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1968 United States presidential election in California

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Field	Value
election_name	1968 United States presidential election in California
country	California
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	1964 United States presidential election in California
previous_year	1964
next_election	1972 United States presidential election in California
next_year	1972
turnout	85.75% (of registered voters) 2.63 pp
62.34% (of eligible voters) 3.66 pp
election_date	November 5, 1968
image_size	x160px
image1	Nixon_30-0316a_(cropped).jpg
nominee1	Richard Nixon
party1	Republican Party (United States)
home_state1	New York
running_mate1	Spiro Agnew
electoral_vote1	40
popular_vote1	3,467,664
percentage1	47.82%
image2	Hubert Humphrey in New York, 1968 (3x4 crop).jpg
nominee2	Hubert Humphrey
party2	Democratic Party (United States)
home_state2	Minnesota
running_mate2	Edmund Muskie
electoral_vote2	0
popular_vote2	3,244,318
percentage2	44.74%
image3	George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
nominee3	George Wallace
party3	American Independent Party
colour3	ff9955
home_state3	Alabama
running_mate3	S. Marvin Griffin
electoral_vote3	0
popular_vote3	487,270
percentage3	6.72%
map_image	325px
map_size	325px
map_caption	County Results
title	President
before_election	Lyndon B. Johnson
before_party	Democratic Party (United States)
after_election	Richard Nixon
after_party	Republican Party (United States)

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election

62.34% (of eligible voters) 3.66 pp Nixon Humphrey The 1968 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose 40 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon of New York, over the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. The American Independent Party candidate, former Alabama governor George Wallace, performed rather well in California despite being thousands of miles away from his base in the Deep South.

Although Nixon was born and raised in California, he had moved to New York, following his failed 1962 gubernatorial bid, and thus identified New York as his home state in this election. After he won the election, Nixon moved his residency back to California. Nixon had previously defeated John F. Kennedy in California in 1960, and would later win the state again against George McGovern in 1972. Had Humphrey come out victorious in California, Nixon would have earned only 261 electoral votes, and thus, the election would have been sent to the United States House of Representatives.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time California had less electoral votes than New York, or that a Democrat had won Kings County.

Nixon also became the first-ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Alameda County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Santa Clara County since Ulysses Grant in 1868, and the first to do so without carrying Napa or San Mateo Counties since Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Nixon's victory was the first of six consecutive Republican victories in the state, as California would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Bill Clinton in 1992. Since then it has become a safe Democratic state. This is also the last election where California did not have the highest number of electoral votes.

Campaign

During the 1968 California Democratic primary, Robert F. Kennedy won the primary "narrowly" but was assassinated after giving a victory speech.

Polling

Poll Source	Date Published	Hubert
George	Other/
Mervin Field	October 28, 1968	50%	34%	8%	8%
Don Muchmore	October 20, 1968	45%	35%	7%	13%
Don Muchmore	October 6, 1968	44%	33%	7%	16%
Mervin Field	September 29, 1968	51%	28%	11%	10%
Mervin Field	September 23, 1968	47%	30%	8%	15%
Don Muchmore	September 15, 1968	43%	34%	7%	16%

Results

Primary election results

Democratic primaries

The primary election was held on June 4, 1968 with Robert F. Kennedy winning. The "no preference" option was initially meant to be Lyndon B. Johnson's position on the ballot.

last=Jordan	first=Frank M.	url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822045659562&seq=1	title=California Statement of Vote – Consolidated Primary Election: June 4, 1968	publisher=California Secretary of State	access-date=January 20, 2025	via=HaithiTrust}}	# votes	Total	3,181,753
Robert F. Kennedy	1,472,166
Eugene McCarthy	1,329,301
No preference	380,286

Republican primaries

The primary election was held on June 4, 1968. Ronald Reagan was the only candidate in the primary and won the primary as he was the only candidate and got the most number of votes.

Candidate	# votes	Total	1,525,091
Ronald Reagan	1,525,091

General election results

1968 United States presidential election in California	Party	Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Republican	Richard Nixon	3,467,664	47.82%	40
Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	3,244,318	44.74%	0
American Independent	George Wallace	487,270	6.72%	0
Peace and Freedom	Eldridge Cleaver	27,707	0.38%	0
No party	Eugene McCarthy (write-in)	20,721	0.29%	0
No party	Dick Gregory (write-in)	3,230	0.04%	0
No party	Henning A. Blomen (write-in)	341	0.00%	0
No party	Charlene Mitchell (write-in)	260	0.00%	0
No party	E. Harold Munn (write-in)	59	0.00%	0
No party	Write-ins	17	0.00%	0
Invalid or blank votes			—
Totals	7,251,587	100.00%	40
Voter turnout		—

