1852  1856 Presidential Election Returns  1860

The Whig Party had largely disintegrated in 1856. The Democratic Party chose to nominate U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom James Buchanan, bypassing the renomination of President Franklin Pierce. This is because Pierce was largely unpopular with the American people and he did not want to be re-elected. Democrats supported the idea that states should choose slavery for themselves, although Buchanan personally opposed it. Two parties were competing to become the primary opposition to the Democratic Party. The new Republican Party, which strongly opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories, decided to nominate former California Senator John C. Fremont. Fremont had mapped much of the west himself. Republicans opposed slavery and believed that it deserved to be ended and not to end it would lead to Civil War. Democrats claimed that Republicans were too radical. The American (or Know-Nothing) Party did not regard the issue of slavery and focused on anti-immigration and anti-Catholic politics. Former President Millard Fillmore was nominated to serve as the American Party candidate. In the end, the competition between former Whig supporters allowed James Buchanan to win a comfortable victory. UNITED STATES VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 1,835,140 45 174 Fremont/Dayton 1,342,345 33 114 Fillmore/Donelson 873,053 22 8 All Other Candidates 3,177 0 0 ALABAMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 46,739 62 9 Fillmore/Donelson 28,552 38 0 ARKANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 21,910 67 4 Fillmore/Donelson 10,732 33 0 CALIFORNIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 20,704 19 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 53,342 48 4 Fillmore/Donelson 36,195 33 0 CONNECTICUT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 42,717 53 6 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 34,997 44 0 Fillmore/Donelson 2,615 3 0 DELAWARE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 310 2 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 8,004 55 3 Fillmore/Donelson 6,275 43 0 FLORIDA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 6,358 57 3 Fillmore/Donelson 4,833 43 0 GEORGIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 56,581 57 10 Fillmore/Donelson 42,439 43 0 ILLINOIS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 96,275 40 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 105,528 44 11 Fillmore/Donelson 37,531 16 0 INDIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 94,375 40 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 118,670 50 13 Fillmore/Donelson 22,386 10 0 IOWA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 45,073 49 4 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 37,568 41 0 Fillmore/Donelson 9,669 10 0 KENTUCKY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 74,642 53 12 Fillmore/Donelson 67,416 47 0 LOUISIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 22,164 52 6 Fillmore/Donelson 20,709 48 0 MAINE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 67,279 61 8 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 39,140 36 0 Fillmore/Donelson 3,270 3 0 MARYLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 285 0 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 39,123 45 0 Fillmore/Donelson 47,452 55 8 MASSACHUSETTS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 108,172 64 13 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 39,244 23 0 Fillmore/Donelson 19,626 12 0 MICHIGAN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 71,762 57 6 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 52,139 42 0 Fillmore/Donelson 1,660 1 0 MISSISSIPPI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 35,456 59 7 Fillmore/Donelson 24,191 41 0 MISSOURI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 57,964 54 9 Fillmore/Donelson 48,522 46 0 NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 37,473 54 5 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 31,891 46 0 Fillmore/Donelson 410 1 0 NEW JERSEY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 28,338 29 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 46,943 47 7 Fillmore/Donelson 24,115 24 0 NEW YORK VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 276,004 46 35 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 195,878 33 0 Fillmore/Donelson 124,604 21 0 NORTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 48,243 57 10 Fillmore/Donelson 36,720 43 0 OHIO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 187,497 49 23 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 170,874 44 0 Fillmore/Donelson 28,126 7 0 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 147,286 32 0 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 230,686 50 27 Fillmore/Donelson 82,189 18 0 RHODE ISLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 11,467 58 4 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 6,680 34 0 Fillmore/Donelson 1,675 8 0 SOUTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + No Popular Vote -- 8 TENNESSEE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 69,704 52 12 Fillmore/Donelson 63,878 48 0 TEXAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 31,169 67 4 Fillmore/Donelson 15,639 33 0 VERMONT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 39,561 78 5 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 10,577 21 0 Fillmore/Donelson 545 1 0 VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Buchanan/Breckinridge + 90,083 60 15 Fillmore/Donelson 60,150 40 0 WISCONSIN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Fremont/Dayton 66,090 55 5 Buchanan/Breckinridge + 52,843 44 0 Fillmore/Donelson 579 0 0 SYMBOLS KEY Republican Democrat Other Winner American (Know Nothing) * Incumbent + Incumbent Party