1860

Reading the 1860 result in North Carolina

North Carolina backed Breckinridge (Southern Democratic) in the 1860 presidential election, casting 10 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the presidency, leaving North Carolina among the states he did not carry.

Breckinridge's win closed out North Carolina's 8-election run of voting Democratic. The region divided — Georgia and South Carolina joined North Carolina for the Southern Democratic ticket, while Virginia and Tennessee did not. Across the 58 presidential elections North Carolina has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (32 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.