1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election

1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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Nominee Richard Nixon George Wallace Hubert Humphrey Party Republican American Independent Democratic Home state New York [lower-alpha 1] Alabama Minnesota Running mate Spiro Agnew Curtis LeMay Edmund Muskie Electoral vote 8 0 0 Popular vote 254,062 215,430 197,486 Percentage 38.09% 32.30% 29.61%

County Results Nixon   30-40%   40-50%   50-60% Wallace   30-40%   40-50%   50-60% Humphrey   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%

President before election Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

The 1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose 8 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Background

For six decades up to 1950 South Carolina was a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had been moribund due to the disfranchisement of blacks and the complete absence of other support bases as the Palmetto State completely lacked upland or German refugee whites opposed to secession. ^[1] Between 1900 and 1948, no Republican presidential candidate ever obtained more than seven percent of the total presidential vote ^[2] – a vote which in 1924 reached as low as 6.6 percent of the total voting-age population ^[3] (or approximately 15 percent of the voting-age white population).

Campaign

Although Nixon ignored the other Deep South states because he knew that he had no chance of competing with George Wallace, in South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, believing Wallace could not win the election and that northeastern urban liberalism would continue to dominate if he endorsed Wallace, took the stump for Nixon in the Palmetto State. ^[4] The result was that Wallace's support in South Carolina plummeted rapidly, although in early September the Alabama governor predicted he would carry the state, ^[5] an opinion backed up by early polling in mid-September. ^[6] Other polls, however, had the race very close between the three candidates. ^[7]

Nixon himself campaigned in the state, aided by Thurmond, at the end of September. ^[8]

48% of white voters supported Nixon, 41% supported Wallace, and 12% supported Humphrey. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

South Carolina was the only Deep South state not to support Wallace in this election. Nixon was the first Republican presidential candidate to ever carry Dillon County, York County, and Spartanburg County. ^[12]

Predictions

The following newspapers gave these predictions about how South Carolina would vote in the 1968 presidential election:

Source	Ranking	As of
Special to The New York Times [13]	Tilt I	September 8, 1968
Lebanon Daily News [14]	Lean I	September 17, 1968
Daily Press [15]	Lean I	October 11, 1968
The Charlotte News [16]	Lean I	October 12, 1968
The Record [17]	Tilt I	October 21, 1968
Shreveport Times [18]	Lean I	November 3, 1968
The Selma Times-Journal [19]	Lean I	November 3, 1968
The New York Times [20]	Tossup	November 4, 1968

Results

1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina [21] [22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon	254,062	38.09%	8
	Independent	George Wallace	215,430	32.30%	0
	Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	197,486	29.61%	0
	Write-ins	Various candidates	4	0.00%	0
Totals			666,978	100.00%	8
Voter turnout					-

