The 1920 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election. State voters chose 29 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
A strongly Democratic state during the Second Party System, Illinois became Republican-leaning after the American Civil War due to a combination of strong Free Soil Party heritage amongst its Yankee northern counties with the wartime conversion of some Virginian-settled rock-ribbed Democratic Southern Illinois countiesPhillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 341-344 to Unionist RepublicanismWells, Damon; Stephen Douglas: The Last Years, 1857–1861, p. 285 à la Appalachia.Copeland, James E.; ‘Where Were the Kentucky Unionists and Secessionists’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, volume 71, no. 4 (October, 1973), pp. 344-363 Between the Civil War and World War I, partisanship in Illinois – like in the Border States – largely re-fought the war, with the result that although the Democratic Party gained at least 43 percent of the statewide vote via Southern and German Catholic support in every election up to 1900, they never gained an absolute majority and carried the state's electoral votes only in 1892.
Due to the Democratic Party's growing Populist and prohibitionist leanings, a decline in Democratic support after 1900 in its German Central Illinois strongholds transformed Illinois into a powerfully Republican state at all levels.Schattschneider, Elmer Eric; The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America, pp. 76-84 Even Woodrow Wilson in 1912 when the GOP was mortally divided carried the state by only a very narrow margin. Harding's managers were always confident he would carry Illinois as all but three GOP nominees had since that party was formed.Price, Harry N.; ‘Harding Back Home: Speaks to First Voters Today From His Front Porch’; The Washington Post, October 18, 1920, p. 1 However, actual polls in Illinois vacillated, with a straw ballot in The Farm Journal even placing Cox at 45 percent in this strong Republican state.‘Farm Vote Favors Harding: Farm Journal Poll Puts Cox Ahead, However, in Illinois and Indiana’; New York Times, October 22, 1920, p. 4 As election day neared, estimates of a Republican plurality of “at least 264,000” were made via a national survey of newspaper editors.‘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’; Washington Post, October 31, 1920, p. 1
As it turned out, the editorial estimate was shown extremely conservative by the very earliest reports on polling day, which showed Harding winning by three-to-one.‘Illinois for G.O.P. by Half a Million: Harding Gets 3 to 1 Vote Over Cox – Carries Cook County by 150,000’; Washington Post, November 3, 1920, p. 1 Ultimately, Harding did not finish with so large a margin as this, but nonetheless he carried Illinois by 42.30 percentage points. This constitutes the biggest margin by which Illinois has been carried in the state's presidential election history, the best performance by any Republican candidate, and the third-best vote percentage overall behind Andrew Jackson’s two efforts in 1828 and 1832. Harding carried all but three counties, and was the first-ever Republican victor in the following counties: Calhoun, Cass, Clinton, Effingham, Gallatin, Hamilton, Jasper, Jersey, Mason, Pike, Schuyler, Wabash and White.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 180-184
Primaries The general election coincided with the general election for other federal offices (Senate and House), as well as those for state offices.
Turnout The total vote in the state-run primary elections (Democratic, Republican, Socialist) was 408,586.
The total vote in the general election was 2,094,714. Both major parties, as well as the Socialist Party, held non-binding state-run preferential primaries on April 13.
Democratic
The 1920 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on April 13, 1920 in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's state primaries ahead of the 1920 presidential election.
The popular vote was a non-binding "beauty contest". Delegates were instead elected by direct votes by congressional district on delegate candidates. Delegate candidates either were listed on the ballot with their preference on for a particular presidential candidate, or were listed as expressing no preference. However, these delegates officially were uninstructed. 50 of the sate's 58 convention delegates were elected by this means, with eight further uninstructed delegates later being selected May 10 at the state party convention.
Republican
The 1920 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on April 13, 1920, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's state primaries ahead of the 1920 presidential election.
The preference vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct vote in each congressional district on delegate candidates. Delegate candidates either were listed on the ballot with their preference on for a particular presidential candidate, or were listed as expressing no preference.
Socialist
The 1920 Illinois Socialist presidential primary was held on April 13, 1920, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Socialist Party's state primaries ahead of the 1920 presidential election.
Results Presidential CandidateRunning MatePartyElectoral Vote (EV)Popular Vote (PV)Warren G. Harding of OhioCalvin CoolidgeRepublican291,420,48067.81%James M. CoxFranklin D. RooseveltDemocratic0534,39525.51%Eugene V. DebsSeymour StedmanSocialist074,7473.57%Parley P. ChristensenMax S. HayesFarmer-Labor049,6302.37%Aaron S. WatkinsLeigh ColvinProhibition011,2160.54%William Wesley CoxAugust GillhausSocialist Labor03,4710.17%Robert MacauleyRichard BarnumSingle Tax07750.04%
Results by county