1968 United States presidential election in Alabama

The United States presidential election in Alabama, 1968 was held on November 5, 1968.

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election
November 5, 1968
All 10 Alabama electoral votes to the Electoral College
 
Nominee George Wallace Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon
Party American Independent Democratic Republican
Home state Alabama Minnesota New York[lower-alpha 1]
Running mate Curtis LeMay Edmund Muskie Spiro Agnew
Electoral vote 10 0 0
Popular vote 691,425 196,597 146,923
Percentage 65.9% 18.7% 14.0%
County results
President before election

Lyndon B. Johnson
Democratic

 Elected President

Richard Nixon
Republican

Elections in Alabama
Government

Southern segregationist candidate George Wallace, the former Governor of Alabama running as a third party candidate with his American Independent Party, won his home state in a high margin. Wallace received the official Democratic Party ballot line in Alabama, while national Democratic Party nominee Hubert H. Humphrey was forced to run on a fusion ticket of "Alabama Independent Democrat" and the National Democratic party ballot line.[1]

Wallace won 65.86% to Democrat Hubert Humphrey's 18.72%, a 47.13% margin. Republican Richard Nixon, while narrowly winning the election nationally, finished a distant third in Alabama with only 13.99%, receiving significant support only in a few northern counties with historically significant GOP votes, and in higher-income urban areas.[2] Wallace's 65.86% of the popular vote would make Alabama not only his best performing state in the 1968 election, but the strongest performing state out of any candidate, with only Washington DC being stronger.[3]

Wallace won 64 of the state's 67 counties. As African-Americans in the South were slowly gaining the right to vote as a result of federal civil rights legislation passed in 1964 and 1965, Wallace's weakest region was Alabama’s Black Belt, where he won most counties with narrow majorities or pluralities.[4] He lost three counties in this region, Sumter County, Greene County, and Macon County, all with majority black populations, to pro-civil rights candidate Hubert Humphrey. In black-majority Macon County, pro-civil rights Democrat Hubert Humphrey won a commanding landslide, taking 69.7% of the vote to Wallace's 25.4%, reflecting the deep divide between the state's white and black voter populations. As of the 2016 presidential election, this is the last election in which Mobile County, Shelby County, Baldwin County, Lee County, and Houston County were not carried by the Republican candidate[5] and the last election in which Wilcox County, Lowndes County, and Bullock County were not carried by the national Democratic candidate.[5]

Results
1968 United States presidential election in Alabama[1]
Party Nominee Popular Vote Percentage Electoral Vote
Democratic
(American Independent)		 George Wallace 691,425 65.86% 10
Alabama Independent Democrat/
National Democratic (Democratic)		 Hubert Humphrey 196,597 18.72% 0
Republican Richard Nixon 146,923 13.99% 0
American Independent No Candidate 10,960 1.04% 0
E. Harold Munn Prohibition 4,02 0.38% 0
Write-ins — 8 0.00% 0

