1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi

The 1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election, which was held on that day throughout all fifty states and The District of Columbia. Voters chose seven electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi

November 3, 1964
 
Nominee Barry Goldwater Lyndon B. Johnson
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate William Miller Hubert Humphrey
Electoral vote 7 0
Popular vote 356,528 52,618
Percentage 87.14% 12.86%

County Results
Goldwater
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%
  90-100%

The Republican Party nominee, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, won Mississippi with a lopsided 74.28% margin of victory against the Democratic Party nominee, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson, making the state a staggering 97% more Republican than the national average. Goldwater was the first Republican to carry the Magnolia State since Reconstruction.

Background

In a state where fewer than ten percent of blacks were registered voters,[1] and an almost entirely white electorate had lost none of its hostility towards the Civil Rights Movement, President Johnson's policies, not only on civil rights but also his "War on Poverty", were anathema. Governor Paul B. Johnson Jr., though considered relatively liberal for such reforms as repealing statewide Prohibition, told Mississippians not to obey the Civil Rights Act when it became law in the middle of 1964, while it was clear from the time Johnson planned his legislation that Mississippi white Democrats resented federal intervention with the state's traditional racial policy.[2][3]

Neither Governor Johnson nor any other major state or federal politician offered President Johnson any support in his statewide campaign, which was left to the inexperienced Greenville lawyer Douglas Wynn.[4] Although Governor Johnson and four of five Congressmen were silent about supporting Goldwater, John Bell Williams did support the Republican[4] and left President Johnson's inexperienced and makeshift campaign team with no hope against the state's electorate. Over ninety percent of Mississippi's electorate viewed President Johnson as having done a bad job and 96.4 percent opposed the Civil Rights Act vis-à-vis only 54 percent in all antebellum slave states plus Oklahoma.[5] 87 percent of Mississippi voters, vis-à-vis 48 percent in the South as a whole, believed that President Johnson was failing at countering domestic Communism.[5] This concern with domestic Communism reflected the belief, widespread among Mississippi whites for over three decades, that civil rights activists were funded by Communist parties,[6] whether domestic or Soviet.[7]

Polls

Opinion polls in July amongst registered Mississippi voters giving their opinions of Johnson and Goldwater,[8] and by professional pollsters in August, both showed clearly that Johnson possessed no chance of keeping Mississippi in the Democratic column where it had solidly been since 1876.[9] This despite the fact that George Wallace – who would win the state as a third-party candidate in the following election – decided not to run in July, and plans to place unpledged Democratic electors on the ballot as had been done for the preceding two elections (and who would have been expected to support Wallace this time) were abandoned.[10]

In July, polling suggested Goldwater would receive ninety percent of Mississippi's vote,[11] but this fell to seventy in August[12] and to between sixty and sixty-five in October due to fears he would abolish the Rural Electrification Administration that had played an important role in developing Mississippi.[11] By the weekend before election day, University of California political scientist Peter H. Odegard believed Goldwater would win only Alabama[lower-alpha 1] and Mississippi and had doubts even with those two.[13]

Vote

When the national Democratic Party previously took positions on civil rights viewed too radical, Mississippi's white population's extreme traditional hostility to the Republican Party caused the Magnolia State to elect "states' rights" Democrats and unpledged Democratic electors in 1948 and 1960 respectively. Despite their hostility to the "Republican" label in the past, Goldwater's support for "constitutional government and local self-rule"[14] meant that the absence from the ballot of such third parties mattered little. The Arizona Senator had been one of only six Republicans to vote against the Civil Rights Act,[15] and Goldwater's staunchly conservative policies, which alienated the traditional Northeastern Republican heartland to the point of completely abandoning the GOP,[16] were adequate for the small Mississippi electorate to almost unanimously support him over the "big government" Johnson. In addition to his unacceptable record on racial issues, Mississippi whites also felt that Johnson was doing a very bad job of keeping taxes and spending low.[5]

Amidst a landslide national defeat for Goldwater, he nonetheless defeated President Johnson by a margin of 74.28%, comparable to what had been predicted in the earliest polls and much greater than predicted immediately before the election. Over-representation of urban areas in polling was blamed for this discrepancy.[17] Goldwater's victory in Mississippi made him only the second Republican presidential nominee to carry the state as well as the first one since Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. His 87.14% in the popular vote made it his strongest state in the 1964 election.[18]

Goldwater won all of Mississippi's eighty-two counties, the most recent candidate to do so as of the 2020 presidential election, and won fifty-one with over ninety percent of the vote.[19] Even in the poor white northeastern hills where residual support for Johnson remained based on fear of Goldwater dismantling public works,[20] Goldwater exceeded sixty percent in every county.

