1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Last updated

1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Flag of Wisconsin (1913-1981).svg
  1964 November 5, 1968 1972  
  Nixon 30-0316a (cropped).jpg Hubert Humphrey in New York, 1968 (3x4 crop).jpg George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
Nominee Richard Nixon Hubert Humphrey George Wallace
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state New York [lower-alpha 1] Minnesota Alabama
Running mate Spiro Agnew Edmund Muskie S. Marvin Griffin
Electoral vote1200
Popular vote809,997748,804127,835
Percentage47.89%44.27%7.56%

Wisconsin Presidential Election Results 1968.svg
Wisconsin 1968 Pres.svg

President before election

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

The 1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

The 1958 midterm elections saw a major change in Wisconsin politics, as Gaylord A. Nelson became only the state's second Democratic Governor since 1895, and the state also elected Democrats to the position of treasurer and Senator, besides that party gaining a majority in the State Assembly for only the second time since the middle 1890s. They maintained a close balance in the early 1960s, signaling the state's transition to a swing state. The predicted racial backlash from urban Polish-Americans, seen in the 1964 primaries when George Wallace received over 30 percent of Wisconsin's vote, [1] did not affect Lyndon B. Johnson’s big victory in the state in 1964, but would have severe effects when racial unrest began in 1966.

Anti-war Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy would easily win Wisconsin’s 1968 Democratic presidential primary against incumbent President Johnson, who soon announced he would not run for re-election in 1968. [2] Former Vice-President and 1960 Republican nominee Richard Nixon won eighty percent of the vote in the state’s Republican primary. [2]

At the beginning of the campaign, the deep divisions within the Democratic Party were worrisome for political scientists and for the party itself. [3] The first poll said that Nixon was certain to carry Wisconsin, [4] and this opinion was repeated early in October. [5]

Hopes remained dim as the election neared despite the belief by local Representative Clement J. Zablocki that the independent candidacy of George Wallace was losing its impact in the racial-unrest-stricken southern urban counties around Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha, [6] where Wallace had campaigned extensively in September in his effort to put the election into the House of Representatives. [7] Although the gap would narrow in the last polls, [8] Wisconsin would be carried by Nixon with 47.89 percent of the vote, over Humphrey with 44.27 percent and Wallace with 7.56 percent. Wallace fared best in rural northern areas away from Lake Superior and in southern suburbs affected by racial conflict.

Wisconsin weighed in for this election as 2.92% more Republican than the nation at large. This was the last election until 1996 that Wisconsin was the most Republican of the three Rust Belt swing states (also consisting of Michigan and Pennsylvania). Wisconsin would vote more Democratic than both Michigan and Pennsylvania in all but one election from 1972 to 1988.

Results

1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Richard Nixon 809,99747.89%12
Democratic Hubert Humphrey 748,80444.27%0
Independent George Wallace 127,8357.56%0
Socialist Labor [lower-alpha 2] Henning A. Blomen 1,3380.08%0
Socialist Workers [lower-alpha 3] Fred Halstead 1,2220.07%0
Write-in Scattering [lower-alpha 4] 2,3420.14%0
Totals1,691,538100.0%12

