1956 United States presidential election in Florida

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.

United States presidential election in Florida, 1956

November 6, 1956
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[lower-alpha 1][1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 643,849 480,371
Percentage 57.27% 42.73%

County Results

President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Background

Excepting 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. Consequently, Eisenhower was able to carry the Sunshine State by a double-digit margin in 1952, in spite of losing badly in the "Hoovercrat" pineywoods and Black Belt of the Panhandle.[6]

Vote

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]

Results

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote
Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Pennsylvania 643,849 57.19% 10 Richard Nixon California 10
Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Illinois 480,371 42.67% 0 Estes Kefauver Tennessee 0
Various candidates Write-ins[lower-alpha 2] 1,542 0.14% 0 0
Total 1,125,762 100% 10 10
Needed to win 270 270

Results by county

County Dwight David Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson II
Democratic
Various candidates
Write-ins
Margin Total votes cast[9]
# % # % # % # %
Alachua 7,939 53.48% 6,889 46.40% 18 0.12% 1,050 7.07% 14,846
Baker 366 20.21% 1,443 79.68% 2 0.11% -1,077 -59.47% 1,811
Bay 4,971 36.41% 8,645 63.32% 37 0.27% -3,674 -26.91% 13,653
Bradford 1,203 33.98% 2,328 65.76% 9 0.25% -1,125 -31.78% 3,540
Brevard 10,004 71.81% 3,928 28.19% 6,076 43.61% 13,932
Broward 43,552 72.24% 16,561 27.47% 176 0.29% 26,991 44.77% 60,289
Calhoun 554 24.57% 1,701 75.43% -1,147 -50.86% 2,255
Charlotte 1,589 63.11% 929 36.89% 660 26.21% 2,518
Citrus 1,570 50.37% 1,527 48.99% 20 0.64% 43 1.38% 3,117
Clay 2,372 53.67% 2,048 46.33% 324 7.33% 4,420
Collier 1,934 59.73% 1,304 40.27% 630 19.46% 3,238
Columbia 1,841 36.13% 3,246 63.71% 8 0.16% -1,405 -27.58% 5,095
Dade 130,938 55.36% 105,559 44.63% 25 0.01% 25,379 10.73% 236,522
De Soto 1,234 48.41% 1,315 51.59% -81 -3.18% 2,549
Dixie 370 28.95% 904 70.74% 4 0.31% -534 -41.78% 1,278
Duval 53,481 50.09% 53,127 49.76% 164 0.15% 354 0.33% 106,772
Escambia 13,227 37.20% 22,320 62.77% 11 0.03% -9,093 -25.57% 35,558
Flagler 498 41.36% 690 57.31% 16 1.33% -192 -15.95% 1,204
Franklin 571 37.34% 958 62.66% -387 -25.31% 1,529
Gadsden 1,321 36.62% 2,262 62.71% 24 0.67% -941 -26.09% 3,607
Gilchrist 137 12.90% 925 87.10% -788 -74.20% 1,062
Glades 309 47.69% 339 52.31% -30 -4.63% 648
Gulf 570 24.12% 1,793 75.88% -1,223 -51.76% 2,363
Hamilton 464 23.67% 1,493 76.17% 3 0.15% -1,029 -52.50% 1,960
Hardee 1,589 45.67% 1,890 54.33% -301 -8.65% 3,479
Hendry 1,071 51.59% 1,003 48.31% 2 0.10% 68 3.28% 2,076
Hernando 1,295 46.45% 1,435 51.47% 58 2.08% -140 -5.02% 2,788
Highlands 3,480 60.25% 2,296 39.75% 1,184 20.50% 5,776
Hillsborough 41,889 51.97% 38,610 47.90% 100 0.12% 3,279 4.07% 80,599
Holmes 1,036 29.17% 2,516 70.83% -1,480 -41.67% 3,552
Indian River 4,059 70.49% 1,699 29.51% 2,360 40.99% 5,758
Jackson 2,543 29.86% 5,973 70.14% -3,430 -40.28% 8,516
Jefferson 540 30.73% 1,201 68.36% 16 0.91% -661 -37.62% 1,757
Lafayette 187 15.07% 1,054 84.93% -867 -69.86% 1,241
