1960 United States presidential election in Mississippi

Last updated

1960 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
  1956 November 8, 1960 1964  
  Harry F. Byrd (cropped).jpg Jfk2 (3x4).jpg Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President (cropped).tiff
Nominee Harry F. Byrd
(by unpledged electors)
John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon
Party Southern Democrat Democratic Republican
Home state Virginia Massachusetts California
Running mate Strom Thurmond Lyndon B. Johnson Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Electoral vote800
Popular vote116,248108,36273,561
Percentage38.99%36.34%24.67%

Mississippi Presidential Election Results 1960.svg
1960 US presidential election in Mississippi by congressional district.svg

The 1960 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. This was the last election in which Mississippi had eight electoral votes: the Great Migration of Black Americans caused the state to lose congressional districts for the third time in four censuses before the next election.

Contents

The election saw the only case of a state being carried by a slate of unpledged electors. Mississippi voted narrowly for this slate, who voted unanimously for long-time Virginia Senator and political machine director Harry Flood Byrd, over the national Democratic nominee, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Republican nominee and outgoing Vice President Richard Nixon, from California, came in third, with his percentage of the vote practically unchanged from what outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower recorded in 1956.

Governor Ross Barnett, a segregationist, was faced with a severe dilemma upon becoming governor at the beginning of the year owing to the rigid opposition of Mississippi’s limited and almost exclusively White electorate [1] to the active Civil Rights Movement. Pressured by the "Citizens' Council" who wished to unite the South behind a White-supremacist Democratic candidate, [2] Governor Barnett repeated James P. Coleman’s strategy from 1956 and nominated two sets of Democratic Party electors for the presidential ballot. [3] The first slate was pledged to Kennedy, while the other was not pledged to any candidate. The aim of placing unpledged electors on the ballot was to gain leverage from either major party in a close election, [3] with the possibility of the House of Representatives electing a candidate more favourable to opponents of Brown v. Board of Education than either national major party nominee. [4]

Because the civil rights movement’s supporters regarded Kennedy’s record as poor on this issue, Senators John C. Stennis and James Eastland supported his candidacy, although state-level politicians were not at all supportive. [5] The state’s media saw a vigorous debate between the loyalist and unpledged Democrats in the week before the election. [6] Outside heavily French-settled Hancock County, which has greater cultural ties with Louisiana than with most of the rest of Mississippi, Kennedy’s Catholic faith was also considered suspect. [7]

Campaign

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Philadelphia Inquirer [8] Tilt I (Flip)October 3, 1960
Knoxville News Sentinel [9] TossupOctober 23, 1960
Daily News [10] Likely DOctober 28, 1960
The Daily Item [11] Tilt DNovember 4, 1960
The Clarion-Ledger [12] Tilt DNovember 7, 1960
Hattiesburg American [13] Lean DNovember 7, 1960

Results

[14]

1960 United States presidential election in Mississippi [15]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Unpledged Electors 116,24838.99%8
Democratic John F. Kennedy108,36236.34%0
Republican Richard Nixon73,56124.67%0
Totals298,171100.00%8

