Tuesday, November 6, 1860
1860 presidential election results
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) and running mate Hannibal Hamlin won with 180 electoral votes and 39.8% of the popular vote.
Tipping-point state: New York, R+7.4 (nation R+10.4). It delivered electoral vote number 152 for the winner. What is a tipping-point state?
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Electoral votes | Popular vote | Share | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln Won | Hannibal Hamlin | Republican | 180 | 1,867,198 | 39.80% | 18 |
| John C. Breckinridge (John Breckenridge) | Joseph Lane | Southern Democratic | 72 | 854,248 | 18.20% | 10 |
| John Bell | Edward Everett | Constitutional Union | 39 | 591,658 | 12.60% | 3 |
| Stephen Douglas | Herschel Johnson | Democratic | 12 | 1,379,434 | 29.40% | 1 |
| Total popular votes counted | 4,692,538 | |||||
Electoral College map
Full-screen mapMargin:<55–1010–2020+points. Grey: no popular vote / no data.
Results by state
Download CSV| State | Abraham Lincoln | Stephen Douglas | John C. Breckinridge | John Bell | Margin | EV | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | -- | 15.1% | 54.0% 9 | 30.9% | 23.2 | 9 | 90,357 |
| Arkansas | -- | 9.7% | 53.2% 4 | 37.2% | 16.0 | 4 | 54,053 |
| California | 33.0% 4 | 32.4% | 28.9% | 5.7% | 0.6 | 4 | 118,840 |
| Connecticut | 53.9% 6 | 21.5% | 20.5% | 4.1% | 32.4 | 6 | 80,745 |
| Delaware | 23.7% | 6.6% | 45.6% 3 | 24.0% | 21.6 | 3 | 16,097 |
| Florida | -- | 2.6% | 59.6% 3 | 37.9% | 21.7 | 3 | 14,347 |
| Georgia | -- | 10.9% | 48.8% 10 | 40.3% | 8.5 | 10 | 106,794 |
| Illinois | 50.7% 11 | 47.2% | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3.5 | 11 | 339,691 |
| Indiana | 51.1% 13 | 42.4% | 4.5% | 2.0% | 8.6 | 13 | 272,143 |
| Iowa | 54.9% 4 | 42.9% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 11.9 | 4 | 128,331 |
| Kentucky | 0.9% | 17.5% | 36.4% | 45.2% 12 | 8.8 | 12 | 146,216 |
| Louisiana | -- | 15.1% | 44.9% 6 | 40.0% | 4.9 | 6 | 50,510 |
| Maine | 64.2% 8 | 27.3% | 6.5% | 2.1% | 36.9 | 8 | 97,918 |
| Maryland | 3.1% | 6.4% | 45.6% 8 | 44.9% | 0.7 | 8 | 93,234 |
| Massachusetts | 62.8% 13 | 20.3% | 3.7% | 13.3% | 42.5 | 13 | 169,954 |
| Michigan | 57.2% 6 | 42.0% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 15.1 | 6 | 154,747 |
| Minnesota | 63.4% 4 | 34.3% | 2.2% | 0.2% | 29.2 | 4 | 34,799 |
| Mississippi | -- | 4.8% | 59.0% 7 | 36.2% | 22.8 | 7 | 69,120 |
| Missouri | 10.3% | 35.5% 9 | 18.9% | 35.3% | 0.3 | 9 | 165,518 |
| New Hampshire | 56.9% 5 | 39.2% | 3.2% | 0.7% | 17.7 | 5 | 65,953 |
| New Jersey | 48.1% 4 | 51.9% 3 | -- | -- | -3.7 | 7 | 121,215 |
| New York | 53.7% 35 | 46.3% | -- | -- | 7.4 | 35 | 675,156 |
| North Carolina | -- | 2.8% | 50.4% 10 | 46.8% | 3.7 | 10 | 96,230 |
| Ohio | 52.3% 23 | 42.3% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 10.0 | 23 | 442,441 |
| Oregon | 34.5% 3 | 25.9% | 33.5% | 6.1% | 1.0 | 3 | 15,941 |
| Pennsylvania | 56.3% 27 | 3.5% | 37.5% | 2.7% | 18.7 | 27 | 476,442 |
| Rhode Island | 61.2% 4 | 38.8% | -- | -- | 22.4 | 4 | 19,993 |
| South Carolina | 8 electors chosen by state legislature and awarded to John Breckinridge | — | — | — | |||
| Tennessee | -- | 7.7% | 44.7% | 47.6% 12 | 2.9 | 12 | 148,574 |
| Texas | -- | -- | 75.5% 4 | 24.5% | 51.0 | 4 | 62,986 |
| Vermont | 75.8% 5 | 4.2% | 4.2% | 0.5% | 56.2 | 5 | 44,712 |
| Virginia | 1.2% | 44.5% | 44.5% | 44.7% 15 | 0.2 | 15 | 167,301 |
| Wisconsin | 56.6% 5 | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 13.9 | 5 | 152,180 |
Shares are of the votes counted for president; bold numbers are electoral votes won. Margin is the winner’s lead over the runner-up in points.
