Reference Library - State Winners

This table shows the percentage of the popular vote the winning party received in each state in five previous elections. In all of the states except Nebraska and Maine, the candidate who won the most popular votes gets all of the state's electoral votes. The winner of an election, then, is based on which candidate won the popular vote in which states. (Nebraska and Maine divide their electoral votes based on who won each congressional district.)

Click Reference tool and then click State Winners.

To view which party won which state in previous elections:

Locate the state you are interested in learning about in the first column. Next locate the election column with the year you are interested in. In each state, the block will be blue if the Democrats won the majority of the popular vote or the block will be red if the Republicans won the majority of the popular vote. The number is the total percentage of the popular vote the winning party received in that state.

To sort alphabetically by state:

Click Sort.
Click Alpha.

To sort states by highest percentage of popular votes each party won:

Click Sort.
Select a year and click.
Click Dem Par or Rep Par

Note: The way our voting system works, it is possible to be elected president without receiving the majority of the popular vote. Four presidents have won an election by winning more electoral votes than his opponent but with fewer popular votes: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and George W. Bush in 2000.

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See Also:
Results
Popular Vote