1956 United States presidential election in Maine

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1956 United States presidential election in Maine
Flag of Maine.svg
  1952 November 6, 1956 1960  
  Dwight David Eisenhower 1952 crop.jpg Adlai Stevenson close-up.jpg
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania [a] [1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote50
Popular vote249,238102,468
Percentage70.87%29.13%

Maine Presidential Election Results 1956.svg
County Results
Eisenhower
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%
  80–90%

The 1956 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Maine overwhelmingly voted for the Republican nominee, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania, over the Democratic nominee, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. Eisenhower ran with incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California, while Stevenson's running mate was Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.

Eisenhower won Maine by a landslide margin of 41.74%. Although Maine was almost completely dominated by the Republican Party between 1856 and 1960 (apart from 1912 where the Republican vote was split), Eisenhower's performance is nonetheless the second-best by any presidential candidate in Maine, behind only Yankee Calvin Coolidge in 1924, who won a 1.16% higher share of the popular vote. [2] He carried every county in Maine, and won thirteen of sixteen with over seventy percent of the vote. This election would prove the last of a century of GOP dominance in the Yankee Northeast: over the following two elections, the Republican share would decline 39% in Maine as the party moved its target support base from the declining Northeast to the "Sun Belt" of the lower-tax South and Desert Southwest. [3]

With 70.87% of the popular vote, Maine would prove to be Eisenhower's second strongest state after nearby Vermont. [4] Eisenhower's winning margin of over 146,000 votes is the largest in history for a presidential candidate in Maine.

Results

1956 United States presidential election in Maine [5]
PartyCandidateRunning matePopular voteElectoral vote
Count%Count%
Republican Dwight David Eisenhower of Pennsylvania (incumbent) Richard Nixon of California (incumbent)249,23870.87%5100.00%
Democratic Adlai Stevenson II of Illinois Estes Kefauver of Tennessee 102,46829.13%00.00%
Total 351,706100.00%5100.00%

Results by county

CountyDwight D. Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson
Democratic
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %
Androscoggin 20,38556.27%15,84243.73%4,54312.54%36,227
Aroostook 16,00172.44%6,08927.56%9,91244.88%22,090
Cumberland 49,69671.88%19,43828.12%30,25843.76%69,134
Franklin 6,30778.97%1,68021.03%4,62757.94%7,987
Hancock 11,31686.91%1,70413.09%9,61273.82%13,020
Kennebec 23,02866.73%11,48333.27%11,54533.46%34,511
Knox 8,86681.32%2,03718.68%6,82962.64%10,903
Lincoln 7,19186.07%1,16413.93%6,02772.14%8,355
Oxford 12,60773.04%4,65326.96%7,95446.08%17,260
Penobscot 27,80676.44%8,56823.56%19,23852.88%36,374
Piscataquis 5,33677.59%1,54122.41%3,79555.18%6,877
Sagadahoc 6,20172.94%2,30127.06%3,90045.88%8,502
Somerset 10,47171.77%4,11928.23%6,35243.54%14,590
Waldo 6,59082.64%1,38417.36%5,20665.28%7,974
Washington 8,18176.20%2,55523.80%5,62652.40%10,736
York 29,25662.03%17,91037.97%11,34624.06%47,166
Totals249,23870.87%102,46829.13%146,77041.74%351,706

See also

Notes

  1. Although he was born in Texas and grew up in Kansas before his military career, at the time of the 1952 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.

References

  1. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  2. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Maine".
  3. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority; pp. 17, 507 ISBN   1400852293
  4. "1956 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  5. "1956 Presidential General Election Results – Maine".