1968 United States presidential election in Arkansas
The United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1968 was held on November 5th, 1968 as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. American Independent candidate George Wallace won the state of Arkansas with 235,627 votes, with Republican Richard Nixon winning 189,062 and Democrat Hubert Humphrey winning 184,901.[1]
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 County Results
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| Elections in Arkansas |
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With 38.65% of the popular vote, Arkansas would prove to be Wallace's weakest state that he carried in the 1968 election after Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia.[2] This was the first time since 1872 that Arkansas did not vote for the Democratic candidate, and would be the last time until 2008 that Arkansas did not back the winner of the presidential election.
As of 2020, this remains the last election in which the Republican nominee won the presidency without carrying Arkansas, as well as the last time Arkansas voted for a different candidate than neighboring Missouri, although this came close to happening again in 2008 due to Barack Obama's narrow loss in Missouri. Arkansas is the only state in the union that flipped from Lyndon B. Johnson to George Wallace between 1964 and 1968. The rest of Wallace's victories were achieved in states that backed Barry Goldwater four years earlier. This was the only state outside of the Deep South to vote for Wallace. This is one of five states, alongside Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina in which Hubert Humphrey came in third place. Alongside Richard Nixon's third-place finishes in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, it is the penultimate election in which a Republican or Democrat placed third (the final being in Maine and Utah in 1992, where Ross Perot's strong showing forced George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively, into third place).
Results
| 1968 United States presidential election in Arkansas[3] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| American Independent | George Wallace | 240,982 | 38.87% | 6 | |
| Republican | Richard Nixon | 190,759 | 30.77% | 0 | |
| Democratic | Hubert Humphrey | 188,228 | 30.36% | 0 | |
| Totals | 619,969 | 100.00% | 6 | ||
| Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered voters) | 54%/73% | ||||
Results by county
| County | Richard Milhous Nixon
Republican |
Hubert Horatio Humphrey
Democratic |
George Corley Wallace
American Independent |
Total votes cast | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Arkansas | 1,806 | 23.76% | 2,019 | 26.57% | 3,775 | 49.67% | 7,600 |
| Ashley | 1,470 | 18.59% | 2,035 | 25.74% | 4,401 | 55.67% | 7,906 |
| Baxter | 3,401 | 49.53% | 1,952 | 28.43% | 1,513 | 22.04% | 6,866 |
| Benton | 8,104 | 49.94% | 4,088 | 25.19% | 4,036 | 24.87% | 16,228 |
| Boone | 3,349 | 45.10% | 1,907 | 25.68% | 2,169 | 29.21% | 7,425 |
| Bradley | 802 | 16.69% | 1,457 | 30.32% | 2,546 | 52.99% | 4,805 |
| Calhoun | 287 | 13.11% | 688 | 31.42% | 1,215 | 55.48% | 2,190 |
| Carroll | 2,596 | 51.22% | 1,298 | 25.61% | 1,174 | 23.16% | 5,068 |
| Chicot | 865 | 15.32% | 2,595 | 45.95% | 2,187 | 38.73% | 5,647 |
| Clark | 1,642 | 22.96% | 2,733 | 38.22% | 2,776 | 38.82% | 7,151 |
| Clay | 2,410 | 37.91% | 1,663 | 26.16% | 2,285 | 35.94% | 6,358 |
| Cleburne | 1,301 | 31.27% | 1,202 | 28.89% | 1,657 | 39.83% | 4,160 |
| Cleveland | 312 | 12.63% | 407 | 16.48% | 1,751 | 70.89% | 2,470 |
| Columbia | 1,916 | 23.24% | 2,487 | 30.16% | 3,843 | 46.60% | 8,246 |
| Conway | 1,973 | 30.40% | 2,560 | 39.44% | 1,958 | 30.16% | 6,491 |
| Craighead | 5,047 | 32.50% | 3,738 | 24.07% | 6,742 | 43.42% | 15,527 |
| Crawford | 2,723 | 37.73% | 1,578 | 21.86% | 2,917 | 40.41% | 7,218 |
| Crittenden | 2,454 | 23.18% | 3,475 | 32.83% | 4,657 | 43.99% | 10,586 |
| Cross | 1,093 | 19.16% | 1,555 | 27.26% | 3,056 | 53.58% | 5,704 |
| Dallas | 672 | 18.43% | 1,253 | 34.36% | 1,722 | 47.22% | 3,647 |
| Desha | 972 | 17.00% | 2,270 | 39.71% | 2,474 | 43.28% | 5,716 |
| Drew | 1,040 | 22.27% | 1,324 | 28.35% | 2,307 | 49.39% | 4,671 |