Goldwater's percentage margin is the largest statewide percentage victory by any Republican presidential nominee since that party formed,[21] while no state has been won by so large a margin since. In seven counties, Goldwater received a larger proportion of the vote than any presidential nominee has subsequently received in one county.[lower-alpha 2] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Claiborne County, Holmes County, and Jefferson County voted for a Republican presidential nominee.[22]

Results

1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi[19]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Mississippi Republican Barry Goldwater 356,528 87.14% 7
National Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson 52,618 12.86% 0
Totals 409,146 100.00% 7
Voter turnout (Voting age) 33.9%

Results by county

County Barry Morris Goldwater
Mississippi Republican
Lyndon Baines Johnson
National Democratic
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # %
Adams 5,900 84.37% 1,093 15.63% 4,807 68.74% 6,993
Alcorn 3,377 63.79% 1,917 36.21% 1,460 27.58% 5,294
Amite 2,742 96.38% 103 3.62% 2,639 92.76% 2,845
Attala 4,409 94.37% 263 5.63% 4,146 88.74% 4,672
Benton 934 79.83% 236 20.17% 698 59.66% 1,170
Bolivar 4,680 86.49% 731 13.51% 3,949 72.98% 5,411
Calhoun 3,224 91.64% 294 8.36% 2,930 83.29% 3,518
Carroll 2,043 95.42% 98 4.58% 1,945 90.85% 2,141
Chickasaw 3,138 91.83% 279 8.17% 2,859 83.67% 3,417
Choctaw 2,096 93.32% 150 6.68% 1,946 86.64% 2,246
Claiborne 1,226 93.59% 84 6.41% 1,142 87.18% 1,310
Clarke 3,591 93.42% 253 6.58% 3,338 86.84% 3,844
Clay 2,848 92.65% 226 7.35% 2,622 85.30% 3,074
Coahoma 4,172 81.23% 964 18.77% 3,208 62.46% 5,136
Copiah 4,506 94.96% 239 5.04% 4,267 89.93% 4,745
Covington 3,033 88.55% 392 11.45% 2,641 77.11% 3,425
DeSoto 2,928 86.40% 461 13.60% 2,467 72.79% 3,389
Forrest 9,291 89.17% 1,128 10.83% 8,163 78.35% 10,419
Franklin 2,211 96.05% 91 3.95% 2,120 92.09% 2,302
George 2,797 92.04% 242 7.96% 2,555 84.07% 3,039
Greene 1,845 89.52% 216 10.48% 1,629 79.04% 2,061
Grenada 3,648 95.92% 155 4.08% 3,493 91.85% 3,803
Hancock 2,550 62.95% 1,501 37.05% 1,049 25.89% 4,051
Harrison 16,301 75.14% 5,393 24.86% 10,908 50.28% 21,694
Hinds 36,831 87.93% 5,058 12.07% 31,773 75.85% 41,889
Holmes 3,115 96.59% 110 3.41% 3,005 93.18% 3,225
Humphreys 1,863 95.69% 84 4.31% 1,779 91.37% 1,947
Issaquena 456 93.06% 34 6.94% 422 86.12% 490
Itawamba 2,140 65.50% 1,127 34.50% 1,013 31.01% 3,267
Jackson 11,357 82.73% 2,371 17.27% 8,986 65.46% 13,728
Jasper 2,994 92.69% 236 7.31% 2,758 85.39% 3,230
Jefferson 1,258 94.80% 69 5.20% 1,189 89.60% 1,327
Jefferson Davis 2,351 90.91% 235 9.09% 2,116 81.83% 2,586
Jones 12,123 85.95% 1,981 14.05% 10,142 71.91% 14,104
Kemper 2,185 91.96% 191 8.04% 1,994 83.92% 2,376
Lafayette 3,202 81.64% 720 18.36% 2,482 63.28% 3,922
Lamar 3,372 90.99% 334 9.01% 3,038 81.98% 3,706
Lauderdale 13,291 89.36% 1,583 10.64% 11,708 78.71% 14,874
Lawrence 2,373 90.95% 236 9.05% 2,137 81.91% 2,609
Leake 4,343 96.23% 170 3.77% 4,173 92.47% 4,513
Lee 5,165 68.19% 2,409 31.81% 2,756 36.39% 7,574
Leflore 5,589 93.63% 380 6.37% 5,209 87.27% 5,969
Lincoln 6,750 93.92% 437 6.08% 6,313 87.84% 7,187
Lowndes 6,135 92.01% 533 7.99% 5,602 84.01% 6,668
Madison 3,283 92.90% 251 7.10% 3,032 85.80% 3,534
Marion 5,469 91.55% 505 8.45% 4,964 83.09% 5,974
Marshall 2,251 86.78% 343 13.22% 1,908 73.55% 2,594
Monroe 5,627 85.10% 985 14.90% 4,642 70.21% 6,612
Montgomery 3,181 95.53% 149 4.47% 3,032 91.05% 3,330
Neshoba 5,431 94.88% 293 5.12% 5,138 89.76% 5,724
Newton 4,735 95.21% 238 4.79% 4,497 90.43% 4,973
Noxubee 1,980 96.59% 70 3.41% 1,910 93.17% 2,050
Oktibbeha 3,795 90.68% 390 9.32% 3,405 81.36% 4,185
Panola 4,002 90.65% 413 9.35% 3,589 81.29% 4,415
Pearl River 4,009 84.51% 735 15.49% 3,274 69.01% 4,744
Perry 1,775 86.42% 279 13.58% 1,496 72.83% 2,054
Pike 6,418 92.20% 543 7.80% 5,875 84.40% 6,961
Pontotoc 2,699 79.36% 702 20.64% 1,997 58.72% 3,401
Prentiss 2,289 69.32% 1,013 30.68% 1,276 38.64% 3,302
Quitman 2,065 86.01% 336 13.99% 1,729 72.01% 2,401
Rankin 7,541 95.78% 332 4.22% 7,209 91.57% 7,873
Scott 4,729 95.21% 238 4.79% 4,491 90.42% 4,967
Sharkey 1,116 89.71% 128 10.29% 988 79.42% 1,244
Simpson 4,949 94.81% 271 5.19% 4,678 89.62% 5,220
Smith 4,045 94.44% 238 5.56% 3,807 88.89% 4,283
Stone 1,776 90.84% 179 9.16% 1,597 81.69% 1,955
Sunflower 4,127 94.27% 251 5.73% 3,876 88.53% 4,378
Tallahatchie 3,126 92.46% 255 7.54% 2,871 84.92% 3,381
Tate 2,390 89.41% 283 10.59% 2,107 78.83% 2,673
Tippah 2,482 71.82% 974 28.18% 1,508 43.63% 3,456
Tishomingo 1,934 66.44% 977 33.56% 957 32.88% 2,911
Tunica 945 90.52% 99 9.48% 846 81.03% 1,044
Union 2,939 70.38% 1,237 29.62% 1,702 40.76% 4,176
Walthall 3,014 95.14% 154 4.86% 2,860 90.28% 3,168
Warren 7,409 81.96% 1,631 18.04% 5,778 63.92% 9,040
Washington 5,611 73.68% 2,004 26.32% 3,607 47.37% 7,615
Wayne 3,539 92.77% 276 7.23% 3,263 85.53% 3,815
Webster 2,884 92.41% 237 7.59% 2,647 84.81% 3,121
Wilkinson 1,473 93.46% 103 6.54% 1,370 86.93% 1,576
Winston 3,922 94.30% 237 5.70% 3,685 88.60% 4,159
Yalobusha 2,385 90.20% 259 9.80% 2,126 80.41% 2,644
Yazoo 4,801 95.92% 204 4.08% 4,597 91.85% 5,005
Totals356,52887.14%52,61812.86%303,91074.28%409,146

