# 1956 United States presidential election in North Carolina

Elections in North Carolina :
Federal government
U.S. President
1792
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
Dem
Rep
2012
2016
Dem
2020
Dem
Rep
2024
Dem
Rep
U.S. Senate
1789
1792
1795
1798
1799
1800
1804
1805 (sp)
1806
1810
1812
1814 (sp)
1815 (sp)
1816
1816 (sp)
1818
1822
1825
1846 (sp)
1828
1828 (sp)
1829
1829 (sp)
1830
1835
1836
1836 (sp)
1840 (sp)
1841
1843
1847
1849
1854 (sp)
1855
1858 (sp)
1861
1868
1872
1872 (sp)
1876
1879
1883
1884
1889
1890
1894
1894 (sp)
1897
1901
1903
1907
1909
1913
1914
1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1932 (sp)
1936
1938
1942
1944
1948
1948 (sp)
1950
1950 (sp)
1954
1954 (sp)
1956
1958 (sp)
1960
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1986 (sp)
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
U.S. House of Representatives
1790
1791
1793
1795
sp:4
1796
sp:4
1798
sp:10
1800
1801
sp:8
1802
sp:8
1803
1804
1805
sp:5
1806
sp:10
1808
sp:7
1810
1813
sp:3
1815
1816
sp:6
sp:8
1817
1818
sp:7
sp:11
1819
1821
sp:4
1823
1825
sp:2
1826
sp:8
1827
1829
sp:5
sp:10
1831
1833
1835
1837
1839
1841
1843
1845
1847
1849
1851
1853
1855
1857
1858
sp:8
1859
1865
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1928
1930
1934
1938
1940
1942
1946
1948
1950
1952
1956
1958
1960
sp:12
1968
1972
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
sp:1
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
sp:12
2016
2018
9
2019
sp:3
sp:9
2020
2022
2024 :
State executive
Gubernatorial elections
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1810
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1848
1850
1852
1854
1856
1858
1860
1862
1864
1865
1866
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Lieutenant Governor elections
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Attorney General elections
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Council of State elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Secretary of State elections
1940
1944
2024 :
State legislature
State Senate elections
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
State House elections
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State judiciary
Judicial elections
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2012Amendment 1 :
Mayoral elections
Charlotte mayoral elections
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2022
Cary mayoral elections
2011
2015
2019
2023
Durham mayoral elections
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
Fayetteville mayoral elections
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2022
Greensboro mayoral elections
2011
2013
2015
2017
2022
Raleigh mayoral elections
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2022
2024
Winston-Salem mayoral elections
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2016
2020 :
vte :
The 1956 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. North Carolina voters chose 14 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
As a former Confederate state, North Carolina had a history of Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement of its African-American population and dominance of the Democratic Party in state politics. However, unlike the Deep South, the Republican Party had sufficient historic Unionist white support from the mountains and northwestern Piedmont to gain one-third of the statewide vote total in most general elections, where turnout was higher than elsewhere in the former Confederacy due substantially to the state's early abolition of the poll tax in 1920. Like Virginia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, the relative strength of Republican opposition meant that North Carolina never had statewide white primaries, although certain counties did use a white primary until it was banned by Smith v. Allwright.
Following the banning of white primaries by the Supreme Court, North Carolina in 1948 offered less support to the Dixiecrat bolt than any other former Confederate state, due to the economic liberalism of its Black Belt and solid Democratic party discipline due to consistent Republican opposition. Although there was little satisfaction with Harry S. Truman during his second term, the loyalty of the white voters of the state’s Black Belt and the previously anti-Al Smith Outer Banks meant that unlike Texas, Florida and Virginia, urban middle-class Republican voting was inadequate to carry North Carolina for Eisenhower.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the proportion of blacks registered to vote in the state increased steadily from less than ten percent to around twenty percent by the time of Brown v. Board of Education. Several Piedmont cities had blacks on their councils, although blacks in rural areas generally remained without hope of registering. The state would largely escape the overt “Massive Resistance” seen in neighbouring Virginia, and four of its congressmen did not sign the Southern Manifesto. Nonetheless, although the Greensboro school board voted 6–1 to desegregate within a day of Brown, no serious desegregation would take place until well into the 1960s, while two non-signers would be challenged and defeated in 1956 primaries.

