1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
County results Underwood: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Mollohan: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in West Virginia |
---|
The 1956 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1956, to elect the
governor of West Virginia
.
Underwood's 1956 election as
strip mine at a male reformatory in Pruntytown while Mollohan was superintendent of the institution.[2]
Underwood had turned 34 years old only one day before the election, making him one of the youngest U.S. governors to have ever been elected.
The previous governors since 1932 had all been Democrats. His first act as governor was to go on the new medium of television and inform every state employee that they were fired. He stated that this was the only way to destroy the corrupt "machine" system. He later advocated an organized civil service and retirement pension system, and provided temporary employment relief for low-income families.[1]
Although in the wake of the
civil rights legislation.[1]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Cecil H. Underwood | 440,502 | 53.88 | |
Democratic | Bob Mollohan | 377,131 | 46.12 | |
Total votes | 817,633 | 100 | ||
Republican gain from Democratic |
Results by county
County | Cecil Harland Underwood Republican |
Robert Homer Mollohan Democratic |
Margin | Total votes cast[3] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Barbour | 4,398 | 54.49% | 3,673 | 45.51% | 725 | 8.98% | 8,071 |
Berkeley | 8,646 | 59.82% | 5,807 | 40.18% | 2,839 | 19.64% | 14,453 |
Boone | 5,390 | 44.65% | 6,681 | 55.35% | -1,291 | -10.70% | 12,071 |
Braxton | 3,466 | 47.77% | 3,790 | 52.23% | -324 | -4.47% | 7,256 |
Brooke | 5,550 | 43.42% | 7,233 | 56.58% | -1,683 | -13.17% | 12,783 |
Cabell | 28,872 | 61.99% | 17,707 | 38.01% | 11,165 | 23.97% | 46,579 |
Calhoun | 2,014 | 48.95% | 2,100 | 51.05% | -86 | -2.09% | 4,114 |
Clay | 2,846 | 52.79% | 2,545 | 47.21% | 301 | 5.58% | 5,391 |
Doddridge | 2,637 | 75.04% | 877 | 24.96% | 1,760 | 50.09% | 3,514 |
Fayette | 10,906 | 41.70% | 15,249 | 58.30% | -4,343 | -16.60% | 26,155 |
Gilmer | 1,813 | 48.46% | 1,928 | 51.54% | -115 | -3.07% | 3,741 |
Grant | 3,321 | 84.10% | 628 | 15.90% | 2,693 | 68.19% | 3,949 |
Greenbrier | 7,975 | 56.05% | 6,254 | 43.95% | 1,721 | 12.10% | 14,229 |
Hampshire | 2,242 | 46.36% | 2,594 | 53.64% | -352 | -7.28% | 4,836 |
Hancock | 7,764 | 43.81% | 9,956 | 56.19% | -2,192 | -12.37% | 17,720 |
Hardy | 2,169 | 50.31% | 2,142 | 49.69% | 27 | 0.63% | 4,311 |
Harrison | 21,763 | 56.19% | 16,969 | 43.81% | 4,794 | 12.38% | 38,732 |
Jackson | 4,997 | 66.41% | 2,527 | 33.59% | 2,470 | 32.83% | 7,524 |
Jefferson | 3,073 | 47.97% | 3,333 | 52.03% | -260 | -4.06% | 6,406 |
Kanawha | 62,142 | 57.75% | 45,455 | 42.25% | 16,687 | 15.51% | 107,597 |