Results by county

County	Richard Nixon
Republican	Hubert Humphrey
Democratic	George Wallace
American Independent	Various candidates
Other parties	Margin	Total votes cast	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total	3,467,664	47.82%	3,244,318	44.74%	487,270	6.72%	52,335	0.72%	223,346	3.08%	7,251,587
	Alameda		153,285		37.63%		219,545		53.90%		28,426		6.98%		6,093		1.50%		-66,260		-16.27%		407,349
	Alpine		150		59.29%		83		32.81%		20		7.91%		0		0.00%		67		26.48%		253
	Amador		2,269		42.10%		2,440		45.27%		660		12.24%		21		0.39%		-171		-3.17%		5,390
	Butte		22,225		56.68%		12,887		32.87%		3,891		9.92%		208		0.53%		9,338		23.81%		39,211
	Calaveras		3,042		52.16%		2,134		36.59%		643		11.03%		13		0.22%		908		15.57%		5,832
	Colusa		2,361		51.58%		1,858		40.59%		344		7.52%		14		0.31%		503		10.99%		4,577
	Contra Costa		97,486		44.53%		101,668		46.44%		18,330		8.37%		1,433		0.65%		-4,182		-1.91%		218,917
	Del Norte		2,387		46.19%		2,236		43.27%		495		9.58%		50		0.97%		151		2.92%		5,168
	El Dorado		7,468		49.00%		6,054		39.72%		1,676		11.00%		43		0.28%		1,414		9.28%		15,241
	Fresno		59,901		43.60%		65,153		47.42%		11,292		8.22%		1,050		0.76%		-5,252		-3.82%		137,396
	Glenn		3,848		53.91%		2,466		34.55%		808		11.32%		16		0.22%		1,382		19.36%		7,138
	Humboldt		16,719		46.17%		16,476		45.50%		2,759		7.62%		260		0.72%		243		0.67%		36,214
	Imperial		10,818		52.91%		7,481		36.59%		2,100		10.27%		47		0.23%		3,337		16.32%		20,446
	Inyo		3,641		54.45%		2,314		34.60%		714		10.68%		18		0.27%		1,327		19.85%		6,687
	Kern		53,990		46.61%		49,284		42.55%		12,309		10.63%		249		0.21%		4,706		4.06%		115,832
	Kings		7,796		43.07%		8,643		47.75%		1,640		9.06%		22		0.12%		-847		-4.68%		18,101
	Lake		4,464		49.00%		3,777		41.46%		838		9.20%		32		0.35%		687		7.54%		9,111
	Lassen		2,553		41.06%		2,930		47.12%		712		11.45%		23		0.37%		-377		-6.06%		6,218
	Los Angeles		1,266,480		47.65%		1,223,251		46.02%		151,050		5.68%		17,201		0.65%		43,229		1.63%		2,657,982
	Madera		6,229		43.55%		6,932		48.47%		1,120		7.83%		22		0.15%		-703		-4.92%		14,303
	Marin		41,422		50.05%		36,278		43.84%		3,801		4.59%		1,254		1.52%		5,144		6.21%		82,755
	Mariposa		1,496		49.92%		1,187		39.61%		302		10.08%		12		0.40%		309		10.31%		2,997
	Mendocino		8,305		46.39%		7,935		44.32%		1,554		8.68%		110		0.61%		370		2.07%		17,904
	Merced		11,595		40.90%		14,453		50.98%		2,248		7.93%		53		0.19%		-2,858		-10.08%		28,349
	Modoc		1,713		52.43%		1,264		38.69%		284		8.69%		6		0.18%		449		13.74%		3,267
	Mono		1,130		64.28%		465		26.45%		156		8.87%		7		0.40%		665		37.83%		1,758
	Monterey		33,670		50.16%		28,261		42.10%		4,800		7.15%		393		0.59%		5,409		8.06%		67,124
	Napa		14,270		43.76%		14,762		45.27%		3,476		10.66%		104		0.32%		-492		-1.51%		32,612
	Nevada		6,061		51.39%		4,607		39.06%		1,078		9.14%		48		0.41%		1,454		12.33%		11,794
	Orange		314,905		63.14%		148,869		29.85%		33,034		6.62%		1,899		0.38%		166,036		33.29%		498,707
	Placer		12,427		42.64%		14,050		48.21%		2,574		8.83%		93		0.32%		-1,623		-5.57%		29,144
	Plumas		2,097		37.37%		2,961		52.77%		529		9.43%		24		0.43%		-864		-15.40%		5,611
	Riverside		83,414		52.90%		61,146		38.78%		12,432		7.88%		678		0.43%		22,268		14.12%		157,670
	Sacramento		97,177		41.66%		118,769		50.92%		16,269		6.98%		1,031		0.44%		-21,592		-9.26%		233,246
