Except for the 1928 election when fierce anti-Catholicism and Prohibitionism caused Herbert Hoover to defeat the wet Catholic Al Smith,[2] Florida since the end of Reconstruction had been a classic Southern one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. Disfranchisement of African-Americans and many poor whites had virtually eliminated the Republican Party – only nine Republicans were ever elected to the state legislature between 1890 and 1950 – while Democratic primaries were the sole competitive elections.
Under the influence of Senator Claude Pepper, Florida abolished the poll tax in 1937, leading to steady increases in voter turnout during the following several elections;[3] however, there was no marked increase in African-American voting and Democratic hegemony remained unchallenged: FDR did not lose a single county in the state during his four elections.[4]
However, the following two elections would see a rapid trend away from Democratic hegemony towards Republican dominance in newer, more liberal South Florida. The regions shifting rapidly towards the GOP in these two elections lacked a history of slave-based plantation farming,[5] and saw Eisenhower as more favourable to business than the Democratic Party.[6] They also had seen a very large inflow of elderly migrants from the Northern states who were attracted by Florida's hot climate. An example of this is Collier County in southwest Florida, home to the city of Naples, which went Republican for the first time since the county's founding in 1923 and has never voted Democratic since. Consequently, Eisenhower was able to carry Florida by a double-digit margin in 1952, in spite of losing badly in the "Hoovercrat" pineywoods and Black Belt of the Panhandle.[6]
The 1956 election saw, in general, little change from trends established during the previous two elections, with the most significant exception being a marked (though temporary) trend towards Eisenhower amongst the small but increasing number of Negro voters in the state.[7] Eisenhower, aided further by increased Northerner migration, won against his rematch opponent Adlai Stevenson II by 163,474 votes or 14.54%.[8] This was the first time since 1872 that a Republican carried Florida twice. This result nonetheless made Florida about 0.86% more Democratic than the nation at large. This was the first time ever that Citrus County voted Republican. As of 2023, this is also the last time that Florida voted to the left of Rhode Island, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
^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.
^These write-in votes are listed in America at the Polls, but not in Dave Leip's Atlas.
Referencesedit
^"The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
^Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928'; The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (October 1947), pp. 174-186
^Poll Taxes: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on S. 1280, Seventy-Seventh Congress, Second Session, Parts 1-2, p. 289
^Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165 ISBN0786422173
^See Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Liberal and Conservative Politics in Florida'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 14, no. 3 (August 1952), pp. 403-417
^ abStrong, Donald S.; 'The Presidential Election in the South, 1952'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 343-389
^Roady, Elston E.; 'The Expansion of Negro Suffrage in Florida', The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 26, no. 3, ('The Negro Voter in the South) (Summer, 1957), pp. 297-306
^Leip, David. "1956 Presidential General Election Results – Florida". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
^Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 91-92 ISBN0405077114
February 15, 2024