Results by county

CountyUnpledged Electors
Democratic
John F. Kennedy
Democratic
Richard Nixon
Republican
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Adams 2,52648.53%1,45227.90%1,22723.57%1,07420.63%5,205
Alcorn 60113.43%3,05468.25%82018.32%2,234 [lower-alpha 1] 49.93%4,475
Amite 1,65572.72%33814.85%28312.43%1,31757.87%2,276
Attala 1,28139.20%1,33740.91%65019.89%-56-1.71%3,268
Benton 34831.90%56852.06%17516.04%-220-20.16%1,091
Bolivar 1,63843.46%1,11929.69%1,01226.85%51913.77%3,769
Calhoun 1,29953.09%76531.26%38315.65%53421.83%2,447
Carroll 84057.07%42528.87%20714.06%41528.20%1,472
Chickasaw 1,36253.66%79131.17%38515.17%57122.49%2,538
Choctaw 58435.48%81749.64%24514.88%-233-14.16%1,646
Claiborne 65162.84%20519.79%18017.37%44643.05%1,036
Clarke 1,47844.68%1,24437.61%58617.71%2347.07%3,308
Clay 1,29554.60%62626.39%45119.01%66928.21%2,372
Coahoma 1,38535.82%1,38635.84%1,09628.34%-1-0.02%3,867
Copiah 1,95754.15%89624.79%76121.06%1,06129.36%3,614
Covington 98544.81%84238.31%37116.88%1436.50%2,198
DeSoto 73435.25%79538.18%55326.56%-61-2.93%2,082
Forrest 3,15236.52%2,06823.96%3,41239.53%260 [lower-alpha 2] 3.01%8,632
Franklin 1,11566.37%44126.25%1247.38%67440.12%1,680
George 91744.28%84440.75%31014.97%733.53%2,071
Greene 78149.49%55034.85%24715.65%23114.64%1,578
Grenada 1,13248.31%52922.58%68229.11%450 [lower-alpha 2] 19.20%2,343
Hancock 50214.97%2,13263.58%71921.44%1,413 [lower-alpha 1] 42.14%3,353
Harrison 2,62115.64%8,96153.47%5,17730.89%3,784 [lower-alpha 1] 22.58%16,759
Hinds 12,09441.72%5,81120.05%11,08338.23%1,011 [lower-alpha 2] 3.49%28,988
Holmes 1,48457.81%62824.46%45517.72%85633.35%2,567
Humphreys 73251.48%45932.28%23116.24%27319.20%1,422
Issaquena 18142.79%17842.08%6415.13%30.71%423
Itawamba 65323.57%1,75263.23%36613.21%-1,099-39.66%2,771
Jackson 1,90820.80%5,00054.50%2,26624.70%2,734 [lower-alpha 1] 29.80%9,174
Jasper 92638.03%1,14747.10%36214.87%-221-9.07%2,435
Jefferson 72866.54%22920.93%13712.52%49945.61%1,094
Jefferson Davis 98857.34%51029.60%22513.06%47827.74%1,723
Jones 2,92827.81%4,87146.27%2,72925.92%-1,943-18.46%10,528
Kemper 58734.31%93154.41%19311.28%-344-20.10%1,711
Lafayette 90931.11%1,30844.76%70524.13%-399-13.65%2,922
Lamar 1,04644.83%65127.90%63627.26%39516.93%2,333
Lauderdale 4,15438.66%3,75534.95%2,83626.39%3993.71%10,745
Lawrence 92355.91%46928.41%25915.69%45427.50%1,651
Leake 2,01161.88%95329.32%2868.80%1,05832.56%3,250
Lee 1,43821.65%3,65355.01%1,55023.34%2,103 [lower-alpha 1] 31.67%6,641
