1956 United States presidential election in Minnesota

The 1956 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 1956 as part of the 1956 United States presidential election.

1956 United States presidential election in Minnesota

November 6, 1956
Turnout83.15%[1]
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[lower-alpha 1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 11 0
Popular vote 719,302 617,525
Percentage 53.7% 46.1%

County Results

President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Minnesota was won by the Republican Party candidate, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower won the state over former Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson by a margin of 101,777 votes, or 7.6%. Eisenhower went on to win the election nationally, with 457 electoral votes and a landslide 15.4% lead over Stevenson in the popular vote. The 1956 presidential election was a rematch of the 1952 election, in which Eisenhower also defeated Stevenson, both nationally and in Minnesota. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time Minnesota was carried twice by the Republican nominee.

The Democratic nomination campaign leading into 1956 presidential election may have had a major role in the end of the political career of Coya Knutson, the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota. The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, in a ploy to win a possible vice presidential nomination for its rising star, U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey, desperately attempted to ensure that Stevenson would win in the DFL Presidential Primary in Minnesota that year. However, Congresswoman Knutson, believing that the agricultural policy positions of U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee would have been more beneficial to her constituents, instead endorsed and campaigned on behalf of Kefauver. In part due to Knutson's efforts, Kefauver won the March 20th Minnesota Presidential Primary; as a result, when Stevenson was ultimately nominated, Kefauver was chosen as his running mate.

Two years later, shortly before the 1958 DFL state convention, a letter signed but not written by Knutson's husband was circulated to reporters. The contents of the letter played on anxieties over deviations from the rigid gender roles of the time, and its publication by newspapers essentially ensured Knutson's defeat in her bid for re-election that year. It has been alleged by several individuals, including Concordia College political science professor Harding Noblitt, Knutson biographer Gretchen Beito, and numerous people who were close to Knutson, that either DFL state leadership or local operatives wrote the letter and bribed Knutson's husband to sign it, as a means to exact retribution against the Congresswoman for denying Humphrey a shot at the vice presidential nomination in 1956.[3]

Results

1956 United States presidential election in Minnesota[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (incumbent) 719,302 53.68% 11
Democratic Adlai Stevenson 617,525 46.08% 0
Industrial Government Eric Hass 2,080 0.16% 0
Socialist Workers Farrell Dobbs 1,098 0.08% 0
Totals 1,340,005 100.00% 11
Voter turnout 83% —

