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1924 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 1924 United States presidential election

The 1924 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1924, as part of the 1924 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1924 United States presidential election in California
← 1920 November 4, 1924 1928 →
Turnout73.34% (of registered voters) Increase 1.47 pp
48.53% (of eligible voters) Increase 1.27 pp[1]
 
Nominee Calvin Coolidge Robert M. La Follette John W. Davis
Party Republican Socialist[a] Democratic
Alliance Progressive
Home state Massachusetts Wisconsin West Virginia
Running mate Charles G. Dawes Burton K. Wheeler Charles W. Bryan
Electoral vote 13 0 0
Popular vote 733,250 424,649 105,514
Percentage 57.20% 33.13% 8.23%
County Results
President before election

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Elected President

Calvin Coolidge
Republican

Since the "Panic of 1893" and large-scale voter registration, California had become a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party.[2] The Democratic Party was largely moribund as a result of its association with the Populist revolt, the rural formerly slave South, and the polyglot metropolis – which held no appeal in an old-stock Western state with very few Southern and Eastern European immigrants.[3] Rigid registration laws and, before 1914, poll taxes, largely disfranchised what immigrants (who had leaned Democratic during the Third Party System) did enter the state.[4]

Nonetheless, the appeal of Progressivism and tendency towards nonpartisan politics[3] allowed Woodrow Wilson to nearly carry the state in 1912 and do so in 1916 despite substantial Socialist votes in both elections; however, James M. Cox lost most of this support by 1920 as a result of a powerful reaction in the West against the social upheaval Wilson had caused.[5]

Following the Cox debacle, the Democratic Party disintegrated even further: in 1922 they elected only four seats in the state House of Representatives, and had failed to elect an open Senator in 1920, and defeated James D. Phelan's efforts to have William Gibbs McAdoo nominated as Democratic presidential candidate in 1924 further ruined the party's organization and furthered cleavages between the "dry" and "wet" sections of the party.[6]

California's large "Progressive" electorate had been divided by issues such as the League of Nations and Prohibition, and was weakened by the election of economy-minded Friend W. Richardson as Governor in 1922.[7] When Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette announced he would run a third-party presidential campaign in 1924,[8] there remained division, but radical San Francisco Progressive Rudolph Spreckels supported him on the "Socialist" line[9] against indifference from Hiram Johnson (who had attempted to unseat Coolidge in the GOP primaries)[7] and State Senators Herbert Jones and Inman.

Democratic nominee John W. Davis of West Virginia and Coolidge both spent most of their campaign attacking La Follette as a political extremist.[10] At the beginning of the campaign, Davis had substantial hope of recovering support lost in 1920.[11] However, Davis' opposition to women's suffrage, and belief in strictly limited government with no expansion in nonmilitary fields[12] had almost no appeal in California.[13] Although in September Davis underwent an extensive tour of the region and of the Great Plains,[14] and campaigned to eliminate the income tax burden of the poorer classes,[8] he received a mere 8.23 percent of the vote in California – the worst for any major party nominee in California's history and his fourth-worst state nationwide.

Reduced to a battle between Coolidge and La Follette, the incumbent President campaigned upon present prosperity in addition to his opponent's perceived extremism. Despite perception the state may be doubtful,[11] Coolidge won a plurality of over 24 percentage points, aided by a campaign based upon vilification.[15] La Follette did nonetheless match Coolidge outside conservative, heavily populated Southern California, and he carried most urban working-class districts in Northern California, as well as most of the Sierra logging counties that were to become Democratic strongholds between FDR and Jimmy Carter. La Follette's vote was later to revive the moribund Democratic Party when it turned largely to Al Smith (whom his family was to endorse when he died) in the following election.