Results by county

County [9] [10] Richard Nixon
Republican
Hubert Humphrey
Democratic
George Wallace
Independent
All Others
Various
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %# %
Adams 1,69144.81%1,61442.77%46112.22%80.21%772.04%3,774
Ashland 2,55735.74%4,14757.96%4015.60%500.70%-1,590-22.22%7,155
Barron 7,52655.38%5,18338.14%8676.38%130.10%2,34317.24%13,589
Bayfield 2,33340.91%3,03653.24%3235.66%110.19%-703-12.33%5,703
Brown 30,13353.65%21,61538.48%4,3417.73%760.14%8,51815.17%56,165
Buffalo 2,99254.20%2,11238.26%4137.48%30.05%88015.94%5,520
Burnett 2,05645.81%2,01044.79%4149.22%80.18%461.02%4,488
Calumet 5,79256.73%3,60935.35%7927.76%160.16%2,18321.38%10,209
Chippewa 7,77247.37%7,33544.71%1,2827.81%180.11%4372.66%16,407
Clark 6,32551.18%4,60137.23%1,39811.31%340.28%1,72413.95%12,358
Columbia 8,63352.49%6,69840.72%1,0676.49%490.30%1,93511.77%16,447
Crawford 3,31654.05%2,39138.97%4196.83%90.15%92515.08%6,135
Dane 39,91738.05%59,95157.15%3,7713.59%1,2651.21%-20,034-19.10%104,904
Dodge 14,90957.87%8,94834.73%1,8757.28%310.12%5,96123.14%25,763
Door 5,64763.28%2,72830.57%5356.00%140.16%2,91932.71%8,924
Douglas 5,65629.56%12,50665.37%9304.86%390.20%-6,850-35.81%19,131
Dunn 5,41551.42%4,39241.71%7096.73%140.13%1,0239.72%10,530
Eau Claire 11,79946.64%12,30248.63%1,1694.62%290.11%-503-1.99%25,299
Florence 82148.32%71842.26%1579.24%30.18%1036.06%1,699
Fond du Lac 18,18455.54%12,56338.37%1,9345.91%620.19%5,62117.17%32,743
Forest 1,26440.14%1,47046.68%41213.08%30.10%-206-6.54%3,149
Grant 10,78962.49%5,41431.36%1,0546.11%70.04%5,37531.13%17,264
Green 6,50260.97%3,50132.83%6416.01%200.19%3,00128.14%10,664
Green Lake 4,89363.65%2,29929.91%4886.35%70.09%2,59433.75%7,687
Iowa 4,00553.96%2,89739.03%5096.86%110.15%1,10814.93%7,422
Iron 1,13734.26%1,91357.64%2627.89%70.21%-776-23.38%3,319
Jackson 3,17252.85%2,29338.20%5298.81%80.13%87914.65%6,002
Jefferson 12,47854.91%8,71638.35%1,4706.47%620.27%3,76216.55%22,726
Juneau 3,82853.55%2,59536.30%7129.96%130.18%1,23317.25%7,148
Kenosha 17,08940.54%21,42750.83%3,5488.42%940.22%-4,338-10.29%42,158
Kewaunee 4,46757.24%2,62233.60%7039.01%120.15%1,84523.64%7,804
La Crosse 17,43355.73%11,57036.99%2,2147.08%630.20%5,86318.74%31,280
Lafayette 4,08455.00%2,85338.42%4706.33%180.24%1,23116.58%7,425
Langlade 3,71249.41%3,06440.78%7189.56%190.25%6488.63%7,513
Lincoln 4,79351.37%3,85841.35%6707.18%90.10%93510.02%9,330
Manitowoc 13,56244.20%15,29849.86%1,7905.83%300.10%-1,736-5.66%30,680
Marathon 16,90744.36%18,06347.39%3,0518.00%940.25%-1,156-3.03%38,115
Marinette 7,13448.21%6,41543.35%1,2238.27%250.17%7194.86%14,797
Marquette 2,37461.15%1,22831.63%2797.19%10.03%1,14629.52%3,882
Menominee 17924.19%53171.76%304.05%00.00%-352-47.57%740
Milwaukee 160,02239.75%206,02751.18%35,0568.71%1,4700.37%-46,005-11.43%402,575
Monroe 6,93857.70%4,01233.37%1,0568.78%180.15%2,92624.33%12,024
Oconto 5,68053.74%3,73735.36%1,14110.80%110.10%1,94318.38%10,569
Oneida 5,07748.50%4,43542.37%9418.99%140.13%6426.13%10,467
Outagamie 25,08059.25%14,22433.61%2,9566.98%670.16%10,85625.65%42,327
Ozaukee 12,15558.04%7,24634.60%1,5057.19%360.17%4,90923.44%20,942
Pepin 1,49349.95%1,26342.25%2317.73%20.07%2307.69%2,989
Pierce 4,99048.73%4,78346.71%4534.42%140.14%2072.02%10,240
Polk 5,58348.79%5,17945.26%6565.73%240.21%4043.53%11,442
Portage 6,18036.02%10,01458.36%9005.25%640.37%-3,834-22.35%17,158
Price 3,09647.43%2,79442.80%6219.51%170.26%3024.63%6,528
Racine 28,02844.75%27,04543.18%7,45711.90%1090.17%9831.57%62,639
Richland 4,14159.76%2,28833.02%4857.00%150.22%1,85326.74%6,929
Rock 25,22950.92%20,56741.51%3,6557.38%1000.20%4,6629.41%49,551
Rusk 2,66644.71%2,55942.91%72612.18%120.20%1071.79%5,963
Sauk 8,60853.54%6,40639.84%1,0196.34%450.28%2,20213.70%16,078
Sawyer 2,47552.16%1,83038.57%4359.17%50.11%64513.59%4,745
Shawano 8,44463.75%3,60227.20%1,1818.92%180.14%4,84236.56%13,245
Sheboygan 17,76444.82%20,17050.89%1,5924.02%1080.27%-2,406-6.07%39,634
St. Croix 6,59546.58%6,80748.08%7355.19%200.14%-212-1.50%14,157
Taylor 3,04343.95%2,91042.03%95913.85%110.16%1331.92%6,923
Trempealeau 4,86150.67%3,97141.39%7477.79%140.15%8909.28%9,593
Vernon 5,82455.15%3,66634.72%1,06210.06%80.08%2,15820.44%10,560
Vilas 3,33958.09%1,79831.28%59810.40%130.23%1,54126.81%5,748
Walworth 15,04061.82%7,50530.85%1,7557.21%280.12%7,53530.97%24,328
Washburn 2,42547.62%2,27344.64%3847.54%100.20%1522.99%5,092
Washington 12,43954.89%8,10435.76%2,0659.11%530.23%4,33519.13%22,661
Waukesha 47,55754.93%31,94736.90%6,9217.99%1600.18%15,61018.03%86,585
Waupaca 10,60667.10%3,97825.17%1,2067.63%170.11%6,62841.93%15,807
Waushara 4,18765.35%1,65225.78%5668.83%20.03%2,53539.57%6,407
Winnebago 25,36153.80%18,60539.47%3,0456.46%1280.27%6,75614.33%47,139
Wood 11,79548.25%10,92144.68%1,6956.93%340.14%8743.58%24,445
Totals809,99747.89%748,80444.27%127,8357.56%4,9020.29%61,1933.62%1,691,538