## Polls

| Source | Rating | As of |
| The Daily Press | Safe D | September 29, 1956 |
| The Daily Times-News | Safe D | October 26, 1956 |
| Asheville Citizen-Times | Safe D | October 28, 1956 |
| Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Safe D | November 2, 1956 |
| Corpus Christi Times | Likely D | November 3, 1956 |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | Likely D | November 4, 1956 |
| The Salt Lake Tribune | Likely D | November 4, 1956 |

## Results

1956 United States presidential election in North Carolina :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Adlai Stevenson | 590,530 | 50.66% |
| | Republican | Dwight D. Eisenhower (inc.) | 575,062 | 49.34% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,165,592 | 100% |

### Results by county

| County | Adlai Stevenson Democratic | Adlai Stevenson Democratic | Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican | Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican | Margin | Margin | Total |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total |
| Alamance | 11,029 | 47.64% | 12,123 | 52.36% | -1,094 | -4.72% | 23,152 |
| Alexander | 2,710 | 41.84% | 3,767 | 58.16% | -1,057 | -16.32% | 6,477 |
| Alleghany | 1,670 | 49.57% | 1,699 | 50.43% | -29 | -0.86% | 3,369 |
| Anson | 3,598 | 68.69% | 1,640 | 31.31% | 1,958 | 37.38% | 5,238 |
| Ashe | 3,982 | 46.46% | 4,588 | 53.54% | -606 | -7.08% | 8,570 |
| Avery | 969 | 19.47% | 4,009 | 80.53% | -3,040 | -61.06% | 4,978 |
| Beaufort | 5,730 | 71.56% | 2,277 | 28.44% | 3,453 | 43.12% | 8,007 |
| Bertie | 3,373 | 87.79% | 469 | 12.21% | 2,904 | 75.58% | 3,842 |
| Bladen | 4,078 | 72.56% | 1,542 | 27.44% | 2,536 | 45.12% | 5,620 |
| Brunswick | 3,297 | 49.98% | 3,299 | 50.02% | -2 | -0.04% | 6,596 |
| Buncombe | 19,044 | 45.67% | 22,655 | 54.33% | -3,611 | -8.66% | 41,699 |
| Burke | 7,999 | 40.35% | 11,823 | 59.65% | -3,824 | -19.30% | 19,822 |
| Cabarrus | 7,173 | 33.15% | 14,462 | 66.85% | -7,289 | -33.70% | 21,635 |
| Caldwell | 6,861 | 38.78% | 10,833 | 61.22% | -3,972 | -22.44% | 17,694 |
| Camden | 813 | 70.33% | 343 | 29.67% | 470 | 40.66% | 1,156 |
| Carteret | 3,875 | 50.46% | 3,804 | 49.54% | 71 | 0.92% | 7,679 |
| Caswell | 2,468 | 67.21% | 1,204 | 32.79% | 1,264 | 34.42% | 3,672 |
| Catawba | 11,424 | 37.25% | 19,246 | 62.75% | -7,822 | -25.50% | 30,670 |
| Chatham | 4,151 | 52.68% | 3,729 | 47.32% | 422 | 5.36% | 7,880 |
| Cherokee | 2,843 | 42.60% | 3,830 | 57.40% | -987 | -14.80% | 6,673 |
| Chowan | 1,485 | 72.76% | 556 | 27.24% | 929 | 45.52% | 2,041 |
| Clay | 1,287 | 47.16% | 1,442 | 52.84% | -155 | -5.68% | 2,729 |
| Cleveland | 8,408 | 54.30% | 7,076 | 45.70% | 1,332 | 8.60% | 15,484 |
| Columbus | 7,805 | 77.24% | 2,300 | 22.76% | 5,505 | 54.48% | 10,105 |
| Craven | 6,317 | 68.12% | 2,956 | 31.88% | 3,361 | 36.24% | 9,273 |
| Cumberland | 8,862 | 56.95% | 6,699 | 43.05% | 2,163 | 13.90% | 15,561 |
| Currituck | 1,425 | 74.49% | 488 | 25.51% | 937 | 48.98% | 1,913 |
| Dare | 839 | 44.94% | 1,028 | 55.06% | -189 | -10.12% | 1,867 |
| Davidson | 9,987 | 38.17% | 16,178 | 61.83% | -6,191 | -23.66% | 26,165 |
