The 1856 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4, 1856, as part of the 1856 United States presidential election. Voters chose 35 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
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| Turnout | 89.9%[1]  5.2 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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New York was won by California Senator John C. Frémont (R–California), running with former Senator William L. Dayton (New Jersey), with 46.27 percent of the popular vote, against Senator James Buchanan (D–Pennsylvania), running with Representative and future presidential candidate in the 1860 presidential election John C. Breckinridge, with 32.84 percent of the popular vote and the 13th president of the United States Millard Fillmore (American[a]–New York), running with the 2nd U.S. Ambassador to Germany Andrew Jackson Donelson, with 20.89 percent of the popular vote.[2]
James Buchanan went on to win the presidential election but this election would end the Democratic Party's support from New York which they won five out of seven times since 1828. A Democrat would not win New York until Horatio Seymour's narrow victory in 1868. Frémont, the first presidential nominee of the newly formed Republican Party, would be the first of just three Republicans ever to carry the state without winning the presidency, the other two being Charles Evans Hughes in 1916 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 (both New Yorkers).
It was also the first time since voting for DeWitt Clinton in 1812 that New York backed a losing presidential candidate. This remains the only presidential election in history where New York voted Republican while neighboring Pennsylvania voted Democratic. Although New York would vote more Republican than Pennsylvania in the Republican landslides of 1952, 1956, and 1984.
Results
| 1856 United States presidential election in New York[3] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Republican | John C. Frémont of California | William L. Dayton of New Jersey | 276,004 | 46.27% | 35 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic | James Buchanan of Pennsylvania | John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky | 195,878 | 32.84% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Know Nothing | Millard Fillmore of New York | Andrew Jackson Donelson of Tennessee | 124,604 | 20.89% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | 596,486 | 100.00% | 35 | 100.00% | ||||
Results by county
| County | John Charles Frémont Republican | James Buchanan Democratic | Millard Fillmore American | Margin | Total votes cast[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Albany | 5,016 | 27.76% | 7,751 | 42.90% | 5,300 | 29.34% | 2,451[b] | 13.57% | 18,067 |
| Allegany | 6,545 | 72.39% | 1,640 | 18.14% | 856 | 9.47% | 4,905 | 54.25% | 9,041 |
| Broome | 4,297 | 59.73% | 2,106 | 29.27% | 791 | 11.00% | 2,191 | 30.46% | 7,194 |
| Cattaraugus | 5,166 | 65.25% | 1,773 | 22.39% | 978 | 12.35% | 3,393 | 42.86% | 7,917 |
| Cayuga | 7,035 | 65.28% | 1,818 | 16.87% | 1,923 | 17.85% | 5,112[c] | 47.43% | 10,776 |
| Chautauqua | 7,037 | 64.55% | 1,847 | 16.94% | 2,017 | 18.50% | 5,020[c] | 46.05% | 10,901 |
| Chemung | 2,664 | 51.04% | 1,789 | 34.28% | 766 | 14.68% | 875 | 16.76% | 5,219 |
| Chenango | 5,458 | 61.09% | 2,406 | 26.93% | 1,070 | 11.98% | 3,052 | 34.16% | 8,934 |
| Clinton | 2,659 | 43.56% | 2,134 | 34.96% | 1,311 | 21.48% | 525 | 8.60% | 6,104 |
| Columbia | 3,818 | 43.29% | 3,020 | 34.24% | 1,981 | 22.46% | 798 | 9.05% | 8,819 |
| Cortland | 3,596 | 66.53% | 1,181 | 21.85% | 628 | 11.62% | 2,415 | 44.68% | 5,405 |
| Delaware | 4,367 | 51.48% | 2,107 | 24.84% | 2,009 | 23.68% | 2,260 | 26.64% | 8,483 |
| Dutchess | 5,512 | 47.67% | 4,039 | 34.93% | 2,013 | 17.41% | 1,473 | 12.74% | 11,564 |
| Erie | 6,902 | 34.58% | 7,536 | 37.76% | 5,520 | 27.66% | -634 | -3.18% | 19,958 |
| Essex | 2,904 | 57.70% | 1,173 | 23.31% | 956 | 18.99% | 1,731 | 34.39% | 5,033 |
