Franklin Pierce Democratic James Buchanan Democratic The 1856 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 4, 1856, as part of the 1856 United States presidential election.

Buchanan, a lifelong Pennsylvanian, won his home state by a margin of 18.12%.

This would be the final time that Pennsylvania would vote for a Democratic candidate until Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state in 1936, as well as the last time that the state voted for a non-Republican candidate until Theodore Roosevelt’s third-party bid in 1912.

Along with this being the last time that a non-incumbent Democrat won the state until John F. Kennedy in 1960.

This is also one of only four occasions where Pennsylvania and Michigan voted for different presidential candidates ever since the Democrats and Republicans became the two major parties in U.S.