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March 11, 1952 (1952-03-11) 1956 → | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Eisenhower: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1952New Hampshire Republican presidential primary was held on March 11, 1952, inNew Hampshire as one of theRepublican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the1952 United States presidential election. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower defeated SenatorRobert Taft of Ohio by 12 percentage points on his way to eventual nomination by theRepublican Party for President and victory in the1952 election against DemocratAdlai Stevenson.[1][2]
After the 1948 presidential primary, theNew Hampshire state legislature, concerned by low voter turnout, passed a law that introduced a "presidential preference primary" to the election.[3] For the first time, ballots would include the candidates' names—voters could indicate their preference for candidates for president and vice president directly, as well as indirectly by voting for the delegates their party would sent to theconvention, where the candidates for president and vice president would be nominated.
Because the "direct" votes had no bearing on the election of delegates, this new feature of the election was described as a "beauty contest" between the major candidates.[4] Delegates were still elected separately, but under the new rules they could indicate their allegiance as "pledged" or "favorable" to a candidate, only the former of which was legally binding and required the candidate's written consent.[3] All Republican delegates in 1952 ran as "favorable" or undeclared; none were "pledged" to a candidate.[1]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | 46,661 | 50.2% | 14 |
| Robert A. Taft | 35,838 | 38.6% | 0 |
| Harold Stassen | 6,574 | 7.1% | 0 |
| Douglas MacArthur | 3,227 | 3.5% | 0 |
| Other | 565 | 0.6% | 0 |
| Total | 92,865 | 100% | 14 |
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