1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi explained

See main article: 1968 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Country:Mississippi
Flag Image:Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Previous Year:1964
Next Election:1972 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Next Year:1972
Election Date:November 5, 1968
Image1:George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
Nominee1:George Wallace
Color1:ff9955
Alliance1:American Independent Party
Party1:Independent politician
Home State1:Alabama
Running Mate1:Curtis LeMay
Electoral Vote1:7
Popular Vote1:415,349
Percentage1:63.46%
Nominee2:Hubert Humphrey
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Minnesota
Running Mate2:Edmund Muskie
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:150,644
Percentage2:23.02%
Image3:Nixon_30-0316a_(cropped).jpg
Nominee3:Richard Nixon
Party3:Republican Party (United States)
Home State3:New York
Running Mate3:Spiro Agnew
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:88,516
Percentage3:13.52%
President
Before Election:Lyndon B. Johnson
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Richard Nixon
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Map Size:304px

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.[1] [2] 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 (apart from a small number in the northeast of the state opposed to Goldwater's strong fiscal conservatism).[3] Goldwater's support for "constitutional government and local self-rule"[4] 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,[5] and so the small electorate of Mississippi supported him almost unanimously.

Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, federal examiners registered Mississippi blacks as voters in large numbers: African American registration rose from under seven percent to over fifty-nine percent between mid-1965 and 1968.[6] Extreme anger ensued among white Mississippians, because black voting in significant numbers would threaten the entire social fabric of the Black Belt[7] and was even feared by the few upcountry whites who had stayed loyal to Johnson.[8] The anger of Mississippi's whites was seen in the 1967 Democratic gubernatorial primary, when both Black Belt whites and their traditional foes in the upcountry supported conservative John Bell Williams against William Winter, whom it was believed was favored by the newly registered black voters, although no politician in the state would yet openly court black support.[9]

In addition, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and resultant abolition of Mississippi's poll tax had allowed large increases in both white and black voter registration,[10] with some of these drives run by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Consequently, when segregationist former and future Alabama Governor George Wallace announced in early 1968 that he would mount a third-party candidacy for the Presidency, he had a powerful base in the Deep South. Meanwhile, the Republican Party, under new RNC Chairman Ray C. Bliss, had of necessity moved away from the strident conservatism of Goldwater.[11]

Given Wallace's reputation on racial issues, it was inevitable that he would be endorsed by Mississippi's established Democratic Party leadership, and this happened in September.[12] William Winter, the losing candidate for Governor the previous year, did support Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey, but knew that it would be too risky to actively campaign for him.[13] By August, it was widely accepted that Wallace would carry Mississippi by a large margin,[14] as apart from a small number of wealthy urban communities he had captured a virtual monopoly of the state's white electorate. Wallace was the only candidate to campaign in the state.[12] Nixon only received 13% of the vote, making Mississippi his worst state in the election.[15] 83% of white voters supported Wallace, 17% supported Nixon, and 0% supported Humphrey.

Predictions

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

SourceRankingAs of
Fort Worth Star-Telegram[16] (Flip)September 14, 1968
Pensacola News Journal[17] (Flip)September 23, 1968
Daily Press[18] (flip)October 11, 1968
The Charlotte News[19] (Flip)October 12, 1968
The Record[20] (Flip)October 21, 1968
Shreveport Times[21] (Flip)November 3, 1968
The Selma Times-Journal[22] (Flip)November 3, 1968
Fort Lauderdale News[23] (Flip)November 4, 1968

Results

1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
American IndependentGeorge C. Wallace415,34963.46%7
DemocraticHubert Humphrey150,64423.02%0
RepublicanRichard Nixon88,51613.52%0
Totals654,509100.00%7
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered voters)53%/84%

