1920 Florida gubernatorial election explained

The 1920 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1920. Democratic nominee Cary A. Hardee defeated Republican nominee George E. Gay with 77.94% of the vote.

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 8, 1920.^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Cary A. Hardee, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
• Van C. Swearingen, Florida Attorney General
• Lincoln Hulley, State senator^[2]

Results

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Cary A. Hardee, Democratic
• George E. Gay, Republican

Other candidates

• Furman C. Whitaker, Socialist, doctor and Socialist Party candidate in 1904 for the Manatee County School District.^{[3] [4]}
• W.L. VanDuzer, Independent

Results

County Results

County[5]	Cary A. Hardee Democratic		George E. Gay Republican		Furman C. Whitaker Socialist		W.L. VanDuzer Independent		Totals
		%		%		%		%
		3,362	80.95%	756	18.20%	18	0.43%	17	0.41%	4,153
		405	85.99%	51	10.83%	7	1.49%	8	1.70%	471
		980	78.03%	50	3.98%	43	3.42%	183	14.57%	1,256
		1,274	86.61%	168	11.42%	6	0.41%	23	1.56%	1,471
		1,084	72.80%	340	22.83%	28	1.88%	37	2.48%	1,489
		534	60.34%	263	29.72%	57	6.44%	31	3.50%	885
		972	89.75%	89	8.22%	8	0.74%	14	1.29%	1,083
		638	91.01%	35	4.99%	6	0.86%	22	3.14%	701
		626	71.54%	228	26.06%	4	0.46%	17	1.94%	875
		1,247	88.94%	129	9.20%	7	0.50%	19	1.36%	1,402
		5,525	69.39%	2,190	27.51%	189	2.37%	58	0.73%	7,962
		2,715	91.44%	175	5.89%	-	0.00%	79	2.66%	2,969
		15,867	79.54%	3,315	16.62%	186	0.93%	581	2.91%	19,949
		3,591	80.77%	559	12.57%	194	4.36%	102	2.29%	4,446
		280	77.13%	27	7.44%	53	14.60%	3	0.83%	363
		567	73.54%	186	24.12%	11	1.43%	7	0.91%	771
		1,890	98.75%	16	0.84%	6	0.31%	2	0.10%	1,914
		712	88.23%	76	9.42%	11	1.36%	8	0.99%	807
		670	87.01%	72	9.35%	17	2.21%	11	1.43%	770
		8,898	79.72%	1,485	13.31%	523	4.69%	255	2.28%	11,161
		1,188	73.61%	364	22.55%	35	2.17%	27	1.67%	1,614
		2,510	90.06%	210	7.53%	27	0.97%	40	1.44%	2,787
		772	84.19%	135	14.72%	4	0.44%	6	0.65%	917
		659	94.82%	30	4.32%	4	0.58%	2	0.29%	695
		1,804	76.86%	475	20.24%	41	1.75%	27	1.15%	2,347
		1,117	72.53%	391	25.39%	21	1.36%	11	0.71%	1,540
		1,453	81.35%	298	16.69%	15	0.84%	20	1.12%	1,786
		927	83.89%	169	15.29%	4	0.36%	5	0.45%	1,105
		445	95.09%	12	2.56%	5	1.07%	6	1.28%	468
		917	97.66%	14	1.49%	4	0.43%	4	0.43%	939
		2,024	78.82%	406	15.81%	118	4.60%	20	0.78%	2,568
		2,629	75.31%	790	22.63%	28	0.80%	44	1.26%	3,491
		1,181	71.66%	316	19.17%	104	6.31%	47	2.85%	1,648
		944	86.76%	125	11.49%	6	0.55%	13	1.19%	1,088
		698	82.60%	125	14.79%	15	1.78%	7	0.83%	845
		320	89.39%	14	3.91%	8	2.23%	16	4.47%	358
		2,425	72.07%	817	24.28%	52	1.55%	71	2.11%	3,365
		1,006	57.75%	682	39.15%	25	1.44%	29	1.66%	1,742
		1,999	58.59%	1,289	37.78%	97	2.84%	27	0.79%	3,412
		1,347	72.89%	302	16.34%	57	3.08%	142	7.68%	1,848
		3,442	68.36%	1,436	28.52%	113	2.24%	44	0.87%	5,035
		4,494	80.93%	736	13.25%	166	2.99%	157	2.83%	5,553
		1,828	66.35%	874	31.72%	37	1.34%	16	0.58%	2,755
		919	93.11%	53	5.37%	3	0.30%	12	1.22%	987
		1,597	74.87%	449	21.05%	71	3.33%	16	0.75%	2,133
		2,088	75.16%	604	21.74%	46	1.66%	40	1.44%	2,778
		1,343	75.24%	366	20.50%	46	2.58%	30	1.68%	1,785
		939	85.29%	108	9.81%	46	4.18%	8	0.73%	1,101
		1,583	82.02%	235	12.18%	91	4.72%	21	1.09%	1,930
		627	89.83%	55	7.88%	5	0.72%	11	1.58%	698
		3,494	71.50%	1,069	21.87%	106	2.17%	218	4.46%	4,887
		524	85.06%	85	13.80%	4	0.65%	3	0.49%	616
		1,459	78.10%	364	19.49%	23	1.23%	22	1.18%	1,868
		868	76.75%	180	15.92%	68	6.01%	15	1.33%	1,131
Actual Total	103,407	77.91%	23,788	17.92%	2,869	2.16%	2,654	2.00%	132,718
Official Total	103,407	77.94%	23,788	17.93%	2,823	2.13%	2,654	2.00%	132,672

Notes and References

1. Book: The Florida Handbook . 1987 . 9780961600006 . 2020-06-01.
2. Book: Cutler, Harry. History of Florida: Past and Present, Historical and Biographical. Lewis Publishing Company. 1823. 3. 340. June 2, 2021.
3. https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/10389 "F.C. Whitaker Papers"
4. Griffin, R. Steven; ‘Workers of the Sunshine State, Unite! The Florida Socialist Party during the Progressive Era, 1900-1920’ (thesis)
5. Book: Florida. Office of Secretary of State. . Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Florida . 1921 . Florida. Office of Secretary of State. . State Library and Archives of Florida . english.