Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the United States.[1] One of the original Thirteen Colonies, Connecticut has participated in all fifty-nine U.S. presidential elections since the American Revolution.[2] In the early days of the United States, Connecticut was known for supporting the conservative Federalist Party.[3] In the Second Party System, Connecticut leaned towards the anti-Jackson candidates.[4] Following the Civil War, Connecticut was a swing state for a long time until 1896.[5] Thereafter until 1932, Connecticut was a Republican stronghold. During this period, Connecticut Republican Party chairman J. Henry Roraback built up a political machine which was "efficient, conservative, penurious, and in absolute control".[6]
 | |
| Number of elections | 59 |
|---|---|
| Voted Democratic | 21 |
| Voted Republican | 23 |
| Voted Whig | 3 |
| Voted Democratic-Republican | 4 |
| Voted Federalist | 6 |
| Voted other | 2[a] |
| Voted for winning candidate | 40 |
| Voted for losing candidate | 19 |
During the Great Depression, Connecticut began to pivot in support of Democratic candidates. After that, although the Republican Party won Connecticut several times in the presidential election, its advantage was no longer as significant as it had previously been.[7] Since 1992, the state has voted consistently for the Democratic candidates.[8]
In 2020, Joe Biden became the first candidate in Connecticut history to win over one million votes in the state, scoring nearly 1.1 million votes.
Connecticut is a signatory of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact in which signatories award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national-level popular vote in a presidential election, even if another candidate won an individual signatory's popular vote. As of 2023,[update] it has not yet gone into force.[9]
Presidential elections
| Key for parties |
|---|
American Independent Party – (AI) Anti-Masonic Party – (Anti-M) Communist Party USA – (CPUSA) Constitutional Union Party – (CU) Democratic Party – (D) Democratic-Republican Party – (DR) Free Soil Party – (FS) Federalist Party – (F) Green Party – (G) Greenback Party – (GB) Independent candidate – (I) Know Nothing Party – (KN) Liberal Republican Party – (LR) Libertarian Party – (LI) National Democratic Party – (ND) National Republican Party – (NP) National Union Party – (NU) Progressive Party (1912) – (PR-1912) Progressive Party (1924) – (PR-1924) Progressive Party (1948) – (PR-1948) Prohibition Party – (PRO) Reform Party – (RE) Republican Party – (R) Southern Democratic Party – (SD) Whig Party – (W) Union Party – (U) |
1788–89 to 1820
As a part of New England, Connecticut was the stronghold of the Federalist Party. It voted for Federalist candidates in presidential elections from 1796 to 1816.[3] Before 1820, its electors were appointed by state legislature.[10]
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | EV | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| George Washington (I)‡ | – | – | – | – | – | 7 | ||||
| George Washington (I)‡ | – | – | – | – | – | 9 | ||||
| John Adams (F)‡ | – | – | Thomas Jefferson (DR) | – | – | 9 | ||||
| John Adams (F) | – | – | Thomas Jefferson (DR)‡ | – | – | 9 | ||||
| Charles C. Pinckney (F) | – | – | Thomas Jefferson (DR)‡ | – | – | 9 | ||||
| Charles C. Pinckney (F) | – | – | James Madison (DR)‡ | – | – | 9 | ||||
| DeWitt Clinton (F) | – | – | James Madison (DR)‡ | – | – | 9 | ||||
| Rufus King (F) | – | – | James Monroe (DR)‡ | – | – | 9 | ||||
| James Monroe (DR)‡ | 3,871 | 84.17% | Unpledged electors (F) | 728 | 15.83% | 9 | ||||
1824
The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote.[30] It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.[31]
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | EV | Ref. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | |||||||