Results by county

CountyGeorge Wallace
American Independent		Hubert Humphrey
Democratic		Richard Nixon
Republican		MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Adams6,81250.46%5,21438.62%1,47510.93%1,59811.84%13,501
Alcorn6,30468.63%1,12212.21%1,76019.16%4,54449.47%9,186
Amite3,20662.47%1,53329.87%3937.66%1,67332.60%5,132
Attala4,77668.59%1,58822.81%5998.60%3,18845.78%6,963
Benton1,63061.16%85031.89%1856.94%78029.27%2,665
Bolivar5,01843.62%4,69640.82%1,79015.56%3222.80%11,504
Calhoun4,82387.80%2765.02%3947.17%4,42980.63%5,493
Carroll2,13166.72%92528.96%1384.32%1,20637.76%3,194
Chickasaw4,06278.68%72013.95%3817.38%3,34264.73%5,163
Choctaw2,54380.20%41713.15%2116.65%2,12667.05%3,171
Claiborne1,14332.64%2,12960.79%2306.57%-986-28.15%3,502
Clarke4,21478.18%87816.29%2985.53%3,33661.89%5,390
Clay3,50563.62%1,51027.41%4948.97%1,99536.21%5,509
Coahoma3,67133.69%5,35249.11%1,87517.20%-1,681-15.42%10,898
Copiah4,95159.09%2,72432.51%7048.40%2,22726.58%8,379
Covington3,66876.35%69114.38%4459.26%2,97761.97%4,804
DeSoto5,34664.13%1,89822.77%1,09213.10%3,44841.36%8,336
Forrest9,97561.48%2,95718.22%3,29420.30%6,68141.18%16,226
Franklin2,42970.57%78222.72%2316.71%1,64747.85%3,442
George3,99291.20%2144.89%1713.91%3,77886.31%4,377
Greene2,74482.53%44913.50%1323.97%2,29569.03%3,325
Grenada4,33561.03%2,05028.86%71810.11%2,28532.17%7,103
Hancock4,07267.41%90414.96%1,06517.63%3,00749.78%6,041
Harrison18,15762.08%4,54915.55%6,54222.37%11,61539.71%29,248
Hinds32,36653.29%14,88024.50%13,48822.21%17,48628.79%60,734
Holmes3,00840.60%3,88152.38%5207.02%-873-11.78%7,409
Humphreys2,15159.29%1,21933.60%2587.11%93225.69%3,628
Issaquena53448.33%52747.69%443.98%70.64%1,105
Itawamba5,20484.07%4176.74%5699.19%4,63574.88%6,190
Jackson15,26174.67%2,23610.94%2,94214.39%12,31960.28%20,439
Jasper3,10069.51%98722.13%3738.36%2,11347.38%4,460
Jefferson1,11232.90%2,12162.75%1474.35%-1,009-29.85%3,380
Jefferson Davis2,61459.73%1,46533.48%2976.79%1,14926.25%4,376
Jones12,27668.22%2,47613.76%3,24218.02%9,03450.20%17,994
Kemper2,53075.48%65519.54%1674.98%1,87555.94%3,352
Lafayette3,32954.20%1,57825.69%1,23520.11%1,75128.51%6,142
Lamar4,42283.14%3516.60%54610.27%3,87672.87%5,319
Lauderdale14,84272.88%3,19515.69%2,32811.43%11,64757.19%20,365
Lawrence2,82572.55%74019.00%3298.45%2,08553.55%3,894
Leake4,56872.32%1,29520.50%4537.17%3,27351.82%6,316
Lee9,23267.55%1,91213.99%2,52218.45%6,71049.10%13,666
Leflore5,73249.28%4,38637.71%1,51413.02%1,34611.57%11,632
Lincoln7,27673.36%1,58515.98%1,05710.66%5,69157.38%9,918
Lowndes6,82961.94%2,22920.22%1,96817.85%4,60041.72%11,026
Madison4,07143.02%4,51547.72%8769.26%-444-4.70%9,462
Marion5,84870.18%1,72220.66%7639.16%4,12649.52%8,333
Marshall2,79444.50%2,90746.30%5779.19%-113-1.80%6,278
Monroe7,85674.61%1,50614.30%1,16711.08%6,35060.31%10,529
Montgomery2,98868.55%89620.56%47510.90%2,09247.99%4,359
Neshoba6,41782.11%86711.09%5316.79%5,55071.02%7,815
Newton5,56180.57%79911.58%5427.85%4,76268.99%6,902
Noxubee2,04055.75%1,38737.91%2326.34%65317.84%3,659
Oktibbeha4,12757.09%1,82625.26%1,27617.65%2,30131.83%7,229
Panola4,13351.83%2,74334.40%1,09813.77%1,39017.43%7,974
Pearl River6,05073.12%92611.19%1,29815.69%4,75257.43%8,274
Perry2,54179.23%43913.69%2277.08%2,10265.54%3,207
Pike5,84657.57%2,84828.05%1,46014.38%2,99829.52%10,154
Pontotoc4,79878.27%5999.77%73311.96%4,06566.31%6,130
Prentiss5,05581.30%4407.08%72311.63%4,33269.67%6,218
Quitman2,44355.79%1,50234.30%4349.91%94121.49%4,379
Rankin9,22474.85%1,97516.03%1,1249.12%7,24958.82%12,323
Scott5,09375.30%1,06715.77%6048.93%4,02659.53%6,764
Sharkey1,18849.32%97240.35%24910.34%2168.97%2,409
Simpson5,06472.16%1,07915.37%87512.47%3,98556.79%7,018
Smith4,36784.70%3526.83%4378.48%3,93076.22%5,156
Stone2,14078.91%31411.58%2589.51%1,82667.33%2,712
Sunflower3,93251.94%2,60234.37%1,03613.69%1,33017.57%7,570
Tallahatchie3,07659.96%1,47728.79%57711.25%1,59931.17%5,130
Tate2,81061.39%1,16225.39%60513.22%1,64836.00%4,577
Tippah4,62778.70%66311.28%58910.02%3,96467.42%5,879
Tishomingo4,56982.41%3586.46%61711.13%3,95271.28%5,544
Tunica78333.62%1,13348.65%41317.73%-350-15.03%2,329
Union5,19876.78%6249.22%94814.00%4,25062.78%6,770
Walthall3,18666.29%1,23325.66%3878.05%1,95340.63%4,806
Warren7,21751.14%4,50331.91%2,39216.95%2,71419.23%14,112
Washington6,30041.12%5,52036.03%3,50022.85%7805.09%15,320
Wayne4,08980.57%73914.56%2474.87%3,35066.01%5,075
Webster3,39884.46%2957.33%3308.20%3,06876.26%4,023
Wilkinson1,50338.35%2,14454.71%2726.94%-641-16.36%3,919
Winston4,63576.56%91115.05%5088.39%3,72461.51%6,054
Yalobusha2,72565.50%87320.99%56213.51%1,85244.51%4,160
Yazoo4,93961.28%2,16326.84%95811.89%2,77634.44%8,060
Totals415,34963.46%150,64423.02%88,51613.52%264,70540.44%654,509

