1968 United States presidential election in California
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 85.75% (of registered voters) ![]() 62.34% (of eligible voters) ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() County Results
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in California |
---|
![]() |
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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]- Butte
- Inyo
- Glenn
- Imperial
- Calaveras
- Riverside
- Modoc
- Santa Barbara
- Tulare
- Nevada
- Colusa
- Mariposa
- Ventura
- San Bernardino
- Santa Cruz
- San Luis Obispo
- Yuba
- Monterey
- El Dorado
- Lake
- Tehama
- Marin
- Sonoma
- San Joaquin
- Tuolumne
- Kern
- Del Norte
- San Benito
- Mendocino
- Siskiyou
- Humboldt
- Los Angeles
Notes
[edit]- ^ 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
[edit]- ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ Sullivan, Robert David; "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century"; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
- ^ "1968 Presidential General Election Results — California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.