The 1956 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1956, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Incumbent Democrat John F. Simms ran for reelection to a second term but was defeated by former governor Edwin L. Mechem. This was the last gubernatorial election until 1994 in which a Republican carried Sandoval County.

Primary election Democratic primary The Democratic primary was won by incumbent governor John F. Simms.

Results

Republican primary The Republican primary was won by former governor Edwin L. Mechem.

Results

General election

Results

Results by county County Edwin L. MechemRepublican John F. SimmsDemocratic Margin Total votes cast # % # % # %Bernalillo38,20759.02%26,52540.98%11,68218.05%64,732Catron66856.18%52143.82%14712.36%1,189Chaves6,16752.23%5,64047.77%5274.46%11,807Colfax2,90754.40%2,43745.60%4708.79%5,344Curry4,37152.38%3,97447.62%3974.76%8,345De Baca65250.15%64849.85%40.31%1,300Doña Ana6,47654.50%5,40745.50%1,0699.00%11,883Eddy5,34637.10%9,06562.90%-3,719-25.81%14,411Grant2,77238.29%4,46761.71%-1,695-23.41%7,239Guadalupe1,44353.07%1,27646.93%1676.14%2,719Harding63257.82%46142.18%17115.65%1,093Hidalgo58937.93%96462.07%-375-24.15%1,553Lea4,40137.87%7,22062.13%-2,819-24.26%11,621Lincoln1,79059.59%1,21440.41%57619.17%3,004Los Alamos1,68936.69%2,91463.31%-1,225-26.61%4,603Luna1,15138.52%1,83761.48%-686-22.96%2,988McKinley4,32956.03%3,39743.97%93212.06%7,726Mora1,73658.59%1,22741.41%50917.18%2,963Otero3,09748.58%3,27851.42%-181-2.84%6,375Quay2,09548.60%2,21651.40%-121-2.81%4,311Rio Arriba4,72153.40%4,11946.60%6026.81%8,840Roosevelt2,31546.64%2,64953.36%-334-6.73%4,964San Juan4,06753.83%3,48846.17%5797.66%7,555San Miguel4,98454.54%4,15445.46%8309.08%9,138Sandoval1,83753.68%1,58546.32%2527.36%3,422Santa Fe8,39251.59%7,87548.41%5173.18%16,267Sierra1,73458.27%1,24241.73%49216.53%2,976Socorro2,14956.01%1,68843.99%46112.01%3,837Taos3,16254.19%2,67345.81%4898.38%5,835Torrance1,46153.01%1,29546.99%1666.02%2,756Union1,39450.42%1,37149.58%230.83%2,765Valencia4,75458.05%3,43641.95%1,31816.09%8,190Total131,48852.23%120,26347.77%11,2254.46%251,751

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Bernalillo Chaves Colfax Curry De Baca Doña Ana Guadalupe McKinley Rio Arriba San Miguel Sandoval Santa Fe Sierra Socorro Taos Torrance Union Valencia

References