1968 United States presidential election in California

The 1968 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose 40 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California narrowly voted for the Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon of New York, over the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. The American Independent Party candidate, former Alabama governor George Wallace, performed rather well for a third-party candidate in the Pacific states region, surpassing six percent in every Pacific state except Hawaii, despite being thousands of miles away from his base in the Deep South, a reflection of his strong national third-party campaign. Despite this, Wallace's 6.72% in California was well below the 13.53% the Wallace ticket managed nationally.

Although Nixon was born and raised in California, he had moved to New York, following his failed 1962 gubernatorial bid, and thus identified New York as his home state in this election. After he won the election, Nixon moved his residency back to California. Nixon had previously defeated John F. Kennedy in California in 1960, and would later win the state again against George McGovern in 1972. Had Humphrey come out victorious in California, Nixon would have earned only 261 electoral votes, and thus, the election would have been sent to the United States House of Representatives.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time California had less electoral votes than New York, or that a Democrat had won Kings County.Sullivan, Robert David; "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century"; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Nixon also became the first-ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Alameda County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Santa Clara County since Ulysses Grant in 1868, and the first to do so without carrying Napa or San Mateo Counties since Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Nixon's victory was the first of six consecutive Republican victories in the state, as California would not vote for a Democratic candidate again until Bill Clinton in 1992, after which the state has always gone Democratic. This is also the last election where California did not have the highest number of electoral votes.

Campaign During the 1968 California Democratic primary, Robert F. Kennedy won the primary "narrowly" but was assassinated after giving a victory speech.

Polling +Poll SourceDate PublishedRichard NixonHubert Humphrey George Wallace Other/ UndecidedMervin FieldOctober 28, 196850%34%8%8%Don MuchmoreOctober 20, 196845%35%7%13%Don MuchmoreOctober 6, 196844%33%7%16%Mervin FieldSeptember 29, 196851%28%11%10%Mervin FieldSeptember 23, 196847%30%8%15%Don MuchmoreSeptember 15, 196843%34%7%16%

Results

Primary election results

Democratic primaries The primary election was held on June 4, 1968, with Robert F. Kennedy winning. The "no preference" option was initially meant to be Lyndon B. Johnson's position on the ballot. +1968 California Democratic presidential primary resultsCandidate# votesRobert F. Kennedy1,472,166Eugene McCarthy1,329,301No preference380,286Total3,181,753

Republican primaries The primary election was held on June 4, 1968. Ronald Reagan was the only candidate in the primary and won the primary as he was the only candidate and got the most number of votes. +1968 California Republican presidential primary resultsCandidate# votesRonald Reagan1,525,091Total1,525,091

General election results 1968 United States presidential election in CaliforniaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Richard Nixon 3,467,664 47.82% 40 Democratic Hubert Humphrey 3,244,318 44.74% 0 American Independent George Wallace 487,270 6.72% 0 Peace and Freedom Eldridge Cleaver 27,707 0.38% 0 No party Eugene McCarthy (write-in) 20,721 0.29% 0 No party Dick Gregory (write-in) 3,230 0.04% 0 No party Henning A. Blomen (write-in) 341 0.00% 0 No party Charlene Mitchell (write-in) 260 0.00% 0 No party E. Harold Munn (write-in) 59 0.00% 0 No party Write-ins 17 0.00% 0 Invalid or blank votes — Totals 7,251,587 100.00% 40 Voter turnout —

