I asked, "When was there a losing ticket that lost the home states of both its candidates?" The hive-mind responds:
Most recent: McGovern/Shriver in 1972. McGovern was from S. Dakota and Shriver from Maryland, and they won only Mass. And D.C.
Another reader:
And for the bonus round, McGovern's ticket had the distinction of losing the home states of two VP noms: Shriver's Maryland and Eagleton's Missouri.
Another points to a previous ticket:
1956: Adlai Stevenson (IL) and Estes Kefauver (TN) lost Illinois and Tennessee.
Another notes a handful of FDR victims:
In 1940, Wendell Willkie lost his home state of New York, as well as Oregon, the home state of his running mate, Charles McNary. Willkie did carry his birth state of Indiana, however.
In 1936, Alf Landon lost his home state of Kansas, as well as Illinois, the home state of his running mate, Frank Knox.
Another:
As a TR enthusiast, I can tell you that in 1904, Theodore Roosevelt (a New Yorker) ran against Alton B. Parker (then Chief Judge of New York's highest state court) and Parker's prospective VP, Henry G. Davis of West Virginia. Roosevelt won both New York and West Virginia, and also the presidency.
Update from another:
A small point, but the 1940 and 1904 cases don’t quite fit – in both cases the winning presidential candidate (FDR, TR) was also from the same state (NY) as the losing candidate, and both had previously been popular governors. That kind of nullifies the home state advantage.
Another goes even earlier:
The Whig ticket lost Virginia despite William Henry Harrison and John Tyler being natives of the Old Dominion. Both of their fathers were former governors, Harrison's older brother was a former member of Congress, and Tyler was a former Representative, Senator and governor.
One more reader:
Actually Romney is losing four states he calls home: Michigan, Massachusetts, California and New Hampshire.
The Dish 