Leflore 2,11245.51%1,21226.12%1,31728.38%795 [lower-alpha 2] 17.13%4,641
Lincoln 2,18544.73%1,44929.66%1,25125.61%73615.07%4,885
Lowndes 1,43030.56%1,24026.50%2,01042.95%580 [lower-alpha 2] 12.39%4,680
Madison 1,58355.33%75326.32%52518.35%83029.01%2,861
Marion 1,26541.54%1,08235.53%69822.92%1836.01%3,045
Marshall 70039.22%68138.15%40422.63%191.07%1,785
Monroe 1,55932.08%1,90139.12%1,40028.81%-342-7.04%4,860
Montgomery 76138.65%62331.64%58529.71%1387.01%1,969
Neshoba 1,71641.49%1,84044.49%58014.02%-124-3.00%4,136
Newton 1,95657.94%91227.01%50815.05%1,04430.93%3,376
Noxubee 87058.43%27718.60%34222.97%528 [lower-alpha 2] 35.46%1,489
Oktibbeha 1,67248.95%91526.79%82924.27%75722.16%3,416
Panola 1,40448.61%84129.12%64322.26%56319.49%2,888
Pearl River 1,55644.67%1,27636.64%65118.69%2808.03%3,483
Perry 55641.37%51438.24%27420.39%423.13%1,344
Pike 2,63249.13%1,25823.48%1,46727.38%1,165 [lower-alpha 2] 21.75%5,357
Pontotoc 79229.29%1,58458.58%32812.13%-792-29.29%2,704
Prentiss 46815.68%1,77759.53%74024.79%1,037 [lower-alpha 1] 34.74%2,985
Quitman 67443.32%58337.47%29919.22%915.85%1,556
Rankin 3,11465.12%85017.77%81817.11%2,26447.35%4,782
Scott 1,84153.02%1,02429.49%60717.48%81723.53%3,472
Sharkey 43142.80%26326.12%31331.08%118 [lower-alpha 2] 11.72%1,007
Simpson 1,56848.88%1,03432.23%60618.89%53416.65%3,208
Smith 1,02534.79%1,56853.22%35311.98%-543-18.43%2,946
Stone 81856.96%34323.89%27519.15%47533.07%1,436
Sunflower 1,24135.96%1,03329.93%1,17734.11%64 [lower-alpha 2] 1.85%3,451
Tallahatchie 1,42154.72%83031.96%34613.32%59122.76%2,597
Tate 84547.69%68638.71%24113.60%1598.98%1,772
Tippah 46716.15%1,93967.05%48616.80%1,453 [lower-alpha 1] 50.25%2,892
Tishomingo 66927.56%1,22250.35%53622.08%-553-22.79%2,427
Tunica 24026.76%32336.01%33437.24%-11 [lower-alpha 1] -1.23%897
Union 68920.91%2,00160.73%60518.36%-1,312-39.82%3,295
Walthall 1,08250.58%74734.92%31014.49%33515.66%2,139
Warren 2,02130.68%2,28934.75%2,27734.57%12 [lower-alpha 1] 0.18%6,587
Washington 1,25818.90%3,10546.66%2,29234.44%813 [lower-alpha 1] 12.22%6,655
Wayne 1,03646.39%70731.66%49021.94%32914.73%2,233
Webster 1,17457.95%55327.30%29914.76%62130.65%2,026
Wilkinson 83268.09%21617.68%17414.24%61650.41%1,222
Winston 1,50550.74%1,05635.60%40513.65%44915.14%2,966
Yalobusha 70436.99%65034.16%54928.85%542.83%1,903
Yazoo 1,84755.30%71521.41%77823.29%1,069 [lower-alpha 2] 32.01%3,340
Totals116,24838.99%108,36236.34%73,56124.67%7,8862.65%298,171