| Davie | 2,110 | 31.45% | 4,599 | 68.55% | -2,489 | -37.10% | 6,709 |
| Duplin | 6,931 | 76.66% | 2,110 | 23.34% | 4,821 | 53.32% | 9,041 |
| Durham | 13,835 | 51.13% | 13,226 | 48.87% | 609 | 2.26% | 27,061 |
| Edgecombe | 7,830 | 80.97% | 1,840 | 19.03% | 5,990 | 61.94% | 9,670 |
| Forsyth | 15,819 | 35.01% | 29,368 | 64.99% | -13,549 | -29.98% | 45,187 |
| Franklin | 5,298 | 87.00% | 792 | 13.00% | 4,506 | 74.00% | 6,090 |
| Gaston | 15,671 | 46.32% | 18,159 | 53.68% | -2,488 | -7.36% | 33,830 |
| Gates | 1,244 | 78.49% | 341 | 21.51% | 903 | 56.98% | 1,585 |
| Graham | 1,486 | 45.75% | 1,762 | 54.25% | -276 | -8.50% | 3,248 |
| Granville | 4,013 | 73.28% | 1,463 | 26.72% | 2,550 | 46.56% | 5,476 |
| Greene | 3,285 | 93.67% | 222 | 6.33% | 3,063 | 87.34% | 3,507 |
| Guilford | 21,948 | 40.13% | 32,751 | 59.87% | -10,803 | -19.74% | 54,699 |
| Halifax | 7,860 | 77.01% | 2,346 | 22.99% | 5,514 | 54.02% | 10,206 |
| Harnett | 7,421 | 64.99% | 3,998 | 35.01% | 3,423 | 29.98% | 11,419 |
| Haywood | 7,598 | 52.21% | 6,955 | 47.79% | 643 | 4.42% | 14,553 |
| Henderson | 4,003 | 30.22% | 9,243 | 69.78% | -5,240 | -39.56% | 13,246 |
| Hertford | 2,708 | 78.79% | 729 | 21.21% | 1,979 | 57.58% | 3,437 |
| Hoke | 1,944 | 79.12% | 513 | 20.88% | 1,431 | 58.24% | 2,457 |
| Hyde | 1,028 | 67.68% | 491 | 32.32% | 537 | 35.36% | 1,519 |
| Iredell | 7,286 | 39.57% | 11,125 | 60.43% | -3,839 | -20.86% | 18,411 |
| Jackson | 3,787 | 51.95% | 3,503 | 48.05% | 284 | 3.90% | 7,290 |
| Johnston | 9,852 | 66.82% | 4,893 | 33.18% | 4,959 | 33.64% | 14,745 |
| Jones | 1,952 | 82.47% | 415 | 17.53% | 1,537 | 64.94% | 2,367 |
| Lee | 4,163 | 68.12% | 1,948 | 31.88% | 2,215 | 36.24% | 6,111 |
| Lenoir | 6,847 | 72.76% | 2,564 | 27.24% | 4,283 | 45.52% | 9,411 |
| Lincoln | 5,838 | 46.80% | 6,637 | 53.20% | -799 | -6.40% | 12,475 |
| Macon | 3,025 | 47.02% | 3,408 | 52.98% | -383 | -5.96% | 6,433 |
| Madison | 3,693 | 46.42% | 4,263 | 53.58% | -570 | -7.16% | 7,956 |
| Martin | 5,730 | 92.73% | 449 | 7.27% | 5,281 | 85.46% | 6,179 |
| McDowell | 4,392 | 44.54% | 5,468 | 55.46% | -1,076 | -10.92% | 9,860 |
| Mecklenburg | 27,227 | 37.98% | 44,469 | 62.02% | -17,242 | -24.04% | 71,696 |
| Mitchell | 1,069 | 20.03% | 4,269 | 79.97% | -3,200 | -59.94% | 5,338 |
| Montgomery | 3,088 | 47.90% | 3,359 | 52.10% | -271 | -4.20% | 6,447 |
| Moore | 4,729 | 47.45% | 5,238 | 52.55% | -509 | -5.10% | 9,967 |
| Nash | 9,969 | 78.91% | 2,665 | 21.09% | 7,304 | 57.82% | 12,634 |
| New Hanover | 10,247 | 51.97% | 9,470 | 48.03% | 777 | 3.94% | 19,717 |
| Northampton | 4,242 | 85.03% | 747 | 14.97% | 3,495 | 70.06% | 4,989 |
| Onslow | 4,692 | 74.26% | 1,626 | 25.74% | 3,066 | 48.52% | 6,318 |
| Orange | 4,743 | 51.90% | 4,396 | 48.10% | 347 | 3.80% | 9,139 |
| Pamlico | 1,376 | 59.06% | 954 | 40.94% | 422 | 18.12% | 2,330 |
| Pasquotank | 2,963 | 61.86% | 1,827 | 38.14% | 1,136 | 23.72% | 4,790 |
| Pender | 2,196 | 68.52% | 1,009 | 31.48% | 1,187 | 37.04% | 3,205 |
| Perquimans | 1,022 | 59.04% | 709 | 40.96% | 313 | 18.08% | 1,731 |
| Person | 3,433 | 66.36% | 1,740 | 33.64% | 1,693 | 32.72% | 5,173 |
| Pitt | 11,873 | 82.52% | 2,515 | 17.48% | 9,358 | 65.04% | 14,388 |
