The 1956 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Rhode Island voted for the Republican nominee, incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower of Pennsylvania, over the Democratic nominee, former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. Eisenhower ran with incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of California, while Stevenson's running mate was Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee.
Eisenhower won Rhode Island by a margin of 16.53%. Eisenhower's 225,819 votes is the most received by a Republican presidential candidate in the state's history. Eisenhower is also the last Republican to carry the state twice, as starting in 1960, Rhode Island would become reliably Democratic. In fact, it has only voted for the party on two more occasions, both amidst 49-state Republican landslides nationally. This is the last time a Republican has won a majority of the votes in Providence County (Nixon won it with a plurality in 1972). This is also the most recent presidential election when Rhode Island would vote more Republican than the nation as a whole, or more Republican than Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania or Texas. It was the last election until 2024 when Rhode Island voted to the right of Delaware, Oregon or Washington state.
To date, this is the last time that the cities of Central Falls and Pawtucket voted Republican.
Results
By county County Dwight D. EisenhowerRepublican Adlai StevensonDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Bristol 10,070 59.88% 6,748 40.12% 0 0.00% 3,322 19.76% 16,818 Kent 31,548 65.94% 16,298 34.06% 0 0.00% 15,250 31.88% 47,846 Newport 16,063 63.00% 9,433 37.00% 2 0.00% 6,630 26.00% 25,498 Providence 153,860 55.80% 121,861 44.20% 0 0.00% 31,999 11.60% 275,721 Washington 14,278 65.71% 7,450 34.29% 0 0.00% 6,828 31.42% 21,728Totals225,81958.26%161,79041.74%20.00%64,02916.52%387,611
Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican Providence
See also United States presidential elections in Rhode Island
Notes
References