The 1964 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Idaho was one of 44 states carried by incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson amidst his national landslide. However, it was Johnson's narrowest victory in the election. He carried the state by a margin of 5,363 votes, or 1.83%, making Idaho about 20.75% more Republican than the nation. Johnson's strongest performances were in Clearwater and Lewis Counties in the heavily unionized Idaho Panhandle logging country, where he took over 76% of the vote. Goldwater's strongest performance was in ancestrally Republican Jerome County, with 63% of the vote. While Johnson carried slightly over half of the state's 44 counties, Goldwater carried most of the more populous counties (such as Ada, Bonneville, Canyon and Twin Falls), thus keeping the vote close.

As of 2024, this is the only presidential race since 1948 where Idaho voted Democrat, and although Goldwater lost, this election continued the solidification of Idaho as a Republican stronghold. The state trended 13.02% Republican relative to the national swing. Kennedy had lost the state by 7.5% in 1960, but that was in a nearly tied national environment, while Johnson only narrowly won it amidst a 23-point Democratic landslide nationwide. In nine counties, Goldwater earned a higher share of the vote than Richard Nixon had in 1960 – a result observed in only nine other counties outside antebellum slave states.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, p. 87 Apart from heavily Catholic Emmons County, North Dakota, Camas and Custer in Idaho were the solitary counties outside antebellum slave states to vote for Kennedy in 1960 and Goldwater in 1964.

No Democratic presidential nominee since Johnson in 1964 has been able to get even 40% of Idaho's popular vote, while the only Republicans to fail to pass 55% have been George H. W. Bush in 1992 and Bob Dole in 1996, in which Ross Perot's and Bo Gritz's third-party candidacies played a part.

Results

Results by county County Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocratic Barry GoldwaterRepublican Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % Ada 19,639 43.60% 25,404 56.40% -5,765 -12.80% 45,043 Adams 750 52.12% 689 47.88% 61 4.24% 1,439 Bannock 13,483 63.28% 7,825 36.72% 5,658 26.56% 21,308 Bear Lake 1,857 56.86% 1,409 43.14% 448 13.72% 3,266 Benewah 1,796 64.67% 981 35.33% 815 29.34% 2,777 Bingham 5,231 49.37% 5,364 50.63% -133 -1.26% 10,595 Blaine 1,293 52.69% 1,161 47.31% 132 5.38% 2,454 Boise 450 52.08% 414 47.92% 36 4.16% 864 Bonner 4,328 59.26% 2,975 40.74% 1,353 18.52% 7,303 Bonneville 9,637 47.30% 10,736 52.70% -1,099 -5.40% 20,373 Boundary 1,418 57.11% 1,065 42.89% 353 14.22% 2,483 Butte 848 56.65% 649 43.35% 199 13.30% 1,497 Camas 258 44.95% 316 55.05% -58 -10.10% 574 Canyon 10,601 44.05% 13,466 55.95% -2,865 -11.90% 24,067 Caribou 1,422 52.18% 1,303 47.82% 119 4.36% 2,725 Cassia 2,608 39.41% 4,009 60.59% -1,401 -21.18% 6,617 Clark 186 41.52% 262 58.48% -76 -16.96% 448 Clearwater 2,446 76.13% 767 23.87% 1,679 52.26% 3,213 Custer 714 49.79% 720 50.21% -6 -0.42% 1,434 Elmore 2,310 55.44% 1,857 44.56% 453 10.88% 4,167 Franklin 1,583 39.74% 2,400 60.26% -817 -20.52% 3,983 Fremont 1,970 50.32% 1,945 49.68% 25 0.64% 3,915 Gem 2,328 54.05% 1,979 45.95% 349 8.10% 4,307 Gooding 1,848 42.24% 2,527 57.76% -679 -15.52% 4,375 Idaho 3,188 61.57% 1,990 38.43% 1,198 23.14% 5,178 Jefferson 2,061 42.93% 2,740 57.07% -679 -14.14% 4,801 Jerome 1,828 37.00% 3,113 63.00% -1,285 -26.00% 4,941 Kootenai 8,215 57.40% 6,096 42.60% 2,119 14.80% 14,311 Latah 5,249 60.17% 3,475 39.83% 1,774 20.34% 8,724 Lemhi 1,067 41.63% 1,496 58.37% -429 -16.74% 2,563 Lewis 1,557 76.17% 487 23.83% 1,070 52.34% 2,044 Lincoln 617 38.90% 969 61.10% -352 -22.20% 1,586 Madison 1,949 48.12% 2,101 51.88% -152 -3.76% 4,050 Minidoka 2,827 47.61% 3,111 52.39% -284 -4.78% 5,938 Nez Perce 9,245 70.27% 3,912 29.73% 5,333 40.54% 13,157 Oneida 768 40.87% 1,111 59.13% -343 -18.26% 1,879 Owyhee 1,168 48.99% 1,216 51.01% -48 -2.02% 2,384 Payette 2,508 47.57% 2,764 52.43% -256 -4.86% 5,272 Power 1,161 54.58% 966 45.42% 195 9.16% 2,127 Shoshone 5,194 64.30% 2,884 35.70% 2,310 28.60% 8,078 Teton 598 46.98% 675 53.02% -77 -6.04% 1,273 Twin Falls 7,638 39.87% 11,518 60.13% -3,880 -20.26% 19,156 Valley 1,126 53.47% 980 46.53% 146 6.94% 2,106 Washington 1,952 53.01% 1,730 46.99% 222 6.02% 3,682Totals148,92050.92%143,55749.08%5,3631.84%292,477

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Adams Bear Lake Boise Caribou Franklin Fremont Gem Latah Power Valley Washington

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Camas Custer

Analysis At a more local level, the only counties in Idaho to have ever given a Democrat a majority or plurality since 1968 have been the ski resort counties of Teton and Blaine; and Bonner, Shoshone, Clearwater, Lewis, Nez Perce, Latah, and Benewah Counties in the Panhandle logging region. Of these, Bonner County was carried only by a narrow Bill Clinton plurality in 1992.1992 Presidential General Election Data Graphs – Idaho by County The Republicans would go on to sweep all 44 of Idaho's counties in 1972, 1980, and 1984, and all but one, Blaine County, in 2000 and 2004. Since then, only Blaine, Latah, and Teton Counties have been carried by Democrats, although rapidly-urbanizing Ada County (not carried by Johnson) has become strongly contested for Democrats since the late 2010s.

As a result, this remains the last election in which Kootenai County, Bannock County, Elmore County, Gem County, Idaho County, Fremont County, Boundary County, Washington County, Valley County, Power County, Boise County, Caribou County, Bear Lake County, Adams County, and Butte County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is the last time Democrats won any congressional district in the state.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

See also United States presidential elections in Idaho

Notes

References

External links OurCampaigns - ID US President Race, Nov 3, 1964