Lewis | 6,143 | 66.22% | 3,133 | 33.78% | 3,010 | 32.45% | 9,276 |
Lincoln | 4,877 | 49.49% | 4,978 | 50.51% | -101 | -1.02% | 9,855 |
Logan | 10,476 | 41.68% | 14,658 | 58.32% | -4,182 | -16.64% | 25,134 |
Marion | 15,168 | 47.49% | 16,769 | 52.51% | -1,601 | -5.01% | 31,937 |
Marshall | 8,464 | 50.75% | 8,215 | 49.25% | 249 | 1.49% | 16,679 |
Mason | 6,272 | 63.24% | 3,646 | 36.76% | 2,626 | 26.48% | 9,918 |
McDowell | 10,264 | 37.29% | 17,258 | 62.71% | -6,994 | -25.41% | 27,522 |
Mercer | 13,715 | 50.01% | 13,711 | 49.99% | 4 | 0.01% | 27,426 |
Mineral | 5,768 | 59.02% | 4,005 | 40.98% | 1,763 | 18.04% | 9,773 |
Mingo | 7,476 | 42.32% | 10,191 | 57.68% | -2,715 | -15.37% | 17,667 |
Monongalia | 13,594 | 55.03% | 11,111 | 44.97% | 2,483 | 10.05% | 24,705 |
Monroe | 3,547 | 56.72% | 2,707 | 43.28% | 840 | 13.43% | 6,254 |
Morgan | 2,792 | 70.65% | 1,160 | 29.35% | 1,632 | 41.30% | 3,952 |
Nicholas | 5,413 | 54.39% | 4,539 | 45.61% | 874 | 8.78% | 9,952 |
Ohio | 18,964 | 54.20% | 16,024 | 45.80% | 2,940 | 8.40% | 34,988 |
Pendleton | 2,025 | 52.02% | 1,868 | 47.98% | 157 | 4.03% | 3,893 |
Pleasants | 2,194 | 59.20% | 1,512 | 40.80% | 682 | 18.40% | 3,706 |
Pocahontas | 3,008 | 55.50% | 2,412 | 44.50% | 596 | 11.00% | 5,420 |
Preston | 7,535 | 68.18% | 3,517 | 31.82% | 4,018 | 36.36% | 11,052 |
Putnam | 5,809 | 57.03% | 4,376 | 42.97% | 1,433 | 14.07% | 10,185 |
Raleigh | 16,167 | 50.28% | 15,984 | 49.72% | 183 | 0.57% | 32,151 |
Randolph | 5,676 | 51.48% | 5,349 | 48.52% | 327 | 2.97% | 11,025 |
Ritchie | 4,174 | 74.98% | 1,393 | 25.02% | 2,781 | 49.96% | 5,567 |
Roane | 4,701 | 60.64% | 3,051 | 39.36% | 1,650 | 21.28% | 7,752 |
Summers | 3,781 | 50.78% | 3,665 | 49.22% | 116 | 1.56% | 7,446 |
Taylor | 4,516 | 58.35% | 3,223 | 41.65% | 1,293 | 16.71% | 7,739 |
Tucker | 2,386 | 54.03% | 2,030 | 45.97% | 356 | 8.06% | 4,416 |
Tyler | 3,675 | 74.11% | 1,284 | 25.89% | 2,391 | 48.22% | 4,959 |
Upshur | 5,632 | 73.95% | 1,984 | 26.05% | 3,648 | 47.90% | 7,616 |
Wayne | 8,207 | 52.05% | 7,561 | 47.95% | 646 | 4.10% | 15,768 |
Webster | 2,372 | 44.25% | 2,989 | 55.75% | -617 | -11.51% | 5,361 |
Wetzel | 4,652 | 53.37% | 4,065 | 46.63% | 587 | 6.73% | 8,717 |
Wirt | 1,413 | 56.63% | 1,082 | 43.37% | 331 | 13.27% | 2,495 |
Wood | 21,000 | 61.80% | 12,978 | 38.20% | 8,022 | 23.61% | 33,978 |
Wyoming | 6,662 | 47.90% | 7,245 | 52.10% | -583 | -4.19% | 13,907 |
Totals | 440,502 | 377,131 | 53.88% | 46.12% | 63,371 | 7.75% | 817,633 |
References
- ^ a b c "Former Gov. Cecil Underwood has died at 86". Charleston Daily Mail. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Charleston Gazette. Archived from the originalon December 6, 2008.
- ^ a b "WV Governor Race – November 06, 1956". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 22, 2016.