1956, united, states, presidential, election, florida, main, article, 1956, united, states, presidential, election, held, november, 1956, part, concurrent, united, states, presidential, election, florida, voters, chose, electors, representatives, electoral, co. Main article 1956 United States presidential election The 1956 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 6 1956 as part of the concurrent United States presidential election Florida voters chose ten electors or representatives to the Electoral College who voted for president and vice president 1956 United States presidential election in Florida 1952 November 6 1956 1960 Nominee Dwight D Eisenhower Adlai StevensonParty Republican DemocraticHome state Pennsylvania a 1 IllinoisRunning mate Richard Nixon Estes KefauverElectoral vote 10 0Popular vote 643 849 480 371Percentage 57 27 42 73 County Results Eisenhower 50 60 60 70 70 80 Stevenson 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 President before electionDwight D EisenhowerRepublican Elected President Dwight D EisenhowerRepublicanExcept for the 1928 election when fierce anti Catholicism and Prohibitionism caused Herbert Hoover to defeat the wet Catholic Al Smith 2 Florida since the end of Reconstruction had been a classic Southern one party state dominated by the Democratic Party Disfranchisement of African Americans and many poor whites had virtually eliminated the Republican Party only nine Republicans were ever elected to the state legislature between 1890 and 1950 while Democratic primaries were the sole competitive elections Under the influence of Senator Claude Pepper Florida abolished the poll tax in 1937 leading to steady increases in voter turnout during the following several elections 3 however there was no marked increase in African American voting and Democratic hegemony remained unchallenged FDR did not lose a single county in the state during his four elections 4 However the following two elections would see a rapid trend away from Democratic hegemony towards Republican dominance in newer more liberal South Florida The regions shifting rapidly towards the GOP in these two elections lacked a history of slave based plantation farming 5 and saw Eisenhower as more favourable to business than the Democratic Party 6 They also had seen a very large inflow of elderly migrants from the Northern states who were attracted by Florida s hot climate An example of this is Collier County in southwest Florida home to the city of Naples which went Republican for the first time since the county s founding in 1923 and has never voted Democratic since Consequently Eisenhower was able to carry Florida by a double digit margin in 1952 in spite of losing badly in the Hoovercrat pineywoods and Black Belt of the Panhandle 6 The 1956 election saw in general little change from trends established during the previous two elections with the most significant exception being a marked though temporary trend towards Eisenhower amongst the small but increasing number of Negro voters in the state 7 Eisenhower aided further by increased Northerner migration won against his rematch opponent Adlai Stevenson II by 163 474 votes or 14 54 8 This was the first time since 1872 that a Republican carried Florida twice This result nonetheless made Florida about 0 86 more Democratic than the nation at large This was the first time ever that Citrus County voted Republican As of 2023 this is also the last time that Florida voted to the left of Rhode Island Maryland and Massachusetts Contents 1 Results 1 1 Results by county 2 Notes 3 ReferencesResults editElectoral results Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoralvote Running mateCount Percentage Vice presidential candidate Home state Electoral voteDwight D Eisenhower Republican Pennsylvania 643 849 57 19 10 Richard Nixon California 10Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Illinois 480 371 42 67 0 Estes Kefauver Tennessee 0Various candidates Write ins b 1 542 0 14 0 0Total 1 125 762 100 10 10Needed to win 270 270Results by county edit County Dwight David EisenhowerRepublican Adlai Stevenson IIDemocratic Various candidatesWrite ins Margin Total votes cast 9 Alachua 7 939 53 48 6 889 46 40 18 0 12 1 050 7 07 14 846Baker 366 20 21 1 443 79 68 2 0 11 1 077 59 47 1 811Bay 4 971 36 41 8 645 63 32 37 0 27 3 674 26 91 13 653Bradford 1 203 33 98 2 328 65 76 9 0 25 1 125 31 78 3 540Brevard 10 004 71 81 3 928 28 19 6 076 43 61 13 932Broward 43 552 72 24 16 561 27 47 176 0 29 26 991 44 77 60 289Calhoun 554 24 57 1 701 75 43 1 147 50 86 2 255Charlotte 1 589 63 11 929 36 89 660 26 21 2 518Citrus 1 570 50 37 1 527 48 99 20 0 64 43 1 38 3 117Clay 2 372 53 67 2 048 46 33 324 7 33 4 420Collier 1 934 59 73 1 304 40 27 630 19 46 3 238Columbia 1 841 36 13 3 246 63 71 8 0 16 1 405 27 58 5 095Dade 130 938 55 36 105 559 44 63 25 0 01 25 379 10 73 236 522De Soto 1 234 48 41 1 315 51 59 81 