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Electors

These were the names of the electors on each ticket. [9]

Richard M. Nixon
& Spiro Agnew
Republican Party
Hubert Humphrey
& Edmund Muskie
Democratic Party
George Wallace
& S. Marvin Griffin
Independent
Henning A. Blomen
& George S. Taylor
Socialist Labor Party
Fred Halstead
& Paul Boutelle
Socialist Workers Party
  • Warren P. Knowles
  • William Kellett
  • Russell A. Olson
  • Byron Wackatt
  • Peter Hurtgen
  • James C. Devitt
  • Janet Norris
  • J. Curtis McKay
  • Emily Baldwin
  • Harold V. Froelich
  • Ody J. Fish
  • Willis J. Hutnik
  • Gaylord A. Nelson
  • Bronson C. La Follette
  • George Molinaro
  • Elizabeth Tarkow
  • Etta Close
  • Robert Dejewski
  • Ann Brigham
  • Carl Otte
  • Frank Nikolay
  • Ralph Heller
  • Jeanette Swed
  • Art Henning
  • John Sahy
  • Karl Koehler
  • Ronald Hartung
  • John Harmon
  • Bernice Habeck
  • Lloyd G. Herbstreith
  • R. D. Pennings
  • J. J. Birkenstock
  • Mrs. Arthur Krueger
  • H. S. Tuttle
  • Edward J. Duquaine
  • Theodore Grob
  • Martin Tobert
  • Percy Steuber
  • Henry A. Ochsner
  • Arthur Wepfer
  • Georgia Cozzini
  • Alfred Teichert
  • Clarence Wardall
  • Robert E. Nordlander
  • Bruce O. Cozzini
  • Anton Jonas
  • Frank Brlas
  • Marko J. Bolobich
  • Charles H. Wheeler
  • Robert Wilkinson
  • William O. Hart
  • John P. Schuster
  • Edward T. Heisler
  • Wesley W. Weinhold
  • Kristin J. Penn
  • Lee E. Steinberg
  • Linda G. Hansen
  • Margaret Midelfort
  • Robin A. David
  • Lewis D. Pepper

