1965 Virginia gubernatorial election

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1965 Virginia gubernatorial election
Flag of Virginia.svg
  1961 November 2, 1965 1969  
  Mills Godwin 1966.jpg Linwood Holton 1970.jpg William J. Story Jr.png
Nominee Mills Godwin Linwood Holton William J. Story Jr.
Party Democratic Republican Conservative
Popular vote269,526212,20775,307
Percentage47.9%37.7%13.4%

1965 Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County and independent city results
Godwin:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Holton:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Story:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%

Governor before election

Albertis Harrison
Democratic

Elected Governor

Mills Godwin
Democratic

In the 1965 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Albertis Harrison, a Democrat, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. For the first time in many decades there was an uncontested Democratic primary, in which incumbent Lieutenant Governor Mills Godwin was unopposed. [1] Linwood Holton, an attorney from Roanoke, was nominated by the Republican Party, whilst the newly formed Virginia Conservative Party nominated William J. Story Jr. of Chesapeake.

Contents

Background

For the previous six decades Virginia had had the most restricted electorate in the nation due to a cumulative poll tax and literacy tests completely disenfranchising most blacks and poorer whites. [2] This allowed for state politics to be dominated by the conservative Democratic "Byrd Organization", as "antiorganization" factions were rendered impotent by the inability of almost all their potential electorate to vote. [2] Things would be substantially changed in the previous year's presidential election, as strong registration drives would almost double black voter registration from around 110,000 to 200,000 in a few years. [3]

Incumbent lieutenant governor Mills E. Godwin was viewed as the leading Democratic candidate for Governor from the time of the previous year's elections, [4] especially after Harry Byrd Jr. chose not to run in December. [5] Godwin was a product of the Byrd Organization but not shackled to its traditional thinking: [6] he sought alliances with unions, urban whites and the growing black electorate as well as Byrd stalwarts. [7]

Right-wing challenges to the Byrd Democrats

Opposition to Holton's new strategies within the organization led to the formation of firstly the Conservative Council and then a "Conservative Party" led by John Birch Society member William Story. [8] The Conservatives believed that the pay-as-you-go political system must be reinforced and federal control eliminated throughout the state. [9] The Conservatives attacked Godwin as

Lyndon [Johnson]'s fair-headed boy backed by welfare payments funded by hardworking taxpayers. [8]

Besides Story and his Conservatives, George Lincoln Rockwell, an avowed white supremacist and founder/leader of the American Nazi Party, ran as an independent candidate. Rockwell planned his run at least a year in advance, telling an associate that such a campaign would be useful to inflame the reaction of the Jewish population. [10] [11] He filed for governor as an independent on April 20 [12] with a campaign that promoted white schools, law and order, taxes and welfare, anti-subversive commission, and relocation benefits. [13] At the close of the campaign, Rockwell said that he would end NAACP meetings in the state. [14]

Polls

SourceRankingAs of
The Free Lance-Star [15] Likely DNovember 1, 1965
The Evening Times [16] Likely DNovember 2, 1965

General election

Candidates

Results

1965 Virginia gubernatorial election [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Mills E. Godwin Jr. 296,526 47.89% −15.96%
Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr. 212,20737.71%+1.56%
Conservative William J. Story Jr.75,30713.38%+13.38%
White Constitutional George Lincoln Rockwell 5,7301.02%
Write-ins19<0.01%
Majority 84,31914.98%−12.73%
Turnout 562,789
Democratic hold Swing

