1856
Reading the 1856 result in Kentucky
Kentucky backed Fillmore (American (Know-Nothing)) in the 1856 presidential election, casting 12 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — James Buchanan (Democratic) won the presidency, leaving Kentucky among the states he did not carry.
Fillmore's win closed out Kentucky's 5-election run of voting Whig. The region divided — Tennessee joined Kentucky for the American (Know-Nothing) ticket, while Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri, and Illinois did not. Across the 59 presidential elections Kentucky has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (28 times). The vote fell within the Antebellum Crisis — Slavery splits the parties.
In the national count, James Buchanan took 174 of the 296 electoral votes, against John C. Frémont's 114. James Buchanan led the national popular vote with 45.29% of the ballots cast.
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