1964 United States presidential election in New Jersey explained

See main article: 1964 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1964 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Country:New Jersey
Flag Year:1896
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Previous Year:1960
Next Election:1968 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Next Year:1968
Election Date:November 3, 1964
Image1:37 Lyndon Johnson 3x4.jpg
Nominee1:Lyndon B. Johnson
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Texas
Running Mate1:Hubert Humphrey
Electoral Vote1:17
Popular Vote1:1,867,671
Percentage1:65.61%
Nominee2:Barry Goldwater
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:Arizona
Running Mate2:William E. Miller
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:963,843
Percentage2:33.86%
Map Size:350px
President
Before Election:Lyndon Johnson
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Lyndon Johnson
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1964 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 3, 1964. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1964 United States presidential election. Voters chose 17 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New Jersey was won overwhelmingly by the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas and his running mate Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. Johnson and Humphrey defeated the Republican nominees, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona and his running mate Congressman William E. Miller of New York. This is the only time the Democratic nominee won each of New Jersey’s 21 counties, and the second of two times that a Republican failed to win any county after 1912. This is the last time each county in New Jersey voted for the same presidential candidate until Republican President Richard Nixon’s landslide 1972 re-election.

Johnson carried New Jersey in a landslide with 65.61% of the vote to Goldwater’s 33.86%, a margin of 31.75%.[1] Johnson also swept all twenty-one of New Jersey’s counties, the only time a Democratic presidential nominee has ever done so.[2]

Johnson broke 60% of the vote in 15 counties, and 70% in 4: Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, and Cumberland, besides falling just short of the mark in Essex County, where Johnson received 69.9%. Hudson would be the most Democratic county, giving Johnson 73.5% of the vote. Goldwater’s strongest county was rural Sussex County, where he received 45.2% of the vote to Johnson’s 54.8%.

New Jersey in this era was usually a swing state with a slight Republican lean. But this normal pattern was broken in 1964, as Goldwater’s staunch conservatism led many moderate Northeastern Republicans to view Goldwater as an extremist and defect to the Democrats that year. As Johnson won a massive landslide nationally, normally GOP-leaning New Jersey’s result would even be almost 10% more Democratic than the national average. This was also the last time New Jersey would go to a Democratic candidate for president until 1992, after which the state has always gone Democratic.

Primary elections

Republican primary

Election Name:1964 New Jersey Republican presidential primary
Country:New Jersey
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Previous Year:1960
Next Election:1968 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Next Year:1968
Candidate1:Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (write-in)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Color1:73638c
Popular Vote1:7,896
Percentage1:41.70%
Candidate2:Barry Goldwater (write-in)
Home State2:Arizona
Color2:a59400
Popular Vote2:5,309
Percentage2:28.04%
Candidate3:Richard Nixon (write-in)
Color3:FF8080
Home State3:California
Popular Vote3:4,179
Percentage3:22.07%
Map Size:300px

The Republican primary took place on April 21, 1964. Former Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. would win the primary as a write-in candidate, over Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon

1964 New Jersey Republican presidential primary[3] ! style="text-align:left;"
CandidateVotes%
Henry Cabot Lodge (write-in)7,89641.70
Barry Goldwater (write-in)5,30928.04
Richard Nixon (write-in)4,17922.07
William Scranton (write-in)6333.34
Nelson Rockefeller (write-in)6123.23
George Wallace (write-in)2201.16
Lyndon B. Johnson (write-in)840.44
Total18,933100.0

Democratic primary

Election Name:1964 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary
Country:New Jersey
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Previous Year:1960
Next Election:1968 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Next Year:1968
Candidate1:Lyndon B. Johnson (write-in)
Home State1:Texas
Color1:668c63
Popular Vote1:4,863
Percentage1:82.30%
Candidate2:George Wallace (write-in)
Home State2:Alabama
Color2:c13649
Popular Vote2:491
Percentage2:8.31%
Candidate3:Robert F. Kennedy (write-in)
Color3:73638c
Home State3:New York
Popular Vote3:431
Percentage3:7.29%
Map Size:300px

The Democratic primary took place on April 21, 1964. Incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson won the primary on a write-in campaign, as no candidate's names were on the ballot.

1964 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary[4] ! style="text-align:left;"
CandidateVotes%
Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent, write-in)4,86382.30
George Wallace (write-in)4918.31
Robert Kennedy (write-in)4317.29
Henry Cabot Lodge (write-in)691.17
Barry Goldwater (write-in)300.51
Richard Nixon (write-in)190.32
Nelson Rockefeller (write-in)30.05
William Scranton (write-in)30.05
Total5,909100.0

Results

1964 United States presidential election in New Jersey
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
DemocraticLyndon B. Johnson (incumbent)1,867,67165.61%17
RepublicanBarry Goldwater963,84333.86%0
Socialist WorkersClifton DeBerry8,1810.29%0
7,0750.25%0
Totals2,846,770100.0%17
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)69%/88%

Results by county

CountyLyndon B. Johnson
Democratic
Barry Goldwater
Republican
Clifton DeBerry[5]
Socialist Workers
Eric Hass
Socialist Labor
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%
Atlantic50,94565.30%25,62632.85%1,2171.56%2310.30%25,31932.45%78,019
Bergen234,84959.69%157,89940.13%4750.12%2420.06%76,95019.56%393,465
Burlington57,63864.80%31,21535.09%600.07%320.04%26,42329.71%88,945
Camden124,62067.09%60,84432.75%470.03%2500.13%63,77634.34%185,761
Cape May14,94356.65%11,39043.18%130.05%340.13%3,55313.47%26,380
Cumberland33,59372.69%12,61127.29%60.01%50.01%20,98245.40%46,215
Essex277,04269.88%116,17229.30%3850.10%2,8780.73%160,87040.58%396,477
Gloucester40,30562.93%23,70237.00%100.02%350.05%16,60325.93%64,052
Hudson200,05173.55%69,51525.56%2110.08%2,2320.82%130,53647.99%272,009
Hunterdon15,09159.69%10,17340.24%140.06%50.02%4,91819.45%25,283
Mercer86,98571.17%35,08128.70%490.04%990.08%51,90442.47%122,214
Middlesex151,19670.12%63,37029.39%8400.39%2120.10%87,82640.73%215,618
Monmouth95,32060.69%61,36739.07%2610.18%1070.07%33,95321.62%157,055
Morris73,68457.16%55,02442.68%1250.10%800.06%18,66014.48%128,913
Ocean36,89257.90%25,98540.78%7641.20%730.11%10,90717.12%63,714
Passaic113,91963.39%63,11435.12%2,3621.31%3040.17%50,80528.27%179,699
Salem17,84667.23%8,68232.71%90.03%80.03%9,16434.52%26,545
Somerset43,65960.41%28,41639.32%1500.21%450.06%15,24321.09%72,270
Sussex14,34954.77%11,83645.18%30.01%90.03%2,5139.59%26,197
Union164,98966.17%82,99933.29%1,1780.47%1810.07%81,99032.88%249,347
Warren19,75569.09%8,82230.85%20.01%130.05%10,93338.24%28,592
Totals1,867,67165.61%963,84333.86%8,1810.29%7,0750.25%903,82831.75%2,846,770

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Analysis

As of the 2020 election, this is the last election in which Sussex County, Hunterdon County, and Warren County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. Union County would not vote Democratic again until 1992. Bergen, Passaic, Ocean, Monmouth, and Cape May Counties would not vote Democratic again until 1996. Somerset County did not vote Democratic again until 2008, and Morris County would not vote Democratic again until 2020.[6] As of 2020, this remains the strongest ever performance by a Democratic presidential nominee in New Jersey, the second strongest ever performance by a nominee of either party after Warren G. Harding in 1920.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1964 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 25 November 2013.
  2. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 439-440
  3. Web site: Results of the Primary Election Held April 21, 1964. August 17, 2022.
  4. Web site: Results of the Primary Election Held April 21, 1964. August 17, 2022.
  5. Our Campaigns; NJ US President 1964
  6. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016