The American Vote
2024 result
Second Party SystemCycle 13 / 60

1836

Martin Van Buren and the 1836 map.
Martin Van Buren (Democratic) defeated William Henry Harrison (Whig), 50.8% to 36.6% of the popular vote.

The 1836 U.S. presidential election was won by Martin Van Buren (Democratic) with 170 of 294 electoral votes, defeating William Henry Harrison (Whig). Electoral-vote margin: 97 (170 to 73). Popular-vote margin: 14.2 percentage points. Turnout was 56.5%. The cycle falls in the Second Party System era of American electoral history.

Buren
170 EV
Harrison
73 EV
Other
51 EV
0148 to win294
The map · 1836
15 states for Dem · 11 for Whig
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Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.

Narrative

Martin Van Buren and the 1836 map

Martin Van Buren, Jackson's chosen successor and Vice President, won a majority of electoral votes against a fragmented Whig opposition that ran multiple regional candidates hoping to throw the election to the House. The Whig strategy failed as Van Buren held the Jackson coalition together. The election was notable for featuring the newly formed Whig Party running different candidates in different regions. Van Buren would soon face the devastating Panic of 1837.

Key issue

Jackson's legacy; Bank policy; slavery in Texas and the territories

Notable

Whigs ran multiple regional candidates in an attempt to deny any candidate a majority

This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.

From the National Archives

Because no candidate for Vice President was elected by the people, the election was decided by the Senate. In that vote, Richard M. Johnson was elected Vice President with 33 votes. Francis Granger received 16 votes.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1836, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

State results · 1836

Electoral votes by state. State popular votes for 1836 are not yet published here.
1836 presidential election results by state: electoral votes
StateElectoral votesPopular vote
Alabama1
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Arkansas2
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Connecticut3
8 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Delaware4
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Georgia5
11 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Illinois6
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Indiana7
9 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Kentucky8
15 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Louisiana9
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maine10
10 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maryland11
10 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Massachusetts12
14 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Michigan13
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Mississippi14
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Missouri15
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Hampshire16
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Jersey17
8 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New York18
42 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
North Carolina19
15 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Ohio20
21 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Pennsylvania21
30 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Rhode Island22
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
South Carolina23
11 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Tennessee24
15 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Vermont25
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Virginia26
23 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.

Notes on the figures

  1. Alabama State popular vote not yet sourced.
  2. Arkansas State popular vote not yet sourced.
  3. Connecticut State popular vote not yet sourced.
  4. Delaware State popular vote not yet sourced.
  5. Georgia State popular vote not yet sourced.
  6. Illinois State popular vote not yet sourced.
  7. Indiana State popular vote not yet sourced.
  8. Kentucky State popular vote not yet sourced.
  9. Louisiana State popular vote not yet sourced.
  10. Maine State popular vote not yet sourced.
  11. Maryland State popular vote not yet sourced.
  12. Massachusetts State popular vote not yet sourced.
  13. Michigan State popular vote not yet sourced.
  14. Mississippi State popular vote not yet sourced.
  15. Missouri State popular vote not yet sourced.
  16. New Hampshire State popular vote not yet sourced.
  17. New Jersey State popular vote not yet sourced.
  18. New York State popular vote not yet sourced.
  19. North Carolina State popular vote not yet sourced.
  20. Ohio State popular vote not yet sourced.
  21. Pennsylvania State popular vote not yet sourced.
  22. Rhode Island State popular vote not yet sourced.
  23. South Carolina The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  24. Tennessee State popular vote not yet sourced.
  25. Vermont State popular vote not yet sourced.
  26. Virginia State popular vote not yet sourced.

SourceNo state popular-vote figures for 1836 are published here yet. How these figures were compiled

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Andrew Jackson · Dem

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