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Unpledged

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Unpledged

Counties that flipped from Unpledged to Democratic

Analysis

In the coastal counties, Kennedy improved considerably upon what Adlai Stevenson II achieved in 1956, but except for those counties around the cities of Natchez and Vicksburg, Kennedy otherwise showed a major decline from the Democratic result in 1956. [7] Kennedy held up best in the poor White upcountry counties that had historically been much more anti-Catholic than the Black Belt, [16] suggesting that voters throughout the state had become more suspicious of the Democrats’ civil rights policies. Since the Republican percentage of the vote essentially failed to change – Nixon lost Hancock to Kennedy and Adams and Warren to the unpledged slate but picked up Tunica and Lowndes Counties – the unpledged slate took almost all of Kennedy’s lost votes and thus shaded him for the state overall.

Despite Kennedy’s statewide defeat being only the second for a national Democrat in Mississippi since Reconstruction, this remains the last election when the coastal, French-influenced counties of Harrison and Jackson have voted for a Democratic presidential nominee. [17] The following landlocked counties have also never voted Democratic since: Choctaw, Jones and Smith. [17] Warren County would not vote Democratic again until Barack Obama won it in 2012. [18]

Electoral slates

Unpledged electors
State Democratic Party
John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
National Democratic Party
Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Republican Party
Henry Harris
George Payne Cossar
Charles L. Sullivan
Clay B. Tucker
Earl Evans Jr.
Bob Buntin
D. M. Nelson
Lawrence Y. Foote
Frank K. Hughes
David E. Guyton
Will M. Whittington
Frank E. Shanahan Jr.
Martin V. B. Miller
Edward H. Stevens
Curtis H. Mullen
Lovie Gore
John M. Kaye
Ralph O. White
J. H. Snyder
J. J. Newman
George W. Shaw
C. E. Tolar
Noel Womack Jr.
J. B. Snyder

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 In this county where the unpledged slate did finish third behind both Kennedy and Nixon, margin given is Kennedy vote minus Nixon vote and percentage margin Kennedy percentage minus Nixon percentage.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 In this county where Kennedy ran third behind both Nixon and the unpledged slate, margin given is Nixon vote minus unpledged vote and percentage margin Nixon percentage minus unpledged percentage.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 United States presidential election</span> 43rd quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1956 United States presidential election was the 43rd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1956. Incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, were re-elected, defeating for a second time Democrat Adlai Stevenson II, former Illinois governor. This election was the sixth and most recent rematch in American presidential history. It was the second time in which the winner was the same both times, the first being William McKinley's victories over William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and 1900. This was the last election before term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which first applied to Eisenhower, became effective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election</span> 44th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. The Democratic ticket of Senator John F. Kennedy and his running mate, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon and his running mate, U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. This was the first election in which 50 states participated, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii, and the last in which the District of Columbia did not. This made it the only presidential election where the threshold for victory was 269 electoral votes. It was also the first election in which an incumbent president—in this case, Dwight D. Eisenhower—was ineligible to run for a third term because of the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

In United States presidential elections, an unpledged elector is a person nominated to stand as an elector but who has not pledged to support any particular presidential or vice presidential candidate, and is free to vote for any candidate when elected a member of the Electoral College. Presidential elections are indirect, with voters in each state choosing electors on Election Day in November, and these electors choosing the president and vice president of the United States in December. Electors in practice have since the 19th century almost always agreed in advance to vote for a particular candidate — that is, they are said to have been pledged to that candidate. In several elections in the 20th century, however, competitive campaigns were mounted by candidates who made no pledge to any presidential nominee before the election. These anomalies largely arose from fissures within the Democratic Party over the issues of civil rights and segregation. No serious general election campaign has been mounted to elect unpledged electors in any state since 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in North Carolina</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 5, 1968, and was part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Whereas in the Deep South, Black Belt whites had deserted the national Democratic Party in 1948, in North Carolina, where they had historically been an economically liberalizing influence on the state Democratic Party, the white landowners of the Black Belt had stayed exceedingly loyal to the party until after the Voting Rights Act. This allowed North Carolina to be, along with Arkansas, the only state to vote for Democrats in all four presidential elections between 1952 and 1964. Indeed, the state had not voted Republican since anti-Catholic fervor lead it to support Herbert Hoover over Al Smith in 1928; and other than that the state had not voted Republican once in the century since the Reconstruction era election of 1872. Nonetheless, in 1964 Republican Barry Goldwater may have won a small majority of white voters, although he was beaten by virtually universal support for incumbent President Lyndon Johnson by a black vote estimated at 175 thousand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Virginia</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 8, 1960. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 8, 1960. All 50 states were part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose 45 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 8, 1960. All 50 states were part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Alabama</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 5, 1968. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other 49 states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Alabama</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 8, 1960 as part of that year's national presidential election. Eleven Democratic electors were elected, of whom six voted for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia and five for Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Texas</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. The state chose 25 electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