Results

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General Election Results[16]
Party Pledged to Elector Votes
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Louis M. Cole 733,250
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Mrs. John M. Eshleman 733,196
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge John L. McNab 732,893
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge George C. Pardee 732,788
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge James M. Cremin 732,749
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Jesse W. Lilienthal Jr. 732,697
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge C. R. Clinch 732,681
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge George W. Peltier 732,681
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Madison T. Owens 732,649
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Charles A. Wayland 732,626
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Thomas W. McManus 732,619
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Martin C. Neuner 732,552
Republican Party Calvin Coolidge Louise Harvey Clark 732,512
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Albert G. Rogers 424,649
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Agnes H. Downing 424,170
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. W. E. Murphy 424,170
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Lola Coggins 424,102
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Walter S. Fogg 424,098
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Frank C. Page 424,095
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Hugo Ernst 424,086
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. John C. Packard 424,068
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. William M. Falls 424,057
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Alice S. Eddy 424,017
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Samuel Weisenberg 424,009
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. E. Backus 423,996
Socialist Party Robert M. La Follette Sr. Walter E. Walker 423,968
Democratic Party John W. Davis James D. Phelan 105,514
Democratic Party John W. Davis Mattison B. Jones 105,504
Democratic Party John W. Davis Annette A. Adams 105,485
Democratic Party John W. Davis R. F. Del Valle 105,468
Democratic Party John W. Davis Thomas M. Storke Jr. 105,396
Democratic Party John W. Davis Mary E. Foy 105,393
Democratic Party John W. Davis William M. Conley 105,392
Democratic Party John W. Davis William Kettner 105,392
Democratic Party John W. Davis Katherine Braddock 105,323
Democratic Party John W. Davis E. S. Heller 105,320
Democratic Party John W. Davis James F. Peck 105,299
Democratic Party John W. Davis C. L. Culbert 105,270
Democratic Party John W. Davis Edna L. Knight 105,229
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris H. A. Johnson 18,365
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris S. P. Meads 18,259
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Helen M. Brown 18,250
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris John H. Kendall 18,243
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris J. S. Edward 18,236[b]
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris J. C. Bell 18,216
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris J. L. Rollings 18,212
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris H. Clay Needham 18,205
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Dana G. Boleyn 18,188
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Frederick Head 18,173
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Wiley J. Phillips 18,172
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris Lucius C. Dale 18,155
Prohibition Party Herman P. Faris O. U. Hull 18,141
Write-in Scattering 122
Votes cast[c] 1,281,900