Results by county

1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina by county

County	Richard Milhous Nixon Republican		Hubert Horatio Humphrey Democratic		George Corley Wallace Independent		Margin [lower-alpha 2]		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Abbeville	1,213	20.77%	1,425	24.40%	3,201	54.82%	-1,776 [lower-alpha 3]	-30.42%	5,839
Aiken	12,264	44.76%	6,319	23.06%	8,815	32.17%	3,449	12.59%	27,398
Allendale	997	29.72%	1,538	45.84%	820	24.44%	-541 [lower-alpha 4]	-16.12%	3,355
Anderson	5,661	24.33%	5,218	22.43%	12,384	53.23%	-6,723	-28.90%	23,263
Bamberg	1,327	27.70%	1,845	38.52%	1,618	33.78%	227 [lower-alpha 3]	4.74%	4,790
Barnwell	1,849	31.25%	1,716	29.01%	2,351	39.74%	-502	-8.49%	5,916
Beaufort	2,983	36.29%	3,740	45.49%	1,498	18.22%	-757 [lower-alpha 4]	-9.20%	8,221
Berkeley	4,021	28.89%	5,089	36.56%	4,808	34.55%	281 [lower-alpha 3]	2.01%	13,918
Calhoun	885	28.74%	1,216	39.49%	978	31.76%	238 [lower-alpha 3]	7.73%	3,079
Charleston	24,282	43.45%	18,343	32.83%	13,255	23.72%	5,939 [lower-alpha 4]	10.62%	55,880
Cherokee	2,853	27.19%	1,998	19.04%	5,642	53.77%	-2,789	-26.58%	10,493
Chester	2,862	33.71%	2,865	33.75%	2,762	32.54%	-3 [lower-alpha 4]	-0.04%	8,489
Chesterfield	2,564	25.47%	3,180	31.59%	4,324	42.95%	-1,144 [lower-alpha 3]	-11.36%	10,068
Clarendon	2,201	27.85%	3,606	45.62%	2,097	26.53%	-1,405 [lower-alpha 4]	-17.77%	7,904
Colleton	2,824	34.67%	2,651	32.55%	2,670	32.78%	154	1.89%	8,145
Darlington	4,947	35.38%	3,803	27.20%	5,231	37.42%	-284	-2.04%	13,981
Dillon	2,396	35.73%	2,178	32.48%	2,132	31.79%	218 [lower-alpha 4]	3.25%	6,706
Dorchester	3,354	31.21%	3,855	35.87%	3,539	32.93%	316 [lower-alpha 3]	2.94%	10,748
Edgefield	1,688	43.07%	1,225	31.26%	1,006	25.67%	463 [lower-alpha 4]	11.81%	3,919
Fairfield	1,619	27.14%	3,011	50.47%	1,336	22.39%	-1,392 [lower-alpha 4]	-23.33%	5,966
Florence	8,917	36.19%	8,079	32.79%	7,642	31.02%	838 [lower-alpha 4]	3.40%	24,638
Georgetown	3,269	32.62%	4,110	41.01%	2,642	26.36%	-841 [lower-alpha 4]	-8.39%	10,021
Greenville	31,652	52.91%	12,928	21.61%	15,241	25.48%	16,411	27.43%	59,821
Greenwood	4,891	33.37%	3,741	25.52%	6,024	41.10%	-1,133	-7.73%	14,658 [lower-alpha 5]
Hampton	1,671	31.95%	2,107	40.29%	1,452	27.76%	-436 [lower-alpha 4]	-8.34%	5,230
Horry	3,924	26.97%	3,924	26.97%	6,701	46.06%	-2,777	-19.09%	14,549
Jasper	633	20.31%	1,402	44.99%	1,081	34.69%	321 [lower-alpha 3]	10.30%	3,116
Kershaw	4,079	38.56%	2,539	24.00%	3,960	37.44%	119	1.12%	10,578
Lancaster	4,874	37.75%	3,151	24.41%	4,886	37.84%	-12	-0.09%	12,911
Laurens	4,813	39.75%	3,016	24.91%	4,279	35.34%	534	4.41%	12,108
Lee	1,219	22.23%	2,151	39.23%	2,113	38.54%	38 [lower-alpha 3]	0.69%	5,483
Lexington	12,204	48.49%	4,058	16.12%	8,907	35.39%	3,297	13.10%	25,169
Marion	2,512	36.85%	2,821	41.38%	1,484	21.77%	-309 [lower-alpha 4]	-4.53%	6,817
Marlboro	2,024	31.34%	2,294	35.52%	2,140	33.14%	154 [lower-alpha 3]	2.38%	6,458
McCormick	466	21.08%	988	44.69%	757	34.24%	231 [lower-alpha 3]	10.45%	2,211
Newberry	4,538	42.35%	2,444	22.81%	3,734	34.85%	804	7.50%	10,716
Oconee	2,618	27.94%	2,009	21.44%	4,742	50.61%	-2,124	-22.67%	9,369
Orangeburg	5,144	24.20%	8,971	42.20%	7,144	33.60%	1,827 [lower-alpha 3]	8.60%	21,259
Pickens	6,873	51.63%	2,016	15.14%	4,424	33.23%	2,449	18.40%	13,313
Richland	26,215	50.96%	18,198	35.37%	7,030	13.67%	8,017 [lower-alpha 4]	15.59%	51,445 [lower-alpha 5]
Saluda	1,466	30.53%	1,200	24.99%	2,136	44.48%	-670	-13.95%	4,802
Spartanburg	18,183	38.69%	11,467	24.40%	17,346	36.91%	837	1.78%	46,996
Sumter	5,451	33.43%	6,103	37.42%	4,754	29.15%	-652 [lower-alpha 4]	-3.99%	16,308
Union	3,011	30.50%	2,271	23.00%	4,590	46.50%	-1,579	-16.00%	9,872
Williamsburg	3,029	28.08%	5,106	47.33%	2,652	24.59%	-2,077 [lower-alpha 4]	-19.25%	10,787
York	7,596	37.48%	5,571	27.49%	7,102	35.04%	494	2.44%	20,269
Totals	254,062	38.09%	197,486	29.61%	215,430	32.30%	38,632	5.79%	666,982

