The 1876 United States presidential election in California was held on November 7, 1876, as part of the 1876 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, over the Democratic nominee, New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden.

The 1876 election was the closest two-candidate contest in the history of the Electoral College, with Hayes ultimately winning by a single electoral vote following the controversial resolution of disputed returns in other states. Hayes thus needed all six of California's electoral votes to win. While most sources give Hayes' plurality in California as 2,798, at the time Californian voters chose presidential electors individually. In four subsequent presidential elections (1880, 1888, 1896 and 1912), the overall results were sufficiently close that the state split its electoral ticket between two candidates. If this had occurred in 1876, Tilden would have been elected president.

Results + General Election ResultsStatement of the vote polled in the several counties of the State of California, for Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, at the General Election held on Tuesday, November 7th AD 1876Party Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes John B. Felton78,614 Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes John H. Jewett78,610 Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes Morris M. Estee78,609 Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes John F. Miller78,607 Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes H. J. Ostrander78,605 Republican Party Rutherford B. Hayes D. A. McKinley78,604 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden John S. Hager75,845 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden J. Campbell Shorb75,842 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden Stuart M. Taylor75,842 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden Frank Ganahl75,841 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden Barclay Henley75,839 Democratic Party Samuel J. Tilden Joseph H. Budd75,832 Greenback Party Peter Cooper Alfred Credge47 Greenback Party Peter Cooper John Condra47 Greenback Party Peter Cooper S. Harris Herring47 Greenback Party Peter Cooper B. K. Lowe47 Greenback Party Peter Cooper J. H. Redstone47Greenback PartyPeter CooperC. B. Smith47 Write-in Scattering19Votes cast 154,544

Results by county County Rutherford B. HayesRepublican Samuel J. TildenDemocratic Peter CooperGreenback Scattering Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # %Alameda4,93859.52%3,34740.34%120.14%00.00%1,59119.18%8,297Alpine11062.86%6537.14%00.00%00.00%4525.71%175Amador1,17247.13%1,31552.87%00.00%00.00%−143−5.75%2,487Butte1,66550.47%1,63449.53%00.00%00.00%310.94%3,299Calaveras88648.63%93651.37%00.00%00.00%−50−2.74%1,822Colusa76634.29%1,46865.71%00.00%00.00%−702−31.42%2,234Contra Costa1,18458.58%83741.42%00.00%00.00%34717.17%2,021Del Norte18644.93%22855.07%00.00%00.00%−42−10.14%414El Dorado1,33148.02%1,44151.98%00.00%00.00%−110−3.97%2,772Fresno33825.88%96874.12%00.00%00.00%−630−48.24%1,306Humboldt1,63759.20%112740.76%10.04%00.00%51018.44%2,765Inyo34347.77%37552.23%00.00%00.00%−32−4.46%718Kern55639.71%84460.29%00.00%00.00%−288−20.57%1,400Lake38035.02%70264.70%00.00%30.28%−322−29.68%1,085Lassen25653.00%22747.00%00.00%00.00%296.00%483Los Angeles3,04145.59%3,61554.20%140.21%00.00%−574−8.61%6,670Marin65151.26%61948.74%00.00%00.00%322.52%1,270Mariposa36439.65%55460.35%00.00%00.00%−190−20.70%918Mendocino92942.00%1,28358.00%00.00%00.00%−354−16.00%2,212Merced55840.97%80459.03%00.00%00.00%−246−18.06%1,362Modoc20839.25%32260.75%00.00%00.00%−114−21.51%530Mono15355.04%12544.96%00.00%00.00%2810.07%278Monterey1,18253.80%1,01246.06%00.00%30.14%1707.74%2,197Napa1,15354.49%96345.51%00.00%00.00%1908.98%2,116Nevada2,30054.70%1,90545.30%00.00%00.00%3959.39%4,205Placer1,61055.75%1,27844.25%00.00%00.00%33211.50%2,888Plumas58353.73%50246.27%00.00%00.00%817.47%1,085Sacramento3,83860.71%2,48439.29%00.00%00.00%1,35421.42%6,322San Benito43439.45%66460.36%00.00%20.18%−230−20.91%1,100San Bernardino67451.85%60746.69%191.46%00.00%675.15%1,300San Diego79454.31%66845.69%00.00%00.00%1268.62%1,462San Francisco21,17250.93%20,39949.07%00.00%10.00%7731.86%41,572San Joaquin2,27055.10%1,85044.90%00.00%00.00%42010.19%4,120San Luis Obispo77244.99%94455.01%00.00%00.00%−172−10.02%1,716San Mateo87155.58%69644.42%00.00%00.00%17511.17%1,567Santa Barbara1,17461.15%74338.72%00.00%20.10%43122.46%1,919Santa Clara3,33552.09%3,06547.88%10.02%10.02%2704.22%6,402Santa Cruz1,53757.59%1,13242.41%00.00%00.00%40515.17%2,669Shasta62549.37%64150.63%00.00%00.00%−16−1.26%1,226Sierra91764.31%50935.69%00.00%00.00%40828.61%1,426Siskiyou71845.47%86154.53%00.00%00.00%−143−9.06%1,579Solano1,95152.67%1,75347.33%00.00%00.00%1985.35%3,704Sonoma2,43245.50%2,90754.39%00.00%60.11%−475−8.89%5,345Stanislaus80142.20%1,09757.80%00.00%00.00%−296−15.60%1,898Sutter55049.82%55350.09%00.00%10.09%−3−0.27%1,104Tehama64648.94%67451.06%00.00%00.00%−28−2.12%1,320Trinity38848.74%40851.26%00.00%00.00%−20−2.51%796Tulare98641.85%1,37058.15%00.00%00.00%−384−16.30%2,356Tuolumne80946.90%91653.10%00.00%00.00%−107−6.20%1,725Ventura60850.71%59149.29%00.00%00.00%171.42%1,199Yolo1,23347.55%1,36052.45%00.00%00.00%−127−4.90%2,593Yuba1,25053.74%1,07646.26%00.00%00.00%1747.48%2,326Total 78,61450.87%75,84549.08%470.03%190.01%2,7691.79%154,544

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Amador Calaveras Del Norte El Dorado Inyo Los Angeles Mariposa San Benito San Luis Obispo Siskiyou Sonoma Sutter Tehama Trinity Tuolumne Yolo

Counties that flipped from Liberal Republican to Democratic

Colusa Fresno Kern Lake Mendocino Merced Shasta Stanislaus Tulare

See also United States presidential elections in California

Notes

References