1960 United States presidential election in West Virginia

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1960 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Flag of West Virginia.svg
  1956 November 8, 1960 [1] 1964  

All 8 West Virginia votes to the Electoral College
  Jfk2 (3x4).jpg Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President (cropped).tiff
Nominee John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Massachusetts California
Running mate Lyndon B. Johnson Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Electoral vote80
Popular vote441,786395,995
Percentage52.73%47.27%

West Virginia Presidential Election Results 1960.svg
County Results

President before election

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Republican

Elected President

John F. Kennedy
Democratic

The 1960 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose eight [2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

West Virginia was won by Senator John F. Kennedy (DMassachusetts), running with Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, with 52.73 percent of the popular vote against incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon (RCalifornia), running with United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., with 47.27 percent of the popular vote. [3] [4]

Democratic Primary

The 1960 West Virginia Democratic primary election on May 20 was seen as a turning point in the Democratic primaries. John F Kennedy had shown that he could win a primary election against the liberal Senator Hubert Humphrey in the Wisconsin primary. Although Kennedy defeated Humphrey in Wisconsin, his reliance on heavily Catholic areas left many party bosses unconvinced. Kennedy thus faced Humphrey in the heavily Protestant state of West Virginia. Humphrey's campaign was low on money and could not compete with the well-organized, well-financed Kennedy team. Kennedy's siblings combed the state looking for votes, leading Humphrey to complain that he "felt like an independent merchant running against a chain store." [5] On primary day, Kennedy crushed Humphrey with over 60% of the vote, and Humphrey withdrew from the race.

In West Virginia, Kennedy sought to show that he could win the support of Protestant voters and to remove Humphrey from the race, securing the party's liberal wing and setting up a showdown with Johnson for the nomination. Humphrey had high expectations, given that the state's population was rural, working class, ninety-five percent Protestant, and its delegates had backed him against Kennedy in the vice presidential contest four years prior. [6]

Kennedy met the religious issue head-on, hoping to redefine the race as one of "tolerance against intolerance," rather than Catholic against Protestant. He also brought Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. to campaign in the state; Roosevelt then raised the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in World War II. Though Humphrey had tried and failed to serve due to physical disability, [7] Roosevelt attacked his lack of service record, publicly telling audiences, "I don't know where [Humphrey] was in World War Two," and distributing flyers that accused him of draft dodging. After the primary was over, Roosevelt apologized to Humphrey and retracted the claims, [6] which he later called his greatest political regret. [8]

Kennedy continued to outspend Humphrey heavily in West Virginia; though he publicly claimed expenditures of $100,000, later estimates placed his family's overall spending at $1.5 million, dwarfing Humphrey's $23,000. [9] Humphrey traveled the state in a rented bus, while the Kennedys used a family-owned airplane. [10] Humphrey later wrote of the West Virginia campaign, "as a professional politician I was able to accept and indeed respect the efficacy of the Kennedy campaign. But underneath the beautiful exterior, there was an element of ruthlessness and toughness that I had trouble either accepting or forgetting." [11]

On May 4, 1960, Humphrey and Kennedy took part in a televised one-on-one debate at WCHS-TV in Charleston, West Virginia, ahead of the state's primary. [12]

Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly in West Virginia, and Humphrey announced his withdrawal from the race that night.

Results

1960 United States presidential election in West Virginia
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John F. Kennedy 441,786 52.73%
Republican Richard Nixon 395,99547.27%
Total votes837,781 100.00%