| 1824 | John Quincy Adams (DR)‡ | 7,494 (70.39%) | William H. Crawford (DR) | 1,965 (18.46%) | Andrew Jackson (DR) | –[d] | Henry Clay (DR) | –[d] | 8 | |||||
1828 to 1856
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Other candidate[e] | EV | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | ||||||
| 1828 | John Quincy Adams (NR) | 13,829 | 71.36% | Andrew Jackson (D)‡ | 4,448 | 22.95% | – | – | – | 8 | ||||
| 1832 | Henry Clay (NR) | 18,155 | 55.29% | Andrew Jackson (D)‡ | 11,269 | 34.32% | William Wirt (Anti-M) | 3,409 | 10.38% | 8 | ||||
| 1836 | Martin Van Buren (D)‡ | 19,294 | 50.65% | William Henry Harrison (W) | 18,799 | 49.35% | – | – | – | 8 | ||||
| 1840 | William Henry Harrison (W)‡ | 31,598 | 55.55% | Martin Van Buren (D) | 25,281 | 44.45% | – | – | – | 8 | ||||
| 1844 | Henry Clay (W) | 32,832 | 50.81% | James K. Polk (D)‡ | 29,831 | 46.17% | – | – | – | 6 | ||||
| 1848 | Zachary Taylor (W)‡ | 30,318 | 48.59% | Lewis Cass (D) | 27,051 | 43.35% | Martin Van Buren (FS) | 5,005 | 8.02% | 6 | ||||
| 1852 | Franklin Pierce (D)‡ | 33,249 | 49.79% | Winfield Scott (W) | 30,359 | 45.46% | John P. Hale (FS) | 3,161 | 4.73% | 6 | ||||
| 1856 | John C. Frémont (R) | 42,717 | 53.18% | James Buchanan (D)‡ | 34,997 | 43.57% | Millard Fillmore (KN) | 2,615 | 3.26% | 6 | ||||
1860
The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country.[56] The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.[57]
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | EV | Ref. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | Candidate | Votes (%) | |||||||
| 1860 | Abraham Lincoln (R)‡ | 43,486 (53.86%) | Stephen A. Douglas (D) | 17,364 (21.5%) | John C. Breckinridge (SD) | 16,558 (20.51%) | John Bell (CU) | 3,337 (4.13%) | 6 | |||||
1864 to present
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Other candidate[f] | EV | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | ||||||
| Abraham Lincoln (NU)‡ | 44,693 | 51.38% | George B. McClellan (D) | 42,288 | 48.62% | – | – | – | 6 | |||||
| Ulysses S. Grant (R)‡ | 50,788 | 51.49% | Horatio Seymour (D) | 47,844 | 48.51% | – | – | – | 6 | |||||
| Ulysses S. Grant (R)‡ | 50,314 | 52.41% | Horace Greeley (LR) | 45,695 | 47.59% | – | – | – | 6 | |||||
| Samuel J. Tilden (D) | 61,927 | 50.7% | Rutherford B. Hayes (R)‡ | 59,033 | 48.33% | Peter Cooper (GB) | 774 | 0.63% | 6 | |||||
| James A. Garfield (R)‡ | 67,071 | 50.51% | Winfield S. Hancock (D) | 64,411 | 48.5% | James B. Weaver (GB) | 868 | 0.65% | 6 | |||||
| Grover Cleveland (D)‡ | 67,182 | 48.95% | James G. Blaine (R) | 65,898 | 48.01% | John St. John (PRO) | 2,493 | 1.82% | 6 | |||||
| Grover Cleveland (D) | 74,920 | 48.66% | Benjamin Harrison (R)‡ | 74,584 | 48.44% | Clinton Fisk (PRO) | 4,234 | 2.75% | 6 | |||||
| Grover Cleveland (D)‡ | 82,395 | 50.06% | Benjamin Harrison (R) | 77,032 | 46.8% | John Bidwell (PRO) | 4,026 | 2.45% | 6 | |||||
| William McKinley (R)‡ | 110,285 | 63.24% | William Jennings Bryan (D) | 56,740 | 32.54% | John McAuley Palmer (ND) | 4,336 | 2.49% | 6 | |||||
| William McKinley (R)‡ | 102,572 | 56.92% | William Jennings Bryan (D) | 74,014 | 41.07% | John G. Woolley (PRO) | 1,617 | 0.9% | 6 | |||||
| Theodore Roosevelt (R)‡ | 111,089 | 58.12% | Alton B. Parker (D) | 72,909 | 38.15% | Eugene V. Debs (S) | 4,543 | 2.38% | 7 | |||||
| William Howard Taft (R)‡ | 112,915 | 59.43% | William Jennings Bryan (D) | 68,255 | 35.92% | Eugene V. Debs (S) | 5,113 | 2.69% | 7 | |||||
| Woodrow Wilson (D)‡ | 74,561 | 39.16% | William Howard Taft (R) | 68,324 | 35.88% | Theodore Roosevelt (PR-1912) | 34,129 | 17.92% | 7 | |||||
| Charles Evans Hughes (R) | 106,514 | 49.8% | Woodrow Wilson (D)‡ | 99,786 | 46.66% | Allan L. Benson (S) | 5,179 | 2.42% | 7 | |||||
