Maryland’s Presidential Record

From Marc Korman.

With Senator Clinton’s recent boast that “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation,” I thought this would be a good time to check in with Maryland’s record in presidential election years. As Maryland goes, does the nation follow?

Not so much. Since World War II, fifteen presidential elections have been held. Maryland voted for the winner ten times, compared to fourteen times for Ohio. The good news for Maryland’s record is that they voted for the winner in all three acknowledged electoral landslides since World War II (Johnson in ‘64, Nixon in ‘72, and Reagan in ‘84).

Maryland voted for the Democratic candidate over the Republican nine times, but only five of those times did the Democrat win the presidency. The highest Democratic vote was 65% for Johnson in 1964.

Maryland voted for the Republican candidate six times, and five of those led to Republican presidencies. The highest Republican vote was 61% for Nixon in 1972.

The biggest surprise for me when generating the list was Maryland’s support for Republican George H.W. Bush in 1988. Maryland is a safe Democratic state today, but given its support for Republicans twice in the 1980s, that status is a relatively recent development. Also interesting was Maryland’s narrow support for Republican Dewey in 1948, though that was strange election due to the presence of four major candidates on the ballot. Had Truman received the votes of Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace in Maryland, he may well have carried the state.

Notes: Maryland winners listed in bold.
1960 was the first year Alaska and Hawaii were included in the Electoral College.
1964 was the first year the District of Columbia was included in the Electoral College. They are included as a “state” in the candidate state totals.