1964 United States presidential election in Alabama

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1964 United States presidential election in Alabama
Flag of Alabama.svg
  1960 November 3, 1964 (1964-11-03) 1968  
  Barry-Goldwater 1968.webp 3x4.svg
Nominee Barry Goldwater Unpledged electors
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Arizona Alabama
Running mate William E. Miller
Electoral vote100
Popular vote479,085210,732
Percentage69.45%30.55%

Alabama Presidential Election Results 1964.svg
County Results

President before election

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

Elected President

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

The 1964 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 3, 1964. Alabama voters chose ten representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-president. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states.

Contents

Goldwater received 77% of the white vote. [1] As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that Sumter County, Greene County, Wilcox County, Lowndes County and Bullock County voted for a Republican candidate, as well as the last time that Macon County did not vote for the national Democratic candidate. [2] Alabama was one of five states that swung more Republican in 1964, alongside Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Campaign

Alabama was central to the Civil rights movement in the 1960s. [3] Governor George Wallace condemned and refused to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [4]

The primary chose a set of unpledged Democratic electors. [5] by a margin of five-to-one, [6] Under Wallace's guidance, the Alabama Democratic Party placed this slate of unpledged Democratic electors on the ballot, [7] [8] against the advice of some legal scholars, [9] but after planning to run for president himself (as he would do in 1968), decided against this in July. Johnson was the third winning president-elect to not appear on the ballot in Alabama, after Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Harry S. Truman in 1948.

Initially, it was expected that this slate – the only option for mainstream Democrats in Alabama – would be pledged to Wallace himself, but he released them from pledges to vote for him if elected. [10] Once campaigning began, Wallace supported Republican nominee Barry Goldwater over the unpledged slate, [11] although he did campaign for Democratic candidates for state and local offices. [12]

Predictions

SourceRatingAs of
The Boston Globe [13] Safe R (Flip)August 2, 1964
The Wall Street Journal [14] Certain R (Flip)September 29, 1964
The Christian Science Monitor [15] Likely R (Flip)October 27, 1964
The Chicago Tribune [16] Safe R (Flip)October 29, 1964
Los Angeles Times [17] Safe R (Flip)November 1, 1964

Results

General election results [18] [19] [20]
PartyPledged toElectorVotes
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Tom Abernethy479,085
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Tammy Thomas479,071
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Alfred Staples478,925
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Tandy Little Jr.478,540
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Wiley Deal478,398
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Herbert Stockham477,969
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Gordon Lawless477,582
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Smith Lanier, II477,339
Republican Party Barry Goldwater John E. Grenier477,272
Republican Party Barry Goldwater Basil Horsfield476,994
Democratic Party Unpledged James B. Allen 210,732
Democratic Party UnpledgedMacDonald Gallion209,848
Democratic Party UnpledgedEdmund Blair209,062
Democratic Party Unpledged Albert P. Brewer 208,059
Democratic Party UnpledgedPete Mathews207,730
Democratic Party UnpledgedArt Hanes207,594
Democratic Party UnpledgedAlbert H. Evans Jr.207,577
Democratic Party UnpledgedFrank Mizell207,357
Democratic Party UnpledgedJack Giles207,144
Democratic Party UnpledgedI. J. "Jud" Scott206,618
Total votes689,817

