The 1860 United States presidential election in California took place on November 6, 1860, as part of the 1860 United States presidential election. State voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, former Illinois representative Abraham Lincoln. He defeated the Democratic nominee, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the Southern Democratic nominee, Vice President John C. Breckinridge and the Constitutional Union nominee John Bell. Lincoln won the state by a narrow margin of 0.61%, or 734 votes. California would be Lincoln's worst-performing state that he still carried.
After this election, Humboldt County would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until 1932. This was also the last time a Democratic candidate would carry Placer County and Plumas County until 1916, nor would any Democratic candidate carry Napa County, San Mateo County, and Solano County again until 1912.
Results + General Election ResultsStatement of votes polled at a General Election Held in the State of California, on the Sixth day of November, A.D. 1860Party Pledged to Elector Votes Republican Party Abraham Lincoln Charles A. Tuttle38,734 Republican Party Abraham Lincoln Charles Washburn38,733 Republican Party Abraham Lincoln W. H. Weeks38,720 Republican Party Abraham Lincoln Antonio M. Pico38,699 Democratic Party Stephen A. Douglas Humphrey Griffith38,023 Democratic Party Stephen A. Douglas R. P. Hammond37,999 Democratic Party Stephen A. Douglas George F. Price37,959 Democratic Party Stephen A. Douglas Pablo de la Guerra37,957 Southern Democratic John C. Breckinridge Allen P. Dudley33,975 Southern Democratic John C. Breckinridge Vincent E. Geiger33,970 Southern Democratic John C. Breckinridge Zach Montgomery33,970 Southern Democratic John C. Breckinridge Antonio T. Coronel33,969 Constitutional Union John Bell Phineas L. Miner9,136 Constitutional Union John Bell J. B. Crockett9,111 Constitutional Union John Bell G. W. Bowie9,110 Constitutional Union John Bell James H. Lander9,098 Write-in Scattering17Votes cast 119,885
Results by county +CountyAbraham LincolnRepublicanStephen A. DouglasDemocraticJohn C. BreckinridgeSouthern DemocraticJohn BellConstitutional UnionScatteringWrite-inMarginTotal Votes Cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda1,03349.40%51324.53%48123.00%622.97%20.10%52024.87%2,091Amador99524.97%1,86646.84%94523.72%1784.47%00.00%-871-21.86%3,984Butte1,43732.38%1,50233.84%1,17326.43%3267.35%00.00%-65-1.46%4,438Calaveras97820.30%1,88339.08%1,71735.64%2404.98%00.00%-166-3.45%4,818Colusa25827.10%23524.68%38640.55%737.67%00.00%-128-13.45%952Contra Costa60839.33%41326.71%39125.29%1348.67%00.00%19512.61%1,546Del Norte17533.72%8816.96%21741.81%397.51%00.00%-42-8.09%519El Dorado2,11930.06%2,69538.23%1,90126.96%3344.74%10.01%-576-8.17%7,050Fresno5311.30%224.69%27157.78%12326.23%00.00%-148-31.56%469Humboldt33532.49%44443.06%23222.50%201.94%00.00%-109-10.57%1,031Klamath9213.77%37756.44%16324.40%365.39%00.00%-214-32.04%668Los Angeles35220.51%47527.68%68840.09%20111.71%00.00%-213-12.41%1,716Marin40840.28%28227.84%28528.13%383.75%00.00%12312.14%1,013Mariposa26213.90%48925.94%81543.24%31916.92%00.00%-326-17.29%1,885Mendocino19818.70%23522.19%49947.12%11610.95%111.04%-264-24.93%1,059Merced4210.74%5213.30%23359.59%6416.37%00.00%-169-43.22%391Monterey30638.64%23329.42%24631.06%40.51%30.38%607.58%792Napa44124.79%51829.12%67938.17%1417.93%00.00%-161-9.05%1,779Nevada2,53936.45%2,37334.07%1,65323.73%4005.74%00.00%1662.38%6,965Placer1,74329.93%1,85831.90%1,44824.86%77513.31%00.00%-115-1.97%5,824Plumas45828.18%50330.95%45327.88%21112.98%00.00%-45-2.77%1,625Sacramento2,67035.40%2,83637.60%1,68422.33%3524.67%00.00%-166-2.20%7,542San Bernardino30537.24%22427.35%19223.44%9811.97%00.00%819.89%819San Diego8130.45%2910.90%14855.64%83.01%00.00%-67-25.19%266San Francisco6,82547.53%4,03528.10%2,56017.83%9406.55%00.00%2,79019.43%14,360San Joaquin1,13132.92%73321.33%1,37339.96%1995.79%00.00%-242-7.04%3,436San Luis Obispo14834.99%12028.37%15536.64%00.00%00.00%-7-1.65%423San Mateo38935.27%54349.23%13011.79%413.72%00.00%-154-13.96%1,103Santa Barbara469.70%30564.35%12325.95%00.00%00.00%-182-38.40%474Santa Clara1,46346.05%88127.73%72222.73%1113.49%00.00%58218.32%3,177Santa Cruz67047.72%28620.37%31922.72%1299.19%00.00%35125.00%1,404Shasta46419.37%1,09445.68%58524.43%25210.52%00.00%-509-21.25%2,395Sierra1,46830.95%1,53932.45%1,34728.40%3898.20%00.00%-71-1.50%4,743Siskiyou95525.58%1,50340.25%76020.35%51613.82%00.00%-548-14.68%3,734Solano68129.33%60325.97%74632.13%29212.58%00.00%-65-2.80%2,322Sonoma1,23632.85%61116.24%1,46738.98%44911.93%00.00%-231-6.14%3,763Stanislaus16718.58%23225.81%43348.16%677.45%00.00%-201-22.36%899Sutter40330.44%44133.31%44033.23%403.02%00.00%-1-0.08%1,324Tehama24318.65%49638.07%31123.87%25319.42%00.00%-185-14.20%1,303Trinity59327.62%88541.22%51624.03%1537.13%00.00%-292-13.60%2,147Tulare1319.89%21115.94%57443.35%40830.82%00.00%-166-12.54%1,324Tuolumne1,63329.47%1,50327.12%2,03436.70%3726.71%00.00%-401-7.24%5,542Yolo53531.25%49729.03%60635.40%744.32%00.00%-71-4.15%1,712Yuba1,66532.92%1,36026.89%1,87437.05%1593.14%00.00%-209-4.13%5,058Total38,73432.31%38,02331.72%33,97528.34%9,1367.62%170.01%7110.59%119,885
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Alameda Contra Costa Marin Monterey Nevada San Bernardino San Francisco Santa Cruz
Counties that flipped from Know Nothing to Democratic Colusa Yolo
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara
See also United States presidential elections in California
Notes
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