1876 United States presidential election in California
The 1876 United States presidential election in California was held on November 7, 1876, as part of the 1876 United States presidential election . State voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president .
California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes , over the Democratic nominee, New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden .
The 1876 election was the closest two-candidate contest in the history of the Electoral College, with Hayes ultimately winning by a single electoral vote following the controversial resolution of disputed returns in other states. Hayes thus needed all six of California's electoral votes to win. While most sources give Hayes' plurality in California as 2,798, at the time Californian voters chose presidential electors individually. In four subsequent presidential elections (1880 , 1888 , 1896 and 1912 ), the overall results were sufficiently close that the state split its electoral ticket between two candidates. If this had occurred in 1876, Tilden would have been elected president.
Results
General Election Results[ 1]
Party
Pledged to
Elector
Votes
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
John B. Felton
78,614
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
John H. Jewett
78,610
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
Morris M. Estee
78,609
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
John F. Miller
78,607
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
H. J. Ostrander
78,605
Republican Party
Rutherford B. Hayes
D. A. McKinley
78,604
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
John S. Hager
75,845
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
J. Campbell Shorb
75,842
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
Stuart M. Taylor
75,842
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
Frank Ganahl
75,841
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
Barclay Henley
75,839
Democratic Party
Samuel J. Tilden
Joseph H. Budd
75,832
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
Alfred Credge
47
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
John Condra
47
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
S. Harris Herring
47
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
B. K. Lowe
47
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
J. H. Redstone
47
Greenback Party
Peter Cooper
C. B. Smith
47
Write-in
Scattering
19
Votes cast[ c]
154,544
Results by county
County
Rutherford B. Hayes Republican
Samuel J. Tilden Democratic
Peter Cooper Greenback
Scattering
Margin
Total votes cast[ d]
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alameda
4,938
59.52%
3,347
40.34%
12
0.14%
0
0.00%
1,591
19.18%
8,297
Alpine
110
62.86%
65
37.14%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
45
25.71%
175
Amador
1,172
47.13%
1,315
52.87%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−143
−5.75%
2,487
Butte
1,665
50.47%
1,634
49.53%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
31
0.94%
3,299
Calaveras
886
48.63%
936
51.37%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−50
−2.74%
1,822
Colusa
766
34.29%
1,468
65.71%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−702
−31.42%
2,234
Contra Costa
1,184
58.58%
837
41.42%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
347
17.17%
2,021
Del Norte
186
44.93%
228
55.07%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−42
−10.14%
414
El Dorado
1,331
48.02%
1,441
51.98%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−110
−3.97%
2,772
Fresno
338
25.88%
968
74.12%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−630
−48.24%
1,306
Humboldt
1,637
59.20%
1127
40.76%
1
0.04%
0
0.00%
510
18.44%
2,765
Inyo
343
47.77%
375
52.23%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−32
−4.46%
718
Kern
556
39.71%
844
60.29%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−288
−20.57%
1,400
Lake
380
35.02%
702
64.70%
0
0.00%
3
0.28%
−322
−29.68%
1,085
Lassen
256
53.00%
227
47.00%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
29
6.00%
483
Los Angeles
3,041
45.59%
3,615
54.20%
14
0.21%
0
0.00%
−574
−8.61%
6,670
Marin [ e] [ 2]
651
51.26%
619
48.74%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
32
2.52%
1,270
Mariposa
364
39.65%
554
60.35%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−190
−20.70%
918
Mendocino
929
42.00%
1,283
58.00%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−354
−16.00%
2,212
Merced
558
40.97%
804
59.03%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−246
−18.06%
1,362
Modoc
208
39.25%
322
60.75%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−114
−21.51%
530
Mono
153
55.04%
125
44.96%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
28
10.07%
278
Monterey
1,182
53.80%
1,012
46.06%
0
0.00%
3
0.14%
170
7.74%
2,197
Napa
1,153
54.49%
963
45.51%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
190
8.98%
2,116
Nevada
2,300
54.70%
1,905
45.30%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
395
9.39%
4,205
Placer
1,610
55.75%
1,278
44.25%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
332
11.50%
2,888
Plumas
583
53.73%
502
46.27%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
81
7.47%
1,085
Sacramento
3,838
60.71%
2,484
39.29%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
1,354
21.42%
6,322
San Benito
434
39.45%
664
60.36%
0
0.00%
2
0.18%
−230
−20.91%
1,100
San Bernardino
674
51.85%
607
46.69%
19
1.46%
0
0.00%
67
5.15%
1,300
San Diego
794
54.31%
668
45.69%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
126
8.62%
1,462
San Francisco
21,172
50.93%
20,399
49.07%
0
0.00%
1
0.00%
773
1.86%
41,572
San Joaquin
2,270
55.10%
1,850
44.90%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
420
10.19%
4,120
San Luis Obispo
772
44.99%
944
55.01%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−172
−10.02%
1,716
San Mateo
871
55.58%
696
44.42%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
175
11.17%
1,567
Santa Barbara
1,174
61.15%
743
38.72%
0
0.00%
2
0.10%
431
22.46%
1,919
Santa Clara
3,335
52.09%
3,065
47.88%
1
0.02%
1
0.02%
270
4.22%
6,402
Santa Cruz
1,537
57.59%
1,132
42.41%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
405
15.17%
2,669
Shasta
625
49.37%
641
50.63%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−16
−1.26%
1,226
Sierra
917
64.31%
509
35.69%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
408
28.61%
1,426
Siskiyou
718
45.47%
861
54.53%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−143
−9.06%
1,579
Solano
1,951
52.67%
1,753
47.33%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
198
5.35%
3,704
Sonoma
2,432
45.50%
2,907
54.39%
0
0.00%
6
0.11%
−475
−8.89%
5,345
Stanislaus
801
42.20%
1,097
57.80%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−296
−15.60%
1,898
Sutter
550
49.82%
553
50.09%
0
0.00%
1
0.09%
−3
−0.27%
1,104
Tehama
646
48.94%
674
51.06%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−28
−2.12%
1,320
Trinity
388
48.74%
408
51.26%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−20
−2.51%
796
Tulare
986
41.85%
1,370
58.15%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−384
−16.30%
2,356
Tuolumne
809
46.90%
916
53.10%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−107
−6.20%
1,725
Ventura
608
50.71%
591
49.29%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
17
1.42%
1,199
Yolo
1,233
47.55%
1,360
52.45%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
−127
−4.90%
2,593
Yuba
1,250
53.74%
1,076
46.26%
0
0.00%
0
0.00%
174
7.48%
2,326
Total[ f]
78,614
50.87%
75,845
49.08%
47
0.03%
19
0.01%
2,769
1.79%
154,544
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Counties that flipped from Liberal Republican to Democratic
Notes
^ Many sources give Hayes' vote as 79,258, but this figure corresponds to the first elector listed on the canvass rather than the highest elector on the Republican ticket. It also includes the votes from Marin County which were not counted in the official canvass
^ Many sources give Tilden's vote as 76,480, but this figure corresponds to the first elector listed on the canvass rather than the highest elector on the Democratic ticket. It also includes the votes from Marin County which were not counted in the official canvass
^ Based on totals for highest elector on each ticket
^ Based on highest elector on each ticket
^ The votes from Marin County were not counted in the official canvass because the county clerk forgot to submit the county's election returns to the Secretary of State
^ Does not include the votes from Marin County
References
^ Statement of the vote polled in the several counties of the State of California, for Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, at the General Election held on Tuesday, November 7th AD 1876
^ "Disenfranchised" . California Digital Newspaper Collection . Marin County Journal. November 30, 1876. Retrieved June 19, 2024 .