1968 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election
1968 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
← 1964 November 5, 1968[1] 1972 →
 
Nominee Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon George Wallace
Party Democratic Republican American Independent
Home state Minnesota New York[a] Alabama
Running mate Edmund Muskie Spiro Agnew Marvin Griffin
Electoral vote 9 0 0
Popular vote 616,037 588,510 96,990
Percentage 47.23% 45.12% 7.44%
County Results
President before election

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

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The 1968 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Washington was won by the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, with 47.23 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican candidate, former Senator and Vice President Richard Nixon, with 45.12 percent of the popular vote. American candidate George Wallace also appeared on the ballot, finishing with 7.44 percent of the popular vote.[3][4]

Nixon became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying Washington state since William McKinley in 1896. Despite Nixon losing the statewide election, he became the first Republican to carry Ferry County since Warren G. Harding did so in 1920.[5] Along with Maine, Washington was one of only two states that Nixon lost in 1968 that he won in his unsuccessful attempt at the presidency in 1960.

George Wallace was most successful in Eastern Washington, which has a tradition of hostility to Washington D.C. interference, and also to Northeastern big business. Wallace possessed little appeal in heavily Yankee and Scandinavian-settled Western Washington.[6]

This election would prove the last time the Democrats won any mainland postbellum state until Michael Dukakis carried Washington and Oregon in 1988 – in the intervening period many pundits spoke of a "Solid Republican West". This was the fifth and final election in which Washington voted for a different candidate than neighboring Oregon.

Results

1968 United States presidential election in Washington[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Hubert Humphrey 616,037 47.23%
Republican Richard Nixon 588,510 45.12%
American Independent George Wallace 96,990 7.44%
Peace and Freedom Eldridge Cleaver 1,609 0.12%
Socialist Labor Henning Blomen 488 0.04%
Free Ballot Charlene Mitchell 377 0.03%
Socialist Workers Fred Halstead 270 0.02%
Total votes 1,304,281 100%

