List of major-party United States presidential candidates who lost their home state

The following is a list of major party U.S. presidential candidates who lost their birth or resident states. While many successful candidates have won the presidency without winning their birth state, only three (James Knox Polk, Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon) have won election despite losing their state of residence. (Nixon, a life-long Californian, had taken residence in New York after his failed run for the California governor's office). Polk is the only man to win the presidency but lose both states of birth and residence.

Presidents who won the election

Name	Election Year	Party	Birth State	Resident State
William Henry Harrison	1840	Whig	Lost Virginia	Won Ohio
James Knox Polk	1844	Democrat	Lost North Carolina	Lost Tennessee
Abraham Lincoln	1860	Republican	Lost Kentucky	Won Illinois
Abraham Lincoln	1864	Republican	Lost Kentucky	Won Illinois
Woodrow Wilson	1916	Democratic	Won Virginia	Lost New Jersey
Richard Nixon	1968	Republican	Won California	Lost New York
George H. W. Bush	1988	Republican	Lost Massachusetts	Won Texas
George W. Bush	2000	Republican	Lost Connecticut	Won Texas
George W. Bush	2004	Republican	Lost Connecticut	Won Texas

Candidates who lost the election

Name	Election Year	Party	Birth State	Resident State
Martin Van Buren	1840	Democrat	Lost New York	Lost New York
Henry Clay	1844	Whig	Lost Virginia	Won Kentucky
Winfield Scott	1852	Whig	Lost Virginia	Lost New Jersey
John C. Frémont	1856	Republican	Lost Georgia	Lost California
Stephen A. Douglas	1860	Democrat	Lost Vermont	Lost Illinois
George B. McClellan	1864	Democrat	Lost Pennsylvania	Won New Jersey
Horace Greeley	1872	Democrat	Lost Massachusetts	Lost New York
Winfield Scott Hancock	1880	Democrat	Lost Pennsylvania	Lost Pennsylvania
Grover Cleveland	1888	Democrat	Won New Jersey	Lost New York
Benjamin Harrison	1892	Republican	Won Ohio	Lost Indiana
William Jennings Bryan	1896	Democrat-Populist	Lost Illinois	Won Nebraska
William Jennings Bryan	1900	Democrat-Populist	Lost Illinois	Lost Nebraska
Alton B. Parker	1904	Democrat	Lost New York	Lost New York
William Jennings Bryan	1908	Democrat	Lost Illinois	Won Nebraska
Theodore Roosevelt	1912	Progressive	Lost New York	Lost New York
William Howard Taft	1912	Republican	Lost Ohio	Lost Ohio
James M. Cox	1920	Democrat	Lost Ohio	Lost Ohio
John W. Davis	1924	Democrat	Lost West Virginia	Lost New York
Al Smith	1928	Democrat	Lost New York	Lost New York
Herbert Hoover	1932	Republican	Lost Iowa	Lost California
Alf Landon	1936	Republican	Lost Pennsylvania	Lost Kansas
Thomas E. Dewey	1944	Republican	Lost Michigan	Lost New York
Adlai Stevenson	1952	Democrat	Lost California	Lost Illinois
Adlai Stevenson	1956	Democrat	Lost California	Lost Illinois
Hubert Humphrey	1968	Democrat	Lost South Dakota	Won Minnesota
George McGovern	1972	Democrat	Lost South Dakota	Lost South Dakota
George H. W. Bush	1992	Republican	Lost Massachusetts	Won Texas
Al Gore	2000	Democrat	Won District of Columbia	Lost Tennessee
John Kerry	2004	Democrat	Lost Colorado	Won Massachusetts

See also

• President of the United States