Results by county County Richard NixonRepublican Hubert HumphreyDemocratic George WallaceAmerican Independent Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Alameda 153,285 37.63% 219,545 53.90% 28,426 6.98% 6,093 1.50% -66,260 -16.27% 407,349 Alpine 150 59.29% 83 32.81% 20 7.91% 0 0.00% 67 26.48% 253 Amador 2,269 42.10% 2,440 45.27% 660 12.24% 21 0.39% -171 -3.17% 5,390 Butte 22,225 56.68% 12,887 32.87% 3,891 9.92% 208 0.53% 9,338 23.81% 39,211 Calaveras 3,042 52.16% 2,134 36.59% 643 11.03% 13 0.22% 908 15.57% 5,832 Colusa 2,361 51.58% 1,858 40.59% 344 7.52% 14 0.31% 503 10.99% 4,577 Contra Costa 97,486 44.53% 101,668 46.44% 18,330 8.37% 1,433 0.65% -4,182 -1.91% 218,917 Del Norte 2,387 46.19% 2,236 43.27% 495 9.58% 50 0.97% 151 2.92% 5,168 El Dorado 7,468 49.00% 6,054 39.72% 1,676 11.00% 43 0.28% 1,414 9.28% 15,241 Fresno 59,901 43.60% 65,153 47.42% 11,292 8.22% 1,050 0.76% -5,252 -3.82% 137,396 Glenn 3,848 53.91% 2,466 34.55% 808 11.32% 16 0.22% 1,382 19.36% 7,138 Humboldt 16,719 46.17% 16,476 45.50% 2,759 7.62% 260 0.72% 243 0.67% 36,214 Imperial 10,818 52.91% 7,481 36.59% 2,100 10.27% 47 0.23% 3,337 16.32% 20,446 Inyo 3,641 54.45% 2,314 34.60% 714 10.68% 18 0.27% 1,327 19.85% 6,687 Kern 53,990 46.61% 49,284 42.55% 12,309 10.63% 249 0.21% 4,706 4.06% 115,832 Kings 7,796 43.07% 8,643 47.75% 1,640 9.06% 22 0.12% -847 -4.68% 18,101 Lake 4,464 49.00% 3,777 41.46% 838 9.20% 32 0.35% 687 7.54% 9,111 Lassen 2,553 41.06% 2,930 47.12% 712 11.45% 23 0.37% -377 -6.06% 6,218 Los Angeles 1,266,480 47.65% 1,223,251 46.02% 151,050 5.68% 17,201 0.65% 43,229 1.63% 2,657,982 Madera 6,229 43.55% 6,932 48.47% 1,120 7.83% 22 0.15% -703 -4.92% 14,303 Marin 41,422 50.05% 36,278 43.84% 3,801 4.59% 1,254 1.52% 5,144 6.21% 82,755 Mariposa 1,496 49.92% 1,187 39.61% 302 10.08% 12 0.40% 309 10.31% 2,997 Mendocino 8,305 46.39% 7,935 44.32% 1,554 8.68% 110 0.61% 370 2.07% 17,904 Merced 11,595 40.90% 14,453 50.98% 2,248 7.93% 53 0.19% -2,858 -10.08% 28,349 Modoc 1,713 52.43% 1,264 38.69% 284 8.69% 6 0.18% 449 13.74% 3,267 Mono 1,130 64.28% 465 26.45% 156 8.87% 7 0.40% 665 37.83% 1,758 Monterey 33,670 50.16% 28,261 42.10% 4,800 7.15% 393 0.59% 5,409 8.06% 67,124 Napa 14,270 43.76% 14,762 45.27% 3,476 10.66% 104 0.32% -492 -1.51% 32,612 Nevada 6,061 51.39% 4,607 39.06% 1,078 9.14% 48 0.41% 1,454 12.33% 11,794 Orange 314,905 63.14% 148,869 29.85% 33,034 6.62% 1,899 0.38% 166,036 33.29% 498,707 Placer 12,427 42.64% 14,050 48.21% 2,574 8.83% 93 0.32% -1,623 -5.57% 29,144 Plumas 2,097 37.37% 2,961 52.77% 529 9.43% 24 0.43% -864 -15.40% 5,611 Riverside 83,414 52.90% 61,146 38.78% 12,432 7.88% 678 0.43% 22,268 14.12% 157,670 Sacramento 97,177 