The 1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent President Nixon won the state of Mississippi with 78.20% of the vote. This was the highest percentage Nixon received in any state in the election. Nixon even received a higher share of the vote in Mississippi than McGovern did in the District of Columbia, making this one of only two elections where Washington, D.C. wasn't the largest margin for either candidate, along with 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

The 1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 2, 1948, in Mississippi as part of the wider United States presidential election of 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1968. Mississippi voters chose seven electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-President. During the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement dictated Mississippi's politics, with effectively the entire white population vehemently opposed to federal policies of racial desegregation and black voting rights. In 1960, the state had been narrowly captured by a slate of unpledged Democratic electors, but in 1964 universal white opposition to the Civil Rights Act and negligible black voter registration meant that white Mississippians turned almost unanimously to Republican Barry Goldwater. Goldwater's support for "constitutional government and local self-rule" meant that the absence from the ballot of "states' rights" parties or unpledged electors was unimportant. The Arizona Senator was one of only six Republicans to vote against the Civil Rights Act, and so the small electorate of Mississippi supported him almost unanimously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Florida</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 5, 1968. Florida voters chose fourteen electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Kentucky</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Kentucky voters chose 9 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Missouri</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Missouri took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi</span>

The 1956 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 6, 1956. Mississippi voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election in Louisiana</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina</span>

The 1956 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6, 1956, as part of the 1956 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose eight representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1944 United States presidential election in South Carolina</span>

The 1944 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. State voters chose 8 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

References

  1. See Bullock, Charles S.; Gaddie, Ronald Keith. The Triumph of Voting Rights in the South. pp. 31–33. ISBN   0806185309.
  2. McMillen, Neil R. The Citizens' Council: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction, 1954-64. p. 333. ISBN   0252064410.
  3. 1 2 Crespino, Joseph. In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution. pp. 35–36. ISBN   0691122091.
  4. Hills, Charles M. (October 11, 1960). "Barnett's Colonels Hear Elector Plan". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. pp. 1, 6.
  5. Bolton, Charles C. William F. Winter and the New Mississippi: A Biography. p. 113. ISBN   1617037877.
  6. "Loyalist, Unpledged Slug Away on Television". Enterprise-Journal. McComb, Mississippi. November 3, 1960. p. 7.
  7. 1 2 Menendez, Albert J. The Religious Factor in the 1960 Presidential Election: An Analysis of the Kennedy Victory over Anti-Catholic Prejudice. pp. 132–133. ISBN   0786484934.
  8. Hoffman, Fred S. (October 3, 1960). "How Election Looks Today". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia. pp. 1, 3.
  9. "Populous States Are Key: Both Parties Claim Enough Votes To Win". Knoxville News Sentinel . Knoxville, Tennessee. October 23, 1960. p. A-4.
  10. Lewis, Ted (October 28, 1960). "Campaign Circus". Daily News . Jersey City, New Jersey. p. 4C.
  11. "Poll of Editors Predicts Victory for Nixon-Lodge: Republican Ticket Seen Winning in 28 States and Democrats in 19". The Daily Item . November 4, 1960. p. 3.
  12. Hoffman, Fred S. (November 7, 1960). "AP Poll Puts Jack Ahead in Electors". The Clarion-Ledger . Jackson, Mississippi. pp. 1–2.
  13. Gould, Geoffrey (November 7, 1960). "Final Survey Shows Race a Tossup to the Finish". Hattiesburg American . Hattiesburg, Mississippi. p. 16.
  14. Mississippi official and statistical register 1960-64. Jackson, MS: Secretary of State of Mississippi. 1965. pp. 393–395.
  15. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1960 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi
  16. Phillips, Kevin P. (1969). The Emerging Republican Majority. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. pp. 220, 234–237. ISBN   0870000586.
  17. 1 2 Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  18. "Warren County, Mississippi Votes". The Political Graveyard.