When Al Gore lost Tennessee in the 2000 election, many pointed out how unusual it was for a candidate to lose their home state. We were reminded that it had been 28 years since a major candidate had not won the state they were representing. While it had not occurred recently before 2000, it is actually fairly common for a presidential "Favorite Son" to lose favor with the voters of his state. In fact, it has occurred in 29 of the 50 elections since 1804! What is rare is for a candidate to actually win the presidency without also winning their home state. That has occurred only three times since 1804.

(The list below is limited to candidates who: were actively running; ran from 1804 to the present; were from major parties or third parties that significantly impacted an election.)

1804 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina	lost home state and election to Thomas Jefferson.
1808 Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina	lost home state and election to James Madison.
1816 Rufus King of New York	lost home state and election to James Monroe.
1840 Martin Van Buren of New York	incumbent President lost home state and election to William Henry Harrison.
1844 James Polk of Tennessee	lost home state to Henry Clay, but won the election.
1852 Winfield Scott of New Jersey	lost home state and election to Franklin Pierce.
1856 John Fremont of California	lost home state and election to James Buchanan.
1856 Millard Fillmore of New York	former President lost home state to John Fremont, who lost election to James Buchanan.
1860 Stephen Douglas of Illinois	lost home state and election to Abraham Lincoln, who was also from Illinois.
1860 John Breckinridge of Kentucky	lost home state to John Bell, who lost the election to Abraham Lincoln.
1864 George McClellan of New York	lost home state and election to Abraham Lincoln.
1872 Horace Greeley of New York	lost home state and election to Ulysses S. Grant.
1880 Winfield Hancock of Pennsylvania	lost home state and election to James Garfield.
1888 Grover Cleveland of New York	incumbent President lost home state and election to Benjamin Harrison.
1892 Benjamin Harrison of Indiana	incumbent President lost home state and election to former President Grover Cleveland.
1900 William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska	lost home state and election to William McKinley.
1904 Alton Parker of New York	lost home state and election to Theodore Roosevelt, who was also from New York.
1912 Theodore Roosevelt of New York	former President lost home state and election to Woodrow Wilson.
1912 William Howard Taft of Ohio	incumbent President lost home state and election to Woodrow Wilson.
1916 Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey	incumbent President lost home state to Charles Hughes, but won the election.
1920 James Cox of Ohio	lost home state and election to Warren Harding, who was also from Ohio.
1924 John William Davis of West Virginia	lost home state and election to Calvin Coolidge.
1928 Alfred Smith of New York	lost home state and election to Herbert Hoover.
1932 Herbert Hoover of California	incumbent President lost home state and election to Franklin Roosevelt.
1936 Alfred Landon of Kansas	lost home state and election to Franklin Roosevelt.
1940 Wendell Willkie of New York	lost home state and election to Franklin Roosevelt, who was also from New York.
1944 Thomas Dewey of New York	lost home state and election to Franklin Roosevelt, who was also from New York.
1952 Adlai Stevenson of Illinois	lost home state and election to Dwight Eisenhower.
1956 Adlai Stevenson of Illinois	lost home state and election to Dwight Eisenhower.
1968 Richard Nixon of New York	lost home state to Hubert Humphrey, but won the election.
1972 George McGovern of South Dakota	lost home state and election to Richard Nixon.
2000 Al Gore of Tennessee	lost home state and election to George W. Bush.