Notes

1. 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.
2. Because Nixon finished first and Wallace second in South Carolina as a whole, all margins given are Nixon vote minus Wallace vote and Nixon percentage minus Wallace percentage unless state for the county in question.
3. In this county where Nixon ran third behind both Humphrey and Wallace, margin given is Humphrey vote minus Wallace vote and percentage margin Humphrey percentage minus Wallace percentage.
4. In this county where Wallace ran third behind both Nixon and Humphrey, margin given is Nixon vote minus Humphrey vote and percentage margin Nixon percentage minus Humphrey percentage.
5. Two write-in votes were recorded from this county.

References

1. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN   9780691163246
2. Mickey, Robert; Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972, p. 440 ISBN   0691149631
3. Mickey; Paths Out of Dixie, p. 27
4. Perlstein, Rick; Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, pp. 344-345 ISBN   9780743243025
5. Rouse, Mike; ‘Wallace IS Appealing for Vote of the “Doves” as Well as Others’; Danville Register, September 3, 1968, p. 12
6. ‘Four Polls Place Nixon in Lead’; Marshfield News-Herald, September 16, 1968, p. 3
7. ‘Face-to-Face: Humphrey Desires Debate with Nixon’; Cumberland Evening-Times, September 16, 1968, p. 3
8. ‘Nixon Proposes Anti-Crime Council’; The Waco News-Tribune, September 30, 1968, p. 5
9. Black & Black 1992, p. 147.
10. Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
11. Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
12. Menendez, Albert J. (2005). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 291–293. ISBN   0786422173.
13. Rugaber, Walter (September 8, 1968). "Wallace and Nixon Vie in South; Conservatives Shun Humphrey: Ex-Alabama Governor Thought to Lead in 9 of 11 States of Old Confederacy, With Total of 91 Electoral Votes". The New York Times (Special to the New York Times ed.). p. 78.
14. "Politics…in County, State and Nation". Lebanon Daily News . Lebanon, Pennsylvania. September 17, 1968. p. 4.
15. Murray, David. "Wallace Might Take 6 Southern States". Daily Press . Newport News, Virginia. p. 51.
16. "In South It's Nixon vs. Wallace". The Charlotte News . Charlotte, North Carolina. October 12, 1968. pp. 1, 3.
17. "Nixon Leads in 26 States: Wallace Will Run Strong: AP". The Record . Hackensack, New Jersey. Associated Press. October 21, 1968. p. 3.
18. Broder, David S. (November 3, 1968). "After Hoopla Finished, Nixon Still Winning, Survey Shows". Shreveport Times . p. 4-B.
19. "Summary of 50 States on Coming Election". The Selma Times-Journal . Selma, Alabama. November 3, 1968. p. 5.
20. Weaver jr., Warren (November 4, 1968). "Nixon Holds Lead Over Humphrey in Late Survey: Contest Tightens — G. O. P. Nominee Put Ahead in 30 States and His Rival in 8". The New York Times . pp. 1, 36.
21. "1968 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
22. Woolley, John; Peters, Gehard. "1968 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved August 26, 2016.

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN   0674941306.