Results by county or independent city

1965 Virginia gubernatorial election by county or independent city [18]
Mills Edwin Godwin jr.
Democratic
Abner Linwood Holton jr.
Republican
William J. Story Jr.
Conservative
George Lincoln Rockwell
Independent
MarginTotal votes cast
#%#%#%#%#%
Accomack County 2,28465.67%89225.65%2557.33%471.35%1,39240.02%3,478
Albemarle County 2,10851.31%1,49536.39%43810.66%661.61%61314.92%4,107
Alleghany County 90355.67%58335.94%1106.78%261.60%32019.73%1,622
Amelia County 62740.14%1569.99%76248.78%171.09%-135 [a] -8.64%1,562
Amherst County 1,55352.01%62921.06%75925.42%451.51%794 [a] 26.59%2,986
Appomattox County 1,21659.43%24712.07%55927.32%241.17%657 [a] 32.11%2,046
Arlington County 11,19343.72%13,07951.09%1,0264.01%3031.18%-1,886-7.37%25,601
Augusta County 2,50343.95%2,91451.17%2113.71%671.18%-411-7.22%5,695
Bath County 41157.32%24834.59%517.11%70.98%16322.73%717
Bedford County 2,05345.21%1,51333.32%84718.65%1282.82%54011.89%4,541
Bland County 54253.82%41040.71%393.87%161.59%13213.11%1,007
Botetourt County 1,14342.38%1,36750.69%1696.27%180.67%-224-8.31%2,697
Brunswick County 67225.30%51819.50%1,44754.48%190.72%-775 [a] -29.18%2,656
Buchanan County 2,77661.46%1,55734.47%561.24%1282.83%1,21926.99%4,517
Buckingham County 1,01368.68%20513.90%24816.81%90.61%765 [a] 51.86%1,475
Campbell County 1,66239.43%1,26730.06%1,19428.33%922.18%3959.37%4,215
Caroline County 83553.63%22514.45%49331.66%40.26%342 [a] 21.97%1,557
Carroll County 1,43932.18%2,89564.74%922.06%461.03%-1,456-32.56%4,472
Charles City County 59877.97%8811.47%7710.04%40.52%51066.49%767
Charlotte County 66137.28%23813.42%85148.00%231.30%-190 [a] -10.72%1,773
Chesterfield County 4,31429.40%4,63431.59%5,65638.55%670.46%-1,022 [b] -6.97%14,671
Clarke County 60867.56%25528.33%202.22%171.89%35339.22%900
Craig County 48258.71%31938.86%192.31%10.12%16319.85%821
Culpeper County 1,45468.36%55225.95%803.76%411.93%90242.41%2,127
Cumberland County 59149.96%1109.30%47740.32%50.42%114 [a] 9.64%1,183
Dickenson County 1,36953.08%1,15344.71%210.81%361.40%2168.38%2,579
Dinwiddie County 1,31354.28%26711.04%82634.15%130.54%487 [a] 20.13%2,419
Essex County 33143.32%14218.59%29037.96%10.13%41 [a] 5.37%764
Fairfax County 16,97443.20%20,91753.23%1,0552.68%3460.88%-3,943-10.03%39,292
Fauquier County 1,85067.64%80929.58%552.01%210.77%1,04138.06%2,735
Floyd County 62332.05%1,26164.87%482.47%120.62%-638-32.82%1,944
Fluvanna County 44146.52%19520.57%30031.65%121.27%141 [a] 14.87%948
Franklin County 2,29853.13%1,65438.24%2836.54%902.08%64414.89%4,325
Frederick County 1,16856.32%82739.87%572.75%221.06%34116.44%2,074
Giles County 1,60651.74%1,34843.43%1344.32%160.52%2588.31%3,104
Gloucester County 93653.95%48527.95%29917.23%150.86%45125.99%1,735
Goochland County 85951.19%25114.96%55733.19%110.66%302 [a] 18.00%1,678
Grayson County 2,20948.49%2,24049.17%811.78%260.57%-31-0.68%4,556
Greene County 30539.66%37048.11%577.41%374.81%-65-8.45%769
Greensville County 1,06828.34%1,44138.23%1,18231.36%782.07%259 [b] 6.87%3,769
Halifax County 1,57845.51%95427.52%85224.57%832.39%62418.00%3,467
