1956  1960 Presidential Election Returns  1964

After eight years of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the country was a bit restless. The economic recession of the late 1950s had diminished the support of the Republican Party, which nominated Vice-President Richard Nixon to succeed Eisenhower. The Democrats chose John F. Kennedy, a Senator from Massachusetts, to run against Nixon. Kennedy was also a Roman Catholic candidate, which increased his support from Roman Catholic voters. But some Democrats worried it would hurt him. After all, Nixon had gained among Protestant voters. Both candidates were similar on the issues. They were both for anti-poverty programs, the military, and fighting Communism. The televised debates were credited with helping Kennedy craft a better image than Nixon, giving him an edge. Kennedy chose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate, which helped him to win in the South, which was otherwise hesitant to elect a Roman Catholic President. As a result, some Southern states had an option to elect Unpledged Electors, which would vote for a Democrat, but not necessarily Kennedy. Unpledged Electors won in Mississippi and six electors in Alabama. Kennedy won very narrowly in the popular vote, but decisively in the electoral college. UNITED STATES VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Kennedy/Johnson 34,227,096 50 303 Nixon/Lodge + 34,108,546 50 219 Unpledged Electors (Byrd) 610,409 0 15 Hass/Cozzini 47,525 0 0 Decker/Munn 46,203 0 0 Faubus/Crommelin 44,984 0 0 Dobbs/Weiss 40,175 0 0 All Other Candidates 38,096 0 0 ALABAMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 237,981 42 0 Kennedy/Johnson 318,303 56 5* *- Six of Alabama's Electors Voted for Harry Byrd for President and Strom Thurmond for Vice-President ALASKA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  30,953 51 3 Kennedy/Johnson 29,809 49 0 ARIZONA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  221,241 56 4 Kennedy/Johnson 176,781 44 0 ARKANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 184,508 43 0 Kennedy/Johnson 215,049 50 8 CALIFORNIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  3,259,722 50 32 Kennedy/Johnson 3,224,099 50 0 COLORADO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  402,242 55 6 Kennedy/Johnson 330,629 45 0 CONNECTICUT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 565,813 46 0 Kennedy/Johnson 657,055 54 8 DELAWARE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 96,373 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 99,590 51 3 FLORIDA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  795,476 52 10 Kennedy/Johnson 748,700 48 0 GEORGIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 274,472 37 0 Kennedy/Johnson 458,638 63 12 HAWAII VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 92,295 50 0 Kennedy/Johnson 92,410 50 3 IDAHO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  161,597 54 4 Kennedy/Johnson 138,853 46 0 ILLINOIS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 2,368,988 50 0 Kennedy/Johnson 2,377,846 50 27 INDIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  1,175,120 55 13 Kennedy/Johnson 952,358 45 0 IOWA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  722,381 57 10 Kennedy/Johnson 550,565 43 0 KANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  561,474 60 8 Kennedy/Johnson 363,213 39 0 KENTUCKY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  602,607 54 10 Kennedy/Johnson 521,855 46 0 LOUISIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 230,980 29 0 Kennedy/Johnson 407,339 50 10 Unpledged Electors 169,572 21 0 MAINE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  240,608 57 5 Kennedy/Johnson 181,159 43 0 MARYLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 489,538 46 0 Kennedy/Johnson 565,808 54 9 MASSACHUSETTS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 976,750 40 0 Kennedy/Johnson 1,487,174 60 16 MICHIGAN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 1,620,428 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 1,687,269 51 20 MINNESOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 757,915 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 779,933 51 11 MISSISSIPPI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 73,561 25 0 Kennedy/Johnson 108,362 36 0 Unpledged Electors 116,248 39 8 Mississippi's Unpledged Electors Voted for Harry Byrd for President and Strom Thurmond for Vice-President MISSOURI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 962,221 50 0 Kennedy/Johnson 972,201 50 13 MONTANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  141,841 51 4 Kennedy/Johnson 134,891 49 0 NEBRASKA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  380,553 62 6 Kennedy/Johnson 232,542 38 0 NEVADA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 52,387 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 54,880 51 3 NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  157,989 53 4 Kennedy/Johnson 137,772 47 0 NEW JERSEY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 1,363,324 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 1,385,415 50 16 NEW MEXICO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 153,733 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 156,027 50 4 NEW YORK VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 3,446,419 47 0 Kennedy/Johnson 3,830,035 53 45 NORTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 655,420 48 0 Kennedy/Johnson 713,136 52 14 NORTH DAKOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  154,310 55 4 Kennedy/Johnson 123,963 45 0 OHIO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  2,217,611 53 25 Kennedy/Johnson 1,944,248 47 0 OKLAHOMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  533,039 59 7* Kennedy/Johnson 370,111 41 0 *-One Elector Voted for Harry Byrd for President and Barry Goldwater for Vice-President OREGON VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  408,060 53 6 Kennedy/Johnson 367,402 47 0 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 2,439,956 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 2,556,282 51 32 RHODE ISLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 147,502 36 0 Kennedy/Johnson 258,032 64 4 SOUTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 188,558 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 198,129 51 8 SOUTH DAKOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  178,417 58 4 Kennedy/Johnson 128,070 42 0 TENNESSEE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  556,577 53 11 Kennedy/Johnson 481,453 46 0 TEXAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 1,121,310 49 0 Kennedy/Johnson 1,167,567 51 24 UTAH VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  205,361 55 4 Kennedy/Johnson 169,248 45 0 VERMONT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  98,131 59 3 Kennedy/Johnson 69,186 41 0 VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  404,521 52 12 Kennedy/Johnson 362,327 47 0 WASHINGTON VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  629,273 51 9 Kennedy/Johnson 599,298 48 0 WEST VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge + 395,995 47 0 Kennedy/Johnson 441,786 53 8 WISCONSIN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  895,175 52 12 Kennedy/Johnson 830,805 48 0 WYOMING VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Nixon/Lodge +  77,451 55 3 Kennedy/Johnson 63,331 45 0 SYMBOLS KEY Republican Democratic Socialist Workers Prohibition Dixiecrat Socialist Labor Winner * Incumbent + Incumbent Party