1856 United States presidential election in California

none June 2025 September 2023 1856 United States presidential election 1856 United States presidential election in California California 1846 presidential no 1852 United States presidential election in California 1852 1860 United States presidential election in California 1860 November 4, 1856 x160px James Buchanan (cropped).jpg James Buchanan Democratic Party (United States) Pennsylvania John C. Breckinridge 4 52,534 48.02% Fillmore (cropped).jpg Millard Fillmore Know Nothing New York Andrew Jackson Donelson 0 35,733 32.67% John Charles Fremont crop.jpg John C. Frémont Republican Party (United States) California William L. Dayton 0 20,622 18.85% 1856 United States presidential election in California results map by county.svg 300px County results Buchanan #d3e7ff 30–40% #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666cb 70–80% Frémont #ffccd0 30–40% #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% Fillmore #c49cd8 40–50% Unknown/No Vote #818181 President Franklin Pierce Democratic Party (United States) James Buchanan Democratic Party (United States) The 1856 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1856, as part of the 1856 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. California voted for the Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State James Buchanan, over the American Party nominee, former Whig President Millard Fillmore, and the Republican nominee, former U.S. Senator and Military Governor of California John C. Frémont. None of the three candidates took to the stump. The Republican Party opposed the extension of slavery into the territories — in fact, its slogan was "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Frémont and victory!" The Republicans thus crusaded against the Slave Power, warning it was destroying republican values. Democrats counter-crusaded by warning that a Republican victory would bring a civil war. The Republican platform opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise through the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which enacted the policy of popular sovereignty, allowing settlers to decide whether a new state would enter the Union as free or slave. The Republicans also accused the Pierce administration of allowing a fraudulent territorial government to be imposed upon the citizens of the Kansas Territory, thus engendering the violence that had raged in Bleeding Kansas. They advocated the immediate admittance of Kansas as a free state. Along with opposing the spread of slavery into the continental territories of the United States, the party also opposed the Ostend Manifesto, which advocated the annexation of Cuba from Spain. In sum, the campaign's true focus was against the system of slavery, which they felt was destroying the Republican values that the Union had been founded upon. The Democratic platform supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty. The party supported the pro-slavery territorial legislature elected in Kansas, opposed the free-state elements within Kansas, and castigated the Topeka Constitution as an illegal document written during an illegal convention. The Democrats also supported the plan to annex Cuba, advocated in the Ostend Manifesto, which Buchanan helped devise while serving as minister to Britain. The most influential aspect of the Democratic campaign was a warning that a Republican victory would lead to the secession of numerous southern states. This would prove the last occasion the Democratic Party carried Alameda County until Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932, the last in which the Democrats carried Santa Cruz County and Placer County until Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and the last when Napa, Solano"Southern Democrat" John Breckinridge did carry Solano County in 1860 and Marin Counties voted Democratic until Wilson in 1912.