The 1856 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 4, 1856, as part of the 1856 United States presidential election. Voters chose 27 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

1856 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

← 1852 November 4, 1856 1860 →

Nominee James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Party Democratic Republican Know Nothing Home state Pennsylvania California New York Running mate John C. Breckinridge William L. Dayton Andrew Donelson Electoral vote 27 0 0 Popular vote 230,686 147,286 82,189 Percentage 50.13% 32.01% 17.86%

President before election Franklin Pierce Democratic Elected President James Buchanan Democratic

Close

Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate, James Buchanan, over the Republican candidate, John C. Frémont, and the Know Nothing candidate, Millard Fillmore. Buchanan, a lifelong Pennsylvanian, won his home state by a margin of 18.12%.

Following the election, Pennsylvania would establish itself as a Republican stronghold. This would be the final time that Pennsylvania would vote for a Democratic candidate until Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state in 1936, as well as the last time that the state voted for a non-Republican candidate until Theodore Roosevelt’s third-party bid in 1912.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the only time Snyder County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[1] Lebanon County, Lancaster County, Huntingdon County, and Somerset County have voted for the Democratic presidential candidate once since. Blair, Dauphin, and Philadelphia counties would not vote Democratic again until 1936, and Delaware and Lancaster counties until 1964. This remains the only presidential election in history in which New York voted Republican while its neighboring state, Pennsylvania, voted Democratic.

• List of United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania