington, D.C.	Primary (11 of 11 delegates)	Uninstructed			11 / 11	^[42]
June 12	Utah	Convention (8 of 8 delegates)	Uninstructed			8 / 8	^[43]
June 15	Idaho	Convention (8 of 8 delegates)	Uninstructed			8 / 8	^[44]
June 16	Mississippi	Convention (20 of 20 delegates)	Uninstructed			20 / 20	^[45]

See also

• Republican Party presidential primaries, 1920
• White primary

Notes

1. Favorite sons Gilbert Hitchcock and Thomas E. Watson won the Nebraska and Georgia primary votes, respectively. William Jennings Bryan won North Dakota and Herbert Hoover won Michigan. Massachusetts elected a slate of uncommitted delegates.
2. 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.
3. Delegates to the State Convention which officially chose delegates and their instruction were based not on the popular vote, but based on their performance under the county unit system. Palmer came second state-wide, but won the most unit votes. Despite attempts by Watson and some Smith supporters to send an uninstructed delegation to the National Convention, it was the delegation pledged to Palmer that was seated by the credentials committee.
4. No candidate technically filed for the Montana Democratic Presidential Primary.

References

1. Kalb, Deborah (2016-02-19). Guide to U.S. Elections – Google Books. ISBN 9781483380353. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
2. "Democratic National Convention, 1920". The New York Times. June 20, 1920.
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12. "PALMER TO LEAD BY 12 IN GEORGIA CONVENTION; Controversy Is On as to Whether or Not He Can Control National Delegates". The New York Times. April 23, 1920.
13. "SEAT REFUSED REED IN BITTER CONTEST; Credentials Committee Seats Delegates from Georgia Pledged to Palmer. GAINS FOR ADMINISTRATION National Committee Overruled in Oregon Decision Giving Two Delegates Half Vote Each". The New York Times. June 29, 1920.
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