1956 United States presidential election in California

1956 United States presidential election in California

← 1952 November 6, 1956 1960 →
Turnout86.56% (of registered voters) Decrease 0.29 pp
67.59% (of eligible voters) Decrease 6.48 pp[1]
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson II
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[2][3] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 32 0
Popular vote 3,027,668 2,420,135
Percentage 55.39% 44.27%

County Results

President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

The 1956 United States presidential election in California took place in November 1956 as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The Democratic primary in California was seen as such a decisive win for Adlai Stevenson that it ended the insurgent Kefauver campaign.

California voted for the Republican incumbent, Dwight D. Eisenhower (with incumbent vice president and California native Richard Nixon as his running mate), in a landslide over the Democratic challenger, former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson. However, Stevenson did improve his performance in California from four years previous. California's result was about 4.3% more Democratic than the nation-at-large.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election in California where the Republican candidate won the counties of Alameda and San Francisco, both of which have become strongholds of the Democratic Party.

Results

1956 United States presidential election in California[4]
Partys Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) 3,027,668 55.39% 32
Democratic Adlai Stevenson 2,420,135 44.27% 0
Prohibition Enoch A. Holtwick 11,119 0.20% 0
No party T. Coleman Andrews (write-in) 6,087 0.11% 0
No party Write-ins 819 0.01% 0
No party Eric Hass (write-in) 300 0.01% 0
No party Darlington Hoopes (write-in) 123 0.00% 0
No party Farrell Dobbs (write-in) 96 0.00% 0
No party Gerald L. K. Smith (write-in) 8 0.00% 0
Invalid or blank votes
Totals 5,466,355 100.00% 32
Voter turnout

