The1860 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 6, 1860. State voters chose four electors to represent the state in theElectoral College, which chose thepresident andvice president. Soon after this election, Texasseceded from theUnited States in March 1861 and joined theConfederate States of America. It would not participate in the following elections in1864 and1868. The state would not be readmitted into the Union until 1870 and would not participate in another presidential election until1872. This would stand as the best performance of any Presidential candidate in Texas history for over 65 years, untilWoodrow Wilson (76.92%) surpassed it in1916. Other than Wilson, onlyFranklin Roosevelt exceeded Breckenridge's percent of the vote, though he did so in three of his four runs: in1932 (88.06%),1936 (87.08%), and1940 (80.92%). This leaves Breckenridge's performance as the overall 5th best performance in Texas presidential history.
Before candidates were even nominated, Texas, as the frontier ofslavery in the United States, was always recognised as extremely important to the extension of slavery,[1] and nefarious tales of abolition plots there were common in the Southern media.[1] Texas delegates tothe first Democratic National Convention refused to accept “Northern Democrat”Stephen A. Douglas′ platform of “popular sovereignty” — locally called “squatter sovereignty” — because they believed that it would prevent the expansion of slavery in the same manner as the Republicans’ “free soil” policy.[2] Texas was among the most insistent states upon a platform thatguaranteed expansion of slavery into the territories and consequently the state Democratic party unanimously supported the nomination ofSouthern Democrat nomineeJohn C. Breckinridge. Douglas, indeed, had so little support amongst the Texas electorate that his supporters had agreed to transfer their allegiance toConstitutional Union candidateJohn Bell,[3] although their ultimate goal was to support whomever stood the best chance of beatingRepublican candidateAbraham Lincoln, who was not on the ballot in Texas.[4]
With the state media overwhelmingly behind him,[2] Texas overwhelmingly voted for Breckinridge by a margin of 50.97 points. Breckinridge won 75.47 percent of the vote, making Texas his strongest state.[5] Despite the allegiance of Douglas supporters, Bell carried only three counties in the state and it is sometimes thought that theGerman-Americanabolitionists in such counties asGillespie refrained from visiting the polls.[6] Besides the counties he won, Bell only exceeded forty percent of the vote in six other counties. Douglas gained a mere 18 votes as awrite-in candidate.
^abCrenshaw, Ollinger (July 1942). "The Psychological Background of the Election of 1860 in the South".The North Carolina Historical Review.19 (3):260–279.
^abLedbetter, Billy D. (October 1975). "Politics and Society: The Popular Response to Political Rhetoric in Texas, 1857-1860".East Texas Historical Journal.13 (2):11–24.
^Baggett, James Alex;The Scalawags: Southern Dissenters in the Civil War and Reconstruction, p. 38ISBN0807130141
^Bünger, Walter L.Secession and the Union in Texas. p. 76.ISBN0292739958.
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