1968 United States presidential election in California
1968 United States presidential election in California Turnout 85.75% (of registered voters) 2.63 pp 62.34% (of eligible voters) 3.66 pp [ 1]
County Results
Nixon
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
Humphrey
40–50%
50–60%
The 1968 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election . State voters chose 40 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College , who voted for president and vice president .
California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon of New York, over the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. The American Independent Party candidate, former Alabama governor George Wallace , performed rather well in California despite being thousands of miles away from his base in the Deep South .
Although Nixon was born and raised in California, he had moved to New York , following his failed 1962 gubernatorial bid , and thus identified New York as his home state in this election . After he won the election, Nixon moved his residency back to California. Nixon had previously defeated John F. Kennedy in California in 1960 , and would later win the state again against George McGovern in 1972 . Had Humphrey come out victorious in California , Nixon would have earned only 261 electoral votes, and thus, the election would have been sent to the United States House of Representatives .
As of the 2020 presidential election , this is the last time that a Democrat had won Kings County .[ 2]
Nixon also became the first-ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Alameda County , as well as the first to do so without carrying Santa Clara County since Ulysses Grant in 1868 , and the first to do so without carrying Napa or San Mateo Counties since Abraham Lincoln in 1860 .
Nixon's victory was the first of six consecutive Republican victories in the state, as California would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Bill Clinton in 1992 . Since then it has become a safe Democratic state. This is also the last election where California did not have the highest number of electoral votes.
Results
1968 United States presidential election in California[ 3]
Party
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
Richard Nixon
3,467,664
47.82%
40
Democratic
Hubert Humphrey
3,244,318
44.74%
0
American Independent
George Wallace
487,270
6.72%
0
Peace and Freedom
Eldridge Cleaver
27,707
0.38%
0
No party
Eugene McCarthy (write-in )
20,721
0.29%
0
No party
Dick Gregory (write-in)
3,230
0.04%
0
No party
Henning A. Blomen (write-in)
341
0.00%
0
No party
Charlene Mitchell (write-in)
260
0.00%
0
No party
E. Harold Munn (write-in)
59
0.00%
0
No party
Write-ins
17
0.00%
0
Invalid or blank votes
—
Totals
7,251,587
100.00%
40
Voter turnout
—
Results by county
County
Richard Nixon Republican
Hubert Humphrey Democratic
George Wallace American Independent
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Alameda
153,285
37.63%
219,545
53.90%
28,426
6.98%
6,093
1.50%
-66,260
-16.27%
407,349
Alpine
150
59.29%
83
32.81%
20
7.91%
0
0.00%
67
26.48%
253
Amador
2,269
42.10%
2,440
45.27%
660
12.24%
21
0.39%
-171
-3.17%
5,390
Butte
22,225
56.68%
12,887
32.87%
3,891
9.92%
208
0.53%
9,338
23.81%
39,211
Calaveras
3,042
52.16%
2,134
36.59%
643
11.03%
13
0.22%
908
15.57%
5,832
Colusa
2,361
51.58%
1,858
40.59%
344
7.52%
14
0.31%
503
10.99%
4,577
Contra Costa
97,486
44.53%
101,668
46.44%
18,330
8.37%
1,433
0.65%
-4,182
-1.91%
218,917
Del Norte
2,387
46.19%
2,236
43.27%
495
9.58%
50
0.97%
151
2.92%
5,168
El Dorado
7,468
49.00%
6,054
39.72%
1,676
11.00%
43
0.28%
1,414
9.28%
15,241
Fresno
59,901
43.60%
65,153
47.42%
11,292
8.22%
1,050
0.76%
-5,252
-3.82%
137,396
Glenn
3,848
53.91%
2,466
34.55%
808
11.32%
16
0.22%
1,382
19.36%
7,138
Humboldt
16,719
46.17%
16,476
45.50%
2,759
7.62%
260
0.72%
243
0.67%
36,214
Imperial
10,818
52.91%
7,481
36.59%
2,100
10.27%
47
0.23%
3,337
16.32%
20,446
Inyo
3,641
54.45%
2,314
34.60%
714
10.68%
18
0.27%
1,327
19.85%
6,687
Kern
53,990
46.61%
49,284
