Who won Kentucky in the 1872 presidential election?

Greeley (Democratic) carried Kentucky in 1872, winning its 12 electoral votes.

How many electoral votes did Kentucky have in 1872?

Kentucky cast 12 electoral votes in the 1872 presidential election.

Did Kentucky vote for the national winner in 1872?

No. Kentucky backed Greeley, while Ulysses S. Grant won the presidency nationally.

ReconstructionKY · 12 EV

1872

Kentucky: Greeley carries 12 EV.

Kentucky cast its 12 electoral votes for Greeley (Democratic). National winner: Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) — Kentucky voted against the national winner this cycle.

Kentucky in 1872

The 1872 contest saw Kentucky line up behind Greeley, delivering 12 electoral votes to the Democratic ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) won the presidency, leaving Kentucky among the states he did not carry.

It marked the 3rd consecutive election in which Kentucky backed the Democratic party, a streak reaching back to 1864. The region divided — West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri joined Kentucky for the Democratic ticket, while Indiana, Ohio, 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 Reconstruction — Republican rule and contested returns.

In the national count, Ulysses S. Grant took 286 of the 352 electoral votes, against Thomas A. Hendricks's 42. Ulysses S. Grant led the national popular vote with 55.58% of the ballots cast.

The 1872 national map

Kentucky full history →