1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey

The 1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 6, 1956. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1956 United States presidential election. Voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey

November 6, 1956
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[lower-alpha 1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 16 0
Popular vote 1,606,942 850,337
Percentage 64.68% 34.23%

County Results
Eisenhower
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%


President before election

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

New Jersey was won overwhelmingly by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania and his running mate incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California. Eisenhower and Nixon defeated the Democratic nominees, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois and his running mate Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.

Eisenhower carried New Jersey in a landslide with 64.68% of the vote to Stevenson’s 34.23%, a margin of 30.46%.[2]

Eisenhower’s decisive 1956 landslide represented a dramatic swing in the state in his favor. In his initial 1952 match against Stevenson, Eisenhower had also comfortably won New Jersey, but by a smaller margin, taking 56.81% of the vote to Stevenson’s 41.99%, a margin of 14.83%. Eisenhower’s 30.46% margin of victory in 1956 was thus more than double the margin by which he had won the state in 1952, marking a swing of over 15 points in Eisenhower's favor.

Eisenhower's landslide gains in the state were also evident on the county map. Whereas in 1952, Eisenhower had lost 3 counties to Stevenson, in 1956 Eisenhower decisively swept all 21 counties in the state of New Jersey, breaking 60% of the vote in all but 3, breaking 70% in 7, and even breaking 80% in rural Sussex County. In urban, Democratic-leaning Hudson County, which Stevenson had narrowly won with a plurality in 1952, Eisenhower won decisively with over 60% of the vote in 1956. Eisenhower also picked up victories in Mercer County and Camden County, both of which had given majorities to Stevenson in 1952. He was only the second presidential nominee to sweep all New Jersey’s counties after Warren G. Harding in 1920.[3]

Eisenhower had first won election to the White House in 1952 as a war hero, a political outsider, and a moderate Republican who pledged to protect and support popular New Deal Democratic policies, finally ending 20 years of Democratic control of the White House. Once in office, Eisenhower governed as a moderate progressive, approving infrastructure spending projects like the Interstate Highway System and supporting high tax rates on the rich, as well as taking a progressive stand on issues related to the Civil Rights Movement. Thus Eisenhower was able to win over many more normally Democratic-leaning liberal and moderate voters in the Northeast than he already had in 1952, and thus every Northeastern state swung in his favor in 1956, including New Jersey.

New Jersey in this era was usually a swing state with a slight Republican lean. However, Eisenhower’s overwhelming personal popularity in the Northeast in 1956 led him to perform unusually strongly in New Jersey. The state usually voted very similarly to the nation as a whole, with a slight Republican tilt, as in 1952 when its results had been just 4% more Republican than the national average. Nevertheless, in 1956 the state swung especially hard in Eisenhower’s favor. Even as Eisenhower won a slightly more convincing victory nationwide than he had in 1952, New Jersey swung much more than the nation, and its result in the 1956 election made the state more than 15% more Republican than the national average, making it the sixth most Republican state in the union.

Results

1956 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower 1,606,942 64.68% 16
Democratic Adlai Stevenson 850,337 34.23% 0
Prohibition Enoch A. Holtwick 9,147 0.37% 0
Socialist Labor Eric Hass 6,736 0.27% 0
Conservative T. Coleman Andrews 5,317 0.21% 0
Socialist Workers Farrell Dobbs 4,004 0.16% 0
American Third Party Henry B. Krajewski 1,829 0.07% 0
Totals 2,484,312 100.0% 16

Results by county

County Dwight David Eisenhower
Republican
Adlai Stevenson II
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast[4]
# % # % # % # %
Atlantic 44,698 65.70% 21,668 31.85% 1,672 2.46% 23,030 33.85% 68,038
Bergen 254,334 75.22% 82,169 24.30% 1,610 0.48% 172,165 50.92% 338,113
Burlington 38,145 61.06% 24,258 38.83% 68 0.11% 13,887 22.23% 62,471
Camden 85,067 52.85% 75,152 46.69% 734 0.46% 9,915 6.16% 160,953
Cape May 16,887 74.02% 5,897 25.85% 31 0.14% 10,990 48.17% 22,815
Cumberland 24,067 58.07% 17,309 41.76% 68 0.16% 6,758 16.31% 41,444
Essex 234,682 60.45% 146,313 37.68% 7,258 1.87% 88,369 22.76% 388,253
Gloucester 30,646 60.41% 20,007 39.44% 75 0.15% 10,639 20.97% 50,728
Hudson 183,919 61.80% 107,098 35.99% 6,568 2.21% 76,821 25.81% 297,585
Hunterdon 16,150 72.77% 5,957 26.84% 86 0.39% 10,193 45.93% 22,193
Mercer 56,029 51.35% 52,684 48.29% 392 0.36% 3,345 3.07% 109,105
Middlesex 100,071 60.54% 64,538 39.05% 677 0.41% 35,533 21.50% 165,286
Monmouth 83,828 71.80% 32,329 27.69% 594 0.51% 51,499 44.11% 116,751
Morris 76,571 79.37% 19,503 20.22% 395 0.41% 57,068 59.16% 96,469
Ocean 28,033 74.80% 9,367 24.99% 79 0.21% 18,666 49.80% 37,479
Passaic 101,182 60.71% 61,859 37.11% 3,635 2.18% 39,323 23.59% 166,676
Salem 14,091 60.16% 9,276 39.60% 56 0.24% 4,815 20.56% 23,423
Somerset 37,930 71.85% 14,529 27.52% 330 0.63% 23,401 44.33% 52,789
Sussex 15,867 80.67% 3,756 19.10% 46 0.23% 12,111 61.57% 19,669
Union 146,228 67.57% 67,540 31.21% 2,646 1.22% 78,688 36.36% 216,414
Warren 18,517 66.95% 9,128 33.00% 13 0.05% 9,389 33.95% 27,658
Totals1,606,94264.68%850,33734.23%27,0331.09%756,60530.46%2,484,312

See also

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.[1]

References

  1. "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  2. "1956 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  3. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 439-440 ISBN 0313257957
  4. Scammon, Richard M. (compiler); America at the Polls: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics 1920-1964; p. 301 ISBN 0405077114
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