Results by county

County [13] John F. Kennedy
Democratic
Richard Nixon
Republican
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %
Barbour 3,81848.80%4,00651.20%-188-2.40%7,824
Berkeley 7,07245.80%8,36954.20%-1,297-8.40%15,441
Boone 8,05866.26%4,10433.74%3,95432.52%12,162
Braxton 4,18558.43%2,97741.57%1,20816.86%7,162
Brooke 7,83857.67%5,75442.33%2,08415.34%13,592
Cabell 20,91143.66%26,98856.34%-6,077-12.68%47,899
Calhoun 1,97550.37%1,94649.63%290.74%3,921
Clay 2,85954.30%2,40645.70%4538.60%5,265
Doddridge 105330.48%2,40269.52%-1,349-39.04%3,455
Fayette 18,10970.61%7,53729.39%10,57241.22%25,646
Gilmer 2,07558.93%1,44641.07%62917.86%3,521
Grant 90821.41%3,33378.59%-2,425-57.18%4,241
Greenbrier 8,34355.71%6,63344.29%1,71011.42%14,976
Hampshire 2,84952.86%2,54147.14%3085.72%5,390
Hancock 11,17658.19%8,03141.81%3,14516.38%19,207
Hardy 2,46554.69%2,04245.31%4239.38%4,507
Harrison 20,72753.00%18,37847.00%2,3496.00%39,105
Jackson 3,61539.51%5,53560.49%-1,920-20.98%9,150
Jefferson 4,35260.12%2,88739.88%1,46520.24%7,239
Kanawha 54,48448.81%57,13051.19%-2,646-2.38%111,614
Lewis 3,64941.44%5,15758.56%-1,508-17.12%8,806
Lincoln 5,02352.31%4,57947.69%4444.62%9,602
Logan 16,36067.61%7,83632.39%8,52435.22%24,196
Marion 17,90355.88%14,13844.12%3,76511.76%32,041
Marshall 9,19750.14%9,14749.86%500.28%18,344
Mason 4,52241.31%6,42458.69%-1,902-17.38%10,946
McDowell 19,50174.84%6,55525.16%12,94649.68%26,056
Mercer 17,28959.60%11,71940.40%5,57019.20%29,008
Mineral 4,16439.80%6,29960.20%-2,135-20.40%10,463
Mingo 11,25969.66%4,90330.34%6,35639.32%16,162
Monongalia 13,10353.21%11,52346.79%1,5806.42%24,626
Monroe 2,91048.11%3,13951.89%-229-3.78%6,049
Morgan 1,36933.22%2,75266.78%-1,383-33.56%4,121
Nicholas 5,77457.33%4,29742.67%1,47714.66%10,071
Ohio 18,42351.48%17,36748.52%1,0562.96%35,790
Pendleton 2,05751.59%1,93048.41%1273.18%3,987
Pleasants 1,74246.78%1,98253.22%-240-6.44%3,724
Pocahontas 2,82253.34%2,46946.66%3536.68%5,291
Preston 4,22137.93%6,90862.07%-2,687-24.14%11,129
Putnam 4,96846.56%5,70253.44%-734-6.88%10,670
Raleigh 20,44862.85%12,08837.15%8,36025.70%32,536
Randolph 6,98958.21%5,01841.79%1,97116.42%12,007
Ritchie 1,59128.60%3,97271.40%-2,381-42.80%5,563
Roane 3,28042.47%4,44357.53%-1,163-15.06%7,723
Summers 4,62259.57%3,13740.43%1,48519.14%7,759
Taylor 3,48946.64%3,99253.36%-503-6.72%7,481
Tucker 2,09052.55%1,88747.45%2035.10%3,977
Tyler 1,55830.58%3,53769.42%-1,979-38.84%5,095
Upshur 2,59033.58%5,12366.42%-2,533-32.84%7,713
Wayne 9,14052.93%8,12847.07%1,0125.86%17,268
Webster 3,47967.32%1,68932.68%1,79034.64%5,168
Wetzel 4,33845.73%5,14954.27%-811-8.54%9,487
Wirt 1,04543.69%1,34756.31%-302-12.62%2,392
Wood 15,39641.03%22,13158.97%-6,735-17.94%37,527
Wyoming 8,60362.86%5,08337.14%3,52025.72%13,686
Totals441,78652.73%395,99547.27%45,7915.46%837,781

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

  1. "United States Presidential election of 1960 — Encyclopædia Britannica" . Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  2. "1960 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65)" . Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  3. "1960 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia" . Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  4. "The American Presidency Project — Election of 1960" . Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  5. Schlesinger, Arthur M. (2002) [1978]. Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 195. ISBN   0-618-21928-5.
  6. 1 2 Solberg 1984, p. 209.
  7. Dallek, Robert (1998). Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973. Oxford University Press. p.  256. ISBN   978-0195054651.
  8. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1996). Robert Kennedy and His Times. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 201.
  9. Solberg 1984, pp. 210–11.
  10. Bryan Ward Jr. (April 26, 2013). "Battleground West Virginia Electing the President in 1960". wvculture.org. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  11. Humphrey 1976, p. 208.
  12. Berquist, Goodwin F. Jr. (September 1, 1960). "The Kennedy‐Humphrey debate". Today's Speech. 8 (3): 2–31. doi:10.1080/01463376009385139 . Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  13. "WV US President — November 08, 1960". Our Campaigns.

Works cited