United States presidential elections in Alabama

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Alabama, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1819, Alabama has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War, when the state had seceded to join the Confederacy.

Presidential elections in Alabama
Map of the United States with Alabama highlighted
Number of elections50
Voted Democratic29
Voted Republican15
Voted Democratic-Republican1
Voted other2[a]
Voted for winning candidate26
Voted for losing candidate24

A socially conservative Deep South state, Alabama was dominated by the Democratic Party for most of its history, voting almost exclusively Democratic from the founding of the party in the 1820s until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Since the 1980s, the state has become heavily Republican, like most of the south.

Notably, Alabama has also almost always voted for the same presidential candidate as neighboring Mississippi. In more than two hundred years of presidential elections, they have supported the same candidate in all but one; the election of 1840, when Mississippi voted for William Henry Harrison and Alabama for Martin Van Buren (in 1868, only Alabama participated, as Mississippi had not yet been readmitted to the Union).

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present edit

YearWinner (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentOther national
candidates[b]
VotesPercentElectoral
Votes
Notes
2020[1]Joe Biden849,62436.57Donald Trump1,441,17062.039
2016[2]Donald Trump[c]1,318,25562.08Hillary Clinton729,54734.369
2012[3]Barack Obama795,69638.36Mitt Romney1,255,92560.559
2008[4]Barack Obama813,47938.74John McCain1,266,54660.329
2004[5]George W. Bush1,176,39462.46John Kerry693,93336.849
2000[6]George W. Bush[c]941,17356.48Al Gore692,61141.579
1996[7]Bill Clinton662,16543.16Bob Dole769,04450.12Ross Perot92,1496.019
1992Bill Clinton690,08040.88George H. W. Bush804,28347.65Ross Perot183,10910.859
1988George H. W. Bush815,57659.17Michael Dukakis549,50639.869
1984Ronald Reagan872,84960.54Walter Mondale551,89938.289
1980Ronald Reagan654,19248.75Jimmy Carter636,73047.45John B. Anderson16,4811.239
1976Jimmy Carter659,17055.73Gerald Ford504,07042.619
1972Richard Nixon728,70172.43George McGovern256,92325.549
1968Richard Nixon146,92313.99Hubert Humphrey196,57918.72George Wallace691,42565.8610
1964Lyndon B. Johnsonno ballotsBarry Goldwater479,08569.45Unpledged Democratic electors210,73230.5510Johnson did not appear on the ballot.
1960John F. Kennedy318,30356.41Richard Nixon237,98142.18Harry F. Byrd
(unpledged Democratic Electors)
324,05057.4311Electoral votes split: five Kennedy and six unpledged (Byrd).
1956Dwight D. Eisenhower195,69439.39Adlai Stevenson II280,84456.52T. Coleman Andrews/
Unpledged Electors[d]
20,3234.0911electoral vote split: 11 to Stevenson, 1 to Jones (faithless elector)
1952Dwight D. Eisenhower149,23135.02Adlai Stevenson II275,07564.5511
1948Harry S. Trumanno ballotsThomas E. Dewey40,93019.04Strom Thurmond171,44379.7511Truman did not appear on the ballot.
1944Franklin D. Roosevelt198,91881.28Thomas E. Dewey44,54018.211
1940Franklin D. Roosevelt250,72685.22Wendell Willkie42,18414.3411
1936Franklin D. Roosevelt238,13686.38Alf Landon35,35812.8211
1932Franklin D. Roosevelt207,91084.74Herbert Hoover34,67514.1311
1928Herbert Hoover120,72548.49Al Smith127,79751.3312
1924Calvin Coolidge45,00527.01John W. Davis112,96667.81Robert M. La Follette8,0844.8512
1920Warren G. Harding74,55631.37James M. Cox159,96567.31Parley P. Christensen12
1916Woodrow Wilson99,40976.04Charles E. Hughes28,66221.9212
1912Woodrow Wilson82,43869.89Theodore Roosevelt22,68019.23William H. Taft9,8078.3112
1908William H. Taft25,56124.31William Jennings Bryan74,39170.7511
1904Theodore Roosevelt22,47220.66Alton B. Parker79,79773.3511
1900William McKinley55,61234.82William Jennings Bryan97,12960.8211
1896William McKinley55,67328.61William Jennings Bryan130,29866.9611
1892Grover Cleveland138,13559.40Benjamin Harrison9,1843.95James B. Weaver84,98436.5511
1888Benjamin Harrison[c]57,17732.66Grover Cleveland117,31467.0010
1884Grover Cleveland92,73660.37James G. Blaine59,44438.6910
1880James A. Garfield56,35037.10Winfield S. Hancock91,13059.99James B. Weaver4,4222.9110
1876Rutherford B. Hayes[c]68,70840.02Samuel J. Tilden102,98959.9810
1872Ulysses S. Grant90,27253.19Horace Greeley79,44446.8110
1868Ulysses S. Grant76,66751.3Horatio Seymour72,92148.78
1864Abraham Lincolnn/an/aGeorge B. McClellann/an/an/an/an/aNo vote due to secession.

Election of 1860 edit

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

YearWinner (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentElectoral
Votes
1860Abraham Lincolnno ballotsStephen A. Douglas13,61815.1John C. Breckinridge48,66954.0John Bell27,83530.99

Elections from 1828 to 1856 edit

YearWinner (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentOther national
candidates[b]
VotesPercentElectoral
Votes
Notes
1856James Buchanan46,73962.08John C. Frémontno ballotsMillard Fillmore28,55237.929Frémont did not appear on the ballot
1852Franklin Pierce26,88160.89Winfield Scott15,06134.12John P. Hale9
1848Zachary Taylor30,48249.43Lewis Cass31,17350.56Martin Van Buren9
1844James K. Polk37,40158.99Henry Clay26,00241.019
1840William Henry Harrison28,51845.62Martin Van Buren33,99654.387
1836Martin Van Buren20,63855.34Hugh Lawson White16,65844.66various[e]7
1832Andrew Jackson14,28699.97Henry Clay50.03William Wirt7
1828Andrew Jackson16,73689.89John Quincy Adams1,87810.095

Election of 1824 edit

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become President, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

YearWinner (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentRunner-up (nationally)VotesPercentElectoral
Votes
1824Andrew Jackson9,42969.32John Quincy Adams2,42217.80Henry Clay960.71William H. Crawford1,65612.175

Election of 1820 edit

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all electoral votes (including Alabama's three electoral votes) except one vote in New Hampshire. The popular vote was primarily directed to filling the office of Vice President. Alabama had its electors chosen not by the people, but by the State House and Senate. George W. Philips, Henry Minor and John Scott were selected by the legislature and all three men voted for James Monroe.

1820 United States presidential election in Alabama[8]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic-RepublicanGeorge W. Philips6329.72%1
Democratic-RepublicanHenry Minor6229.25%1
Democratic-RepublicanJohn Scott5626.42%1
Democratic-RepublicanJames S. Walker3114.62%0
Totals212100.00%3

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ George Wallace, 1968; Strom Thurmond, 1948.
  2. ^ a b For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
  3. ^ a b c d Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
  4. ^ Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
  5. ^ Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Alabama.

References edit

  1. ^ "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  2. ^ 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
  3. ^ 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
  4. ^ 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
  5. ^ "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
  6. ^ "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  7. ^ "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  8. ^ "1820 Presidential General Election Results - Alabama". A New Nation Votes. Retrieved 22 June 2018.