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.
New York was won by CaliforniaSenatorJohn C. Frémont (R–California), running with former SenatorWilliam L. Dayton (New Jersey), with 46.27% of the popular vote, against SenatorJames Buchanan (D–Pennsylvania), running with Representative and future presidential candidate in the 1860 presidential electionJohn C. Breckinridge, with 32.84% of the popular vote and the 13th president of the United StatesMillard Fillmore (A–New York), running with the 2nd U.S. Ambassador to GermanyAndrew Jackson Donelson, with 20.89% 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 and for the next 12 years a Democrat would not win New York until Horatio Seymour's narrow victory in 1868.
Frémont's victory in the state made him the first Republican presidential candidate to win New York as well as the first one to win the state without winning the election. The other 2 Republican presidential candidates to win New York without winning the election were Charles Evans Hughes in 1916 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. 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.
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