1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire explained

See main article: 1968 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1968 United States presidential election In New Hampshire
Country:New Hampshire
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1964 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Previous Year:1964
Next Election:1972 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Next Year:1972
Election Date:November 5, 1968
Image1:Nixon_30-0316a_(cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Richard Nixon
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:New York
Running Mate1:Spiro Agnew
Electoral Vote1:4
Popular Vote1:154,903
Percentage1:52.10%
Nominee2:Hubert Humphrey
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Minnesota
Running Mate2:Edmund Muskie
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:130,589
Percentage2:43.93%
President
Before Election:Lyndon B. Johnson
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Richard Nixon
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

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.

New Hampshire was won by the Republican nominees, former Vice President Richard Nixon of California and his running mate Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland. Nixon and Agnew defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and his running mate Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine.

Nixon took 52.10% of the vote to Humphrey's 43.93%, a margin of 8.18%.[1]

Like the rest of Upper New England, New Hampshire in this era normally leaned Republican, however the state had voted overwhelmingly Democratic just four years earlier in 1964, when the staunch conservatism of Republican Barry Goldwater drove the liberal Northeastern United States, including New Hampshire, to deliver landslide victories to Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1964 Johnson had carried New Hampshire by a landslide 64–36 margin.

In 1968, the GOP sought to recover from their crippling defeat with Goldwater, and the party looked to former Vice President and the party’s narrowly defeated 1960 presidential nominee, Richard Nixon. Nixon was seen as a mainstream moderate Republican who could unite the competing factions of the Republican Party, and win back the moderate voters that Goldwater had alienated. The party recovered successfully and won back the White House and New Hampshire was returned to the Republican column. However, with four of the six New England states voting for Humphrey, New Hampshire became one of the two New England states (the other being neighboring Vermont) to vote for Nixon.

The “George Wallace Party” candidate, Southern populist Governor George Wallace of Alabama, did not have a serious impact on the race. While taking 13.53% nationally and winning electoral votes from five Southern states, Wallace would take only 3.76% of the vote in New Hampshire. Wallace’s base of support was in the South, and he had practically no appeal in Northeastern states like New Hampshire. New Hampshire would be Wallace’s fifth weakest state in the nation.

Results

1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanRichard Nixon154,903 52.10%4
DemocraticHubert H. Humphrey130,58943.93%0
George Wallace PartyGeorge Wallace11,1733.76%0
New Party ElectorsNo Candidate4210.14%0
Write-insWrite-ins1090.04%0
1040.03%0
Totals297,299100.00%4
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)70%/79%

Results by county

CountyRichard Nixon[2]
Republican
Hubert Humphrey
Democratic
George Wallace
George Wallace Party
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%data-sort-type="number"data-sort-type="number"%
Belknap8,64261.42%4,94235.12%4543.23%330.23%3,70026.30%14,071
Carroll6,79572.93%2,16323.22%3483.74%110.12%4,63249.71%9,317
Cheshire10,70252.64%9,13544.93%4412.17%540.27%1,5677.71%20,332
Coös6,82244.02%8,26153.31%3992.57%150.10%-1,439-9.29%15,497
Grafton12,88159.76%7,81336.25%7273.37%1330.62%5,06823.51%21,554
Hillsborough42,40946.01%45,42349.28%4,2314.59%1060.12%-3,014-3.27%92,169
Merrimack19,28957.94%12,71138.18%1,2013.61%900.27%6,57819.76%33,291
Rockingham28,84254.98%21,19540.41%2,3334.45%860.16%7,64714.57%52,456
Strafford12,42747.28%13,12949.95%6502.47%770.29%-702-2.67%26,283
Sullivan6,09449.43%5,81747.19%3893.16%280.23%2772.24%12,328
Total154,90352.10%130,58943.93%11,1733.76%6340.21%24,3148.17%297,299

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Analysis

The county map results followed a familiar pattern of the post-New Deal era, with Nixon winning seven counties to Humphrey’s three. Since Franklin Roosevelt’s election in 1932, in every close election or Democratic victory, Hillsborough County, Strafford County, and Coös County would vote Democratic, while Carroll County would be the most Republican county. This pattern endured in 1968 for the last time, with Humphrey winning the three core New Deal Democratic counties, while Carroll County was the only county in the state where Nixon broke seventy percent of the vote. Humphrey's strongest county was Coös County, which he won by a 53–44 margin making this one of only three occurrences since 1892 where it has supported a losing presidential candidate. Nixon thus became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Coös County since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and the first ever to win without Strafford County.[3]

As Nixon narrowly eked out a victory over Humphrey nationally, New Hampshire's results in 1968 made the state about 7% more Republican than the national average. As of 2020, this is the most recent election in which New Hampshire was not the most Republican state in New England, as Nixon won Vermont by a slightly wider margin. Hillsborough County would not vote Democratic again until 1996, and Strafford County until 1992. Nixon had previously won New Hampshire in 1960 and would later win it again in 1972. Nixon's victory was the first of six consecutive Republican victories in the state, as New Hampshire would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Bill Clinton in 1992. Since then it has become a Democratic-leaning swing state.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1968 Presidential General Election Results – New Hampshire. 2013-11-16 . Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  2. Our Campaigns; NH US President Race, November 05, 1968
  3. The Political Graveyard; Coös County Votes for President