Results by county

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County Calvin Coolidge
Republican 		Robert M. La Follette
Socialist 		John W. Davis
Democratic 		Herman Faris
Prohibition 		Scattering
Write-in 		Margin Total votes cast[d]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 81,454 61.43% 41,434 31.25% 8,020 6.05% 1,582 1.19% 111 0.08% 40,020 30.18% 132,601
Alpine 52 88.14% 1 1.69% 5 8.47% 1 1.69% 0 0.00% 47[e] 79.66% 59
Amador 719 38.93% 787 42.61% 316 17.11% 25 1.35% 0 0.00% -68 -3.68% 1,847
Butte 4,382 42.25% 4,582 44.18% 1,299 12.52% 109 1.05% 0 0.00% -200 -1.93% 10,372
Calaveras 872 39.44% 975 44.10% 333 15.06% 31 1.40% 0 0.00% -103 -4.66% 2,211
Colusa 1,127 43.84% 889 34.58% 495 19.25% 60 2.33% 0 0.00% 238 9.26% 2,571
Contra Costa 9,061 54.67% 6,231 37.60% 1,114 6.72% 167 1.01% 0 0.00% 2,830 17.08% 16,573
Del Norte 530 52.63% 322 31.98% 122 12.12% 33 3.28% 0 0.00% 208 20.66% 1,007
El Dorado 852 28.49% 1,749 58.48% 361 12.07% 29 0.97% 0 0.00% -897 -29.99% 2,991
Fresno 15,635 44.01% 14,836 41.76% 4,610 12.98% 446 1.26% 0 0.00% 799 2.25% 35,527
Glenn 1,444 44.84% 1,330 41.30% 367 11.40% 79 2.45% 0 0.00% 114 3.54% 3,220
Humboldt 6,767 56.82% 4,148 34.83% 845 7.09% 150 1.26% 0 0.00% 2,619 21.99% 11,910
Imperial 3,455 50.28% 2,549 37.09% 759 11.04% 109 1.59% 0 0.00% 906 13.18% 6,872
Inyo 950 47.52% 779 38.97% 256 12.81% 14 0.70% 0 0.00% 171 8.55% 1,999
Kern 8,646 46.08% 6,754 36.00% 3,159 16.84% 204 1.09% 0 0.00% 1,892 10.08% 18,763
Kings 2,812 50.00% 1,611 44.28% 1,109 19.72% 92 1.64% 0 0.00% 1,201 21.35% 5,624
Lake 795 44.94% 658 37.20% 261 14.75% 55 3.11% 0 0.00% 137 7.74% 1,769
Lassen 1,072 40.78% 1,164 44.28% 356 13.54% 37 1.41% 0 0.00% -92 -3.50% 2,629
Los Angeles 299,675 65.51% 117,249 25.63% 33,554 7.33% 6,979 1.53% 5 0.00% 182,426 39.88% 457,462
Madera 1,518 42.66% 1,514 42.55% 450 12.65% 76 2.14% 0 0.00% 4 0.11% 3,558
Marin 5,780 53.52% 4,230 39.17% 656 6.07% 134 1.24% 0 0.00% 1,550 14.35% 10,800
Mariposa 344 40.23% 332 38.83% 168 19.65% 11 1.29% 0 0.00% 12 1.40% 855
Mendocino 3,465 56.46% 1,850 30.15% 739 12.04% 83 1.35% 0 0.00% 1,615 26.32% 6,137
Merced 3,573 52.94% 2,301 34.09% 710 10.52% 165 2.44% 0 0.00% 1,272 18.85% 6,749
Modoc 731 43.72% 547 32.72% 374 22.37% 20 1.20% 0 0.00% 184 11.00% 1,672
Mono 166 53.55% 98 31.61% 45 14.52% 1 0.32% 0 0.00% 68 21.94% 310
Monterey 4,744 61.07% 2,035 26.20% 886 11.41% 103 1.33% 0 0.00% 2,709 34.87% 7,768
Napa 3,605 54.82% 2,237 34.02% 670 10.19% 64 0.97% 0 0.00% 1,368 20.80% 6,576
Nevada 1,513 42.23% 1,682 46.94% 307 8.57% 81 2.26% 0 0.00% -169 -4.72% 3,583
Orange 19,913 67.35% 6,480 21.92% 2,565 8.68% 608 2.06% 0 0.00% 13,433 45.43% 29,566
Placer 2,192 36.63% 3,290 54.98% 390 6.52% 112 1.87% 0 0.00% -1,098 -18.35% 5,984
Plumas 564 32.92% 956 55.81% 182 10.62% 11 0.64% 0 0.00% -392 -22.88% 1,713
Riverside 9,619 61.99% 4,204 27.09% 1,318 8.49% 375 2.42% 0 0.00% 5,415 34.90% 15,516
Sacramento 13,400 41.08% 16,570 50.80% 2,285 7.01% 362 1.11% 2 0.01% -3,170 -9.72% 32,619
San Benito 1,443 53.54% 857 31.80% 361 13.40% 34 1.26% 0 0.00% 586 21.74% 2,695
San Bernardino 15,974 56.93% 8,720 31.08% 2,634 9.39% 733 2.61% 0 0.00% 7,254 25.85% 28,061
San Diego 22,726 48.99% 20.200 43.54% 2,944 6.35% 521 1.12% 0 0.00% 2,526 5.45% 46,391
San Francisco 73,494 47.75% 68,864 44.74% 9,811 6.37% 1,751 1.14% 0 0.00% 4,630 3.01% 153,920
San Joaquin 11,056 48.91% 8,885 39.30% 2,397 10.60% 269 1.19% 0 0.00% 2,171 9.60% 22,607
San Luis Obispo 3,804 49.01% 3,061 39.44% 731 9.42% 165 2.13% 0 0.00% 743 9.57% 7,761
San Mateo 8,126 55.27% 5,694 38.73% 771 5.24% 111 0.75% 0 0.00% 2,432 16.54% 14,702
Santa Barbara 8,615 64.69% 3,292 24.72% 1,242 9.33% 169 1.27% 0 0.00% 5,323 39.97% 13,318
Santa Clara 20,056 58.02% 11,474 33.19% 2,560 7.41% 478 1.38% 0 0.00% 8,582 24.83% 34,568
Santa Cruz 5,402 60.84% 2,557 28.80% 801 9.02% 119 1.34% 0 0.00% 2,845 32.04% 8,879
Shasta 1,951 41.95% 2,049 44.06% 598 12.86% 53 1.14% 0 0.00% -98 -2.11% 4,651
Sierra 276 38.93% 350 49.37% 73 10.30% 10 1.41% 0 0.00% -74 -10.44% 709
Siskiyou 2,437 40.58% 2,844 47.36% 584 9.73% 140 2.33% 0 0.00% -407 -6.78% 6,005
Solano 4,782 48.00% 4,123 41.39% 957 9.61% 100 1.00% 0 0.00% 659 6.62% 9,962
Sonoma 9,535 55.99% 5,469 32.12% 1,767 10.38% 257 1.51% 1 0.01% 4,066 23.88% 17,029
Stanislaus 7,569 56.86% 4,125 30.99% 1,274 9.57% 344 2.58% 0 0.00% 3,444 25.87% 13,312
Sutter 1,617 49.92% 1,219 37.64% 367 11.33% 36 1.11% 0 0.00% 398 12.29% 3,239
Tehama 1,943 45.97% 1,667 39.44% 486 11.50% 131 3.10% 0 0.00% 276 6.53% 4,227
Trinity 336 36.48% 414 44.95% 154 16.72% 17 1.85% 0 0.00% -78 -8.47% 921
Tulare 9,484 50.78% 5,504 29.47% 3,425 18.34% 261 1.40% 3 0.02% 3,980 21.31% 18,677
Tuolumne 1,287 43.03% 1,327 44.37% 357 11.94% 20 0.67% 0 0.00% -40 -1.34% 2,991
Ventura 5,705 65.16% 2,029 23.18% 911 10.41% 110 1.26% 0 0.00% 3,676 41.99% 8,755
Yolo 2,470 45.35% 2,097 38.50% 797 14.63% 83 1.52% 0 0.00% 373 6.85% 5,447
Yuba 1,735 47.40% 1,454 39.73% 426 11.64% 45 1.23% 0 0.00% 281 7.68% 3,660
Total 733,250 57.20% 424,649 33.13% 105,514 8.23% 18,365 1.43% 122 0.01% 308,601 24.07% 1,281,900

