1956 United States presidential election in California

Main article: 1956 United States presidential election

The 1956 United States presidential election in California took place on 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.

1956 United States presidential election in California

← 1952 November 6, 1956 1960 →
Turnout	86.56% (of registered voters) 0.29 pp 67.59% (of eligible voters) 6.48 pp^[1]
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson 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 Eisenhower   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Stevenson   50–60%
President before election Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican

California voted for the Republican incumbent, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 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	Eisenhower	Votes	Stevenson	Votes	Others	Votes
Alpine	79.72%	114	20.28%	29	0.00%	0
Mono	73.79%	673	25.99%	237	0.22%	2
Orange	66.82%	113,510	32.31%	54,895	0.87%	1,474
Inyo	66.19%	3,524	33.47%	1,782	0.34%	18
Marin	65.94%	33,792	33.76%	17,301	0.29%	151
Lake	64.84%	4,073	34.78%	2,185	0.38%	24
Santa Barbara	64.55%	31,294	34.91%	16,925	0.55%	265
San Diego	64.47%	195,742	35.15%	106,716	0.38%	1,147
Santa Cruz	63.58%	22,109	36.16%	12,574	0.27%	93
Sutter	62.79%	6,327	36.45%	3,673	0.76%	77
Riverside	62.16%	56,766	37.34%	34,098	0.51%	465
Sonoma	61.92%	33,659	37.92%	20,616	0.16%	86
San Mateo	61.04%	100,049	38.83%	63,637	0.13%	217
Mariposa	60.31%	1,577	39.43%	1,031	0.27%	7
Nevada	59.69%	5,475	39.98%	3,667	0.34%	31
Monterey	59.54%	29,514	40.21%	19,932	0.26%	127
San Benito	59.53%	3,252	40.29%	2,201	0.18%	10
Santa Clara	59.09%	105,657	40.56%	72,528	0.35%	633
San Luis Obispo	58.47%	16,223	41.11%	11,407	0.43%	118
Butte	58.43%	18,382	41.11%	12,933	0.47%	147
Calaveras	57.91%	2,843	41.74%	2,049	0.35%	17
Mendocino	56.94%	10,327	42.82%	7,767	0.24%	43
San Bernardino	56.88%	86,263	42.83%	64,946	0.29%	443
Imperial	56.05%	10,526	43.65%	8,197	0.31%	58
Napa	55.93%	13,610	43.66%	10,623	0.41%	100
Yuba	55.76%	4,782	43.92%	3,767	0.31%	27
Los Angeles	55.38%	1,260,206	44.29%	1,007,887	0.32%	7,331
San Joaquin	54.52%	44,491	45.27%	36,941	0.21%	168
Tehama	53.82%	4,866	45.82%	4,143	0.36%	33
El Dorado	53.60%	4,613	45.97%	3,957	0.43%	37
Colusa	53.23%	2,474	46.71%	2,171	0.06%	3
Modoc	53.21%	1,981	46.44%	1,729	0.35%	13
Del Norte	53.18%	2,918	46.51%	2,552	0.31%	17
Humboldt	52.57%	19,019	47.06%	17,025	0.37%	133
Tulare	52.50%	26,051	47.17%	23,407	0.32%	160
Alameda	52.40%	192,911	47.27%	174,033	0.32%	1,187
Tuolumne	52.12%	3,619	47.67%	3,310	0.20%	14
Glenn	51.96%	3,463	47.89%	3,192	0.15%	10
San Francisco	51.53%	173,648	48.01%	161,766	0.46%	1,553
Kern	51.31%	46,220	48.33%	43,533	0.36%	322
Contra Costa	50.98%	74,971	48.78%	71,733	0.24%	347
Sierra	50.55%	638	49.13%	620	0.32%	4
Trinity	50.42%	1,447	48.99%	1,406	0.59%	17
Ventura	49.92%	26,342	49.80%	26,276	0.28%	149
Siskiyou	49.79%	6,841	49.76%	6,837	0.46%	63
Amador	49.16%	2,126	50.43%	2,181	0.42%	18
Stanislaus	48.60%	26,695	51.05%	28,040	0.35%	192
Yolo	47.99%	9,347	51.72%	10,075	0.29%	57
Merced	45.99%	11,430	53.78%	13,366	0.23%	56
Placer	45.89%	9,059	53.76%	10,611	0.35%	69
Sacramento	45.10%	67,686	54.73%	82,134	0.17%	260
Shasta	43.84%	8,833	55.78%	11,239	0.38%	77
Fresno	43.33%	51,611	56.44%	67,234	0.23%	270
Lassen	42.48%	2,533	57.22%	3,412	0.30%	18
Kings	42.28%	6,195	57.45%	8,417	0.27%	40
Madera	42.12%	5,239	57.58%	7,162	0.31%	38
Plumas	41.87%	2,267	57.75%	3,127	0.39%	21
Solano	41.68%	17,865	58.10%	24,903	0.22%	95

References

1. "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
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 2008-08-25.