Hanover County 1,63640.78%1,23530.78%1,09927.39%421.05%40110.00%4,012
Henrico County 8,31135.91%8,81438.08%5,87525.38%1370.59%-503-2.17%23,137
Henry County 1,87953.30%1,22934.87%35910.18%581.65%65018.44%3,525
Highland County 32944.34%38151.35%222.96%101.35%-52-7.01%742
Isle of Wight County 1,59263.76%51120.46%38215.30%120.48%1,08143.29%2,497
James City County 60749.84%43936.04%15112.40%211.72%16813.79%1,218
King and Queen County 32852.40%9114.54%18729.87%203.19%141 [a] 22.52%626
King George County 59564.19%27829.99%373.99%171.83%31734.20%927
King William County 63054.83%20217.58%30826.81%90.78%322 [a] 28.02%1,149
Lancaster County 68848.66%45031.82%26118.46%151.06%23816.83%1,414
Lee County 2,58367.62%1,11829.27%330.86%862.25%1,46538.35%3,820
Loudoun County 1,84758.41%1,17137.03%872.75%531.68%67621.38%3,158
Louisa County 89049.53%30717.08%57231.83%271.50%318 [a] 17.70%1,796
Lunenburg County 99340.58%2008.17%1,24750.96%70.29%-254 [a] -10.38%2,447
Madison County 50050.15%37637.71%979.73%242.41%12412.44%997
Mathews County 78054.47%48233.66%15911.10%110.77%29820.81%1,432
Mecklenburg County 1,43939.03%66317.98%1,54942.01%360.98%-110 [a] -2.98%3,687
Middlesex County 54151.67%19318.43%29928.56%141.34%242 [a] 23.11%1,047
Montgomery County 2,19638.06%3,26356.55%2694.66%420.73%-1,067-18.49%5,770
Nansemond County 3,44171.90%69714.56%62813.12%200.42%2,74457.33%4,786
Nelson County 79367.43%22719.30%12110.29%342.89%56648.13%1,175
New Kent County 31441.48%18824.83%25033.03%50.66%64 [a] 8.45%757
Northampton County 95856.62%49229.08%23714.01%50.30%46627.54%1,692
Northumberland County 54947.86%39434.35%19717.18%70.61%15513.51%1,147
Nottoway County 1,05439.91%1786.74%1,39152.67%180.68%-337 [a] -12.76%2,641
Orange County 89254.59%49029.99%22813.95%241.47%40224.60%1,634
Page County 1,99245.46%2,25051.35%751.71%651.48%-258-5.89%4,382
Patrick County 93560.17%55035.39%573.67%120.77%38524.77%1,554
Pittsylvania County 2,33445.68%1,03320.22%1,64432.18%981.92%690 [a] 13.51%5,109
Powhatan County 54641.74%1259.56%63648.62%10.08%-90 [a] -6.88%1,308
Prince Edward County 1,08542.04%2369.14%1,24248.12%180.70%-157 [a] -6.08%2,581
Prince George County 1,16952.26%49021.90%56425.21%140.63%605 [a] 27.05%2,237
Prince William County 2,39261.43%1,36435.03%812.08%571.46%1,02826.40%3,894
Pulaski County 1,86549.29%1,66944.11%2245.92%260.69%1965.18%3,784
Rappahannock County 35565.26%17331.80%81.47%81.47%18233.46%544
Richmond County 32849.25%19729.58%13219.82%91.35%13119.67%666
Roanoke County 3,47031.36%7,03263.56%4924.45%700.63%-3,562-32.19%11,064
Rockbridge County 1,20643.76%1,30947.50%2238.09%180.65%-103-3.74%2,756
Rockingham County 2,30240.79%3,08954.73%1893.35%641.13%-787-13.94%5,644
Russell County 1,79745.15%2,06451.86%751.88%441.11%-267-6.71%3,980
Scott County 1,90937.39%3,03259.39%761.49%881.72%-1,123-22.00%5,105
Shenandoah County 1,90038.23%2,89658.27%1222.45%521.05%-996-20.04%4,970
Smyth County 1,84341.68%2,46755.79%721.63%400.90%-624-14.11%4,422
Southampton County 1,28445.12%28910.15%1,26244.34%110.39%22 [a] 0.77%2,846
Spotsylvania County 1,32660.69%58626.82%1697.73%1044.76%74033.87%2,185
