1860
Reading the 1860 result in Maryland
Maryland backed Breckinridge (Southern Democratic) in the 1860 presidential election, casting 8 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the presidency, leaving Maryland among the states he did not carry.
The result flipped Maryland away from the American (Know-Nothing) it had supported in 1856. The region divided — Delaware joined Maryland for the Southern Democratic ticket, while Virginia and Pennsylvania did not. Across the 60 presidential elections Maryland has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (34 times). The vote fell within the Civil War — Lincoln, war, and Reconstruction begins.
In the national count, Abraham Lincoln took 180 of the 303 electoral votes, against John C. Breckinridge's 72. Abraham Lincoln led the national popular vote with 39.65% of the ballots cast.
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