1968 United States presidential election in West Virginia

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[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1968 United States presidential elections in West Virginia

← 1964 November 5, 1968[1] 1972 →
 
Nominee Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon George Wallace
Party Democratic Republican American Independent
Home state Minnesota New York[a] Alabama
Running mate Edmund Muskie Spiro Agnew S. Marvin Griffin
Electoral vote 7 0 0
Popular vote 374,091 307,555 72,560
Percentage 49.60% 40.78% 9.62%

County Results

President before election

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

West Virginia was won by the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, with 49.60 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican candidate, former Senator and Vice President Richard Nixon, with 40.78 percent of the popular vote. American Party candidate and former and future Alabama Governor George Wallace also appeared on the ballot, finishing with 9.62 percent of the popular vote.[3][4]

West Virginia was Wallace's weakest antebellum slave state, whilst it was Humphrey's strongest as it had been for outgoing President Johnson. Wallace fared best in the Eastern Panhandle, urbanised Kanawha County and the emerging Rust Belt of the extreme Northern Panhandle, but even in those areas he did not crack a sixth of the vote in any county.

Strong unionisation meant that the state's predominant poverty-stricken white population did not turn to Wallace in significant numbers.[5] The state's relative loyalty to Humphrey was enhanced by its deep ties to the New Deal and the resultant unionisation, as in all of Appalachian coal country between the 1930s and 1990s.[6] This was helped by the fact that Johnson focused on this state, alongside Texas and culturally allied Kentucky, as critical for Humphrey's hope of regaining the White House.[7] Humphrey nonetheless did lose eighteen percent on Johnson's record performance from 1964.

Results

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1968 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Hubert Humphrey 374,091 49.60%
Republican Richard Nixon 307,555 40.78%
American George Wallace 72,560 9.62%
Total votes 754,206 100.00%