| Polk | 2,527 | 47.23% | 2,823 | 52.77% | -296 | -5.54% | 5,350 |
| Randolph | 8,404 | 38.95% | 13,174 | 61.05% | -4,770 | -22.10% | 21,578 |
| Richmond | 6,592 | 69.40% | 2,907 | 30.60% | 3,685 | 38.80% | 9,499 |
| Robeson | 10,516 | 79.06% | 2,785 | 20.94% | 7,731 | 58.12% | 13,301 |
| Rockingham | 8,896 | 49.73% | 8,991 | 50.27% | -95 | -0.54% | 17,887 |
| Rowan | 9,761 | 35.72% | 17,562 | 64.28% | -7,801 | -28.56% | 27,323 |
| Rutherford | 7,208 | 46.78% | 8,200 | 53.22% | -992 | -6.44% | 15,408 |
| Sampson | 7,197 | 51.84% | 6,685 | 48.16% | 512 | 3.68% | 13,882 |
| Scotland | 3,042 | 72.21% | 1,171 | 27.79% | 1,871 | 44.42% | 4,213 |
| Stanly | 6,693 | 38.55% | 10,667 | 61.45% | -3,974 | -22.90% | 17,360 |
| Stokes | 3,948 | 47.63% | 4,341 | 52.37% | -393 | -4.74% | 8,289 |
| Surry | 7,020 | 43.82% | 9,001 | 56.18% | -1,981 | -12.36% | 16,021 |
| Swain | 1,794 | 46.96% | 2,026 | 53.04% | -232 | -6.08% | 3,820 |
| Transylvania | 3,435 | 46.82% | 3,901 | 53.18% | -466 | -6.36% | 7,336 |
| Tyrrell | 615 | 59.42% | 420 | 40.58% | 195 | 18.84% | 1,035 |
| Union | 6,383 | 65.50% | 3,362 | 34.50% | 3,021 | 31.00% | 9,745 |
| Vance | 4,922 | 71.57% | 1,955 | 28.43% | 2,967 | 43.14% | 6,877 |
| Wake | 22,427 | 59.61% | 15,194 | 40.39% | 7,233 | 19.22% | 37,621 |
| Warren | 2,733 | 79.19% | 718 | 20.81% | 2,015 | 58.38% | 3,451 |
| Washington | 1,947 | 65.34% | 1,033 | 34.66% | 914 | 30.68% | 2,980 |
| Watauga | 3,223 | 41.01% | 4,636 | 58.99% | -1,413 | -17.98% | 7,859 |
| Wayne | 6,756 | 61.55% | 4,220 | 38.45% | 2,536 | 23.10% | 10,976 |
| Wilkes | 5,870 | 33.71% | 11,544 | 66.29% | -5,674 | -32.58% | 17,414 |
| Wilson | 8,328 | 74.64% | 2,830 | 25.36% | 5,498 | 49.28% | 11,158 |
| Yadkin | 2,361 | 30.15% | 5,469 | 69.85% | -3,108 | -39.70% | 7,830 |
| Yancey | 2,964 | 51.35% | 2,808 | 48.65% | 156 | 2.70% | 5,772 |
| Totals | 590,530 | 50.66% | 575,062 | 49.34% | 15,468 | 1.32% | 1,165,592 |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Alleghany
* Alamance
* Dare
* Cherokee
* Graham
* Macon
* McDowell
* Polk
* Rockingham
* Stokes
* Surry
* Swain

## Analysis

North Carolina was carried by Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, with 50.66 percent of the popular vote, over incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 49.34 percent. As in 1952, the key to Stevenson’s victory was the powerful loyalty of Black Belt and Outer Banks white voters. The east–west partisan split seen in 1928 and 1952 became so consistent that Stevenson won only four counties in the western bloc — with Eisenhower’s gain vis-à-vis 1952 of around 6 points concentrated in traditionally Democratic mountain and Piedmont counties — but in the coastal plain Eisenhower won only Dare and Brunswick Counties. Critical help for Stevenson also came from gaining a much larger proportion of the growing urban black electorate than elsewhere in the Confederacy. This was the last time until 1992 that North Carolina would vote for the losing candidate in a presidential election, and is also the last time that a Republican has won the presidency without carrying North Carolina.