References

  1. Bullock, Charles S. and Gaddie, Ronald Keith; The Triumph of Voting Rights in the South, pp. 31-33 ISBN 0806185309
  2. Crespino, Joseph; In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution, p. 206 ISBN 0691122091
  3. Mitchell, Dennis J.; A New History of Mississippi; p. 453 ISBN 1617039764
  4. 'Mississippi Ousts House Democrat: Goldwater Carries the State by Crushing Plurality'; The New York Times, November 4, 1964, p. 11
  5. Harris, Louis; 'Mississippi Vote Points Up Power Of Local Emotions: Johnson Job Ratings'; The New York Times, November 23, 1964, p. A2
  6. Asch, Chris Myers; The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer, p. 190 ISBN 0807878057
  7. McGuire, Danielle L. and Dittmer, John; Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement, p. 125 ISBN 081313448X
  8. 'State Editors Speak Out'; Holmes County Herald, July 30, 1964, p. 2
  9. Davies, David Randall; The Press and Race: Mississippi Journalists Confront the Movement, p. 221 ISBN 1578063426
  10. Rohler, Lloyd Earl; George Wallace: Conservative Populist, p. 40 ISBN 0313311196
  11. McKee, Don; 'Governors See Barry Slipping In South as Conference Opens: Johnson Gains in Louisiana', The Washington Post, October 13, 1964, p. A@
  12. Manly, Chesly; 'Goldwater Landslide Seen in Mississippi: Many in Office Believe He'll Poll Seventy Percent'; Chicago Tribune, August 12, 1964, pp. 1, 6
  13. 'Expert Sees Barry Winning Just Ala., Miss.', The Boston Globe, November 1, 1964, p. 51
  14. Katagiri, Yasuhiro; The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission: Civil Rights and States' Rights, p. 203 ISBN 1604730080
  15. Thernstrom, Stephan and Thernstrom, Abigail; America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible, p. 151 ISBN 1439129096
  16. Donaldson, Gary; Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964; p. 190 ISBN 1510702369
  17. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'American Voting Behavior and the 1964 Election', Midwest Journal of Political Science, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Feb., 1968), p. 34
  18. "1964 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  19. "1964 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi". Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  20. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210 ISBN 9780691163246
  21. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, p. 403 ISBN 0313257957
  22. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Notes

  1. In Alabama, Goldwater was opposed by a slate of unpledged Democratic electors who would not have voted for President Johnson had they carried the state.
  2. The highest percentage in any county in a presidential election since occurred in 2012 in King County, Texas, where Mitt Romney received 139 votes to Barack Obama's five.
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