Counties that flipped from Republican to American Independent

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Wallace won all 5 congressional districts, all of which were held by Democrats.[24] Wallace would win every congressional district also in Alabama.[25]

DistrictWallaceHumphreyNixonRepresentative
60.4%26.1%13.6%Thomas Abernethy
63.3%22.9%13.8%Jamie Whitten
54.7%29.6%15.8%Charles H. Griffin
68.6%22.5%8.9%Sonny Montgomery
70.1%14.7%15.2%William M. Colmer

Analysis

This was the second presidential election in which Richard Nixon came in third place in Mississippi. Humphrey improved upon the support gained by Johnson, but this was entirely due to the huge increases in black voter registration – exit polls and later analysis suggest the national Democratic nominee received less than 3 percent of the white vote.[26] In fact, so marked was the reversal of voting patterns from the previous five presidential elections that Humphrey did worst in the counties where Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson II and Harry S. Truman had run best.[27]

With 63.46 percent of the popular vote, Mississippi would prove to be Wallace's second strongest state in the 1968 election after neighboring Alabama.[28]

, this is the last election in which the following counties did not vote for the Republican presidential candidate: Forrest, Lowndes, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Newton, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Harrison, Jackson, Choctaw, Jones, and Smith.[29]

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Crespino, Joseph; In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution, p. 206
  2. Mitchell, Dennis J.; A New History of Mississippi; p. 453
  3. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 208, 210
  4. Katagiri, Yasuhiro; The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission: Civil Rights and States' Rights, p. 203
  5. Thernstrom, Stephan and Thernstrom, Abigail; America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible, p. 151
  6. Mickey, Robert; Paths Out of Dixie: The Democratization of Authoritarian Enclaves in America's Deep South, 1944-1972, pp. 289-290
  7. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 253
  8. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 264
  9. Dittmer, John; Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi, p. 417
  10. Mickey, Paths out of Dixie, p. 290
  11. Polsky, Andrew J.; The Eisenhower Presidency: Lessons for the Twenty-First Century, p. 34
  12. Nash, Jere and Taggart, Andy; Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008, p. 29
  13. Bolton, Charles C.; William F. Winter and the New Mississippi: A Biography, p. 150
  14. Crespino, In Search of Another Country, p. 221
  15. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1968&f=0&off=0&elect=0&fips=28&submit=Retrieve 1968 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi
  16. News: Broder. David S.. As Campaign Heats Up, Electoral Vote Pattern Favors GOP. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Washington Post. September 14, 1968. 6-A.
  17. News: Who’s on Top? Humphrey? Nixon? Wallace? — Here’s a Capsule Version of election Outlook Across Nation. Pensacola News Journal. September 23, 1968. 8B.
  18. News: Murray. David. Wallace Might Take 6 Southern States. 51. Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia.
  19. News: In South It’s Nixon vs. Wallace. The Charlotte News. Charlotte, North Carolina. October 12, 1968. 1, 3.
  20. News: October 21, 1968. Nixon Leads in 26 States: Wallace Will Run Strong: AP. 3. The Record. Associated Press. Hackensack, New Jersey.
  21. News: Broder. David S.. After Hoopla Finished, Nixon Still Winning, Survey Shows. Shreveport Times. November 3, 1968. 4-B.
  22. News: Summary of 50 States on Coming Election. The Selma Times-Journal. Selma, Alabama. November 3, 1968. 5.
  23. News: Lawrence. David. As Editors’ Forecast Returns: Nixon 37, Humphrey 7, Wallace 7. . November 4, 1968. 11A.
  24. 1972 Almanac of American Politics (1972) by Michael Barone, Grant Ujifusa and Douglas Matthews
  25. Web site: 1968 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District . July 9, 2024 . Western Washington University.
  26. Book: Black, Earl. Competing Responses to the New Southern Politics: Republican and Democratic Southern Strategies, 1964-76. Perspectives on the American South: An Annual Review of Society, Politics, and Culture. Reed. John Shelton. Black. Merle. 2021. 9781136764882.
  27. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 245, 266
  28. Web site: 1968 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
  29. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

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