Results by county

County Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Alameda 192,911 52.40% 174,033 47.27% 1,187 0.33% 18,878 5.13% 368,131
Alpine 114 79.72% 29 20.28% 0 0.00% 85 59.44% 143
Amador 2,126 49.16% 2,181 50.43% 18 0.41% -55 -1.27% 4,325
Butte 18,382 58.43% 12,933 41.11% 147 0.46% 5,449 17.32% 31,462
Calaveras 2,843 57.91% 2,049 41.74% 17 0.35% 794 16.17% 4,909
Colusa 2,474 53.23% 2,171 46.71% 3 0.06% 303 6.52% 4,648
Contra Costa 74,971 50.98% 71,733 48.78% 347 0.24% 3,238 2.20% 147,051
Del Norte 2,918 53.18% 2,552 46.51% 17 0.31% 366 6.67% 5,487
El Dorado 4,613 53.60% 3,957 45.97% 37 0.43% 656 7.63% 8,607
Fresno 51,611 43.33% 67,234 56.44% 270 0.23% -15,623 -13.11% 119,115
Glenn 3,463 51.96% 3,192 47.89% 10 0.15% 271 4.07% 6,665
Humboldt 19,019 52.57% 17,025 47.06% 133 0.37% 1,994 5.51% 36,177
Imperial 10,526 56.05% 8,197 43.65% 58 0.30% 2,329 12.40% 18,781
Inyo 3,524 66.19% 1,782 33.47% 18 0.34% 1,742 32.72% 5,324
Kern 46,220 51.31% 43,533 48.33% 322 0.36% 2,687 2.98% 90,075
Kings 6,195 42.28% 8,417 57.45% 40 0.27% -2,222 -15.17% 14,652
Lake 4,073 64.84% 2,185 34.78% 24 0.38% 1,888 30.06% 6,282
Lassen 2,533 42.48% 3,412 57.22% 18 0.30% -879 -14.74% 5,963
Los Angeles 1,260,206 55.38% 1,007,887 44.29% 7,331 0.33% 252,319 11.09% 2,275,424
Madera 5,239 42.12% 7,162 57.58% 38 0.30% -1,923 -15.46% 12,439
Marin 33,792 65.94% 17,301 33.76% 151 0.30% 16,491 32.18% 51,244
Mariposa 1,577 60.31% 1,031 39.43% 7 0.26% 546 20.88% 2,615
Mendocino 10,327 56.94% 7,767 42.82% 43 0.24% 2,560 14.12% 18,137
Merced 11,430 45.99% 13,366 53.78% 56 0.23% -1,936 -7.79% 24,852
Modoc 1,981 53.21% 1,729 46.44% 13 0.35% 252 6.77% 3,723
Mono 673 73.79% 237 25.99% 2 0.22% 436 47.80% 912
Monterey 29,514 59.54% 19,932 40.21% 127 0.25% 9,582 19.33% 49,573
Napa 13,610 55.93% 10,623 43.66% 100 0.41% 2,987 12.27% 24,333
Nevada 5,475 59.69% 3,667 39.98% 31 0.33% 1,808 19.71% 9,173
Orange 113,510 66.82% 54,895 32.31% 1,474 0.87% 58,615 34.51% 169,879
Placer 9,059 45.89% 10,611 53.76% 69 0.35% -1,552 -7.87% 19,739
Plumas 2,267 41.87% 3,127 57.75% 21 0.38% -860 -15.88% 5,415
Riverside 56,766 62.16% 34,098 37.34% 465 0.50% 22,668 24.82% 91,329
Sacramento 67,686 45.10% 82,134 54.73% 260 0.17% -14,448 -9.63% 150,080
San Benito 3,252 59.53% 2,201 40.29% 10 0.18% 1,051 19.24% 5,463
San Bernardino 86,263 56.88% 64,946 42.83% 443 0.29% 21,317 14.05% 151,652
San Diego 195,742 64.47% 106,716 35.15% 1,147 0.38% 89,026 29.32% 303,605
San Francisco 173,648 51.53% 161,766 48.01% 1,553 0.46% 11,882 3.52% 336,967
San Joaquin 44,491 54.52% 36,941 45.27% 168 0.21% 7,550 9.25% 81,600
San Luis Obispo 16,223 58.47% 11,407 41.11% 118 0.42% 4,816 17.36% 27,748
San Mateo 100,049 61.04% 63,637 38.83% 217 0.13% 36,412 22.21% 163,903
Santa Barbara 31,294 64.55% 16,925 34.91% 265 0.54% 14,369 29.64% 48,484
Santa Clara 105,657 59.09% 72,528 40.56% 633 0.35% 33,129 18.53% 178,818
Santa Cruz 22,109 63.58% 12,574 36.16% 93 0.26% 9,535 27.42% 34,776
Shasta 8,833 43.84% 11,239 55.78% 77 0.38% -2,406 -11.94% 20,149
Sierra 638 50.55% 620 49.13% 4 0.32% 18 1.42% 1,262
Siskiyou 6,841 49.79% 6,837 49.76% 63 0.45% 4 0.03% 13,741
Solano 17,865 41.68% 24,903 58.10% 95 0.22% -7,038 -16.42% 42,863
Sonoma 33,659 61.92% 20,616 37.92% 86 0.16% 13,043 24.00% 54,361
Stanislaus 26,695 48.60% 28,040 51.05% 192 0.35% -1,345 -2.45% 54,927
Sutter 6,327 62.79% 3,673 36.45% 77 0.76% 2,654 26.34% 10,077
Tehama 4,866 53.82% 4,143 45.82% 33 0.36% 723 8.00% 9,042
Trinity 1,447 50.42% 1,406 48.99% 17 0.59% 41 1.43% 2,870
Tulare 26,051 52.50% 23,407 47.17% 160 0.33% 2,644 5.33% 49,618
Tuolumne 3,619 52.12% 3,310 47.67% 14 0.21% 309 4.45% 6,943
Ventura 26,342 49.92% 26,276 49.80% 149 0.28% 66 0.12% 52,767
Yolo 9,347 47.99% 10,075 51.72% 57 0.29% -728 -3.73% 19,479
Yuba 4,782 55.76% 3,767 43.92% 27 0.32% 1,015 11.84% 8,576
Total 3,027,668 55.39% 2,420,135 44.27% 18,552 0.34% 607,533 11.12% 5,466,355

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ Although he was born in Texas and grew up in Kansas before his military career, at the time of his election Eisenhower was president of Columbia University and was, officially, a resident of New York. During his first term as president, he moved his private residence to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and officially changed his residency to Pennsylvania.
  3. ^ "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  4. ^ "1956 Presidential General Election Results - California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.