1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey

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1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Flag of New Jersey (1896-1965).png
  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 [lower-alpha 1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote160
Popular vote1,606,942850,337
Percentage64.68%34.23%

New Jersey Presidential Election Results 1956.svg
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.

Contents

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.

Results

1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent)1,606,94264.68%16
Democratic Adlai Stevenson 850,33734.23%0
Prohibition Enoch A. Holtwick 9,1470.37%0
Socialist Labor Eric Hass 6,7360.27%0
Conservative T. Coleman Andrews 5,3170.21%0
Socialist Workers Farrell Dobbs 4,0040.16%0
American Third Party Henry B. Krajewski 1,8290.07%0
Totals2,484,312100.0%16

Results by county

CountyDwight D. Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Atlantic 44,69865.70%21,66831.85%1,6722.46%23,03033.85%68,038
Bergen 254,33475.22%82,16924.30%1,6100.48%172,16550.92%338,113
Burlington 38,14561.06%24,25838.83%680.11%13,88722.23%62,471
Camden 85,06752.85%75,15246.69%7340.46%9,9156.16%160,953
Cape May 16,88774.02%5,89725.85%310.14%10,99048.17%22,815
Cumberland 24,06758.07%17,30941.76%680.16%6,75816.31%41,444
Essex 234,68260.45%146,31337.68%7,2581.87%88,36922.77%388,253
Gloucester 30,64660.41%20,00739.44%750.15%10,63920.97%50,728
Hudson 183,91961.80%107,09835.99%6,5682.21%76,82125.81%297,585
Hunterdon 16,15072.77%5,95726.84%860.39%10,19345.93%22,193
Mercer 56,02951.35%52,68448.29%3920.36%3,3453.06%109,105
Middlesex 100,07160.54%64,53839.05%6770.41%35,53321.49%165,286
Monmouth 83,82871.80%32,32927.69%5940.51%51,49944.11%116,751
Morris 76,57179.37%19,50320.22%3950.41%57,06859.15%96,469
Ocean 28,03374.80%9,36724.99%790.21%18,66649.81%37,479
Passaic 101,18260.71%61,85937.11%3,6352.18%39,32323.60%166,676
Salem 14,09160.16%9,27639.60%560.24%4,81520.56%23,423
Somerset 37,93071.85%14,52927.52%3300.63%23,40144.33%52,789
Sussex 15,86780.67%3,75619.10%460.23%12,11161.57%19,669
Union 146,22867.57%67,54031.21%2,6461.22%78,68836.36%216,414
Warren 18,51766.95%9,12833.00%130.05%9,38933.95%27,658
Totals1,606,94264.68%850,33734.23%27,0331.09%756,60530.45%2,484,312

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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. [1]

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References

  1. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  2. "1956 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  3. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 439-440 ISBN   0313257957