1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election

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1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election
Flag of West Virginia.svg
←  1952 November 6, 1956 1960  →
  Cecil Underwood.jpg Bob Mollohan.jpg
Nominee Cecil H. Underwood Bob Mollohan
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote440,502377,131
Percentage53.88%46.12%
1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Underwood:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Mollohan:     50–60%     60–70%
Governor before election

William C. Marland
Democratic

Elected Governor

Cecil H. Underwood
Republican

The 1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1956, to elect the governor of West Virginia.

Contents

Underwood's 1956 election as Governor of West Virginia marked the first election of a Republican to the office since 1928. [1] He had defeated Charleston Mayor John T. Copenhaver by only 7,200 votes in the primary, and enjoyed a decisive victory against Democratic U.S. Representative Robert Mollohan in the general election by 63,000 votes. [2] Only a week prior to the election, it was discovered that Mollohan had received $20,000 and two cars from a coal operator on a strip mine at a male reformatory in Pruntytown while Mollohan was superintendent of the institution. [2] Underwood had turned 34 years old only one day before the election, making him one of the youngest U.S. governors to have ever been elected.

The previous governors since 1932 had all been Democrats. His first act as governor was to go on the new medium of television and inform every state employee that they were fired. He stated that this was the only way to destroy the corrupt "machine" system. He later advocated an organized civil service and retirement pension system, and provided temporary employment relief for low-income families. [1]

Although in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision educational desegregation was a live issue across much of the south and the border areas in 1956, it was less so in West Virginia with the Democratic candidate not signing the Southern Manifesto and Underwood continuing his Democratic predecessor William C. Marland's desegregation of West Virginia schools and support of civil rights legislation. [1]

Results

1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Cecil H. Underwood 440,502 53.88
Democratic Bob Mollohan 377,13146.12
Total votes817,633 100
Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

CountyCecil Harland Underwood
Republican		Robert Homer Mollohan
Democratic		MarginTotal votes cast [3]
# %# %# %
Barbour 4,39854.49%3,67345.51%7258.98%8,071
Berkeley 8,64659.82%5,80740.18%2,83919.64%14,453
Boone 5,39044.65%6,68155.35%-1,291-10.70%12,071
Braxton 3,46647.77%3,79052.23%-324-4.47%7,256
Brooke 5,55043.42%7,23356.58%-1,683-13.17%12,783
Cabell 28,87261.99%17,70738.01%11,16523.97%46,579
Calhoun 2,01448.95%2,10051.05%-86-2.09%4,114
Clay 2,84652.79%2,54547.21%3015.58%5,391
Doddridge 2,63775.04%87724.96%1,76050.09%3,514
Fayette 10,90641.70%15,24958.30%-4,343-16.60%26,155
Gilmer 1,81348.46%1,92851.54%-115-3.07%3,741
Grant 3,32184.10%62815.90%2,69368.19%3,949
Greenbrier 7,97556.05%6,25443.95%1,72112.10%14,229
Hampshire 2,24246.36%2,59453.64%-352-7.28%4,836
Hancock 7,76443.81%9,95656.19%-2,192-12.37%17,720
Hardy 2,16950.31%2,14249.69%270.63%4,311
Harrison 21,76356.19%16,96943.81%4,79412.38%38,732
Jackson 4,99766.41%2,52733.59%2,47032.83%7,524
Jefferson 3,07347.97%3,33352.03%-260-4.06%6,406
Kanawha 62,14257.75%45,45542.25%16,68715.51%107,597
Lewis 6,14366.22%3,13333.78%3,01032.45%9,276
Lincoln 4,87749.49%4,97850.51%-101-1.02%9,855
Logan 10,47641.68%14,65858.32%-4,182-16.64%25,134
Marion 15,16847.49%16,76952.51%-1,601-5.01%31,937
Marshall 8,46450.75%8,21549.25%2491.49%16,679
Mason 6,27263.24%3,64636.76%2,62626.48%9,918
McDowell 10,26437.29%17,25862.71%-6,994-25.41%27,522
Mercer 13,71550.01%13,71149.99%40.01%27,426
Mineral 5,76859.02%4,00540.98%1,76318.04%9,773
Mingo 7,47642.32%10,19157.68%-2,715-15.37%17,667
Monongalia 13,59455.03%11,11144.97%2,48310.05%24,705
Monroe 3,54756.72%2,70743.28%84013.43%6,254
Morgan 2,79270.65%1,16029.35%1,63241.30%3,952
Nicholas 5,41354.39%4,53945.61%8748.78%9,952
Ohio 18,96454.20%16,02445.80%2,9408.40%34,988
Pendleton 2,02552.02%1,86847.98%1574.03%3,893
Pleasants 2,19459.20%1,51240.80%68218.40%3,706
Pocahontas 3,00855.50%2,41244.50%59611.00%5,420
Preston 7,53568.18%3,51731.82%4,01836.36%11,052
Putnam 5,80957.03%4,37642.97%1,43314.07%10,185
Raleigh 16,16750.28%15,98449.72%1830.57%32,151
Randolph 5,67651.48%5,34948.52%3272.97%11,025
Ritchie 4,17474.98%1,39325.02%2,78149.96%5,567
Roane 4,70160.64%3,05139.36%1,65021.28%7,752
Summers 3,78150.78%3,66549.22%1161.56%7,446
Taylor 4,51658.35%3,22341.65%1,29316.71%7,739
Tucker 2,38654.03%2,03045.97%3568.06%4,416
Tyler 3,67574.11%1,28425.89%2,39148.22%4,959
Upshur 5,63273.95%1,98426.05%3,64847.90%7,616
Wayne 8,20752.05%7,56147.95%6464.10%15,768
Webster 2,37244.25%2,98955.75%-617-11.51%5,361
Wetzel 4,65253.37%4,06546.63%5876.73%8,717
Wirt 1,41356.63%1,08243.37%33113.27%2,495
Wood 21,00061.80%12,97838.20%8,02223.61%33,978
Wyoming 6,66247.90%7,24552.10%-583-4.19%13,907
Totals440,502377,13153.88%46.12%63,3717.75%817,633

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Former Gov. Cecil Underwood has died at 86". Charleston Daily Mail. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Kabler, Phil (November 25, 2008). "Former Gov. Underwood dead". Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.
  3. 1 2 "WV Governor Race – November 06, 1956". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
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