Results by county

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County[8] Hubert Humphrey
Democratic
Richard Nixon
Republican
George Wallace
American
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Barbour 3,210 47.34% 3,206 47.28% 365 5.38% 4 0.06% 6,781
Berkeley 4,929 34.06% 7,223 49.91% 2,321 16.04% -2,294 -15.85% 14,473
Boone 6,391 62.13% 2,970 28.87% 926 9.00% 3,421 33.26% 10,287
Braxton 3,268 54.02% 2,441 40.35% 341 5.64% 827 13.67% 6,050
Brooke 7,506 57.12% 4,191 31.89% 1,444 10.99% 3,315 25.23% 13,141
Cabell 19,018 44.12% 19,418 45.05% 4,666 10.83% -400 -0.93% 43,102
Calhoun 1,682 46.57% 1,612 44.63% 318 8.80% 70 1.94% 3,612
Clay 1,916 51.24% 1,474 39.42% 349 9.33% 442 11.82% 3,739
Doddridge 844 29.60% 1,861 65.28% 146 5.12% -1,017 -35.68% 2,851
Fayette 14,546 66.96% 5,246 24.15% 1,931 8.89% 9,300 42.81% 21,723
Gilmer 1,582 49.48% 1,401 43.82% 214 6.69% 181 5.66% 3,197
Grant 786 19.76% 2,936 73.81% 256 6.44% -2,150 -54.05% 3,978
Greenbrier 6,318 46.46% 5,559 40.88% 1,722 12.66% 759 5.58% 13,599
Hampshire 1,791 40.30% 1,959 44.08% 694 15.62% -168 -3.78% 4,444
Hancock 10,174 54.03% 6,181 32.82% 2,476 13.15% 3,993 21.21% 18,831
Hardy 1,767 43.90% 1,768 43.93% 490 12.17% -1 -0.03% 4,025
Harrison 18,872 54.22% 13,703 39.37% 2,234 6.42% 5,169 14.85% 34,809
Jackson 3,462 36.13% 5,173 53.99% 947 9.88% -1,711 -17.86% 9,582
Jefferson 3,129 45.16% 2,718 39.23% 1,082 15.62% 411 5.93% 6,929
Kanawha 46,650 46.70% 41,712 41.76% 11,524 11.54% 4,938 4.94% 99,886
Lewis 3,168 40.43% 4,027 51.40% 640 8.17% -859 -10.97% 7,835
Lincoln 4,386 50.82% 3,662 42.43% 583 6.75% 724 8.39% 8,631
Logan 13,686 67.42% 4,754 23.42% 1,861 9.17% 8,932 44.00% 20,301
Marion 17,246 58.94% 10,177 34.78% 1,838 6.28% 7,069 24.16% 29,261
Marshall 8,449 49.47% 7,252 42.46% 1,379 8.07% 1,197 7.01% 17,080
Mason 4,549 42.77% 5,208 48.97% 879 8.26% -659 -6.20% 10,636
McDowell 12,842 67.81% 4,020 21.23% 2,075 10.96% 8,822 46.58% 18,937
Mercer 12,739 48.83% 9,985 38.28% 3,363 12.89% 2,754 10.55% 26,087
Mineral 4,225 42.07% 4,545 45.26% 1,273 12.68% -320 -3.19% 10,043
Mingo 8,677 62.89% 3,988 28.90% 1,133 8.21% 4,689 33.99% 13,798
Monongalia 13,128 54.83% 9,261 38.68% 1,556 6.50% 3,867 16.15% 23,945
Monroe 2,412 40.95% 2,925 49.66% 553 9.39% -513 -8.71% 5,890
Morgan 1,015 27.28% 2,244 60.32% 461 12.39% -1,229 -33.04% 3,720
Nicholas 4,858 51.81% 3,678 39.22% 841 8.97% 1,180 12.59% 9,377
Ohio 15,026 49.65% 13,073 43.20% 2,164 7.15% 1,953 6.45% 30,263
Pendleton 1,643 45.29% 1,687 46.50% 298 8.21% -44 -1.21% 3,628
Pleasants 1,522 46.69% 1,534 47.06% 204 6.26% -12 -0.37% 3,260
Pocahontas 1,948 43.93% 2,040 46.01% 446 10.06% -92 -2.08% 4,434
Preston 4,020 39.35% 5,636 55.16% 561 5.49% -1,616 -15.81% 10,217
Putnam 5,009 43.18% 5,252 45.27% 1,340 11.55% -243 -2.09% 11,601
Raleigh 17,744 60.14% 8,775 29.74% 2,987 10.12% 8,969 30.40% 29,506
Randolph 5,562 50.72% 4,508 41.11% 897 8.18% 1,054 9.61% 10,967
Ritchie 1,281 27.42% 3,106 66.50% 284 6.08% -1,825 -39.08% 4,671
Roane 2,639 38.17% 3,851 55.70% 424 6.13% -1,212 -17.53% 6,914
Summers 3,521 52.75% 2,305 34.53% 849 12.72% 1,216 18.22% 6,675
Taylor 2,953 45.92% 3,012 46.84% 466 7.25% -59 -0.92% 6,431
Tucker 1,758 48.82% 1,511 41.96% 332 9.22% 247 6.86% 3,601
Tyler 1,324 29.20% 2,897 63.90% 313 6.90% -1,573 -34.70% 4,534
Upshur 2,319 31.72% 4,565 62.44% 427 5.84% -2,246 -30.72% 7,311
Wayne 8,227 50.41% 6,004 36.79% 2,088 12.79% 2,223 13.62% 16,319
Webster 2,582 62.87% 1,241 30.22% 284 6.92% 1,341 32.65% 4,107
Wetzel 4,038 45.12% 4,122 46.06% 789 8.82% -84 -0.94% 8,949
Wirt 820 40.78% 1,051 52.26% 140 6.96% -231 -11.48% 2,011
Wood 14,293 39.02% 18,960 51.76% 3,379 9.22% -4,667 -12.74% 36,632
Wyoming 6,641 57.27% 3,947 34.04% 1,007 8.68% 2,694 23.23% 11,595
Totals 374,091 49.60% 307,555 40.78% 72,560 9.62% 66,536 8.82% 754,206

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Notes

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  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.

References

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  1. ^ "United States Presidential election of 1968 — Encyclopædia Britannica". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  2. ^ "1968 Election for the Forty-Sixth Term (1969-73)". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  3. ^ "1968 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "The American Presidency Project — Election of 1968". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Phillips, Kevin P. The Emerging Republican Majority. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6.
  6. ^ Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 135, 288, 347, 374
  7. ^ Wainstock, Dennis. Election year 1968: the turning point. p. 172. ISBN 1936274418.
  8. ^ "WV US President — November 05, 1968". Our Campaigns.