At the bottom of this blog, I present a list of the most popular presidential candidates by home state. For home state, I include every president’s birth state and their residential state at the time of their running for office. [Note: All statistics start from 1828, the first modern election.]
It is interesting that Obama, Ford and Eisenhower are the only presidents to be the most popular home-state presidents of two states. Other surprising facts include:
- California liked Hoover more than Reagan
- Illinois liked Obama more than Lincoln
- New York likes Eisenhower more than numerous New York candidates
- William Henry Harrison outdid all the other well-known Ohio born presidents
- LBJ was more popular in Texas than the Bushes, despite running against a social conservative in 1964.
List of top home state presidents:
Alabama: Wallace, 1968, 65.86%
Arizona: McCain, 2008, 53.64%
Arkansas: Clinton, 1996, 53.74%
California: Hoover, 1928, 64.69%
Connecticut: Bush, 2004, 43.94%
Georgia: Carter, 1976, 66.74%
Hawaii: Obama, 2008, 71.85%
Illinois: Obama, 2008, 61.92%
Indiana: Wilkie, 1944, 50.44%
Iowa: Hoover, 1928, 61.77%
Kansas: Eisenhower, 1956, 68.77%
Kentucky: Clay, 1832, 54.49%
Louisiana: Taylor, 1848, 54.59%
Maine: Blaine, 1884, 55.34%
Massachusetts: Adams, 1828, 76.36%
Michigan: Ford, 1976, 51.83%
Minnesota: Humphrey, 1968, 54.97%
Missouri: Truman, 1948, 58.11%
Nebraska: Ford, 1976, 59.19%
New Hampshire: Pierce, 1852, 56.40%
New Jersey: McClellan, 1864, 52.8%
New York: Eisenhower, 1956, 61.19%
North Carolina: Polk, 1844, 46.52%
Ohio: Harrison, 1840, 54.10%
Pennsylvania: Blaine, 1884, 52.97%
South Carolina: Thurmond, 1948, 71.97%
South Dakota: McGovern, 1972, 45.52%
Tennessee: Jackson, 1832, 95.42%
Texas: Johnson, 1964, 63.32%
Vermont: Coolidge, 1924, 78.22%
Virginia: Wilson, 1916, 66.99%
West Virginia: Davis, 1924, 44.07%
Wisconsin: La Follette, 1924, 53.96%
HistoryMonocle 