Stafford County 1,71955.98%1,11736.37%973.16%1384.49%60219.60%3,071
Surry County 47227.60%60635.44%62336.43%90.53%-17 [b] -0.99%1,710
Sussex County 93135.08%58422.00%1,13042.58%90.34%-199 [a] -7.50%2,654
Tazewell County 2,73654.10%2,15342.57%1112.19%571.13%58311.53%5,057
Warren County 1,49058.78%90335.62%1094.30%331.30%58723.16%2,535
Washington County 2,64248.02%2,77250.38%400.73%480.87%-130-2.36%5,502
Westmoreland County 50953.69%31433.12%10811.39%171.79%19520.57%948
Wise County 3,17558.81%2,18640.49%150.28%230.43%98918.32%5,399
Wythe County 1,93248.24%1,84446.04%1864.64%431.07%882.20%4,005
York County 1,43546.88%1,28942.11%2879.38%501.63%1464.77%3,061
Alexandria City 5,07747.22%5,26949.00%2832.63%1221.13%-192-1.79%10,751
Bristol City 1,15661.46%71037.75%120.64%30.16%44623.71%1,881
Buena Vista City 50157.39%31035.51%576.53%50.57%19121.88%873
Charlottesville City 2,70550.36%1,99737.18%61311.41%561.04%70813.18%5,371
Chesapeake City 5,12447.82%2,12419.82%3,35331.29%1141.06%1,771 [a] 16.53%10,715
Clifton Forge City 76156.25%48335.70%957.02%141.03%27820.55%1,353
Colonial Heights City 1,08842.75%60423.73%83332.73%200.79%255 [a] 10.02%2,545
Covington City 1,27361.44%66932.29%1014.87%291.40%60429.15%2,072
Danville City 2,42045.08%1,24723.23%1,65130.76%500.93%769 [a] 14.33%5,368
Fairfax City 1,00649.07%96246.93%673.27%150.73%442.15%2,050
Falls Church City 98045.73%1,09050.86%542.52%190.89%-110-5.13%2,143
Franklin City 83859.43%24617.45%31722.48%90.64%521 [a] 36.95%1,410
Fredericksburg City 1,58458.86%96235.75%1043.86%411.52%62223.11%2,691
Galax City 63449.65%59246.36%473.68%40.31%423.29%1,277
Hampton City 5,20551.81%4,02540.07%7247.21%920.92%1,18011.75%10,046
Harrisonburg City 1,12246.13%1,24551.19%502.06%150.62%-123-5.06%2,432
Hopewell City 2,26256.96%1,10927.93%55113.88%491.23%1,15329.04%3,971
Lynchburg City 3,86443.80%3,42238.79%1,42216.12%1121.27%4425.01%8,820
Martinsville City 1,58152.11%1,16838.50%2578.47%280.92%41313.61%3,034
Newport News City 7,26456.30%4,40534.14%1,0598.21%1741.35%2,85922.16%12,902
Norfolk City 12,41952.74%7,31531.07%3,66315.56%1500.64%5,10421.68%23,547
Norton City 34348.79%35550.50%10.14%40.57%-12-1.71%703
Petersburg City 2,79058.72%89718.88%1,04722.04%170.36%1,743 [a] 36.69%4,751
Portsmouth City 7,20660.28%2,63922.08%1,99716.71%1120.94%4,56738.20%11,954
Radford City 1,30747.42%1,33548.44%973.52%170.62%-28-1.02%2,756
Richmond City 18,03255.27%8,79826.97%5,61317.21%1800.55%9,23428.31%32,623
Roanoke City 5,88835.12%9,94759.33%8164.87%1140.68%-4,059-24.21%16,765
South Boston City 49046.85%32330.88%22421.41%90.86%16715.97%1,046
Staunton City 2,06250.51%1,80444.19%1734.24%431.05%2586.32%4,082
Suffolk City 1,45371.05%38218.68%2049.98%50.24%1,07152.37%2,044
Virginia Beach City 6,22454.43%3,71832.51%1,44512.64%480.42%2,50621.92%11,435
Waynesboro City 1,27543.80%1,49951.49%1163.98%210.72%-224-7.69%2,911
Williamsburg City 47945.40%48345.78%858.06%80.76%-4-0.38%1,055
Winchester City 1,10059.91%67536.76%492.67%120.65%42523.15%1,836
Totals269,52647.89%212,20737.71%75,30713.38%5,7301.02%57,31910.18%562,770