3 18 2 549Dixie 370 28 95 904 70 74 4 0 31 534 41 78 1 278Duval 53 481 50 09 53 127 49 76 164 0 15 354 0 33 106 772Escambia 13 227 37 20 22 320 62 77 11 0 03 9 093 25 57 35 558Flagler 498 41 36 690 57 31 16 1 33 192 15 95 1 204Franklin 571 37 34 958 62 66 387 25 31 1 529Gadsden 1 321 36 62 2 262 62 71 24 0 67 941 26 09 3 607Gilchrist 137 12 90 925 87 10 788 74 20 1 062Glades 309 47 69 339 52 31 30 4 63 648Gulf 570 24 12 1 793 75 88 1 223 51 76 2 363Hamilton 464 23 67 1 493 76 17 3 0 15 1 029 52 50 1 960Hardee 1 589 45 67 1 890 54 33 301 8 65 3 479Hendry 1 071 51 59 1 003 48 31 2 0 10 68 3 28 2 076Hernando 1 295 46 45 1 435 51 47 58 2 08 140 5 02 2 788Highlands 3 480 60 25 2 296 39 75 1 184 20 50 5 776Hillsborough 41 889 51 97 38 610 47 90 100 0 12 3 279 4 07 80 599Holmes 1 036 29 17 2 516 70 83 1 480 41 67 3 552Indian River 4 059 70 49 1 699 29 51 2 360 40 99 5 758Jackson 2 543 29 86 5 973 70 14 3 430 40 28 8 516Jefferson 540 30 73 1 201 68 36 16 0 91 661 37 62 1 757Lafayette 187 15 07 1 054 84 93 867 69 86 1 241Lake 10 888 70 83 4 326 28 14 158 1 03 6 562 42 69 15 372Lee 7 565 62 60 4 520 37 40 3 045 25 20 12 085Leon 6 828 49 04 7 022 50 44 72 0 52 194 1 39 13 922Levy 934 33 72 1 821 65 74 15 0 54 887 32 02 2 770Liberty 238 21 40 870 78 24 4 0 36 632 56 83 1 112Madison 1 017 32 92 2 064 66 82 8 0 26 1 047 33 89 3 089Manatee 11 904 68 56 5 394 31 07 64 0 37 6 510 37 50 17 362Marion 6 362 50 90 6 114 48 92 23 0 18 248 1 98 12 499Martin 2 997 68 32 1 387 31 62 3 0 07 1 610 36 70 4 387Monroe 3 337 43 52 4 327 56 43 4 0 05 990 12 91 7 668Nassau 1 717 38 18 2 765 61 49 15 0 33 1 048 23 30 4 497Okaloosa 2 788 32 66 5 748 67 34 2 960 34 68 8 536Okeechobee 575 40 78 835 59 22 260 18 44 1 410Orange 37 482 71 99 14 532 27 91 52 0 10 22 950 44 08 52 066Osceola 3 602 65 17 1 923 34 79 2 0 04 1 679 30 38 5 527Palm Beach 35 746 71 28 14 321 28 56 80 0 16 21 425 42 72 50 147Pasco 5 501 56 47 4 181 42 92 60 0 62 1 320 13 55 9 742Pinellas 74 314 72 48 28 113 27 42 105 0 10 46 201 45 06 102 532Polk 23 682 55 94 18 626 44 00 24 0 06 5 056 11 94 42 332Putnam 4 212 56 27 3 232 43 18 41 0 55 980 13 09 7 485St John s 5 104 56 25 3 940 43 43 29 0 32 1 164 12 83 9 073St Lucie 5 435 66 35 2 731 33 34 26 0 32 2 704 33 01 8 192Santa Rosa 1 909 31 54 4 144 68 46 2 235 36 92 6 053Sarasota 13 937 73 34 5 052 26 59 14 0 07 8 885 46 76 19 003Seminole 5 841 65 07 3 125 34 81 11 0 12 2 716 30 26 8 977Sumter 1 061 31 30 2 329 68 70 1 268 37 40 3 390Suwannee 1 046 24 85 3 163 75 15 2 117 50 30 4 209Taylor 776 28 52 1 945 71 48 1 169 42 96 2 721Union 218 18 54 958 81 46 740 62 93 1 176Volusia 25 103 63 37 14 489 36 58 22 0 06 10 614 26 79 39 614Wakulla 393 26 79 1 074 73 21 681 46 42 1 467Walton 1 606 33 24 3 225 66 76 1 619 33 51 4 831Washington 1 027 32 01 2 164 67 46 17 0 53 1 137 35 44 3 208Totals 643 849 57 19 480 371 42 67 1 542 0 14 163 478 14 52 1 125 762Notes edit 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 These write in votes are listed in America at the Polls but not in Dave Leip s Atlas References edit The Presidents David Leip Retrieved September 27 2017 Eisenhower s home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania Doherty Herbert J junior Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928 The Florida Historical Quarterly vol 26 no 2 October 1947 pp 174 186 Poll Taxes Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on S 1280 Seventy Seventh Congress Second Session Parts 1 2 p 289 Menendez Albert J The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States 1868 2004 p 164 165 ISBN 0786422173 See Doherty Herbert J junior Liberal and Conservative Politics in Florida The Journal of Politics vol 14 no 3 August 1952 pp 403 417 a b Strong Donald S The Presidential Election in the South 1952 The Journal of Politics vol 17 no 3 pp 343 389 Roady Elston E The Expansion of Negro Suffrage in Florida The Journal of Negro Education vol 26 no 3 The Negro Voter in the South Summer 1957 pp 297 306 Leip David 1956 Presidential General Election Results Florida Dave Leip s Atlas of U S Presidential Elections Scammon Richard M compiler America at the Polls A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920 1964 pp 91 92 ISBN 0405077114 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1956 United States presidential election in Florida amp oldid 1197869623, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
