1968 United States presidential election in New Mexico explained

See main article: 1968 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1968 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Country:New Mexico
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1964 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Previous Year:1964
Next Election:1972 United States presidential election in New Mexico
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 Vote1:169,692
Percentage1:51.85%
Nominee2:Hubert Humphrey
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Minnesota
Running Mate2:Edmund Muskie
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:130,081
Percentage2:39.75%
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 Vote3:25,737
Percentage3:7.86%
Map Size:265px
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 Mexico took place on November 5, 1968. All fifty states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

New Mexico had been a long-time political bellwether, having supported the winning candidate in every presidential election since statehood in 1912. However, a definite Republican trend was detectable in 1964, when Goldwater was able to win a vote share two percent above his national mean and Johnson feared losing traditionally Southern Democratic "Little Texas".[1]

The 1966 midterm elections saw the state join with larger "Sunbelt" dynamics and Democratic candidates for statewide offices would lose twelve percent or more of their previous vote share,[2] in the process showing that Hispanic candidates were becoming a liability in Albuquerque and the east due to considerable in-migration,[3] and legislative GOP percentages reached levels not observed for over four decades.[4] Local issues of public school finance and land-grant claims for the Hispanic and Native American populations of the state proved a further liability for the incumbent Democratic Party.[5] The issue of the stalemated Vietnam War was another problem for the Democratic Party in a state severely affected by poverty, and anti-war Eugene McCarthy gained substantial support among New Mexico Democrats before the assassination of Bobby Kennedy largely turned them toward eventual nominee Hubert Humphrey.

Incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey and segregationist American Independent Party candidate and former Governor of Alabama George Wallace campaigned in New Mexico during the autumn, whilst running mate Spiro Agnew did all the campaigning for Republican Richard Nixon in the state.[5] Despite his failure to visit, New Mexico was won by former Vice President Nixon by a 12-point margin against Humphrey.[6] Wallace, far from his base in the Deep South, did well among working and lower-middle class unionized workers[7] and farmers in the "Little Texas" region, but received some of his poorest national percentages in the north-central highland regions – Mora County gave Wallace his eleventh-smallest vote share of any county in the country. Nixon was the first Republican to carry Lea and Eddy counties since 1928.

Results

Results by county

CountyRichard Nixon
Republican
Hubert Humphrey
Democratic
George Wallace
American Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%
Bernalillo56,23454.96%40,83539.91%4,9204.81%3320.32%15,39915.05%102,321
Catron67462.29%27825.69%12811.83%20.18%39636.60%1,082
Chaves8,86663.61%3,61225.91%1,42510.22%350.25%5,25437.70%13,938
Colfax2,21244.39%2,47749.71%2635.28%310.62%-265-5.32%4,983
Curry5,56253.99%2,91528.30%1,75417.03%710.69%2,64725.69%10,302
De Baca65857.67%34530.24%13011.39%80.70%31327.43%1,141
Dona Ana10,82454.15%7,65838.31%1,4537.27%550.28%3,16615.84%19,990
Eddy7,19347.74%6,09340.44%1,67111.09%1090.72%1,1007.30%15,066
Grant2,90838.52%3,81750.56%79310.50%310.41%-909-12.04%7,549
Guadalupe1,17651.42%1,02744.91%773.37%70.31%1496.51%2,287
Harding45057.69%28436.41%445.64%20.26%16621.28%780
Hidalgo60639.25%67843.91%25716.65%30.19%-72-4.66%1,544
Lea7,41548.21%4,75130.89%3,02519.67%1911.24%2,66417.32%15,382
Lincoln2,00464.52%80225.82%2879.24%130.42%1,20238.70%3,106
Los Alamos3,44754.92%2,55240.66%2684.27%90.14%89514.26%6,276
Luna1,95250.10%1,43836.91%49012.58%160.41%51413.19%3,896
McKinley4,37645.71%4,49146.91%5475.71%1591.66%-115-1.20%9,573
Mora1,15550.97%1,06947.18%351.54%70.31%863.79%2,266
Otero4,47543.77%3,97838.91%1,68816.51%830.81%4974.86%10,224
Quay2,12351.38%1,39933.86%56713.72%431.04%72417.52%4,132
Rio Arriba3,93543.23%4,79952.72%2692.96%991.09%-864-9.49%9,102
Roosevelt3,25658.11%1,54727.61%77313.80%270.48%1,70930.50%5,603
San Juan7,66454.03%4,03628.45%2,30416.24%1811.28%3,62825.58%14,185
San Miguel4,02748.12%4,08848.85%1952.33%580.69%-61-0.73%8,368
Sandoval1,95941.43%2,60955.18%1292.73%310.66%-650-13.75%4,728
Santa Fe9,35948.12%9,54449.07%4922.53%540.28%-185-0.95%19,449
Sierra1,62457.06%93032.68%2829.91%100.35%69424.38%2,846
Socorro2,23052.07%1,87143.68%1734.04%90.21%3598.39%4,283
Taos3,11949.89%2,99347.87%1241.98%160.26%1262.02%6,252
Torrance1,31652.98%97439.21%1887.57%60.24%34213.77%2,484
Union1,21755.42%67830.87%27912.70%221.00%53924.55%2,196
Valencia5,67647.51%5,51346.15%7075.92%510.43%1631.36%11,947
Totals169,69251.85%130,08139.75%25,7377.86%1,7710.54%39,61112.10%327,281

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes and References

  1. Johnson, Robert David; All the Way with LBJ: The 1964 Presidential Election, p. 168
  2. Wolf, T. Phillip; 'The 1966 Election in New Mexico'; The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 20, No. 2, Part 2 (June 1967), pp. 586-592
  3. [Kevin Phillips (political commentator)|Phillips, Kevin P.]
  4. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 467
  5. Wolf, T. Phillip; 'The 1968 Elections in New Mexico', The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 3 (September 1969), pp. 510-516
  6. Web site: 1968 Presidential General Election Results – New Mexico. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-02-12.
  7. Converse, Philip E.; Miller, Warren E.; Rusk, Jerrold G. and Wolfe, Arthur C.; 'Continuity and Change in American Politics: Parties and Issues in the 1968 Election'; The American Political Science Review, vol. 63, no. 4 (December 1969), pp. 1083-1105