Results by county

County Hubert Humphrey
Democratic 		Richard Nixon
Republican 		George Wallace
American Independent 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast[7]
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 1,270 30.67% 2,572 62.11% 299 7.22% 0 0.00% -1,302 -31.44% 4,141
Asotin 2,693 49.56% 2,307 42.45% 433 7.97% 1 0.02% 386 7.11% 5,434
Benton 10,878 38.06% 14,659 51.29% 3,024 10.58% 18 0.06% -3,781 -13.23% 28,579
Chelan 6,787 39.39% 9,093 52.77% 1,324 7.68% 26 0.15% -2,306 -13.38% 17,230
Clallam 7,030 49.39% 5,921 41.60% 1,248 8.77% 35 0.25% 1,109 7.79% 14,234
Clark 23,046 51.82% 18,858 42.40% 2,514 5.65% 56 0.13% 4,188 9.42% 44,474
Columbia 754 35.04% 1,221 56.74% 175 8.13% 2 0.09% -467 -21.70% 2,152
Cowlitz 13,363 51.90% 10,842 42.10% 1,507 5.85% 38 0.15% 2,521 9.80% 25,750
Douglas 2,764 41.47% 3,234 48.52% 663 9.95% 4 0.06% -470 -7.05% 6,665
Ferry 596 42.97% 608 43.84% 182 13.12% 1 0.07% -12 -0.87% 1,387
Franklin 4,038 42.17% 4,234 44.22% 1,299 13.57% 4 0.04% -196 -2.05% 9,575
Garfield 602 37.96% 841 53.03% 143 9.02% 0 0.00% -239 -15.07% 1,586
Grant 5,773 40.18% 7,007 48.77% 1,574 10.96% 13 0.09% -1,234 -8.59% 14,367
Grays Harbor 13,480 59.43% 7,720 34.03% 1,426 6.29% 58 0.26% 5,760 25.40% 22,684
Island 3,238 40.48% 4,077 50.96% 677 8.46% 8 0.10% -839 -10.48% 8,000
Jefferson 2,251 49.97% 1,827 40.55% 407 9.03% 20 0.44% 424 9.42% 4,505
King 223,469 47.05% 218,457 46.00% 31,450 6.62% 1,559 0.33% 5,012 1.05% 474,935
Kitsap 22,273 55.94% 14,520 36.47% 2,986 7.50% 36 0.09% 7,753 19.47% 39,815
Kittitas 3,921 44.92% 4,212 48.25% 579 6.63% 17 0.19% -291 -3.33% 8,729
Klickitat 2,454 47.44% 2,355 45.52% 357 6.90% 7 0.14% 99 1.92% 5,173
Lewis 8,444 45.23% 8,779 47.03% 1,428 7.65% 17 0.09% -335 -1.80% 18,668
Lincoln 1,721 34.06% 2,994 59.25% 337 6.67% 1 0.02% -1,273 -25.19% 5,053
Mason 4,540 52.85% 3,397 39.55% 638 7.43% 15 0.17% 1,143 13.30% 8,590
Okanogan 4,379 44.08% 4,490 45.19% 1,064 10.71% 2 0.02% -111 -1.11% 9,935
Pacific 3,740 56.62% 2,491 37.71% 364 5.51% 10 0.15% 1,249 18.91% 6,605
Pend Oreille 1,350 49.74% 1,117 41.16% 245 9.03% 2 0.07% 233 8.58% 2,714
Pierce 72,670 53.54% 51,436 37.90% 11,391 8.39% 221 0.16% 21,234 15.64% 135,718
San Juan 685 34.90% 1,164 59.30% 108 5.50% 6 0.31% -479 -24.40% 1,963
Skagit 10,529 46.60% 10,354 45.83% 1,667 7.38% 44 0.19% 175 0.77% 22,594
Skamania 1,221 51.30% 968 40.67% 189 7.94% 2 0.08% 253 10.63% 2,380
Snohomish 44,019 50.35% 36,252 41.47% 7,005 8.01% 148 0.17% 7,767 8.88% 87,424
Spokane 49,423 44.69% 52,650 47.61% 8,420 7.61% 101 0.09% -3,227 -2.92% 110,594
Stevens 2,948 40.14% 3,435 46.77% 957 13.03% 5 0.07% -487 -6.63% 7,345
Thurston 14,228 46.65% 13,742 45.06% 2,493 8.17% 36 0.12% 486 1.59% 30,499
Wahkiakum 899 53.67% 641 38.27% 131 7.82% 4 0.24% 258 15.40% 1,675
Walla Walla 5,841 34.52% 10,042 59.34% 1,028 6.07% 12 0.07% -4,201 -24.82% 16,923
Whatcom 14,003 44.88% 14,695 47.10% 2,387 7.65% 114 0.37% -692 -2.22% 31,199
Whitman 5,218 37.84% 7,810 56.64% 710 5.15% 51 0.37% -2,592 -18.80% 13,789
Yakima 19,499 38.09% 27,488 53.69% 4,161 8.13% 50 0.10% -7,989 -15.60% 51,198
Totals 616,037 47.23% 588,510 45.12% 96,990 7.44% 2,744 0.21% 27,527 2.11% 1,304,281

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Results by congressional district

This table shows the results by congressional district. The candidate who won the largest amount of the vote nationally is shown first. Humphrey won 4 out of 7 of Washington's congressional districts while Nixon won the other 3 congressional districts.[8]

District[8] Nixon Humphrey Wallace
1st 50% 44.9% 5.1%
2nd 44.5% 47.5% 8%
3rd 41.8% 51.5% 6.7%
4th 52.7% 38.7% 8.6%
5th 48.3% 43.5% 8.2%
6th 37.6% 54.2% 8.3%
7th 40.4% 51.7% 7.9%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 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

  1. ^ "United States Presidential election of 1968 - Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  2. ^ "1968 Election for the Forty-Sixth Term (1969-73)". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  3. ^ "1968 Presidential General Election Results – Washington". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "The American Presidency Project - Election of 1968". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 332-333 ISBN 0786422173
  6. ^ Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 559 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
  7. ^ a b Washington Secretary of State. "Presidential Candidates". Abstract of Votes Presidential and State General Election Held on November 5, 1968. Olympia, Washington. p. 10.
  8. ^ a b Park-Egan, Kiernan. "1968 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District". U.S. Presidential Election Results by Congressional District, 1952 to 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2024.