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 153-155 0786422173 California's electoral votes would not be again carried by the Democratic Party until 1880. Results + General Election ResultsOriginal Manuscript Returns, California State ArchivesThese are the totals listed on the microfilmed state canvass at the State Archives. Based on newspaper reporting in early December 1856, it seems that the returns from nine counties failed to arrive in time and were not counted in the original certification by the Secretary of State. The totals on the canvass at the Archives includes these counties, except for Klamath.Party Pledged to Elector Votes Democratic Party James Buchanan A. C. Bradford52,534 Democratic Party James Buchanan George Freanor52,532 Democratic Party James Buchanan P. Della Torre52,525 Democratic Party James Buchanan Augustin Olivera52,516 American Party Millard Fillmore Balie Peyton35,733 American Party Millard Fillmore R. N. Wood35,727 American Party Millard Fillmore O. C. Hall35,694 American Party Millard Fillmore J. S. Pitzer35,688 Republican Party John C. Frémont Alexander Bell20,622 Republican Party John C. Frémont F. P. Tracy20,613 Republican Party John C. Frémont Lewis G. Gunn20,612 Republican Party John C. Frémont C. N. Ormsby20,595 Write-in Scattering502Votes castBased on totals for highest elector on each ticket 91,387 Results by county County James BuchananDemocratic Millard FillmoreAmerican John C. FrémontRepublican ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes castBased on highest elector on each ticket # % # % # % # % # %Alameda72943.78%21312.79%72343.42%00.00%6"FremontdFillmore" Margin over Frémont0.36%1,665Amador1,78444.58%1,55738.91%65716.42%40.10%2275.67%4,002Butte2,50150.56%1,70234.40%74415.04%00.00%79916.15%4,947Calaveras2,61550.49%1,51529.25%56110.83%4889.42%1,10021.24%5,179Colusa"arrivedlate" This county's return arrived late28947.22%30549.84%182.94%00.00%-16-2.61%612Contra Costa45748.62%29331.17%19020.21%00.00%16417.45%940El Dorado4,04848.20%2,95935.23%1,39116.56%00.00%1,08912.97%8,398Fresno21863.56%12436.15%10.29%00.00%9427.41%343Humboldt20440.96%19138.35%10320.68%00.00%132.61%498Los Angeles72252.36%1359.79%52237.85%00.00%200"FremontdFillmore"14.50%1,379Marin"arrivedlate"35060.03%8214.07%15125.90%00.00%199"FremontdFillmore"34.13%583Mariposa1,25557.28%77135.19%1657.53%00.00%48422.09%2,191Merced24964.34%12432.04%143.62%00.00%12532.30%387Monterey26640.67%16925.84%21933.49%00.00%47"FremontdFillmore"7.19%654Napa44447.13%34036.09%15816.77%00.00%10411.04%942Nevada3,49848.58%2,24031.11%1,46220.31%00.00%1,25817.47%7,200Placer2,80747.62%2,09635.56%99216.83%00.00%71112.06%5,895Plumas"arrivedlate"1,12450.95%86539.21%2179.84%00.00%25911.74%2,206Sacramento3,43744.23%3,38743.59%93912.08%70.09%500.64%7,770San Bernardino"arrivedlate"31475.85%71.69%9322.46%00.00%221"FremontdFillmore"53.38%414San Diego17275.44%3816.67%187.89%00.00%13458.77%228San Francisco5,33444.33%1,60113.31%5,09742.36%00.00%237"FremontdFillmore"1.97%12,032San Joaquin1,28844.80%1,04036.17%54719.03%00.00%2488.63%2,875San Luis Obispo"arrivedlate"8340.49%157.32%10752.20%00.00%-24-11.71%205San Mateo28244.55%11317.85%23837.60%00.00%44"FremontdFillmore"6.95%633Santa Barbara17547.55%102.72%18349.73%00.00%-8-2.17%368Santa Clara57627.97%67432.73%80939.29%00.00%-135"FremontdBuchanan" Margin over Fillmore-6.56%2,059Santa Cruz32039.80%28835.82%19624.38%00.00%323.98%804Shasta1,53755.11%1,08338.83%1696.06%00.00%45416.28%2,789Sierra2,50446.37%2,20340.80%69312.83%00.00%3015.57%5,400Siskiyou"arrivedlate"2,07247.90%1,79041.38%46410.73%00.00%2826.52%4,326Solano79949.20%63439.04%19011.70%10.06%16510.16%1,624SonomaIncludes Mendocino County1,51963.32%49820.76%38215.92%00.00%1,02142.56%2,399Stanislaus43663.46%22833.19%213.06%20.29%20830.28%687Sutter49152.80%34737.31%929.89%00.00%14415.48%930Tehama43655.05%31239.39%445.56%00.00%12415.66%792Trinity1,01148.58%88242.38%1889.03%00.00%1296.20%2,081Tulare"arrivedlate"24860.49%13933.90%235.61%00.00%10926.59%410Tuolumne2,93548.06%2,11334.60%1,05917.34%00.00%82213.46%6,107Yolo"arrivedlate"55343.68%58346.05%13010.27%00.00%-30-2.37%1,266Yuba2,45147.23%2,08740.21%65212.56%00.00%3647.01%5,190Total52,534The county figures add up to 52,53348.02%35,733The county figures add up to 35,75332.67%20,62218.85%5020.46%16,80115.36%109,391 Counties that flipped from Whig to Democratic Klamath Sacramento Marin San Diego Sutter Counties that flipped from Democratic to Know Nothing Colusa Counties that flipped from Whig to Know Nothing Yolo Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Santa Barbara Counties that flipped from Whig to Republican San Luis Obispo Santa Clara See also United States presidential elections in California Notes References California 1856 Category:1856 California elections