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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 Latham Owen Edward I. Edwards Home state New York Oklahoma New Jersey Contests won 2 2 1
First place by popular vote First place by convention roll call     McAdoo      Palmer      Cox      Gerard      Owen      Edwards      Uncommitted      Various
Previous Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson Democratic nominee James M. Cox

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.

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
• Vice President Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana

Primary and caucus results

Delegates not selected in primaries

Many delegations were not selected in public primaries. The following table shows delegates awarded at a state level by convention, committees, and other means.

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.
3. "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.
4. "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.

• 1920 United States Democratic presidential primaries