The 1920 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election. Voters chose thirteen representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Ever since the Civil War, Kentucky had been shaped politically by divisions created by that war between secessionist, Democratic counties and Unionist, Republican ones,Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 although the state as a whole leaned Democratic throughout this era and the GOP had carried the state only oncePhillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 350 – by a very narrow margin in 1896 when northern parts of the state were affected by hostility towards William Jennings Bryan, and state native John M. Palmer drew votes from the Democrats.Harrison, Lowell Hayes; A New History of Kentucky, p. 268
In 1919, however, Kentucky saw a significant change as the Republicans won not merely the governorship via Edwin P. Morrow but also control of the state legislature.Ellis, William; A History of Education in Kentucky, p. 193 However, there was a thought at the time that the triumph was partly a reflection of Morrow's own personal popularity.Harrison; A New History of Kentucky, p. 352
The state legislature would ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on January 6, 1920, by more than three-to-one in both houses,Klotter, James C.; Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass State, p. 200 and Kentucky would – alongside North Carolina which was abolishing its poll tax – observe the largest mobilization of new voters in the entire Union,Schuyler, Lorraine Gates; The Weight of Their Votes: Southern Women and Political Leverage in the 1920s, p. 190 and possibly the largest mobilization of female voters anywhere.Corder, J. Kevin and Wolbrecht, Christina; Counting Women's Ballots: Female Voters from Suffrage Through the New Deal, p. 137
Despite the extreme hostility to outgoing President Wilson, Democratic nominee and Ohio Governor James M. Cox – who originated in Butler County, Ohio just across the state line – was supported powerfully by Fayette County political boss Billy Kair, and alongside the mobilization of female voters noted above, this caused Kentucky to lead the nation in turnout.Bolin, Janes Duane; Bossism and Reform in a Southern City: Lexington, Kentucky, 1880-1940, pp. 82-83 With this high turnout and Kair's powerful support of Governor Cox, the Democrats were able to carry Kentucky by 0.44 percent or 4,017 votes, in spite of Cox losing Tennessee and all the other Border States to Ohio Senator and Republican nominee Warren G. Harding, who nationally won the largest popular-vote margin on record. Alongside North Carolina, Kentucky was the state which most resisted the Republican landslide, with Cox falling by only 3 percent from Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 vote share.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 52
Results Presidential CandidateRunning MatePartyElectoral Vote (EV)Popular Vote (PV) James M. Cox of Ohio Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic13456,49749.69% Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Republican0452,48049.26% Eugene V. Debs Seymour Stedman Socialist06,4090.70% Aaron S. Watkins D. Leigh Colvin Prohibition03,2500.35%
Results by county