Results by county

County Dwight David Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson II
Democratic
Eric Hass[5]
Industrial Government
Farrell Dobbs[5]
Socialist Workers
Margin Total votes cast[6]
# % # % # % # % # %
Aitkin 2,762 50.18% 2,733 49.65% 3 0.05% 6 0.11% 29 0.53% 5,504
Anoka 9,359 44.37% 11,697 55.46% 23 0.11% 13 0.06% -2,338 -11.08% 21,092
Becker 4,608 49.81% 4,619 49.93% 15 0.16% 9 0.10% -11 -0.12% 9,251
Beltrami 3,974 50.97% 3,807 48.83% 2 0.03% 14 0.18% 167 2.14% 7,797
Benton 3,591 57.77% 2,609 41.97% 8 0.13% 8 0.13% 982 15.80% 6,216
Big Stone 1,737 44.25% 2,180 55.54% 5 0.13% 3 0.08% -443 -11.29% 3,925
Blue Earth 11,398 67.50% 5,467 32.38% 14 0.08% 7 0.04% 5,931 35.12% 16,886
Brown 7,965 72.02% 3,067 27.73% 11 0.10% 16 0.14% 4,898 44.29% 11,059
Carlton 4,168 39.04% 6,484 60.73% 16 0.15% 9 0.08% -2,316 -21.69% 10,677
Carver 6,226 72.49% 2,334 27.17% 14 0.16% 15 0.17% 3,892 45.31% 8,589
Cass 4,007 59.23% 2,748 40.62% 4 0.06% 6 0.09% 1,259 18.61% 6,765
Chippewa 3,623 51.32% 3,434 48.64% 3 0.04% 0 0.00% 189 2.68% 7,060
Chisago 3,413 55.47% 2,731 44.38% 4 0.07% 5 0.08% 682 11.08% 6,153
Clay 6,783 52.77% 6,057 47.12% 8 0.06% 7 0.05% 726 5.65% 12,855
Clearwater 1,464 40.11% 2,171 59.48% 6 0.16% 9 0.25% -707 -19.37% 3,650
Cook 1,078 61.67% 668 38.22% 1 0.06% 1 0.06% 410 23.46% 1,748
Cottonwood 4,619 66.29% 2,344 33.64% 4 0.06% 1 0.01% 2,275 32.65% 6,968
Crow Wing 6,657 54.37% 5,556 45.38% 15 0.12% 15 0.12% 1,101 8.99% 12,243
Dakota 13,112 50.74% 12,672 49.04% 35 0.14% 20 0.08% 440 1.70% 25,839
Dodge 3,205 63.78% 1,814 36.10% 4 0.08% 2 0.04% 1,391 27.68% 5,025
Douglas 5,114 54.87% 4,194 45.00% 7 0.08% 5 0.05% 920 9.87% 9,320
Faribault 6,886 65.80% 3,554 33.96% 22 0.21% 3 0.03% 3,332 31.84% 10,465
Fillmore 7,004 67.09% 3,427 32.83% 5 0.05% 4 0.04% 3,577 34.26% 10,440
Freeborn 7,632 51.63% 7,138 48.29% 7 0.05% 4 0.03% 494 3.34% 14,781
Goodhue 9,365 65.25% 4,969 34.62% 12 0.08% 7 0.05% 4,396 30.63% 14,353
Grant 2,064 49.41% 2,107 50.44% 5 0.12% 1 0.02% -43 -1.03% 4,177
Hennepin 183,248 55.01% 149,341 44.83% 266 0.08% 257 0.08% 33,907 10.18% 333,112
Houston 4,538 67.93% 2,133 31.93% 6 0.09% 3 0.04% 2,405 36.00% 6,680
Hubbard 2,453 62.69% 1,454 37.16% 2 0.05% 4 0.10% 999 25.53% 3,913
Isanti 2,348 47.35% 2,605 52.53% 2 0.04% 4 0.08% -257 -5.18% 4,959
Itasca 6,408 42.22% 8,737 57.56% 12 0.08% 21 0.14% -2,329 -15.34% 15,178
Jackson 3,543 52.23% 3,232 47.64% 7 0.10% 2 0.03% 311 4.58% 6,784
Kanabec 1,950 52.80% 1,736 47.01% 3 0.08% 4 0.11% 214 5.79% 3,693
Kandiyohi 5,445 44.25% 6,834 55.54% 14 0.11% 12 0.10% -1,389 -11.29% 12,305
Kittson 1,569 41.31% 2,222 58.50% 3 0.08% 4 0.11% -653 -17.19% 3,798
Koochiching 2,757 42.65% 3,695 57.15% 6 0.09% 7 0.11% -938 -14.51% 6,465
Lac qui Parle 3,276 53.63% 2,826 46.27% 4 0.07% 2 0.03% 450 7.37% 6,108
Lake 2,055 39.96% 3,079 59.87% 6 0.12% 3 0.06% -1,024 -19.91% 5,143
Lake of the Woods 723 40.69% 1,048 58.98% 3 0.17% 3 0.17% -325 -18.29% 1,777
Le Sueur 5,026 58.45% 3,556 41.35% 11 0.13% 6 0.07% 1,470 17.10% 8,599
Lincoln 2,060 46.92% 2,316 52.76% 10 0.23% 4 0.09% -256 -5.83% 4,390
Lyon 5,188 55.27% 4,190 44.64% 2 0.02% 6 0.06% 998 10.63% 9,386
Mahnomen 875 36.58% 1,513 63.25% 2 0.08% 2 0.08% -638 -26.67% 2,392
Marshall 2,519 41.93% 3,478 57.90% 8 0.13% 2 0.03% -959 -15.96% 6,007
Martin 8,152 71.16% 3,289 28.71% 9 0.08% 6 0.05% 4,863 42.45% 11,456
McLeod 6,743 68.61% 3,068 31.22% 13 0.13% 4 0.04% 3,675 37.39% 9,828
Meeker 4,738 58.52% 3,348 41.35% 7 0.09% 4 0.05% 1,390 17.17% 8,097
