1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey

Main article: 1956 United States presidential election

1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey

←  1952 November 6, 1956 1960  →

Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson Party Republican Democratic Home state Pennsylvania [lower-alpha 1] Illinois Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver Electoral vote 16 0 Popular vote 1,606,942 850,337 Percentage 64.68% 34.23%

County Results Eisenhower   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% The 1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 6, 1956. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1956 United States presidential election. Voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. New Jersey was won overwhelmingly by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania and his running mate incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California. Eisenhower and Nixon defeated the Democratic nominees, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois and his running mate Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Eisenhower carried New Jersey in a landslide with 64.68% of the vote to Stevenson’s 34.23%, a margin of 30.46%. [2] Eisenhower’s decisive 1956 landslide represented a dramatic swing in the state in his favor. In his initial 1952 match against Stevenson, Eisenhower had also comfortably won New Jersey, but by a smaller margin, taking 56.81% of the vote to Stevenson’s 41.99%, a margin of 14.83%. Eisenhower’s 30.46% margin of victory in 1956 was thus more than double the margin by which he had won the state in 1952, marking a swing of over 15 points in Eisenhower's favor. Eisenhower's landslide gains in the state were also evident on the county map. Whereas in 1952, Eisenhower had lost 3 counties to Stevenson, in 1956 Eisenhower decisively swept all 21 counties in the state of New Jersey, breaking 60% of the vote in all but three, breaking 70% in seven, and even breaking 80% in rural Sussex County. In urban, Democratic-leaning Hudson County, which Stevenson had narrowly won with a plurality in 1952, Eisenhower won decisively with over 60% of the vote in 1956. Eisenhower also picked up victories in Mercer County and Camden County, both of which had given majorities to Stevenson in 1952. He was only the second presidential nominee to sweep all New Jersey’s counties after Warren G. Harding in 1920. [3] New Jersey in this era was usually a swing state with a slight Republican lean. However, Eisenhower’s overwhelming personal popularity in the Northeast in 1956 led him to perform unusually strongly in New Jersey. The state usually voted very similarly to the nation as a whole, with a slight Republican tilt, as in 1952 when its results had been just 4% more Republican than the national average. Nevertheless, in 1956 the state swung especially hard in Eisenhower’s favor. Even as Eisenhower won a slightly more convincing victory nationwide than he had in 1952, New Jersey swung much more than the nation, and its result in the 1956 election made the state more than 15% more Republican than the national average, making it the sixth most Republican state in the union. Hudson County voted Republican for the first time since 1920, and Mercer and Camden counties since 1932. Results 1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) 1,606,942 64.68% 16 Democratic Adlai Stevenson 850,337 34.23% 0 Prohibition Enoch A. Holtwick 9,147 0.37% 0 Socialist Labor Eric Hass 6,736 0.27% 0 Conservative T. Coleman Andrews 5,317 0.21% 0 Socialist Workers Farrell Dobbs 4,004 0.16% 0 American Third Party Henry B. Krajewski 1,829 0.07% 0 Totals 2,484,312 100.0% 16 Results by county County Dwight David Eisenhower Republican Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Various candidates Other parties Margin Total votes cast [4] #  % #  % #  % #  % Atlantic 44,698 65.70% 21,668 31.85% 1,672 2.46% 23,030 33.85% 68,038 Bergen 254,334 75.22% 82,169 24.30% 1,610 0.48% 172,165 50.92% 338,113 Burlington 38,145 61.06% 24,258 38.83% 68 0.11% 13,887 22.23% 62,471 Camden 85,067 52.85% 75,152 46.69% 734 0.46% 9,915 6.16% 160,953 Cape May 16,887 74.02% 5,897 25.85% 31 0.14% 10,990 48.17% 22,815 Cumberland 24,067 58.07% 17,309 41.76% 68 0.16% 6,758 16.31% 41,444 Essex 234,682 60.45% 146,313 37.68% 7,258 1.87% 88,369 22.76% 388,253 Gloucester 30,646 60.41% 20,007 39.44% 75 0.15% 10,639 20.97% 50,728 Hudson 183,919 61.80% 107,098 35.99% 6,568 2.21% 76,821 25.81% 297,585 Hunterdon 16,150 72.77% 5,957 26.84% 86 0.39% 10,193 45.93% 22,193 Mercer 56,029 51.35% 52,684 48.29% 392 0.36% 3,345 3.07% 109,105 Middlesex 100,071 60.54% 64,538 39.05% 677 0.41% 35,533 21.50% 165,286 Monmouth 83,828 71.80% 32,329 27.69% 594 0.51% 51,499 44.11% 116,751 Morris 76,571 79.37% 19,503 20.22% 395 0.41% 57,068 59.16% 96,469 Ocean 28,033 74.80% 9,367 24.99% 79 0.21% 18,666 49.80% 37,479 Passaic 101,182 60.71% 61,859 37.11% 3,635 2.18% 39,323 23.59% 166,676 Salem 14,091 60.16% 9,276 39.60% 56 0.24% 4,815 20.56% 23,423 Somerset 37,930 71.85% 14,529 27.52% 330 0.63% 23,401 44.33% 52,789 Sussex 15,867 80.67% 3,756 19.10% 46 0.23% 12,111 61.57% 19,669 Union 146,228 67.57% 67,540 31.21% 2,646 1.22% 78,688 36.36% 216,414 Warren 18,517 66.95% 9,128 33.00% 13 0.05% 9,389 33.95% 27,658 Totals 1,606,942 64.68% 850,337 34.23% 27,033 1.09% 756,605 30.46% 2,484,312 See also Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower United States presidential elections in New Jersey Notes 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. [1] References "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania "1956 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 27 November 2013. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 439-440 ISBN   0313257957 Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 301 ISBN   0405077114 This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.