Analysis

Godwin won the election with a plurality over Holton and Story. Story's strength – around four points greater than expected in pre-election polls [19] that gave him nine percent of the total [20] – mainly came at the expense of the Democrats as counties in the Piedmont that had been won by Democrats with over seventy percent shrank to forty percent or less. Godwin did best in the Tidewater Region, while Holton ran best in the traditionally Republican Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia. Increased turnout due to the Twenty-fourth Amendment helped Godwin. Whereas previous Republican gubernatorial candidates had typically won majorities of a limited black vote [21] reaching up to ninety percent, [22] Godwin is thought to have won seventy-five percent of a black vote estimated at seventy thousand. [c] [21] Despite the fact that Holton had opposed Massive Resistance, the association of the Republicans with Barry Goldwater was fatal for his chances of winning the newly enfranchised African-Americans. [22]

Godwin's success was based on a very unlikely coalition of liberals and conservatives: he would even get people of radically different ideologies to work for him in different localities – Armistead Boothe in Arlington and William Tuck in Danville. [23]

Rockwell received 5,730 votes, [24] slightly less than 1% of the total. [24] While he was initially disappointed and shocked by his showing, only weeks later at a speech he spun it as a positive result, saying that

with a budget of $15,000, with a total press blackout, and with a 'Kosher conservative' [splitting the vote] ... I got 7,000 people to vote for a Nazi. [24] [25]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 In this county or city where Holton ran third behind Godwin and Story, margin given is Godwin vote minus Story vote and percentage margin Godwin percentage minus Story percentage.
  2. 1 2 3 In this county or city where Godwin ran third behind both Holton and Story, margin given is Holton vote minus Story vote and percentage margin Holton percentage minus Story percentage.
  3. This is less than half the estimated black vote in the state in the 1964 presidential election, more than ninety-five percent of which went to Democrat Lyndon Johnson. [3]

Sources

References

  1. "Virginia Primary Is Today". Winston-Salem Journal . UPI. July 13, 1965. p. 5.
  2. 1 2 Key, Valdimer Orlando (1949). Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York City: A.A. Knopf. pp. 20, 495.
  3. 1 2 Davidson, Chandler; Grofman, Bernard (1994). Quiet Revolution in the South: the Impact of the Voting Rights Act, 1965-1990. pp. 275–276. ISBN   0691032475.
  4. "Harry Byrd Jr. 'Thinking' of Running for Governor – Decision Due Early Next Year". Culpeper Star-Exponent . November 14, 1964. p. 1.
  5. "Pops Hole in Political Trial Balloon – Harry Byrd Jr. Won't Run for Governor". Danville Register and Bee . December 8, 1964. pp. 1-A, 4-A.
  6. Roland, Charles Pierce (1975). The Improbable Era: The South Since World War II. University Press of Kentucky. p. 80. ISBN   9780813113357.
  7. Holton, Abner Linwood (2008). Opportunity time. University of Virginia Press. p. 57. ISBN   9780813927206.
  8. 1 2 Pope, Michael Lee (2022). The Byrd Machine in Virginia: The Rise and Fall of a Conservative Political Organization. History Press. p. 140. ISBN   9781467139205.
  9. Parr, Patrick Anthony (August 1982). The 1969 Democratic Party Gubernatorial Primary: A Watershed in Virginia Political History (Master of Arts thesis). Old Dominion University. pp. 33–34.
  10. Simonelli 1999, p. 98.
  11. Schmaltz 2000, p. 247.
  12. Schmaltz 2000, pp. 247–248.
  13. "What Rockwell Will Do As Governor [Rockwell for Governor Campaign leaflet]" (1965) [Campaign leaflet]. Edward H. Peeples, Jr. Papers, Box: 13, File: 342. James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University.
  14. Cox, Charles (November 1, 1965). "Nazi Is Fined for Creating Disorder at NAACP Session". The World-News. Roanoke, Virginia. p. 13.
  15. "Voters of Area, State Decide Races Tomorrow: Both Parties Make Final Voter Pleas". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. November 1, 1965. p. 1.
  16. "Election Capsule". The Evening Times . Trenton, New Jersey. November 2, 1965. p. 1.
  17. Hunter, Jack R. (Spring 1972). Linwood Holton's long quest for the governorship of Virginia and its impact on the growth of the Republican Party (Masters thesis). University of Richmond.
  18. "VA Governor – November 02, 1965". Our Campaigns.
  19. Atkinson, Frank B. (2006). The Dynamic Dominion: Realignment and the Rise of Two-Party Competition in Virginia, 1945-1980. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 178. ISBN   9780742552081.
  20. "GOP Senses Upset in Virginia Election". Press of Atlantic City. Associated Press. November 2, 1965. p. 2.
  21. 1 2 Topping, John C. (1966). Southern Republicanism and the New South. pp. 122–127.
  22. 1 2 Kabaservice, Geoffrey (January 2, 2012). Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party. Oxford University Press. p. 158. ISBN   9780199921133.
  23. Pope (2022). The Byrd Machine in Virginia. pp. 142–143.
  24. 1 2 3 Schmaltz 2000, p. 264.
  25. Simonelli 1999, p. 99.