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. 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.Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority; pp. 17, 507
With 70.87% of the popular vote, Maine would prove to be Eisenhower's second strongest state after nearby Vermont. Eisenhower's winning margin of over 146,000 votes is the largest in history for a presidential candidate in Maine.
Results
Results by county CountyDwight D. EisenhowerRepublicanAdlai StevensonDemocraticMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % Androscoggin 20,385 56.27% 15,842 43.73% 4,543 12.54% 36,227 Aroostook 16,001 72.44% 6,089 27.56% 9,912 44.88% 22,090 Cumberland 49,696 71.88% 19,438 28.12% 30,258 43.76% 69,134 Franklin 6,307 78.97% 1,680 21.03% 4,627 57.94% 7,987 Hancock 11,316 86.91% 1,704 13.09% 9,612 73.82% 13,020 Kennebec 23,028 66.73% 11,483 33.27% 11,545 33.46% 34,511 Knox 8,866 81.32% 2,037 18.68% 6,829 62.64% 10,903 Lincoln 7,191 86.07% 1,164 13.93% 6,027 72.14% 8,355 Oxford 12,607 73.04% 4,653 26.96% 7,954 46.08% 17,260 Penobscot 27,806 76.44% 8,568 23.56% 19,238 52.88% 36,374 Piscataquis 5,336 77.59% 1,541 22.41% 3,795 55.18% 6,877 Sagadahoc 6,201 72.94% 2,301 27.06% 3,900 45.88% 8,502 Somerset 10,471 71.77% 4,119 28.23% 6,352 43.54% 14,590 Waldo 6,590 82.64% 1,384 17.36% 5,206 65.28% 7,974 Washington 8,181 76.20% 2,555 23.80% 5,626 52.40% 10,736 York 29,256 62.03% 17,910 37.97% 11,346 24.06% 47,166Totals249,23870.87%102,46829.13%146,77041.74%351,706
See also United States presidential elections in Maine
Notes
References