The 1956 United States presidential election in California took place in 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.
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Turnout | 86.56% (of registered voters) 0.29 pp 67.59% (of eligible voters) 6.48 pp[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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County Results
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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.
1956 United States presidential election in California[4] | |||||
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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 | — |
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 |
Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania