1968 United States presidential election in West Virginia explained

See main article: 1968 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1968 United States presidential elections in West Virginia
Country:	West Virginia
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1964 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Previous Year:	1964
Next Election:	1972 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Next Year:	1972
Election Date:	November 5, 1968^[1]
Image1:	File:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg
Nominee1:	Hubert Humphrey
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Minnesota
Running Mate1:	Edmund Muskie
Electoral Vote1:	7
Popular Vote1:	374,091
Percentage1:	49.60%
Nominee2:	Richard Nixon
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	New York
Running Mate2:	Spiro Agnew
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	307,555
Percentage2:	40.78%
Image3:	George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
Nominee3:	George Wallace
Party3:	American Independent Party
Home State3:	Alabama
Running Mate3:	S. Marvin Griffin
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	72,560
Percentage3:	9.62%
Colour3:	ff9955
Map Size:	300px
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 West Virginia took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose seven^[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

West Virginia was won by the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, with 49.60 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican candidate, former Senator and Vice President Richard Nixon, with 40.78 percent of the popular vote. American Party candidate and former and future Alabama Governor George Wallace also appeared on the ballot, finishing with 9.62 percent of the popular vote.^{[3] [4]}

West Virginia was Wallace's weakest antebellum slave state, whilst it was Humphrey's strongest as it had been for outgoing President Johnson. Wallace fared best in the Eastern Panhandle, urbanised Kanawha County and the emerging Rust Belt of the extreme Northern Panhandle, but even in those areas he did not crack a sixth of the vote in any county.

Strong unionisation meant that the state's predominant poverty-stricken white population did not turn to Wallace in significant numbers.^[5] The state's relative loyalty to Humphrey was enhanced by its deep ties to the New Deal and the resultant unionisation, as in all of Appalachian coal country between the 1930s and 1990s.^[6] This was helped by the fact that Johnson focused on this state, alongside Texas and culturally allied Kentucky, as critical for Humphrey's hope of regaining the White House.^[7] Humphrey nonetheless did lose eighteen percent on Johnson's record performance from 1964.

Results

Results by county

County^[8]	Hubert Humphrey Democratic		Richard Nixon Republican		George Wallace American		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Barbour		3,210		47.34%		3,206		47.28%		365		5.38%		4		0.06%		6,781
	Berkeley		4,929		34.06%		7,223		49.91%		2,321		16.04%		-2,294		-15.85%		14,473
	Boone		6,391		62.13%		2,970		28.87%		926		9.00%		3,421		33.26%		10,287
	Braxton		3,268		54.02%		2,441		40.35%		341		5.64%		827		13.67%		6,050
	Brooke		7,506		57.12%		4,191		31.89%		1,444		10.99%		3,315		25.23%		13,141
	Cabell		19,018		44.12%		19,418		45.05%		4,666		10.83%		-400		-0.93%		43,102
	Calhoun		1,682		46.57%		1,612		44.63%		318		8.80%		70		1.94%		3,612
	Clay		1,916		51.24%		1,474		39.42%		349		9.33%		442		11.82%		3,739
	Doddridge		844		29.60%		1,861		65.28%		146		5.12%		-1,017		-35.68%		2,851
	Fayette		14,546		66.96%		5,246		24.15%		1,931		8.89%		9,300		42.81%		21,723
	Gilmer		1,582		49.48%		1,401		43.82%		214		6.69%		181		5.66%		3,197
	Grant		786		19.76%		2,936		73.81%		256		6.44%		-2,150		-54.05%		3,978
	Greenbrier		6,318		46.46%		5,559		40.88%		1,722		12.66%		759		5.58%		13,599
	Hampshire		1,791		40.30%		1,959		44.08%		694		15.62%		-168		-3.78%		4,444
	Hancock		10,174		54.03%		6,181		32.82%		2,476		13.15%		3,993		21.21%		18,831
	Hardy		1,767		43.90%		1,768		43.93%		490		12.17%		-1		-0.03%		4,025
	Harrison		18,872		54.22%		13,703		39.37%		2,234		6.42%		5,169		14.85%		34,809
	Jackson		3,462		36.13%		5,173		53.99%		947		9.88%		-1,711		-17.86%		9,582
	Jefferson		3,129		45.16%		2,718		39.23%		1,082		15.62%		411		5.93%		6,929
	Kanawha		46,650		46.70%		41,712		41.76%		11,524		11.54%		4,938		4.94%		99,886
	Lewis		3,168		40.43%		4,027		51.40%		640		8.17%		-859		-10.97%		7,835
	Lincoln		4,386		50.82%		3,662		42.43%		583		6.75%		724		8.39%		8,631
	Logan		13,686		67.42%		4,754		23.42%		1,861		9.17%		8,932		44.00%		20,301
	Marion		17,246		58.94%		10,177		34.78%		1,838		6.28%		7,069		24.16%		29,261
	Marshall		8,449		49.47%		7,252		42.46%		1,379		8.07%		1,197		7.01%		17,080
	Mason		4,549		42.77%		5,208		48.97%		879		8.26%		-659		-6.20%		10,636
	McDowell		12,842		67.81%		4,020		21.23%		2,075		10.96%		8,822		46.58%		18,937
	Mercer		12,739		48.83%		9,985		38.28%		3,363		12.89%		2,754		10.55%		26,087
	Mineral		4,225		42.07%		4,545		45.26%		1,273		12.68%		-320		-3.19%		10,043
	Mingo		8,677		62.89%		3,988		28.90%		1,133		8.21%		4,689		33.99%		13,798
	Monongalia		13,128		54.83%		9,261		38.68%		1,556		6.50%		3,867		16.15%		23,945
	Monroe		2,412		40.95%		2,925		49.66%		553		9.39%		-513		-8.71%		5,890
	Morgan		1,015		27.28%		2,244		60.32%		461		12.39%		-1,229		-33.04%		3,720
	Nicholas		4,858		51.81%		3,678		39.22%		841		8.97%		1,180		12.59%		9,377
	Ohio		15,026		49.65%		13,073		43.20%		2,164		7.15%		1,953		6.45%		30,263
	Pendleton		1,643		45.29%		1,687		46.50%		298		8.21%		-44		-1.21%		3,628
	Pleasants		1,522		46.69%		1,534		47.06%		204		6.26%		-12		-0.37%		3,260
	Pocahontas		1,948		43.93%		2,040		46.01%		446		10.06%		-92		-2.08%		4,434
	Preston		4,020		39.35%		5,636		55.16%		561		5.49%		-1,616		-15.81%		10,217
	Putnam		5,009		43.18%		5,252		45.27%		1,340		11.55%		-243		-2.09%		11,601
	Raleigh		17,744		60.14%		8,775		29.74%		2,987		10.12%		8,969		30.40%		29,506
	Randolph		5,562		50.72%		4,508		41.11%		897		8.18%		1,054		9.61%		10,967
	Ritchie		1,281		27.42%		3,106		66.50%		284		6.08%		-1,825		-39.08%		4,671
	Roane		2,639		38.17%		3,851		55.70%		424		6.13%		-1,212		-17.53%		6,914
	Summers		3,521		52.75%		2,305		34.53%		849		12.72%		1,216		18.22%		6,675
	Taylor		2,953		45.92%		3,012		46.84%		466		7.25%		-59		-0.92%		6,431
	Tucker		1,758		48.82%		1,511		41.96%		332		9.22%		247		6.86%		3,601
	Tyler		1,324		29.20%		2,897		63.90%		313		6.90%		-1,573		-34.70%		4,534
	Upshur		2,319		31.72%		4,565		62.44%		427		5.84%		-2,246		-30.72%		7,311
	Wayne		8,227		50.41%		6,004		36.79%		2,088		12.79%		2,223		13.62%		16,319
	Webster		2,582		62.87%		1,241		30.22%		284		6.92%		1,341		32.65%		4,107
	Wetzel		4,038		45.12%		4,122		46.06%		789		8.82%		-84		-0.94%		8,949
	Wirt		820		40.78%		1,051		52.26%		140		6.96%		-231		-11.48%		2,011
	Wood		14,293		39.02%		18,960		51.76%		3,379		9.22%		-4,667		-12.74%		36,632
	Wyoming		6,641		57.27%		3,947		34.04%		1,007		8.68%		2,694		23.23%		11,595
Totals	374,091	49.60%	307,555	40.78%	72,560	9.62%	66,536	8.82%	754,206

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Berkeley
• Cabell
• Doddridge
• Hampshire
• Hardy
• Jackson
• Lewis
• Mineral
• Mason
• Monroe
• Pendleton
• Pleasants
• Pocahontas
• Preston
• Putnam
• Roane
• Taylor
• Upshur
• Wetzel
• Wood
• Wirt

Notes and References

1. Web site: United States Presidential election of 1968 — Encyclopædia Britannica. May 27, 2017.
2. Web site: 1968 Election for the Forty-Sixth Term (1969-73). May 27, 2017.
3. Web site: 1968 Presidential General Election Results — West Virginia. May 27, 2017.
4. Web site: The American Presidency Project — Election of 1968. May 27, 2017.
5. Book: Phillips, Kevin P.. The Emerging Republican Majority. 10. 978-0-691-16324-6.
6. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 135, 288, 347, 374
7. Book: Wainstock, Dennis. Election year 1968: the turning point. 172. 1936274418.
8. Web site: Our Campaigns. WV US President — November 05, 1968.