| Faulkner | 2,791 | 25.55% | 3,756 | 34.39% | 4,375 | 40.06% | 10,922 |
| Franklin | 1,333 | 29.02% | 1,149 | 25.02% | 2,111 | 45.96% | 4,593 |
| Fulton | 1,198 | 36.34% | 1,019 | 30.91% | 1,080 | 32.76% | 3,297 |
| Garland | 7,674 | 37.83% | 5,655 | 27.88% | 6,955 | 34.29% | 20,284 |
| Grant | 627 | 17.07% | 852 | 23.20% | 2,194 | 59.73% | 3,673 |
| Greene | 2,859 | 35.40% | 2,197 | 27.20% | 3,021 | 37.40% | 8,077 |
| Hempstead | 1,783 | 24.62% | 2,322 | 32.07% | 3,136 | 43.31% | 7,241 |
| Hot Spring | 1,780 | 22.10% | 2,137 | 26.53% | 4,139 | 51.38% | 8,056 |
| Howard | 1,286 | 32.09% | 1,061 | 26.48% | 1,660 | 41.43% | 4,007 |
| Independence | 2,782 | 35.48% | 2,289 | 29.19% | 2,770 | 35.33% | 7,841 |
| Izard | 931 | 31.16% | 948 | 31.73% | 1,109 | 37.12% | 2,988 |
| Jackson | 1,356 | 19.56% | 2,051 | 29.59% | 3,525 | 50.85% | 6,932 |
| Jefferson | 4,860 | 20.22% | 9,125 | 37.96% | 10,053 | 41.82% | 24,038 |
| Johnson | 1,667 | 32.64% | 1,747 | 34.21% | 1,693 | 33.15% | 5,107 |
| Lafayette | 672 | 18.75% | 1,208 | 33.71% | 1,704 | 47.54% | 3,584 |
| Lawrence | 1,788 | 28.77% | 1,613 | 25.96% | 2,813 | 45.27% | 6,214 |
| Lee | 834 | 17.10% | 2,135 | 43.79% | 1,907 | 39.11% | 4,876 |
| Lincoln | 488 | 12.91% | 1,209 | 31.98% | 2,084 | 55.12% | 3,781 |
| Little River | 745 | 22.51% | 1,092 | 32.99% | 1,473 | 44.50% | 3,310 |
| Logan | 2,341 | 36.02% | 1,998 | 30.74% | 2,160 | 33.24% | 6,499 |
| Lonoke | 1,677 | 21.80% | 2,014 | 26.18% | 4,002 | 52.02% | 7,693 |
| Madison | 2,320 | 47.14% | 1,574 | 31.98% | 1,028 | 20.89% | 4,922 |
| Marion | 1,385 | 42.59% | 990 | 30.44% | 877 | 26.97% | 3,252 |
| Miller | 2,662 | 24.99% | 2,929 | 27.49% | 5,062 | 47.52% | 10,653 |
| Mississippi | 4,369 | 28.17% | 4,993 | 32.19% | 6,147 | 39.64% | 15,509 |
| Monroe | 804 | 16.10% | 1,783 | 35.71% | 2,406 | 48.19% | 4,993 |
| Montgomery | 885 | 35.04% | 649 | 25.69% | 992 | 39.27% | 2,526 |
| Nevada | 840 | 21.42% | 1,308 | 33.36% | 1,773 | 45.22% | 3,921 |
| Newton | 1,467 | 50.83% | 852 | 29.52% | 567 | 19.65% | 2,886 |
| Ouachita | 2,209 | 18.65% | 4,603 | 38.87% | 5,031 | 42.48% | 11,843 |
| Perry | 740 | 32.31% | 634 | 27.69% | 916 | 40.00% | 2,290 |
| Phillips | 2,154 | 18.78% | 5,039 | 43.92% | 4,279 | 37.30% | 11,472 |
| Pike | 1,104 | 33.51% | 656 | 19.91% | 1,535 | 46.59% | 3,295 |
| Poinsett | 2,140 | 27.14% | 1,672 | 21.20% | 4,074 | 51.66% | 7,886 |
| Polk | 2,094 | 40.30% | 1,290 | 24.83% | 1,812 | 34.87% | 5,196 |
| Pope | 3,319 | 38.30% | 2,578 | 29.75% | 2,769 | 31.95% | 8,666 |
| Prairie | 693 | 19.35% | 875 | 24.43% | 2,014 | 56.23% | 3,582 |
| Pulaski | 26,709 | 33.32% | 27,597 | 34.43% | 25,844 | 32.24% | 80,150 |
| Randolph | 1,237 | 29.35% | 1,367 | 32.44% | 1,610 | 38.21% | 4,214 |
| St. Francis | 1,608 | 17.58% | 3,284 | 35.91% | 4,254 | 46.51% | 9,146 |
| Saline | 2,614 | 23.15% | 3,111 | 27.55% | 5,569 | 49.31% | 11,294 |
| Scott | 1,162 | 34.18% | 1,000 | 29.41% | 1,238 | 36.41% | 3,400 |
| Searcy | 1,909 | 56.83% | 724 | 21.55% | 726 | 21.61% | 3,359 |
| Sebastian | 12,073 | 44.65% | 6,320 | 23.37% | 8,649 | 31.98% | 27,042 |
| Sevier | 1,217 | 31.64% | 1,129 | 29.35% | 1,501 | 39.02% | 3,847 |
| Sharp | 1,136 | 32.83% | 1,025 | 29.62% | 1,299 | 37.54% | 3,460 |
| Stone | 987 | 37.05% | 698 | 26.20% | 979 | 36.75% | 2,664 |
| Union | 4,919 | 28.60% | 4,426 | 25.74% | 7,853 | 45.66% | 17,198 |
| Van Buren | 1,325 | 35.83% | 1,149 | 31.07% | 1,224 | 33.10% | 3,698 |
| Washington | 10,640 | 48.67% | 6,131 | 28.04% | 5,092 | 23.29% | 21,863 |
| White | 3,887 | 32.02% | 3,198 | 26.34% | 5,054 | 41.63% | 12,139 |
| Woodruff | 625 | 17.22% | 1,270 | 35.00% | 1,734 | 47.78% | 3,629 |
| Yell | 1,819 | 34.44% | 1,513 | 28.65% | 1,949 | 36.91% | 5,281 |
| Totals[lower-alpha 2] | 189,062 | 31.01% | 184,901 | 30.33% | 235,627 | 38.65% | 609,590 |
Notes
- 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.
- These totals are less than the sum of the county tables for all three candidates.
References
- Leip, David. "1968 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
- "1968 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- Gans, Curtis (2011). Voter Turnout in the United States, 1788-2009. Washington, DC: CQPress. p. 579. ISBN 9781604265958.