Lake 10,888 70.83% 4,326 28.14% 158 1.03% 6,562 42.69% 15,372
Lee 7,565 62.60% 4,520 37.40% 3,045 25.20% 12,085
Leon 6,828 49.04% 7,022 50.44% 72 0.52% -194 -1.39% 13,922
Levy 934 33.72% 1,821 65.74% 15 0.54% -887 -32.02% 2,770
Liberty 238 21.40% 870 78.24% 4 0.36% -632 -56.83% 1,112
Madison 1,017 32.92% 2,064 66.82% 8 0.26% -1,047 -33.89% 3,089
Manatee 11,904 68.56% 5,394 31.07% 64 0.37% 6,510 37.50% 17,362
Marion 6,362 50.90% 6,114 48.92% 23 0.18% 248 1.98% 12,499
Martin 2,997 68.32% 1,387 31.62% 3 0.07% 1,610 36.70% 4,387
Monroe 3,337 43.52% 4,327 56.43% 4 0.05% -990 -12.91% 7,668
Nassau 1,717 38.18% 2,765 61.49% 15 0.33% -1,048 -23.30% 4,497
Okaloosa 2,788 32.66% 5,748 67.34% -2,960 -34.68% 8,536
Okeechobee 575 40.78% 835 59.22% -260 -18.44% 1,410
Orange 37,482 71.99% 14,532 27.91% 52 0.10% 22,950 44.08% 52,066
Osceola 3,602 65.17% 1,923 34.79% 2 0.04% 1,679 30.38% 5,527
Palm Beach 35,746 71.28% 14,321 28.56% 80 0.16% 21,425 42.72% 50,147
Pasco 5,501 56.47% 4,181 42.92% 60 0.62% 1,320 13.55% 9,742
Pinellas 74,314 72.48% 28,113 27.42% 105 0.10% 46,201 45.06% 102,532
Polk 23,682 55.94% 18,626 44.00% 24 0.06% 5,056 11.94% 42,332
Putnam 4,212 56.27% 3,232 43.18% 41 0.55% 980 13.09% 7,485
St. John's 5,104 56.25% 3,940 43.43% 29 0.32% 1,164 12.83% 9,073
St. Lucie 5,435 66.35% 2,731 33.34% 26 0.32% 2,704 33.01% 8,192
Santa Rosa 1,909 31.54% 4,144 68.46% -2,235 -36.92% 6,053
Sarasota 13,937 73.34% 5,052 26.59% 14 0.07% 8,885 46.76% 19,003
Seminole 5,841 65.07% 3,125 34.81% 11 0.12% 2,716 30.26% 8,977
Sumter 1,061 31.30% 2,329 68.70% -1,268 -37.40% 3,390
Suwannee 1,046 24.85% 3,163 75.15% -2,117 -50.30% 4,209
Taylor 776 28.52% 1,945 71.48% -1,169 -42.96% 2,721
Union 218 18.54% 958 81.46% -740 -62.93% 1,176
Volusia 25,103 63.37% 14,489 36.58% 22 0.06% 10,614 26.79% 39,614
Wakulla 393 26.79% 1,074 73.21% -681 -46.42% 1,467
Walton 1,606 33.24% 3,225 66.76% -1,619 -33.51% 4,831
Washington 1,027 32.01% 2,164 67.46% 17 0.53% -1,137 -35.44% 3,208
Totals643,84957.19%480,37142.67%1,5420.14%163,47814.52%1,125,762

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.
  2. These write-in votes are listed in America at the Polls, but not in Dave Leip's Atlas.

References

  1. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  2. Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Florida and the Presidential Election of 1928'; The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (October 1947), pp. 174-186
  3. 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
  4. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 164-165 ISBN 0786422173
  5. See Doherty, Herbert J. (junior); 'Liberal and Conservative Politics in Florida'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 14, no. 3 (August 1952), pp. 403-417
  6. Strong, Donald S.; 'The Presidential Election in the South, 1952'; The Journal of Politics, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 343-389
  7. 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
  8. Leip, David. "1956 Presidential General Election Results – Florida". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  9. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 91-92 ISBN 0405077114
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