Mille Lacs 3,315 55.80% 2,619 44.08% 3 0.05% 4 0.07% 696 11.72% 5,941
Morrison 5,042 51.84% 4,653 47.84% 17 0.17% 15 0.15% 389 4.00% 9,727
Mower 9,570 50.66% 9,219 48.80% 87 0.46% 14 0.07% 351 1.86% 18,890
Murray 3,261 54.61% 2,695 45.13% 6 0.10% 9 0.15% 566 9.48% 5,971
Nicollet 5,322 66.81% 2,636 33.09% 4 0.05% 4 0.05% 2,686 33.72% 7,966
Nobles 5,196 56.23% 4,036 43.67% 7 0.08% 2 0.02% 1,160 12.55% 9,241
Norman 2,338 46.01% 2,740 53.93% 2 0.04% 1 0.02% -402 -7.91% 5,081
Olmsted 13,789 65.62% 7,172 34.13% 38 0.18% 13 0.06% 6,617 31.49% 21,012
Otter Tail 12,764 65.88% 6,571 33.91% 21 0.11% 19 0.10% 6,193 31.96% 19,375
Pennington 2,408 44.93% 2,947 54.99% 2 0.04% 2 0.04% -539 -10.06% 5,359
Pine 3,204 45.50% 3,829 54.38% 4 0.06% 4 0.06% -625 -8.88% 7,041
Pipestone 3,362 60.76% 2,165 39.13% 3 0.05% 3 0.05% 1,197 21.63% 5,533
Polk 6,847 46.10% 7,980 53.73% 14 0.09% 12 0.08% -1,133 -7.63% 14,853
Pope 2,725 51.33% 2,577 48.54% 6 0.11% 1 0.02% 148 2.79% 5,309
Ramsey 80,701 47.74% 87,784 51.93% 377 0.22% 177 0.10% -7,083 -4.19% 169,039
Red Lake 782 33.35% 1,555 66.31% 7 0.30% 1 0.04% -773 -32.96% 2,345
Redwood 5,956 66.13% 3,039 33.74% 5 0.06% 6 0.07% 2,917 32.39% 9,006
Renville 5,728 57.52% 4,213 42.31% 7 0.07% 10 0.10% 1,515 15.21% 9,958
Rice 8,471 65.24% 4,489 34.57% 14 0.11% 10 0.08% 3,982 30.67% 12,984
Rock 3,267 67.19% 1,591 32.72% 2 0.04% 2 0.04% 1,676 34.47% 4,862
Roseau 1,901 38.23% 3,062 61.57% 1 0.02% 9 0.18% -1,161 -23.35% 4,973
Saint Louis 39,902 38.84% 62,190 60.54% 529 0.51% 102 0.10% -22,288 -21.70% 102,723
Scott 4,148 54.59% 3,431 45.16% 11 0.14% 8 0.11% 717 9.44% 7,598
Sherburne 2,681 59.75% 1,796 40.03% 7 0.16% 3 0.07% 885 19.72% 4,487
Sibley 4,737 69.23% 2,099 30.68% 3 0.04% 3 0.04% 2,638 38.56% 6,842
Stearns 17,364 63.70% 9,829 36.06% 36 0.13% 28 0.10% 7,535 27.64% 27,257
Steele 6,435 65.91% 3,293 33.73% 30 0.31% 6 0.06% 3,142 32.18% 9,764
Stevens 2,606 58.83% 1,822 41.13% 2 0.05% 0 0.00% 784 17.70% 4,430
Swift 2,637 41.43% 3,720 58.44% 6 0.09% 2 0.03% -1,083 -17.01% 6,365
Todd 5,075 56.51% 3,882 43.22% 16 0.18% 8 0.09% 1,193 13.28% 8,981
Traverse 1,467 45.87% 1,724 53.91% 4 0.13% 3 0.09% -257 -8.04% 3,198
Wabasha 4,728 66.89% 2,301 32.56% 32 0.45% 7 0.10% 2,427 34.34% 7,068
Wadena 3,028 63.52% 1,733 36.35% 3 0.06% 3 0.06% 1,295 27.17% 4,767
Waseca 4,663 67.69% 2,215 32.15% 9 0.13% 2 0.03% 2,448 35.53% 6,889
Washington 9,562 56.06% 7,462 43.75% 21 0.12% 11 0.06% 2,100 12.31% 17,056
Watonwan 3,963 67.62% 1,886 32.18% 8 0.14% 4 0.07% 2,077 35.44% 5,861
Wilkin 2,335 55.36% 1,881 44.59% 2 0.05% 0 0.00% 454 10.76% 4,218
Winona 9,743 61.30% 6,048 38.05% 70 0.44% 32 0.20% 3,695 23.25% 15,893
Wright 7,257 59.42% 4,944 40.48% 5 0.04% 7 0.06% 2,313 18.94% 12,213
Yellow Medicine 3,594 51.21% 3,416 48.67% 7 0.10% 1 0.01% 178 2.54% 7,018
Totals719,30253.68%617,52546.08%2,0800.16%1,0980.08%101,7777.60%1,340,005

Notes

  1. 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.[2]

References

  1. "Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  2. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  3. "Coya's story". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  4. "1956 Presidential Election Results, 1956". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  5. Our Campaigns; MN US President Race, November 06, 1956
  6. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; pp. 238-239 ISBN 0405077114
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