See main article: 1860 United States presidential election.
| Election Name: | 1860 United States presidential election in Kentucky |
| Flag Year: | 1846 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1856 United States presidential election in Kentucky |
| Previous Year: | 1856 |
| Next Election: | 1864 United States presidential election in Kentucky |
| Next Year: | 1864 |
| Election Date: | November 6, 1860 |
| Image1: | John Bell (Restored).png |
| Nominee1: | John Bell |
| Party1: | Constitutional Union Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | Tennessee |
| Running Mate1: | Edward Everett |
| Electoral Vote1: | 12 |
| Popular Vote1: | 66,058 |
| Percentage1: | 45.18% |
| Nominee2: | John C. Breckinridge |
| Party2: | Southern Democratic (United States) |
| Home State2: | Kentucky |
| Running Mate2: | Joseph Lane |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 53,143 |
| Percentage2: | 36.35% |
| Image3: | Senator Stephen A. Douglas (edited).png |
| Nominee3: | Stephen A. Douglas |
| Party3: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State3: | Illinois |
| Running Mate3: | Herschel V. Johnson |
| Electoral Vote3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 25,651 |
| Percentage3: | 17.54% |
| Map Size: | 380px |
| President | |
| Before Election: | James Buchanan |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Abraham Lincoln |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1860 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 6, 1860, as part of the 1860 United States presidential election. Kentucky voters chose 12 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.[1]
Kentucky was won by the Constitutional Union nominee Senator John Bell of Tennessee and his running mate Governor of Massachusetts Edward Everett. They defeated the Southern Democratic nominee Vice President of the United States and Kentucky native John C. Breckinridge and his running mate Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon as well as Democratic nominee 15th Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and his running mate 41st Governor of Georgia Herschel V. Johnson, with 17.54% of the popular vote.[1] Bell won the state by a margin of 8.83%.
Despite Republican candidate and former Illinois representative Abraham Lincoln having been born and raised for the first five years of his life in Kentucky, he came in a distant fourth, failing to win 1% of the vote. Even worse, Lincoln failed to win LaRue County, the location of his birth., this is the last election in which Clay County and Owsley County voted for a Democratic candidate.
Lincoln's support came from German-Americans and the mountainous counties.