Kaarlo Harvala (1885–1942) was a Finnish journalist and politician who was among the chairmen of the Social Democratic Party.

[1] He was the secretary of the Union of Finnish Landlords in Tampere between 1912 and 1918.

[1] Then he became the editor of Sosialist newspaper in Turku in 1919 and remained in the post until 1923.

[2] In 1930 he was elected as the leader of Social Democratic Party, replacing Matti Paasivuori in the post.

[3] Harvala remained in the post until his death in Helsinki on 31 August 1942.