1956 United States presidential election in Maine

1956 United States presidential election in Maine

← 1952 November 6, 1956 1960 →
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania[a][1] Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 5 0
Popular vote 249,238 102,468
Percentage 70.87% 29.13%

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


President before election

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

The 1956 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Maine overwhelmingly voted for the Republican nominee, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania, over the Democratic nominee, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. Eisenhower ran with incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California, while Stevenson's running mate was Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.

Eisenhower won Maine by a landslide margin of 41.74%. Although Maine was almost completely dominated by the Republican Party between 1856 and 1960 (apart from 1912 where the Republican vote was split), Eisenhower's performance is nonetheless the second-best by any presidential candidate in Maine, behind only Yankee Calvin Coolidge in 1924, who won a 1.16% higher share of the popular vote.[2] He carried every county in Maine, and won thirteen of sixteen with over seventy percent of the vote. This election would prove the last of a century of GOP dominance in the Yankee Northeast: over the following two elections, the Republican share would decline 39% in Maine as the party moved its target support base from the declining Northeast to the "Sun Belt" of the lower-tax South and Desert Southwest.[3]

With 70.87% of the popular vote, Maine would prove to be Eisenhower's second strongest state after nearby Vermont.[4]


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  1. ^ "The Presidents". David Leip. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Eisenhower's home state for the 1956 Election was Pennsylvania
  2. ^ "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Maine".
  3. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority; pp. 17, 507 ISBN 1400852293
  4. ^ "1956 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.