| Franklin | 1,469 | 34.86% | 1,600 | 37.97% | 1,145 | 27.17% | -131 | -3.11% | 4,214 |
| Fulton | 2,593 | 51.85% | 1,374 | 27.47% | 1,034 | 20.68% | 1,219 | 24.38% | 5,001 |
| Genesee | 3,620 | 58.82% | 1,434 | 23.30% | 1,100 | 17.87% | 2,186 | 35.52% | 6,154 |
| Greene | 2,164 | 35.81% | 2,346 | 38.82% | 1,533 | 25.37% | -182 | -3.01% | 6,043 |
| Hamilton | 149 | 28.88% | 250 | 48.45% | 117 | 22.67% | -101 | -19.57% | 516 |
| Herkimer | 5,074 | 63.79% | 1,650 | 20.74% | 1,230 | 15.46% | 3,424 | 43.05% | 7,954 |
| Jefferson | 8,249 | 64.43% | 3,496 | 27.31% | 1,058 | 8.26% | 4,753 | 37.12% | 12,803 |
| Kings | 7,846 | 25.58% | 14,174 | 46.22% | 8,647 | 28.20% | 5,527[b] | 18.02% | 30,667 |
| Lewis | 3,124 | 67.10% | 1,114 | 23.93% | 418 | 8.98% | 2,010 | 43.17% | 4,656 |
| Livingston | 3,597 | 49.76% | 1,652 | 22.86% | 1,979 | 27.38% | 1,618[c] | 22.38% | 7,228 |
| Madison | 6,312 | 69.84% | 1,861 | 20.59% | 865 | 9.57% | 4,451 | 49.25% | 9,038 |
| Monroe | 7,584 | 49.45% | 4,683 | 30.53% | 3,070 | 20.02% | 2,901 | 18.92% | 15,337 |
| Montgomery | 3,076 | 49.03% | 1,485 | 23.67% | 1,713 | 27.30% | 1,363[c] | 21.73% | 6,274 |
| New York | 17,771 | 22.32% | 41,913 | 52.65% | 19,922 | 25.03% | 21,991[b] | 27.62% | 79,606 |
| Niagara | 3,906 | 50.37% | 1,864 | 24.04% | 1,985 | 25.60% | 1,921[c] | 24.77% | 7,755 |
| Oneida | 11,174 | 58.32% | 6,386 | 33.33% | 1,601 | 8.36% | 4,788 | 24.99% | 19,161 |
| Onondaga | 10,071 | 62.86% | 4,227 | 26.38% | 1,724 | 10.76% | 5,844 | 36.48% | 16,022 |
| Ontario | 4,551 | 54.29% | 1,642 | 19.59% | 2,189 | 26.12% | 2,362[c] | 28.17% | 8,382 |
| Orange | 4,274 | 41.12% | 3,948 | 37.98% | 2,172 | 20.90% | 326 | 3.14% | 10,394 |
| Orleans | 3,088 | 55.62% | 1,052 | 18.95% | 1,412 | 25.43% | 1,676[c] | 30.19% | 5,552 |
| Oswego | 8,246 | 62.93% | 3,683 | 28.11% | 1,175 | 8.97% | 4,563 | 34.82% | 13,104 |
| Otsego | 6,373 | 56.92% | 3,595 | 32.11% | 1,229 | 10.98% | 2,778 | 24.81% | 11,197 |
| Putnam | 963 | 37.94% | 1,096 | 43.18% | 479 | 18.87% | -133 | -5.24% | 2,538 |
| Queens | 1,886 | 27.73% | 2,394 | 35.20% | 2,521 | 37.07% | -127[b] | -1.87% | 6,801 |
| Rensselaer | 5,153 | 36.50% | 4,415 | 31.28% | 4,548 | 32.22% | 605[c] | 4.28% | 14,116 |
| Richmond | 736 | 22.77% | 1,550 | 47.96% | 946 | 29.27% | 604[b] | 18.69% | 3,232 |
| Rockland | 668 | 21.34% | 1,526 | 48.74% | 937 | 29.93% | 589[b] | 18.81% | 3,131 |
| St. Lawrence | 9,698 | 74.71% | 1,950 | 15.02% | 1,332 | 10.26% | 7,748 | 59.69% | 12,980 |
| Saratoga | 4,524 | 47.37% | 2,446 | 25.61% | 2,581 | 27.02% | 1,943[c] | 20.35% | 9,551 |
| Schenectady | 1,714 | 46.15% | 787 | 21.19% | 1,213 | 32.66% | 501[c] | 13.49% | 3,714 |
| Schoharie | 2,376 | 34.72% | 2,837 | 41.46% | 1,630 | 23.82% | -461 | -6.74% | 6,843 |
| Schuyler | 2,542 | 63.81% | 981 | 24.62% | 461 | 11.57% | 1,561 | 39.19% | 3,984 |
| Seneca | 2,163 | 42.81% | 1,625 | 32.16% | 1,265 | 25.03% | 538 | 10.65% | 5,053 |
| Steuben | 7,270 | 58.06% | 3,217 | 25.69% | 2,034 | 16.24% | 4,053 | 32.37% | 12,521 |
| Suffolk | 2,393 | 37.29% | 2,045 | 31.86% | 1,980 | 30.85% | 348 | 5.43% | 6,418 |
| Sullivan | 1,690 | 31.83% | 1,583 | 29.81% | 2,037 | 38.36% | -347[c] | -6.53% | 5,310 |
| Tioga | 3,331 | 56.27% | 2,154 | 36.39% | 435 | 7.35% | 1,177 | 19.88% | 5,920 |
| Tompkins | 4,019 | 58.09% | 1,430 | 20.67% | 1,470 | 21.25% | 2,549[c] | 36.84% | 6,919 |
| Ulster | 2,932 | 25.14% | 4,030 | 34.55% | 4,703 | 40.32% | -673[b] | -5.77% | 11,665 |
| Warren | 2,202 | 55.85% | 1,006 | 25.51% | 735 | 18.64% | 1,196 | 30.34% | 3,943 |
| Washington | 5,174 | 59.79% | 1,632 | 18.86% | 1,848 | 21.35% | 3,326[c] | 38.44% | 8,654 |
| Wayne | 5,776 | 62.63% | 1,999 | 21.67% | 1,448 | 15.70% | 3,777 | 40.96% | 9,223 |
| Westchester | 4,450 | 35.06% | 4,600 | 36.25% | 3,641 | 28.69% | -150 | -1.19% | 12,691 |
| Wyoming | 4,066 | 62.10% | 1,911 | 29.18% | 571 | 8.72% | 2,155 | 32.92% | 6,548 |
| Yates | 2,994 | 70.28% | 915 | 21.48% | 351 | 8.24% | 2,079 | 48.80% | 4,260 |
| Totals | 276,007 | 46.27% | 195,878 | 32.84% | 124,603 | 20.89% | 80,129 | 13.43% | 596,488 |