1968 United States presidential election in New York

The 1968 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 43 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New York was won by incumbent Democratic vice president Hubert Humphrey, defeating Republican former vice president Richard Nixon by a margin of 5.46 percentage points and more than 370,000 votes. Maine Senator Edmund Muskie was Humphrey's vice-presidential running mate, while Nixon's running mate was Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew.

Humphrey took 49.76% of the vote to Nixon's 44.30% in New York, while former Alabama Governor George Wallace won 5.29% as the nominee of the American Independent Party. Wallace ran a segregationist and right-wing populist campaign which failed to gain much traction in the Northeast. Wallace did best in suburban and exurban counties, as well as in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Wallace's stances were popular with voters who resented race riots, the increasing influence of African-Americans in the national Democratic Party, and the counterculture, but were anathema to voters in the inner cities and most of Upstate New York.Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 10.

New York weighed in for this election as 7% more Democratic than the nation. Almost six percent of the electorate voted for third parties, mainly the American Independent Party. In typical form for the time, the major cities of New York City, Buffalo, Albany, Schenectady, and Niagara Falls voted Democratic, while the smaller counties in New York mainly turned out for Nixon as the Republican candidate. Nixon thus became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Erie County since Abraham Lincoln in 1864, the first to do so without carrying Niagara or Schenectady Counties since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, as well as the first to do so without carrying Albany or Queens Counties since Herbert Hoover in 1928.

Despite Nixon winning most of the state's counties, Humphrey's landslide margin in New York City — receiving 60.6% of the vote in the five boroughs to Nixon's 33.9%, and losing only Staten Island to Nixon — provided him with enough raw votes for a statewide victory. Humphrey was seen by many as promising to continue the legacy of president Lyndon B. Johnson,Lewis L. Gould (2010). 1968: The Election That Changed America. Government Institutes. pp. 16–18. and this garnered him strong support from liberal voters across America.

This was the first time since Samuel J. Tilden won the state in 1876 that New York voted for a losing Democratic candidate and it was the first time that New York voted for a Democrat that lost the national popular vote. , this remains the last time that New York had the largest number of electoral votes in the nation, as California would overtake it after the 1970 census. Nixon is one of four presidents to win the presidency while losing his home state (the others being James K. Polk with Tennessee in 1844, Woodrow Wilson with New Jersey in 1916, and Donald Trump with New York in 2016).

Eldridge Cleaver, the presidential nominee for the Peace and Freedom Party was not listed on the ballot in New York as he was found in court to have been underage for president as Cleaver was 33 and that "he had failed to file a proper acceptance of the nomination".

Results 1968 United States presidential election in New YorkPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Hubert Humphrey 3,066,848 45.17% Liberal Hubert Humphrey 311,622 4.59% Total Hubert Humphrey 3,378,470 49.76% 43 Republican Richard Nixon 3,007,932 44.30% 0 Courage George Wallace 358,864 5.29% 0 Peace and Freedom Dick Gregory 24,517 0.36% 0 Socialist Workers Fred Halstead 11,851 0.17% 0 Socialist Labor Henning Blomen 8,432 0.12% 0 Totals 6,790,066 100.0% 43

New York City results

1968 presidential election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal Democratic-LiberalHubert Humphrey370,806277,385489,174410,54634,7701,582,68160.56%70.04%62.40%63.12%53.60%35.18% RepublicanRichard Nixon135,458142,314247,936306,62054,631886,95933.94%25.59%32.02%31.99%40.03%55.28% CourageGeorge Wallace12,95821,95033,56344,1989,112121,7814.66%2.45%4.94%4.33%5.77%9.22% Peace and FreedomDick Gregory8,6101,7672,8573,10412316,4610.63%1.63%0.40%0.37%0.41%0.12% Socialist LaborHenning A. Blomen8188361,0391,0911643,9480.15%0.15%0.19%0.13%0.14%0.17% Socialist WorkersFred Halstead742265400353241,7840.07%0.14%0.06%0.05%0.05%0.02%TOTAL529,392444,517774,969765,91298,8242,613,614100.00%

