1856 United States presidential election in Michigan

Main article: 1856 United States presidential election

The 1856 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 1856, as part of the 1856 United States presidential election. Voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1856 United States presidential election in Michigan

← 1852 November 4, 1856 1860 →

Nominee John C. Frémont James Buchanan Party Republican Democratic Home state California Pennsylvania Running mate William L. Dayton John C. Breckinridge Electoral vote 6 0 Popular vote 71,762 52,139 Percentage 57.15% 41.52%

County Results Frémont   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Buchanan   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Franklin Pierce Democratic Elected President James Buchanan Democratic

Michigan voted for the Republican candidate, John C. Frémont, over Democratic candidate, James Buchanan. Frémont won Michigan by a margin of 15.63%.

With 57.15% of the popular vote, Michigan proved to be Fremont's fifth strongest in the 1856 election after Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.^[1]

This marked the first of eighteen Republican victories in Michigan over the next nineteen presidential election cycles. Michigan would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, and it would not vote for a different candidate until Theodore Roosevelt's third-party bid in 1912. Michigan would also not send any Democratic electors to the Electoral College until Grover Cleveland won five of the state's 14 electoral votes in 1892. This is one of only four occasions since the founding of the Republican Party that Michigan and Pennsylvania have voted for different presidential candidates.^{[2][lower-alpha 1]}

Results

1856 United States presidential election in Michigan^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John C. Frémont	71,762	57.15%
	Democratic	James Buchanan	52,139	41.52%
	Know Nothing	Millard Fillmore	1,660	1.32%
Total votes			125,561	100%

See also

• United States presidential elections in Michigan

Notes

1. The other times were in 1932, 1940, and 1976.

References

1. "1856 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
2. Brownstein, Ronald (September 16, 2024). "Why these three states are the most consistent tipping point in American politics". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
3. "1856 Presidential General Election Results - Michigan". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
4. "1856 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. University of California Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 3, 2017.