Election 1956 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1956 governor election results by state and county
Democrats won 16 governor races to 14 in 1956 despite Eisenhower's easy re-election, gaining Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts and Washington while losing Ohio, New Mexico and West Virginia.
31 governor races were held in 1956. Democrats won 17 and Republicans 14.
The closest were Rhode Island (D+0.2), Illinois (R+1.0) and Oregon (D+1.0). 8 governorships changed party: Iowa to the Democrats, Kansas to the Democrats, Massachusetts to the Democrats, New Mexico to the Republicans, Ohio to the Republicans, Oregon to the Democrats, Washington to the Democrats and West Virginia to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1956 governor elections
Dwight Eisenhower won a second term in 1956 with a larger margin than in 1952, again defeating Adlai Stevenson. His success did not carry down the ballot. Democrats kept Congress, and in the governor races they won 16 to the Republicans' 14. Democrats gained four states. Herschel C. Loveless unseated Governor Leo A. Hoegh in Iowa by 2.5 points, George Docking won Kansas, Foster Furcolo took Massachusetts and Albert D. Rosellini won Washington. Republicans took back Ohio, New Mexico, where Edwin L. Mechem returned to office, and West Virginia, where Cecil H. Underwood was elected. Several races were very close. Dennis J. Roberts held Rhode Island for the Democrats by 0.2 points over Christopher Del Sesto, a result fought over in the courts because of disputed absentee ballots. William G. Stratton won a second term in Illinois by about a point, and Orville L. Freeman was re-elected in Minnesota. Vernon W. Thomson kept Wisconsin Republican against William Proxmire.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Ernest W. McFarland | 171,848 (59.5%) | Horace B. Griffen | 116,744 (40.5%) | D+19.1 | |
| Arkansas | Orval E. Faubus | 321,797 (80.6%) | Roy Mitchell | 77,215 (19.4%) | D+61.3 | |
| Colorado | Stephen L.R. McNichols | 331,283 (51.3%) | Donald G. Brotzman | 313,950 (48.7%) | D+2.7 | |
| Delaware | J. H. Tyler McConnell | 85,047 (48.0%) | James Caleb Boggs | 91,965 (52.0%) | R+3.9 | |
| Florida | LeRoy Collins | 747,753 (73.7%) | William A. Washburne Jr. | 266,980 (26.3%) | D+47.4 | |
| Illinois | Richard B. Austin | 2,134,909 (49.5%) | William G. Stratton | 2,178,432 (50.5%) | 1,270 | R+1.0 |
| Indiana | Ralph Tucker | 859,393 (44.0%) | Harold W. Handley | 1,086,868 (55.6%) | 8,029 | R+11.6 |
| Iowa flip | Herschel C. Loveless | 616,852 (51.2%) | Leo A. Hoegh | 587,383 (48.8%) | D+2.5 | |
| Kansas flip | George Docking | 479,701 (55.5%) | Warren W. Shaw | 364,340 (42.1%) | 20,894 | D+13.3 |
| Louisiana | Earl K. Long | 172,291 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Maine | Edmund Muskie | 180,254 (59.2%) | Willis A. Trafton Jr. | 124,395 (40.8%) | D+18.3 | |
| Massachusetts flip | Foster Furcolo | 1,234,618 (52.8%) | Sumner G. Whittier | 1,096,759 (46.9%) | 8,507 | D+5.9 |
| Michigan | G. Mennen Williams | 1,666,689 (54.7%) | Albert E. Cobo | 1,376,376 (45.1%) | 6,586 | D+9.5 |
| Minnesota | Orville L. Freeman | 731,180 (51.4%) | Ancher Nelsen | 685,196 (48.2%) | 5,785 | D+3.2 |
| Missouri | James T. Blair Jr. | 941,528 (52.1%) | Lon Hocker | 866,810 (47.9%) | D+4.1 | |
| Montana | Arnold Olsen | 131,488 (48.6%) | John Hugo Aronson | 138,878 (51.4%) | R+2.7 | |
| Nebraska | Frank Sorrell | 228,048 (40.2%) | Victor Anderson | 308,293 (54.3%) | George Morris (Independent) 31,583 (5.6%) |
R+14.1 |
| New Hampshire | John Shaw | 117,117 (45.3%) | Lane Dwinell | 141,578 (54.7%) | R+9.5 | |
| New Mexico flip | John F. Simms | 120,263 (47.8%) | Edwin L. Mechem | 131,488 (52.2%) | R+4.5 | |
| North Carolina | Luther H. Hodges | 760,480 (67.0%) | Kyle Hayes | 375,379 (33.0%) | D+33.9 | |
| North Dakota | Wallace E. Warner | 104,869 (41.5%) | John E. Davis | 147,566 (58.5%) | R+16.9 | |
| Ohio flip | Michael V. Disalle | 1,557,103 (44.0%) | C. William O'Neill | 1,984,988 (56.0%) | R+12.1 | |
| Oregon flip | Robert D. Holmes | 369,439 (50.5%) | Elmo Smith | 361,840 (49.5%) | D+1.0 | |
| Rhode Island | Dennis J. Roberts | 192,315 (50.1%) | Christopher Del Sesto | 191,604 (49.9%) | D+0.2 | |
| South Dakota | Ralph Herseth | 133,198 (45.6%) | Joe Foss | 158,819 (54.4%) | R+8.8 | |
| Texas | Price Daniel | 1,350,736 (78.3%) | William R. Bryant | 261,283 (15.2%) | W. Lee O'Daniel (Write-in) 110,234 (6.4%) |
D+63.2 |
| Utah | L. C. Romney | 111,297 (33.4%) | George Dewey Clyde | 127,164 (38.2%) | J. Bracken Lee (Independent) 94,428 (28.4%) |
R+4.8 |
| Vermont | E. Frank Branon | 65,420 (42.5%) | Joseph B. Johnson | 88,379 (57.5%) | 10 | R+14.9 |
| Washington flip | Albert D. Rosellini | 616,773 (54.6%) | Emmett T. Anderson | 508,041 (45.0%) | 4,163 | D+9.6 |
| West Virginia flip | Robert H. Mollohan | 377,121 (46.1%) | Cecil H. Underwood | 440,502 (53.9%) | R+7.8 | |
| Wisconsin | William Proxmire | 749,421 (48.1%) | Vernon W. Thomson | 808,273 (51.9%) | 94 | R+3.8 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.