Results by county
County George Corley Wallace
Democratic		 Richard Milhous Nixon
Republican		 Hubert Horatio Humphrey
Alabama Independent Democrat		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin[lower-alpha 2] Total votes cast[6]
# % # % # % # % # %
Autauga 5,523 71.03% 606 7.79% 1,553 19.97% 94 1.21% 3,970 51.06% 7,776
Baldwin 14,167 76.98% 2,154 11.70% 1,821 9.89% 262 1.42% 12,013[lower-alpha 3] 65.28% 18,404
Barbour 5,491 69.10% 386 4.86% 1,898 23.89% 171 2.15% 3,593 45.21% 7,946
Bibb 3,746 80.16% 263 5.63% 652 13.95% 12 0.26% 3,094 66.21% 4,673
Blount 6,536 71.93% 2,013 22.15% 331 3.64% 206 2.27% 4,523[lower-alpha 3] 49.78% 9,086
Bullock 2,161 49.71% 190 4.37% 1,964 45.18% 32 0.74% 197 4.53% 4,347
Butler 5,601 76.09% 500 6.79% 1,240 16.85% 20 0.27% 4,361 59.24% 7,361
Calhoun 19,211 71.75% 3,061 11.43% 4,146 15.48% 357 1.33% 15,065 56.27% 26,775
Chambers 7,885 74.14% 1,082 10.17% 1,358 12.77% 311 2.92% 6,527 61.37% 10,636
Cherokee 4,773 83.96% 343 6.03% 462 8.13% 107 1.88% 4,311 75.83% 5,685
Chilton 6,611 74.26% 1,602 18.00% 566 6.36% 123 1.38% 5,009[lower-alpha 3] 56.26% 8,902
Choctaw 4,250 69.75% 176 2.89% 1,641 26.93% 26 0.43% 2,609 42.82% 6,093
Clarke 6,168 71.50% 488 5.66% 1,717 19.90% 253 2.93% 4,451 51.60% 8,626
Clay 4,048 80.25% 706 14.00% 256 5.08% 34 0.67% 3,342[lower-alpha 3] 66.25% 5,044
Cleburne 3,314 82.95% 485 12.14% 160 4.01% 36 0.90% 2,829[lower-alpha 3] 70.81% 3,995
Coffee 8,885 82.53% 682 6.33% 1,071 9.95% 128 1.19% 7,814 72.58% 10,766
Colbert 11,341 72.60% 1,727 11.06% 2,291 14.67% 262 1.68% 9,050 57.93% 15,621
Conecuh 3,828 71.60% 186 3.48% 1,151 21.53% 181 3.39% 2,677 50.07% 5,346
Coosa 2,830 74.26% 330 8.66% 623 16.35% 28 0.73% 2,207 57.91% 3,811
Covington 11,419 86.98% 831 6.33% 791 6.03% 87 0.66% 10,588[lower-alpha 3] 80.65% 13,128
Crenshaw 4,513 82.35% 209 3.81% 726 13.25% 32 0.58% 3,787 69.10% 5,480
Cullman 11,063 64.08% 4,964 28.75% 1,115 6.46% 123 0.71% 6,099[lower-alpha 3] 35.33% 17,265
Dale 8,109 83.55% 607 6.25% 862 8.88% 127 1.31% 7,247 74.67% 9,705
Dallas 8,798 52.89% 1,246 7.49% 6,516 39.17% 76 0.46% 2,282 13.72% 16,636
DeKalb 8,144 54.81% 5,314 35.76% 1,274 8.57% 127 0.85% 2,830[lower-alpha 3] 19.05% 14,859
Elmore 9,038 76.52% 801 6.78% 1,745 14.77% 228 1.93% 7,293 61.75% 11,812
Escambia 8,474 78.72% 680 6.32% 1,492 13.86% 119 1.11% 6,982 64.86% 10,765
Etowah 21,416 68.67% 4,351 13.95% 4,613 14.79% 806 2.58% 16,803 53.88% 31,186
Fayette 4,683 75.07% 827 13.26% 676 10.84% 52 0.83% 3,856[lower-alpha 3] 61.81% 6,238
Franklin 5,909 64.96% 2,524 27.75% 588 6.46% 75 0.82% 3,385[lower-alpha 3] 37.21% 9,096
Geneva 7,871 91.73% 284 3.31% 380 4.43% 46 0.54% 7,491 87.30% 8,581
Greene 1,555 39.18% 180 4.54% 2,229 56.16% 5 0.13% -674 -16.98% 3,969
Hale 2,934 55.78% 266 5.06% 2,003 38.08% 57 1.08% 931 17.70% 5,260
Henry 4,233 79.99% 84 1.59% 955 18.05% 20 0.38% 3,278 61.94% 5,292
Houston 13,872 83.89% 974 5.89% 1,488 9.00% 202 1.22% 12,384 74.89% 16,536
Jackson 8,504 77.96% 1,191 10.92% 1,022 9.37% 191 1.75% 7,313[lower-alpha 3] 67.04% 10,908
Jefferson 106,233 51.81% 39,752 19.39% 55,845 27.24% 3,203 1.56% 50,388 24.57% 205,033
Lamar 5,229 88.25% 364 6.14% 302 5.10% 30 0.51% 4,865[lower-alpha 3] 82.11% 5,925
Lauderdale 13,467 71.32% 2,952 15.63% 2,166 11.47% 298 1.58% 10,515[lower-alpha 3] 55.69% 18,883
Lawrence 6,253 83.05% 580 7.70% 650 8.63% 46 0.61% 5,603 74.42% 7,529
Lee 7,721 58.78% 2,366 18.01% 2,803 21.34% 246 1.87% 4,918 37.44% 13,136
Limestone 8,430 81.25% 870 8.39% 889 8.57% 186 1.79% 7,541 72.68% 10,375
Lowndes 1,822 55.84% 234 7.17% 1,127 34.54% 80 2.45% 695 21.30% 3,263
Macon 1,619 25.37% 257 4.03% 4,450 69.74% 55 0.86% -2,831 -44.37% 6,381
Madison 29,823 57.40% 13,213 25.43% 8,004 15.41% 913 1.76% 16,610[lower-alpha 3] 31.97% 51,953
Marengo 5,185 56.64% 457 4.99% 3,479 38.01% 33 0.36% 1,706 18.63% 9,154
Marion 6,415 76.34% 1,492 17.76% 365 4.34% 131 1.56% 4,923[lower-alpha 3] 58.58% 8,403
Marshall 12,742 76.39% 2,725 16.34% 955 5.73% 258 1.55% 10,017[lower-alpha 3] 60.05% 16,680
Mobile 61,673 67.08% 10,509 11.43% 18,615 20.25% 1,139 1.24% 43,058 46.83% 91,936
Monroe 5,217 71.23% 375 5.12% 1,673 22.84% 59 0.81% 3,544 48.39% 7,324
Montgomery 27,202 58.47% 6,746 14.50% 12,088 25.98% 489 1.05% 15,114 32.49% 46,525
Morgan 16,841 75.60% 3,043 13.66% 1,878 8.43% 515 2.31% 13,798[lower-alpha 3] 61.94% 22,277
Perry 2,768 49.85% 308 5.55% 2,457 44.25% 20 0.36% 311 5.60% 5,553
Pickens 4,549 71.89% 321 5.07% 1,434 22.66% 24 0.38% 3,115 49.23% 6,328
Pike 6,038 72.39% 658 7.89% 1,565 18.76% 80 0.96% 4,473 53.63% 8,341
Randolph 5,103 75.00% 839 12.33% 666 9.79% 196 2.88% 4,264[lower-alpha 3] 62.67% 6,804
Russell 7,584 67.44% 704 6.26% 2,707 24.07% 250 2.22% 4,877 43.37% 11,245
St. Clair 7,050 72.70% 1,635 16.86% 869 8.96% 143 1.47% 5,415[lower-alpha 3] 55.84% 9,697
Shelby 7,736 71.83% 1,706 15.84% 1,105 10.26% 223 2.07% 6,030[lower-alpha 3] 55.99% 10,770
Sumter 2,158 44.89% 303 6.30% 2,336 48.60% 10 0.21% -178 -3.71% 4,807
Talladega 13,505 72.00% 1,935 10.32% 3,099 16.52% 217 1.16% 10,406 55.48% 18,756
Tallapoosa 9,043 76.50% 1,205 10.19% 1,331 11.26% 242 2.05% 7,712 65.24% 11,821
Tuscaloosa 18,611 65.60% 3,822 13.47% 5,556 19.58% 382 1.35% 13,055 46.02% 28,371
Walker 14,416 74.37% 2,628 13.56% 1,971 10.17% 370 1.91% 11,788[lower-alpha 3] 60.81% 19,385
Washington 4,545 79.98% 200 3.52% 902 15.87% 36 0.63% 3,643 64.11% 5,683
Wilcox 2,511 56.62% 237 5.34% 1,658 37.38% 29 0.65% 853 19.24% 4,435
Winston 3,032 54.86% 2,174 39.33% 258 4.67% 63 1.14% 858[lower-alpha 3] 15.53% 5,527
Totals691,42565.86%146,92313.99%196,57918.72%14,9821.43%494,84647.14%1,049,909

Notes
  1. Although he was born in California and he served as a U.S. Senator from California, in 1968 Richard Nixon's official state of residence was New York, because he moved there to practice law after his defeat in the 1962 California gubernatorial election. During his first term as president, Nixon re-established his residency in California. Consequently, most reliable reference books list Nixon's home state as New York in the 1968 election and his home state as California in the 1972 (and 1960) election.
  2. Because Wallace was listed as the “Democratic” nominee in Alabama and carried the state, whilst Humphrey ran second, all margins given are Wallace vote minus Humphrey vote and percentage margins Wallace percentage minus Humphrey percentage unless noted otherwise.
  3. In this county where Nixon rather than Humphrey ran second behind Wallace, margin given is Wallace vote minus Nixon vote and percentage margin Wallace percentage minus Nixon percentage.

References
  1. "1968 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  2. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 227 ISBN 9780691163246
  3. "1968 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  4. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority; p. 258
  5. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 146-147 ISBN 0786422173
  6. State of Alabama Department of Archives and History, ‘General Election November 5, 1968’, Alabama Official and Statistical Register 1971

See also
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