Results by county

CountyBarry Goldwater
Republican
Unpledged electors
Democratic
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %
Autauga 2,96985.83%49014.17%2,47971.66%3,459
Baldwin 10,87081.12%2,53018.88%8,34062.24%13,400
Barbour 3,85379.76%97820.24%2,87559.52%4,831
Bibb 2,62383.94%50216.06%2,12167.88%3,125
Blount 4,44264.67%2,42735.33%2,01529.34%6,869
Bullock 1,51657.64%1,11442.36%40215.28%2,630
Butler 4,00280.44%97319.56%3,02960.88%4,975
Calhoun 10,63563.13%6,21036.87%4,42526.26%16,845
Chambers 4,63064.42%2,55735.58%2,07328.84%7,187
Cherokee 1,89349.70%1,91650.30%-23-0.60%3,809
Chilton 5,20275.97%1,64524.03%3,55751.94%6,847
Choctaw 2,49785.81%41314.19%2,08471.62%2,910
Clarke 4,46082.84%92417.16%3,53665.68%5,384
Clay 2,81570.13%1,19929.87%1,61640.26%4,014
Cleburne 2,15676.24%67223.76%1,48452.48%2,828
Coffee 4,91080.19%1,21319.81%3,69760.38%6,123
Colbert 5,26748.59%5,57351.41%-306-2.82%10,840
Conecuh 2,78281.32%63918.68%2,14362.64%3,421
Coosa 1,97872.77%74027.23%1,23845.54%2,718
Covington 7,55482.33%1,62117.67%5,93364.66%9,175
Crenshaw 3,00878.66%81621.34%2,19257.32%3,824
Cullman 7,15258.33%5,11041.67%2,04216.66%12,262
Dale 4,97083.77%96316.23%4,00767.54%5,933
Dallas 5,88889.12%71910.88%5,16978.24%6,607
DeKalb 6,74657.69%4,94842.31%1,79815.38%11,694
Elmore 6,36383.77%1,23316.23%5,13067.54%7,596
Escambia 5,62374.47%1,92825.53%3,69548.94%7,551
Etowah 12,89459.06%8,93940.94%3,95518.12%21,833
Fayette 3,20371.34%1,28728.66%1,91642.68%4,490
Franklin 4,02556.41%3,11043.59%91512.82%7,135
Geneva 4,50280.74%1,07419.26%3,42861.48%5,576
Greene 1,12465.69%58734.31%53731.38%1,711
Hale 1,89877.60%54822.40%1,35055.20%2,446
Henry 2,89683.10%58916.90%2,30766.20%3,485
Houston 10,35387.93%1,42112.07%8,93275.86%11,774
Jackson 2,73046.47%3,14553.53%-415-7.06%5,875
Jefferson 100,75672.57%38,08227.43%62,67445.14%138,838
Lamar 2,73472.42%1,04127.58%1,69344.84%3,775
Lauderdale 5,97847.55%6,59352.45%-615-4.90%12,571
Lawrence 1,80950.00%1,80849.97%10.03%3,617
Lee 5,91478.69%1,60221.31%4,31257.38%7,516
Limestone 2,37743.99%3,02756.01%-650-12.02%5,404
Lowndes 1,54883.32%31016.68%1,23866.64%1,858
Macon 1,85838.46%2,97361.54%-1,115-23.08%4,831
Madison 14,27951.93%13,21748.07%1,0623.86%27,496
Marengo 3,67782.33%78917.67%2,88864.66%4,466
Marion 3,96669.42%1,74730.58%2,21938.84%5,713
Marshall 5,71256.33%4,42843.67%1,28412.66%10,140
Mobile 49,49370.72%20,48829.28%29,00541.44%69,981
Monroe 3,87081.37%88618.63%2,98462.74%4,756
Montgomery 23,01575.47%7,48224.53%15,53350.94%30,497
Morgan 7,01356.64%5,36843.36%1,64513.28%12,381
Perry 2,04679.73%52020.27%1,52659.46%2,566
Pickens 3,41682.08%74617.92%2,67064.16%4,162
Pike 4,37384.49%80315.51%3,57068.98%5,176
Randolph 3,12762.65%1,86437.35%1,26325.30%4,991
Russell 4,87776.04%1,53723.96%3,34052.08%6,414
St. Clair 4,81370.76%1,98929.24%2,82441.52%6,802
Shelby 6,03775.65%1,94324.35%4,09451.30%7,980
Sumter 1,65380.32%40519.68%1,24860.64%2,058
Talladega 8,94670.67%3,71229.33%5,23441.34%12,658
Tallapoosa 5,53076.14%1,73323.86%3,79752.28%7,263
Tuscaloosa 13,22768.67%6,03631.33%7,19137.34%19,263
Walker 8,58258.41%6,11041.59%2,47216.82%14,692
Washington 2,80370.18%1,19129.82%1,61240.36%3,994
Wilcox 1,78991.93%1578.07%1,63283.86%1,946
Winston 3,43871.19%1,39128.81%2,04742.38%4,829
Totals479,08569.45%210,73230.55%268,35338.90%689,817

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Unpledged

See also

References

  1. Black & Black 1992, p. 155.
  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
  3. Bullock, Charles S.; Gaddie, Ronald Keith. The Triumph of Voting Rights in the South. pp. 41–42. ISBN   0806185309.
  4. Frederick, Jeff. Stand Up for Alabama: Governor George Wallace. pp. 96–99. ISBN   0817315748.
  5. CQ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report (Report). Vol. 25. Congressional Quarterly, Incorporated. 1967. p. 1121.
  6. McDannald, Alexander Hopkins (1965). Yearbook of the Encyclopedia Americana (Report). p. 63.
  7. "Alabama Expected To Choose Electors Backed by Wallace". The New York Times. May 3, 1964. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  8. Denton, Herbert H. (October 21, 1964). "Flowers Attacks Wallace Democrats". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  9. "Unpledged Votes Are Held Illegal". The New York Times. June 14, 1964. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  10. Carlson, Jody. George C. Wallace and the Politics of Powerlessness: The Wallace Campaigns for the Presidency, 1964-76. p. 41. ISBN   1412824494..
  11. Grimes, Roy (October 11, 1964). "Look Away, Look Away...". The Victoria Advocate . p. 4A.
  12. Cleghorn, Reece (December 3, 1964). "Aftermath in Alabama". The Reporter . Olympia, Washington: 34.
  13. Roberts, Chalmers (August 2, 1964). "Goldwater Splits The South: Civil Rights Act Already Has Cost LBJ at Least Four States". The Boston Globe . p. A-3.
  14. Sullivan, Joseph W. (September 19, 1964). "The GOP in Dixie: Civil Rights Stand Gives Goldwater a Wide Lead In Most of the South Survey Finds Senator Ahead Everywhere but in Texas; Other Republicans Benefit But Margin Has Narrowed". The Wall Street Journal . p. 1.
  15. Eubanks, Bicknell (October 27, 1964). "Republicans Battle in Dixie: Likely Breakthrough". The Christian Science Monitor . p. 4.
  16. Manly, Chely (October 29, 1964). "Johnson Gains in South but Dixie Is Still Strong for Barry: Goldwater Keeps Loyal Army of Backers". The Chicago Tribune . p. 5.
  17. Kraslow, David (November 1, 1964). "How South Will Vote Remains Big Question: Goldwater "Fairly Safe" in Three States, Johnson in One, Rest Considered Toss-ups". Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, California. p. (17.
  18. Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1967. Montgomery, Alabama: Skinner Printing Company. 1967. pp. 540–545.
  19. "Election Statistics, 1920 to Present". Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  20. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections – Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections . Retrieved April 8, 2021.

Works cited