JoinCalifornia: Election History for the State of California

Information Home Elected Offices Elections by Decade Longest Service Shortest Service Most & Fewest Votes Uncontested Races Closest Contests Redistricting Recalls
Elections 2024 General 2024 CD-20 Special 2023 US Senate Appt 2022 General Prior 2020s Elections Elections by Decade
Other Stuff Advanced Search CA Constitution CA in Congress Line of Succession Highest Ranking SCOTUS Cases

[search tips] [advanced search]

Searching tips

  • Enter a candidate's name to find a candidate
  • Enter the name of a political party to find the party and all candidates
  • Enter a date to find an election
  • Enter a year to find all elections within that year

November 4, 1856

General Election

  • Note: This was the first California election in which Republican appeared on the ballot. Republican candidates won a total of two State Senate seats and eleven Assembly seats.

President
James Buchanan Democratic 48.4% Win
Millard Fillmore Know Nothing 32.7% Loss
John C. Fremont Republican 18.9% Loss
 
Clerk of the Supreme Court
Cornelius Cole Republican 19.7% Loss
Charles S. Fairfax Democratic 48.4% Win
John Skinker Know Nothing 32% Loss
 
Superintendent of Public Instruction
J. M. Buffington Republican 19.4% Loss
H. P. James Know Nothing 33.5% Loss
Andrew J. Moulder Democratic 47.2% Win
 
CD-AL
A. B. Dibble Know Nothing 20.7% Loss
Joseph C. McKibben Democratic 3% Loss
Ira P. Rankin Independent 13% Loss
Charles L. Scott Democratic 29.9% Win
Joshua N. Turner Republican 12.5% Loss
Bernard C. Whitman Independent 21% Loss
 
SD-02
Pablo De La Guerra Democratic Win
 
SD-04
Samuel B. Bell Republican Win
 
SD-05
Eugene L. Sullivan Republican Win
 
SD-06
Samuel A. Merritt Democratic Win
 
SD-07
James W. Mandeville Democratic Win
 
SD-08
Aaron R. Melony Democratic Win
 
SD-09
William I. Ferguson Democratic Win
Josiah Johnson Democratic Win
 
SD-11
Alfred W. Taliaferro Democratic Win
 
SD-13
Samuel H. Dosh Democratic Win
 
SD-14
John B. McGee Democratic Win
 
SD-15
Jesse O. Goodwin Know Nothing Win
Richard S. Mesick Know Nothing Win
 
SD-16
Samuel H. Chase Democratic Win
 
SD-17
Joseph Walkup Democratic Win
 
SD-18
G. J. Carpenter Democratic Win
Henry M. Fiske Know Nothing Win
Samuel M. Johnson Democratic Win
 
SD-19
William B. Norman Democratic Win
 
SD-20
William T. Ferguson Know Nothing Win
 
AD-01
J. Lancaster Brent Democratic Win
Jefferson Hunt Democratic Win
Edward Hunter Democratic Win
Jeptha J. Kendrick Democratic Win
 
AD-02
Jose M. Covarrubias Democratic Win
William J. Graves Democratic Win
 
AD-03
Estevan Castro Know Nothing Win
Benjamin H. Miles Democratic Win
 
AD-04
James B. LaRue Democratic Win
Noah Palmer Republican Win
John A. Quimby Republican Win
 
AD-05
Maurice C. Blake Republican Win
Richard Chenery Republican Win
Victor J. Fourgeaud Republican Win
George B. Godfrey Democratic Win
Richard M. Jessup Republican Win
Emanuel Miro Republican Win
Rufus Murphy Republican Win
Cyrus Palmer Republican Win
Timothy G. Phelps Republican Win
William W. Shepard Republican Win
 
AD-06
William J. Howard Democratic Win
Daniel Showalter Democratic Win
Orson K. Smith Know Nothing Win
 
AD-07
Caleb Gilman Democratic Win
William Holden Democratic Win
George W. Patrick Democratic Win
George H. Rogers Democratic Win
John R. Underwood Democratic Win
 
AD-08
Thomas M. Aull Democratic Win
A. Inman Democratic Win
Thomas Jenkins Democratic Win
 
AD-09
Amos P. Catlin Know Nothing Win
Robert C. Clark Know Nothing Win
Leonard W. Ferris Know Nothing Win
John H. McKune Democratic Win
 
AD-10
Thomas H. Anderson Democratic Win
J. S. Curtis Know Nothing Win
Andrew M. Stevenson Know Nothing Win
 
AD-11
Uriah Edwards Democratic Win
James M. Estell Democratic Win
Richard Harrison Democratic Win
 
AD-12
John C. Burch Democratic Win
Caspar S. Ricks Democratic Win
Benjamin F. Varney Democratic Win
Stephen G. Whipple Democratic Win
 
AD-13
Isaac Hare Democratic Win
Dudley M. Steele Democratic Win
 
AD-14
Richard Irwin Democratic Win
James Sharon Long Democratic Win
Henry J. Morrison Democratic Win
 
AD-15
Herndon Barrett Democratic Win
Walter Burns Democratic Win
Mortimer Fuller Democratic Win
Daniel W. C. Rice Know Nothing Win
Gabriel N. Swezy Democratic Win
Samuel R. Warrington Democratic Win
 
AD-16
Michael Cassin Democratic Win
E. M. Davidson Democratic Win
Philip Moore Democratic Win
Parker H. Pierce Democratic Win
William C. Wood Democratic Win
 
AD-17
W. W. Caperton Democratic Win
James D. O'Neill Democratic Win
A. P. K. Safford Democratic Win
Samuel B. Wyman Democratic Win
 
AD-18
Jonathan Carpenter Democratic Win
Gaven D. Hall Democratic Win
S. F. Hamm Democratic Win
John Hume Democratic Win
George McDonald Democratic Win
Miles N. Mitchell Democratic Win
Charles Orvis Democratic Win
Jared Turner Democratic Win
 
AD-19
Elwood T. Beatty Democratic Win
James Livermore Democratic Win
William M. Seawell Democratic Win
George L. Shuler Democratic Win
Joseph S. Watkins Democratic Win
 
AD-20
Benjamin J. Coil Democratic Win
Smyth M. Miles Democratic Win