| Warren G. Harding (R)‡ | 229,238 | 62.72% | James M. Cox (D) | 120,721 | 33.03% | Eugene V. Debs (S) | 10,350 | 2.83% | 7 | |||||
| Calvin Coolidge (R)‡ | 246,322 | 61.54% | John W. Davis (D) | 110,184 | 27.53% | Robert M. La Follette (PR-1924) | 42,416 | 10.6% | 7 | |||||
| Herbert Hoover (R)‡ | 296,641 | 53.63% | Al Smith (D) | 252,085 | 45.57% | Norman Thomas (S) | 3,029 | 0.55% | 7 | |||||
| Herbert Hoover (R) | 288,420 | 48.54% | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)‡ | 281,632 | 47.4% | Norman Thomas (S) | 20,480 | 3.45% | 8 | |||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)‡ | 382,129 | 55.32% | Alf Landon (R) | 278,685 | 40.35% | William Lemke (U) | 21,805 | 3.16% | 8 | |||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)‡ | 417,621 | 53.44% | Wendell Willkie (R) | 361,819 | 46.3% | Earl Browder (CPUSA) | 1,091 | 0.14% | 8 | |||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)‡ | 435,146 | 52.3% | Thomas E. Dewey (R) | 390,527 | 46.94% | Norman Thomas (S) | 5,097 | 0.61% | 8 | |||||
| Thomas E. Dewey (R) | 437,754 | 49.55% | Harry S. Truman (D)‡ | 423,297 | 47.91% | Henry A. Wallace (PR-1948) | 13,713 | 1.55% | 8 | |||||
| Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)‡ | 611,012 | 55.7% | Adlai Stevenson II (D) | 481,649 | 43.91% | Darlington Hoopes (S) | 2,244 | 0.2% | 8 | |||||
| Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)‡ | 711,837 | 63.72% | Adlai Stevenson II (D) | 405,079 | 36.26% | Others | 205 | 0.02% | 8 | |||||
| John F. Kennedy (D)‡ | 657,055 | 53.73% | Richard Nixon (R) | 565,813 | 46.27% | Write-ins | 15 | 0% | 8 | |||||
| Lyndon B. Johnson (D)‡ | 826,269 | 67.81% | Barry Goldwater (R) | 390,996 | 32.09% | Write-ins | 1,313 | 0.11% | 8 | |||||
| Hubert Humphrey (D) | 621,561 | 49.48% | Richard Nixon (R)‡ | 556,721 | 44.32% | George Wallace (AI) | 76,650 | 6.1% | 8 | |||||
| Richard Nixon (R)‡ | 810,763 | 58.57% | George McGovern (D) | 555,498 | 40.13% | John G. Schmitz (AI) | 17,239 | 1.25% | 8 | |||||
| Gerald Ford (R) | 719,261 | 52.09% | Jimmy Carter (D)‡ | 647,895 | 46.92% | Lester Maddox (AI) | 7,101 | 0.51% | 8 | |||||
| Ronald Reagan (R)‡ | 677,210 | 48.16% | Jimmy Carter (D) | 541,732 | 38.52% | John B. Anderson (I) | 171,807 | 12.22% | 8 | |||||
| Ronald Reagan (R)‡ | 890,877 | 60.73% | Walter Mondale (D) | 569,597 | 38.83% | Gus Hall (CPUSA) | 4,826 | 0.33% | 8 | |||||
| George H. W. Bush (R)‡ | 750,241 | 51.98% | Michael Dukakis (D) | 676,584 | 46.87% | Ron Paul (LI) | 14,071 | 0.97% | 8 | |||||
| Bill Clinton (D)‡ | 682,318 | 42.21% | George H. W. Bush (R) | 578,313 | 35.78% | Ross Perot (I) | 348,771 | 21.58% | 8 | |||||
| Bill Clinton (D)‡ | 735,740 | 52.83% | Bob Dole (R) | 483,109 | 34.69% | Ross Perot (RE) | 139,523 | 10.02% | 8 | |||||
| Al Gore (D) | 816,015 | 55.91% | George W. Bush (R)‡ | 561,094 | 38.44% | Ralph Nader (G) | 64,452 | 4.42% | 8 | |||||
| John Kerry (D) | 857,488 | 54.31% | George W. Bush (R)‡ | 693,826 | 43.95% | Ralph Nader (I) | 12,969 | 0.82% | 7 | |||||
| Barack Obama (D)‡ | 997,773 | 60.59% | John McCain (R) | 629,428 | 38.22% | Ralph Nader (I) | 19162 | 1.16% | 7 | |||||
| Barack Obama (D)‡ | 905,083 | 58.06% | Mitt Romney (R) | 634,892 | 40.73% | Gary Johnson (LI) | 12,580 | 0.81% | 7 | |||||
| Hillary Clinton (D) | 897,572 | 54.57% | Donald Trump (R)‡ | 673,215 | 40.93% | Gary Johnson (LI) | 48,676 | 2.96% | 7 | |||||
| Joe Biden (D)‡ | 1,080,831 | 59.25% | Donald Trump (R) | 715,291 | 39.21% | Jo Jorgensen (LI) | 20,227 | 1.11% | 7 | |||||
Notes
References
Works cited
- Guide to U.S. Elections. SAGE Publications. 2010. ISBN 978-1-60426-536-1. LCCN 2009033938. OL 24461757M.
- Burnham, Walter Dean (1955). Presidential Ballots, 1836–1892. Johns Hopkins University Press. LCCN 55008428. OL 6176796M.
- Presidential Elections, 1789–1996. Congressional Quarterly. 1997. ISBN 978-1-56802-065-5. LCCN 97019084. OL 673017M.