Results by county County Hubert HumphreyDemocratic/Liberal Richard NixonRepublican George WallaceCourage Dick GregoryPeace and Freedom Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # % # % Albany 80,724 57.93% 52,948 38.00% 5,025 3.61% 189 0.14% 508 0.36% 27,776 19.93% 139,351 Allegany 4,986 29.08% 11,222 65.45% 851 4.96% 22 0.13% 75 0.44% −6,236 −36.37% 17,145 Bronx 277,385 62.40% 142,314 32.02% 21,950 4.94% 1,767 0.40% 1,116 0.25% 135,071 30.38% 444,517 Broome 37,451 41.93% 46,872 52.48% 4,618 5.17% 110 0.12% 321 0.36% −9,421 −10.55% 89,311 Cattaraugus 12,733 40.88% 16,594 53.27% 1,674 5.37% 31 0.10% 125 0.40% −3,861 −12.39% 31,148 Cayuga 14,604 44.71% 16,167 49.49% 1,826 5.59% 20 0.06% 53 0.16% −1,563 −4.78% 32,666 Chautauqua 26,431 45.18% 28,561 48.82% 3,273 5.59% 47 0.08% 195 0.33% −2,130 −3.64% 58,507 Chemung 15,820 40.00% 20,693 52.32% 2,807 7.10% 35 0.09% 198 0.50% −4,873 −12.32% 39,553 Chenango 5,706 30.92% 11,785 63.86% 887 4.81% 12 0.07% 65 0.35% −6,079 −32.94% 18,455 Clinton 10,153 43.82% 11,951 51.58% 931 4.02% 28 0.12% 113 0.49% −1,798 −7.76% 23,168 Columbia 7,762 33.62% 13,857 60.03% 1,372 5.94% 41 0.18% 54 0.23% −6,095 −26.41% 23,085 Cortland 5,791 34.47% 10,209 60.76% 720 4.29% 31 0.18% 67 0.40% −4,418 −26.29% 16,801 Delaware 5,360 28.36% 12,366 65.44% 1,121 5.93% 18 0.10% 33 0.17% −7,006 −37.08% 18,898 Dutchess 31,025 37.80% 45,032 54.87% 5,662 6.90% 214 0.26% 189 0.23% −14,007 −17.07% 82,067 Erie 250,054 55.18% 167,853 37.04% 33,402 7.37% 679 0.15% 1,283 0.28% 82,201 18.14% 453,165 Essex 5,218 33.98% 9,377 61.07% 701 4.57% 15 0.10% 50 0.33% −4,159 −27.09% 15,355 Franklin 6,678 42.80% 8,314 53.29% 544 3.49% 9 0.06% 59 0.38% −1,636 −10.49% 15,602 Fulton 8,871 40.66% 11,895 54.52% 989 4.53% 20 0.09% 43 0.20% −3,024 −13.86% 21,818 Genesee 9,533 41.18% 12,418 53.64% 1,141 4.93% 9 0.04% 49 0.21% −2,885 −12.46% 23,150 Greene 5,499 30.56% 10,954 60.87% 1,421 7.90% 20 0.11% 127 0.70% −5,455 −30.31% 17,997 Hamilton 762 24.96% 2,123 69.54% 163 5.34% 1 0.03% 4 0.13% −1,361 −44.58% 3,053 Herkimer 10,940 39.54% 15,192 54.91% 1,455 5.26% 15 0.05% 75 0.27% −4,252 −15.37% 27,665 Jefferson 13,438 40.59% 18,552 56.03% 1,016 3.07% 17 0.05% 100 0.30% −5,114 −15.44% 33,109 Kings 489,174 63.12% 247,936 31.99% 33,563 4.33% 2,857 0.37% 1,537 0.20% 241,238 31.13% 774,969 Lewis 3,205 34.91% 5,524 60.17% 430 4.68% 5 0.05% 19 0.21% −2,319 −25.26% 9,180 Livingston 6,989 35.82% 11,659 59.75% 775 3.97% 24 0.12% 66 0.34% −4,670 −23.93% 19,513 Madison 7,056 32.06% 13,819 62.79% 1,053 4.78% 14 0.06% 68 0.31% −6,763 −30.73% 22,010 Monroe 141,437 47.66% 143,233 48.27% 10,875 3.66% 446 0.15% 764 0.26% −1,796 −0.61% 296,755 Montgomery 11,449 45.33% 12,566 49.75% 1,147 4.54% 24 0.10% 71 0.28% −1,117 −4.42% 25,257 Nassau 278,599 43.31% 329,792 51.27% 30,860 4.80% 2,107 0.33% 2,224 0.35% −51,193 −7.96% 643,195 New York 370,806 70.04% 135,458 25.59% 12,958 2.45% 8,610 1.63% 1,632 0.31% 235,348 44.45% 529,392 Niagara 41,999 47.77% 38,796 44.12% 6,617 7.53% 59 0.07% 454 0.52% 3,203 3.65% 87,925 Oneida 44,685 43.07% 52,875 50.96% 5,666 5.46% 75 0.07% 460 0.44% −8,190 −7.89% 103,761 Onondaga 83,576 44.02% 95,806 50.46% 9,459 4.98% 272 0.14% 767 0.40% −12,230 −6.44% 189,865 Ontario 11,719 38.94% 17,114 56.86% 1,180 3.92% 28 0.09% 57 0.19% −5,395 −17.92% 30,098 Orange 28,122 35.09% 44,955 56.09% 6,473 8.08% 129 0.16% 502 0.63% −16,833 −21.00% 80,149 Orleans 4,786 34.13% 8,509 60.67% 696 4.96% 6 0.04% 35 0.25% −3,723 −26.54% 14,024 Oswego 14,636 39.72% 20,041 54.39% 1,962 5.33% 39 0.11% 167 0.45% −5,405 −14.67% 36,845 Otsego 7,981 35.16% 13,543 59.67% 1,091 4.81% 44 0.19% 49 0.22% −5,562 −24.51% 22,696 Putnam 8,472 34.84% 13,293 54.67% 2,388 9.82% 45 0.18% 129 0.53% −4,821 −19.83% 24,314 Queens 410,546 53.60% 306,620 40.03% 44,198 5.77% 3,104 0.41% 1,544 0.20% 103,926 13.57% 765,912 Rensselaer 30,232 44.02% 34,674 50.49% 3,461 5.04% 53 0.08% 261 0.38% −4,442 −6.47% 68,681 Richmond 34,770 35.18% 54,631 55.28% 9,112 9.22% 123 0.12% 202 0.20% −19,861 −20.10% 98,824 Rockland 36,948 44.35% 40,880 49.07% 5,028 6.04% 303 0.36% 178 0.21% −3,932 −4.72% 83,307 St. Lawrence 15,662 41.29% 20,982 55.31% 1,178 3.11% 52 0.14% 63 0.17% −5,320 −14.02% 37,933 Saratoga 17,766 38.69% 25,658 55.87% 2,220 4.83% 36 0.08% 255 0.56% −7,892 −17.18% 45,922 Schenectady 34,786 48.31% 33,687 46.79% 3,246 4.51% 86 0.12% 247 0.34% 1,099 1.52% 72,002 Schoharie 3,883 36.03% 6,166 57.21% 689 6.39% 12 0.11% 27 0.25% −2,283 −21.18% 10,777 Schuyler 2,034 30.38% 4,105 61.31% 522 7.80% 8 0.12% 27 0.40% −2,071 −30.93% 6,696 Seneca 5,222 40.15% 7,083 54.46% 635 4.88% 17 0.13% 51 0.39% −1,861 −14.31% 13,005 Steuben 12,229 31.61% 24,189 62.52% 2,194 5.67% 20 0.05% 58 0.15% −11,960 −30.91% 38,690 Suffolk 122,590 32.71% 218,027 58.18% 31,304 8.35% 776 0.21% 2,178 0.58% −95,437 −25.47% 374,767 Sullivan 10,860 44.88% 11,657 48.17% 1,487 6.15% 56 0.23% 138 0.57% −797 −3.29% 24,198 Tioga 5,336 31.47% 10,441 61.58% 1,127 6.65% 9 0.05% 43 0.25% −5,105 −30.11% 16,956 Tompkins 10,343 40.97% 13,446 53.26% 1,236 4.90% 161 0.64% 124 0.49% −3,103 −12.29% 25,248 Ulster 20,886 34.59% 34,798 57.62% 4,183 6.93% 191 0.32% 394 0.65% −13,912 −23.03% 60,387 Warren 6,460 31.85% 12,963 63.92% 807 3.98% 15 0.07% 35 0.17% −6,503 −32.07% 20,280 Washington 6,806 33.09% 12,694 61.71% 930 4.52% 17 0.08% 123 0.60% −5,888 −28.62% 20,569 Wayne 8,907 32.17% 17,470 63.09% 1,211 4.37% 14 0.05% 93 0.34% −8,563 −30.92% 27,689 Westchester 173,954 43.40% 201,652 50.31% 22,115 5.52% 1,318 0.33% 1,906 0.48% −27,698 −6.91% 400,807 Wyoming 4,477 32.52% 8,459 61.45% 799 5.80% 5 0.04% 25 0.18% −3,982 −28.93% 13,765 Yates 2,158 26.59% 5,482 67.54% 440 5.42% 7 0.09% 30 0.37% −3,324 −40.95% 8,117Totals3,378,47049.76%3,007,93244.30%358,8645.29%24,5170.36%20,2830.30%370,5385.46%6,790,066