See also

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. "Independent Socialist Labor"
  3. "Independent Socialist Workers"
  4. Not listed in the 1969 Blue Book, but are shown separately by county in the Board of Canvassers report

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election</span> 46th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, defeated both the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey, and the American Independent Party nominee, former Alabama governor George Wallace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States presidential election</span> 47th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial presidential election held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide victory. With 60.7% of the popular vote, Richard Nixon won the largest share of the popular vote for the Republican Party in any presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 United States presidential election</span> 48th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. The Democratic nominee, former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, narrowly defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford. This was the first presidential election since 1932 in which the incumbent was defeated, as well as the only Democratic victory of the six presidential elections between 1968 and 1988.

<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">1968 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in New York 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 43 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">1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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

The 1968 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose twelve 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 Maine</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all fifty states and D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<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">1960 United States presidential election in Wisconsin</span>

The 1960 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 1960 as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Politics in Wisconsin since the Populist movement had been dominated by the Republican Party. The Democratic Party became uncompetitive away from the Lake Michigan coast as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, fled from William Jennings Bryan’s agrarian and free silver sympathies. Although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP, Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the “League” under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative “Regular” faction. This ultimately would develop into the Wisconsin Progressive Party in the late 1930s, which was opposed to the conservative German Democrats and to the national Republican Party, and allied with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the federal level.

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

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.

<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 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">1968 United States presidential election in Iowa</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Iowa voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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

The 1968 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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

The 1968 United States presidential election in Nevada took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose three representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1968 United States presidential election in Washington (state)</span>

The 1968 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

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

The 1968 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose seven representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

References

  1. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 396
  2. 1 2 Kenworthy, E.W.; ‘M‘Carthy Wins Wisconsin: Polls 57% to Johnson’s 35; G.O.P. Gives 80% to Nixon: Reagan Gets 10% Kennedy Write-in 6%’; Special to The New York Times ; April 3, 1968, p. 1
  3. Otten, Allen L.; ‘A Party Divided: Democrats’ Rifts Pose Problems for Candidates As Campaign Develops’; The Wall Street Journal , August 29, 1968, p. 1
  4. Broder, David; ‘Nixon, Wallace have 22 states all sewed up’, The Boston Globe , September 11, 1968, p. 15
  5. ‘Electoral Vote: Nixon 359, HHH 46’; The Boston Globe, October 7, 1968, p. 24
  6. Lyons, Richard L.; ‘Wisconsin’s Nelson Likely to Buck GOP Tide: Campaign '68 House Fight Sees Wallace Decline Knowles Popular’; The Washington Post and Times-Herald , October 29, 1968, p. A4
  7. Evans, Rowland and Novak, Robert; ‘Growing Wallace Strength Poses a Threat to Nixon in Key States’; The Washington Post, September 20, 1968, p. A25
  8. ‘A Final State-by-State Political Survey...: ...A Last Reading on the Campaign of 1968’; The Washington Post and Times-Herald, November 3, 1968, p. B4
  9. 1 2 3 Wisconsin Historical Society, Statement of Board of State Canvassers for President, Vice President and Presidential Electors - General Election - 1968
  10. 1 2 Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Vote For President And Vice President By County". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1969. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 167.