42.55%
12,309
10.63%
249
0.21%
4,706
4.06%
115,832
Kings
7,796
43.07%
8,643
47.75%
1,640
9.06%
22
0.12%
-847
-4.68%
18,101
Lake
4,464
49.00%
3,777
41.46%
838
9.20%
32
0.35%
687
7.54%
9,111
Lassen
2,553
41.06%
2,930
47.12%
712
11.45%
23
0.37%
-377
-6.06%
6,218
Los Angeles
1,266,480
47.65%
1,223,251
46.02%
151,050
5.68%
17,201
0.65%
43,229
1.63%
2,657,982
Madera
6,229
43.55%
6,932
48.47%
1,120
7.83%
22
0.15%
-703
-4.92%
14,303
Marin
41,422
50.05%
36,278
43.84%
3,801
4.59%
1,254
1.52%
5,144
6.21%
82,755
Mariposa
1,496
49.92%
1,187
39.61%
302
10.08%
12
0.40%
309
10.31%
2,997
Mendocino
8,305
46.39%
7,935
44.32%
1,554
8.68%
110
0.61%
370
2.07%
17,904
Merced
11,595
40.90%
14,453
50.98%
2,248
7.93%
53
0.19%
-2,858
-10.08%
28,349
Modoc
1,713
52.43%
1,264
38.69%
284
8.69%
6
0.18%
449
13.74%
3,267
Mono
1,130
64.28%
465
26.45%
156
8.87%
7
0.40%
665
37.83%
1,758
Monterey
33,670
50.16%
28,261
42.10%
4,800
7.15%
393
0.59%
5,409
8.06%
67,124
Napa
14,270
43.76%
14,762
45.27%
3,476
10.66%
104
0.32%
-492
-1.51%
32,612
Nevada
6,061
51.39%
4,607
39.06%
1,078
9.14%
48
0.41%
1,454
12.33%
11,794
Orange
314,905
63.14%
148,869
29.85%
33,034
6.62%
1,899
0.38%
166,036
33.29%
498,707
Placer
12,427
42.64%
14,050
48.21%
2,574
8.83%
93
0.32%
-1,623
-5.57%
29,144
Plumas
2,097
37.37%
2,961
52.77%
529
9.43%
24
0.43%
-864
-15.40%
5,611
Riverside
83,414
52.90%
61,146
38.78%
12,432
7.88%
678
0.43%
22,268
14.12%
157,670
Sacramento
97,177
41.66%
118,769
50.92%
16,269
6.98%
1,031
0.44%
-21,592
-9.26%
233,246
San Benito
2,961
47.54%
2,809
45.10%
447
7.18%
12
0.19%
152
2.44%
6,229
San Bernardino
111,974
50.07%
89,418
39.99%
21,187
9.47%
1,037
0.46%
22,556
10.08%
223,616
San Diego
261,540
56.26%
167,669
36.07%
33,340
7.17%
2,314
0.50%
93,871
20.19%
464,863
San Francisco
100,970
33.66%
177,509
59.18%
17,332
5.78%
4,136
1.38%
-76,539
-25.52%
299,947
San Joaquin
47,293
47.97%
42,073
42.68%
8,923
9.05%
300
0.30%
5,220
5.29%
98,589
San Luis Obispo
19,420
51.27%
15,828
41.78%
2,416
6.38%
217
0.57%
3,592
9.49%
37,881
San Mateo
98,654
43.72%
106,519
47.20%
14,720
6.52%
5,775
2.56%
-7,865
-3.48%
225,668
Santa Barbara
50,068
53.59%
37,565
40.21%
5,083
5.44%
704
0.75%
12,503
13.38%
93,420
Santa Clara
163,446
45.61%
173,511
48.42%
18,754
5.23%
2,656
0.74%
-10,065
-2.81%
358,367
Santa Cruz
25,365
50.79%
20,492
41.03%
3,465
6.94%
622
1.25%
4,873
9.76%
49,944
Shasta
11,821
40.44%
14,510
49.64%
2,815
9.63%
84
0.29%
-2,689
-9.20%
29,230
Sierra
548
45.93%
559
46.86%
85
7.12%
1
0.08%
-11
-0.93%
1,193
Siskiyou
6,334
46.13%
6,260
45.59%
1,088
7.92%
50
0.36%
74
0.54%
13,732
Solano
17,683
34.71%
27,271
53.52%
5,810
11.40%
188
0.37%
-9,588
-18.81%
50,952
Sonoma
38,088
48.79%
33,587
43.03%
5,875
7.53%
509
0.65%
4,501
5.76%
78,059
Stanislaus
29,573
45.45%
31,316
48.13%
3,973
6.11%
201
0.31%
-1,743
-2.68%
65,063
Sutter
8,665
59.57%
4,624
31.79%
1,228
8.44%
28
0.19%
4,041
27.78%
14,545
Tehama
5,198
47.26%
4,565
41.50%
1,216
11.06%
20
0.18%
633
5.76%
10,999
Trinity
1,426
43.12%
1,433
43.33%
432
13.06%
16
0.48%
-7
-0.21%
3,307
Tulare
29,314
52.17%
22,180
39.47%
4,580
8.15%
115
0.20%
7,134
12.70%
56,189
Tuolumne
4,330
47.48%
3,913
42.91%
865
9.49%
11
0.12%
417
4.57%
9,119
Ventura
59,705
51.35%
47,794
41.11%
8,234
7.08%
528
0.45%
11,911
10.24%
116,261
Yolo
11,123
38.41%
15,833
54.67%
1,742
6.02%
262
0.90%
-4,710
-16.26%
28,960
Yuba
5,371
48.17%
4,461
40.01%
1,296
11.62%
22
0.20%
910
8.16%
11,150
Total
3,467,664
47.82%
3,244,318
44.74%
487,270
6.72%
52,335
0.72%
223,346
3.08%
7,251,587
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Notes
^ Although he was born in California and he served as a U.S. Senator from California, in 1968 Richard Nixon’s official state of residence was New York, because he moved there to practice law after his defeat in the 1962 California gubernatorial election. During his first term as president, Nixon re-established his residency in California. Consequently, most reliable reference books list Nixon's home state as New York in the 1968 election and his home state as California in the 1972 (and 1960) election.
References