1956 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

1956 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

November 6, 1956
 
Nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower Adlai Stevenson
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Pennsylvania Illinois
Running mate Richard Nixon Estes Kefauver
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 225,819 161,790
Percentage 58.26% 41.73%


President before election

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

Dwight Eisenhower
Republican

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.