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Results by congressional district Results are grouped by the percentage of the popular vote nationally in that order. The candidates are listed by the percentage of the vote won in that respective district. DistrictNixonHumphreyWallace1st58%33%9%2nd56.2%37%6.8%3rd48.9%47.2%3.9%4th53%42.1%5%5th51.3%43.6%5.1%6th45.6%49%3.4%7th33.7%60.6%5.7%8th40.3%54.2%5.5%9th48.2%43.2%7.9%10th29%67.9%3.2%11th32.7%62.5%4.8%12th17.5%79.5%3%13rd26.8%70%3.2%14th33.8%59.8%6.4%15th50.7%42%7.3%16th57.2%35.8%7%17th38.3%59.3%2.4%18th9.5%89.9%0.6%19th26.6%69.4%3.9%20th24.5%72.5%4.81%21st25.7%70%4.4%22nd30.5%64.4%5.1%23rd26.8%69.2%4%24th46.9%45.7%7.4%25th52%41.8%6.2%26th50.9%44.7%4.4%27th51.4%41.2%7.3%28th58.2%35.5%6.3%29th42.3%53.8%3.9%30th50.1%45.6%4.4%31st54%41.5%4.5%32nd51.6%43.3%5.1%33rd52.3%42.1%5.6%34th51.5%43.5%4.9%35th54.3%41%4.7%36th49.3%47.2%3.5%37th48.7%46.7%4.6%38th53.3%41%5.7%39th41.6%51.3%7.1%40th42.8%50.4%6.8%41st20%72.6%7.4%

See also United States presidential elections in New York 1968 Democratic National Convention Civil Rights Movement Presidency of Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal Vietnam War

Notes

References