Closest states in 1860
- Virginia John Bell by 322 votes (0.19 pts)
- Missouri Stephen Douglas by 429 votes (0.26 pts)
- California Abraham Lincoln by 657 votes (0.55 pts)
- Maryland John C. Breckinridge by 636 votes (0.68 pts)
- Oregon Abraham Lincoln by 154 votes (0.97 pts)
- Tennessee John Bell by 4,266 votes (2.87 pts)
- Illinois Abraham Lincoln by 11,966 votes (3.52 pts)
- North Carolina John C. Breckinridge by 3,549 votes (3.69 pts)
Flipped since 1856
- Alabama: Democratic → Southern Democratic (9 EV)
- Arkansas: Democratic → Southern Democratic (4 EV)
- California: Democratic → Republican (4 EV)
- Delaware: Democratic → Southern Democratic (3 EV)
- Florida: Democratic → Southern Democratic (3 EV)
- Georgia: Democratic → Southern Democratic (10 EV)
- Illinois: Democratic → Republican (11 EV)
- Indiana: Democratic → Republican (13 EV)
- Kentucky: Democratic → Constitutional Union (12 EV)
- Louisiana: Democratic → Southern Democratic (6 EV)
- Maryland: Whig-American → Southern Democratic (8 EV)
- Mississippi: Democratic → Southern Democratic (7 EV)
- New Jersey: Democratic → Republican (7 EV)
- North Carolina: Democratic → Southern Democratic (10 EV)
- Pennsylvania: Democratic → Republican (27 EV)
- Tennessee: Democratic → Constitutional Union (12 EV)
- Texas: Democratic → Southern Democratic (4 EV)
- Virginia: Democratic → Constitutional Union (15 EV)
Why the state electoral votes do not add up to the national total
In 1860 some states had no popular vote; their electors were chosen another way, so their electoral votes appear only in these notes:
- South Carolina: 8 electors chosen by state legislature and awarded to John Breckinridge
Source: 1860
Questions and answers
Who won the 1860 presidential election?
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the 1860 election with 180 electoral votes, with Hannibal Hamlin as vice president.
How many electoral votes did each candidate win in 1860?
Abraham Lincoln 180; John C. Breckinridge 72; John Bell 39; Stephen Douglas 12 (out of 303).
Who won the popular vote in 1860?
Abraham Lincoln received the most popular votes: 1,867,198 (39.8%) of 4,692,538 counted.
What was the closest state in 1860?
Virginia, which John Bell won by 322 votes (0.19 points).
Which states flipped in 1860?
Compared with 1856, 18 states changed party: Alabama (to Southern Democratic), Arkansas (to Southern Democratic), California (to Republican), Delaware (to Southern Democratic), Florida (to Southern Democratic), Georgia (to Southern Democratic), Illinois (to Republican), Indiana (to Republican), Kentucky (to Constitutional Union), Louisiana (to Southern Democratic), Maryland (to Southern Democratic), Mississippi (to Southern Democratic), New Jersey (to Republican), North Carolina (to Southern Democratic), Pennsylvania (to Republican), Tennessee (to Constitutional Union), Texas (to Southern Democratic) and Virginia (to Constitutional Union).
What was the tipping-point state in 1860?
New York. Ranking the states by the winner's margin, it delivered electoral vote number 152; it voted Republican by 7.4 points, against Republican by 10.4 points nationally.
Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data