	San Benito		2,961		47.54%		2,809		45.10%		447		7.18%		12		0.19%		152		2.44%		6,229
	San Bernardino		111,974		50.07%		89,418		39.99%		21,187		9.47%		1,037		0.46%		22,556		10.08%		223,616
	San Diego		261,540		56.26%		167,669		36.07%		33,340		7.17%		2,314		0.50%		93,871		20.19%		464,863
	San Francisco		100,970		33.66%		177,509		59.18%		17,332		5.78%		4,136		1.38%		-76,539		-25.52%		299,947
	San Joaquin		47,293		47.97%		42,073		42.68%		8,923		9.05%		300		0.30%		5,220		5.29%		98,589
	San Luis Obispo		19,420		51.27%		15,828		41.78%		2,416		6.38%		217		0.57%		3,592		9.49%		37,881
	San Mateo		98,654		43.72%		106,519		47.20%		14,720		6.52%		5,775		2.56%		-7,865		-3.48%		225,668
	Santa Barbara		50,068		53.59%		37,565		40.21%		5,083		5.44%		704		0.75%		12,503		13.38%		93,420
	Santa Clara		163,446		45.61%		173,511		48.42%		18,754		5.23%		2,656		0.74%		-10,065		-2.81%		358,367
	Santa Cruz		25,365		50.79%		20,492		41.03%		3,465		6.94%		622		1.25%		4,873		9.76%		49,944
	Shasta		11,821		40.44%		14,510		49.64%		2,815		9.63%		84		0.29%		-2,689		-9.20%		29,230
	Sierra		548		45.93%		559		46.86%		85		7.12%		1		0.08%		-11		-0.93%		1,193
	Siskiyou		6,334		46.13%		6,260		45.59%		1,088		7.92%		50		0.36%		74		0.54%		13,732
	Solano		17,683		34.71%		27,271		53.52%		5,810		11.40%		188		0.37%		-9,588		-18.81%		50,952
	Sonoma		38,088		48.79%		33,587		43.03%		5,875		7.53%		509		0.65%		4,501		5.76%		78,059
	Stanislaus		29,573		45.45%		31,316		48.13%		3,973		6.11%		201		0.31%		-1,743		-2.68%		65,063
	Sutter		8,665		59.57%		4,624		31.79%		1,228		8.44%		28		0.19%		4,041		27.78%		14,545
	Tehama		5,198		47.26%		4,565		41.50%		1,216		11.06%		20		0.18%		633		5.76%		10,999
	Trinity		1,426		43.12%		1,433		43.33%		432		13.06%		16		0.48%		-7		-0.21%		3,307
	Tulare		29,314		52.17%		22,180		39.47%		4,580		8.15%		115		0.20%		7,134		12.70%		56,189
	Tuolumne		4,330		47.48%		3,913		42.91%		865		9.49%		11		0.12%		417		4.57%		9,119
	Ventura		59,705		51.35%		47,794		41.11%		8,234		7.08%		528		0.45%		11,911		10.24%		116,261
	Yolo		11,123		38.41%		15,833		54.67%		1,742		6.02%		262		0.90%		-4,710		-16.26%		28,960
	Yuba		5,371		48.17%		4,461		40.01%		1,296		11.62%		22		0.20%		910		8.16%		11,150

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Butte
Inyo
Glenn
Imperial
Calaveras
Riverside
Modoc
Santa Barbara
Tulare
Nevada
Colusa
Mariposa
Ventura
San Bernardino
Santa Cruz
San Luis Obispo
Yuba
Monterey
El Dorado
Lake
Tehama
Marin
Sonoma
San Joaquin
Tuolumne
Kern
Del Norte
San Benito
Mendocino
Siskiyou
Humboldt
Los Angeles

Notes

References

"Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910–2018".
Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century"]; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016
(September 1969). "The 1968 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly.
(Oct–Dec 1968). "CQ Weekly Report".
Jordan, Frank M.. "California Statement of Vote – Consolidated Primary Election: June 4, 1968". California Secretary of State.
"1968 Presidential General Election Results – California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
Jordan, Frank M.. "Statement of Vote - State of California - General Election, November 8, 1968". California Secretary of State.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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