Counties that flipped from Republican to Socialist

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Notes

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  1. ^ Although La Follette ran under his own Progressive Party nationally, he ran in California under the endorsement of the Socialist Party of America and the "Committee for Progressive Political Action".
  2. ^ This stated total might be a mistake. Edward's county figures add up to 18,436 and there is no obvious county(s) where the given figure is too high. If 18,436 is in fact the correct total, then that would make Edward the highest Prohibition elector and thus Faris should be credited with 18,436 votes in California
  3. ^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
  4. ^ Based on the highest elector on each ticket
  5. ^ Margin over Davis

References

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  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN 0313213798
  3. ^ a b Burnham Walter Dean; 'The "System of 1896" and the American Electorate', in Critical elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics (1970), pp. 74-79
  4. ^ Bentele, Keith G. and O'Brien, Erin E.; 'Jim Crow 2.0? Why States Consider and Adopt Restrictive Voter Access Policies', p. 1092; in Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 11, No. 4 (December 2013), pp. 1088-1116
  5. ^ Faykosh, Joseph D., Bowling Green State University; The Front Porch of the American People: James Cox and the Presidential Election of 1920 (thesis), p. 68
  6. ^ Hennings, Robert E.; 'California Democratic Politics in the Period of Republican Ascendancy'; Pacific Historical Review, vol. 31, no. 3 (August 1962), pp. 267-280
  7. ^ a b Shover, John L.; 'The California Progressives and the 1924 Campaign', in California Historical Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 1 (Spring, 1972), pp. 59-74
  8. ^ a b Richardson, Danny G.; Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s, p. 180 ISBN 0595481264
  9. ^ Johnston, Scott D.; 'Robert La Follette and the Socialists: Aspects of the 1924 Presidential Campaign Reexamined'; Social Science, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Spring 1975), pp. 69-77
  10. ^ Parrish, Michael E.; Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920-1941, pp. 70-71 ISBN 0393311341
  11. ^ a b Melcher, Daniel P.; 'The Challenge to Normalcy: The 1924 Election in California'; Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Summer 1978), pp. 155-182
  12. ^ Newman, Roger K.; The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law, p. 153 ISBN 0300113005
  13. ^ Stark, Rodney and Christiano, Kevin J.; 'Support for the American Left, 1920-1924: The Opiate Thesis Reconsidered'; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 31, No. 1 (March, 1992), pp. 62-75
  14. ^ Tucker, Garland; High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election, p. 191 ISBN 193711029X
  15. ^ Melcher, Daniel; "The Politics of Discontent: California Politics, 1920-1932,' (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego, 1975), pp. 152-156, 164-173.
  16. ^ Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 4, 1924 in the State of California. Sacramento, California. pp. 4–11. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
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