41.66% 118,769 50.92% 16,269 6.98% 1,031 0.44% -21,592 -9.26% 233,246 San Benito 2,961 47.54% 2,809 45.10% 447 7.18% 12 0.19% 152 2.44% 6,229 San Bernardino 111,974 50.07% 89,418 39.99% 21,187 9.47% 1,037 0.46% 22,556 10.08% 223,616 San Diego 261,540 56.26% 167,669 36.07% 33,340 7.17% 2,314 0.50% 93,871 20.19% 464,863 San Francisco 100,970 33.66% 177,509 59.18% 17,332 5.78% 4,136 1.38% -76,539 -25.52% 299,947 San Joaquin 47,293 47.97% 42,073 42.68% 8,923 9.05% 300 0.30% 5,220 5.29% 98,589 San Luis Obispo 19,420 51.27% 15,828 41.78% 2,416 6.38% 217 0.57% 3,592 9.49% 37,881 San Mateo 98,654 43.72% 106,519 47.20% 14,720 6.52% 5,775 2.56% -7,865 -3.48% 225,668 Santa Barbara 50,068 53.59% 37,565 40.21% 5,083 5.44% 704 0.75% 12,503 13.38% 93,420 Santa Clara 163,446 45.61% 173,511 48.42% 18,754 5.23% 2,656 0.74% -10,065 -2.81% 358,367 Santa Cruz 25,365 50.79% 20,492 41.03% 3,465 6.94% 622 1.25% 4,873 9.76% 49,944 Shasta 11,821 40.44% 14,510 49.64% 2,815 9.63% 84 0.29% -2,689 -9.20% 29,230 Sierra 548 45.93% 559 46.86% 85 7.12% 1 0.08% -11 -0.93% 1,193 Siskiyou 6,334 46.13% 6,260 45.59% 1,088 7.92% 50 0.36% 74 0.54% 13,732 Solano 17,683 34.71% 27,271 53.52% 5,810 11.40% 188 0.37% -9,588 -18.81% 50,952 Sonoma 38,088 48.79% 33,587 43.03% 5,875 7.53% 509 0.65% 4,501 5.76% 78,059 Stanislaus 29,573 45.45% 31,316 48.13% 3,973 6.11% 201 0.31% -1,743 -2.68% 65,063 Sutter 8,665 59.57% 4,624 31.79% 1,228 8.44% 28 0.19% 4,041 27.78% 14,545 Tehama 5,198 47.26% 4,565 41.50% 1,216 11.06% 20 0.18% 633 5.76% 10,999 Trinity 1,426 43.12% 1,433 43.33% 432 13.06% 16 0.48% -7 -0.21% 3,307 Tulare 29,314 52.17% 22,180 39.47% 4,580 8.15% 115 0.20% 7,134 12.70% 56,189 Tuolumne 4,330 47.48% 3,913 42.91% 865 9.49% 11 0.12% 417 4.57% 9,119 Ventura 59,705 51.35% 47,794 41.11% 8,234 7.08% 528 0.45% 11,911 10.24% 116,261 Yolo 11,123 38.41% 15,833 54.67% 1,742 6.02% 262 0.90% -4,710 -16.26% 28,960 Yuba 5,371 48.17% 4,461 40.01% 1,296 11.62% 22 0.20% 910 8.16% 11,150Total3,467,66447.82%3,244,31844.74%487,2706.72%52,3350.72%223,3463.08%7,251,587

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Butte Inyo Glenn Imperial Calaveras Riverside Modoc Santa Barbara Tulare Nevada Colusa Mariposa Ventura San Bernardino Santa Cruz San Luis Obispo Yuba Monterey El Dorado Lake Tehama Marin Sonoma San Joaquin Tuolumne Kern Del Norte San Benito Mendocino Siskiyou Humboldt Los Angeles

Results by city +Official outcome by city and unincorporated areas of counties, of which Nixon won 272 and Humphrey won 186. City County Richard NixonRepublican Hubert HumphreyDemocratic George Wallace American Independent Eldridge CleaverPeace and Freedom Margin Total Votes 1964 to 1968