1964 United States presidential election in New York

The 1964 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. New York voters chose 43 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and his running mate, President pro tempore of the Senate Hubert Humphrey, against Republican challenger and Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona and his running mate and Chair of the Republican National Committee, William E. Miller.

Johnson carried the state in a historic landslide, taking 68.56% of the vote to Goldwater's 31.31%, a victory margin of 37.25%. This is the only election in history in which a Democratic presidential candidate carried every single county in the state of New York. The staunch conservative Barry Goldwater was widely seen in the liberal Northeast as a right-wing extremist;Donaldson, Gary; Liberalism’s Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964; p. 190, . he had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Johnson campaign portrayed him as a warmonger who as president would provoke a nuclear war.Edwards, Lee and Schlafly, Phyllis; Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution; pp. 286–290, . Thus Goldwater performed especially weakly in northeastern states like New York: he wrote off the state and neighboring Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island from the beginning of his presidential campaign even before Kennedy's assassination.Kelley, Stanley junior; ‘The Goldwater Strategy’; The Princeton Review; pp. 8–11. For the first time in history, a Democratic presidential candidate swept every Northeastern state in 1964. Not only did Johnson win every Northeastern state, but he won all of them with over 60% of the vote. New York weighed in as the fifth most Democratic state in the nation.

Johnson dominated heavily Democratic cities such as New York City, the largest in the country, as well as the upstate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, which historically provided Democratic candidates an advantage. However, Johnson also swept every county in the state, including traditionally Republican parts of upstate New York and Long Island. Johnson carried all five boroughs of New York City, the first presidential candidate to do so since the landslide re-election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. In the borough of Manhattan, Johnson broke 80% of the vote, the first presidential candidate ever to do so. Brooklyn and the Bronx voted over 70% Democratic. Traditionally Republican Queens, narrowly carried by John F. Kennedy four years earlier in 1960, gave over 60% of the vote to Johnson. Even Staten Island voted Democratic, although it was the only county to give Goldwater more than 45% of the vote. Overall, New York City gave Johnson 73.02% of the vote, a citywide vote share no candidate would surpass until fellow Democrat Bill Clinton’s 77.10% in 1996. With 2,183,646 votes from the five boroughs, Johnson also received more votes in New York City than any other presidential candidate in history, setting a record that would hold until Democrat Hillary Clinton won 2,191,869 votes in 2016. Johnson's record of 4.9 million votes won by a single candidate in New York would hold for four years longer, being surpassed by Joe Biden in 2020.

Johnson's 68.56% of the vote remains the highest vote share any presidential candidate of either party has ever received in New York State. His 37.25% victory margin also remains the widest margin by which any Democratic presidential candidate has ever won New York State, and the second widest margin by which any candidate of either party has ever carried the state behind Republican Warren G. Harding’s 37.61% margin in the 1920 Republican landslide.Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – New York This result also made Johnson one of only three presidential candidates of either party who have been able to sweep every county in New York State, along with Harding in 1920 and his successor Calvin Coolidge in 1924. New York weighed in for this election as 15% more Democratic than the national average.

Results

1964 United States presidential election in New YorkPartyPresidential nomineeVice presidential nomineeVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson Hubert Humphrey 4,570,724 63.78% Liberal Lyndon B. JohnsonHubert Humphrey 342,432 4.78% Total Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent) Hubert Humphrey 4,913,156 68.56% 43 Republican Barry GoldwaterWilliam E. Miller 2,243,559 31.31% 0 Socialist Labor Eric HassHenning A. Blomen 6,085 0.08% 0 Socialist Workers Clifton DeBerryEd Shaw 3,215 0.04% 0 Totals 7,166,015 100.0% 43

New York City results 1964 presidential election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal Democratic-LiberalLyndon B. Johnson503,848403,014684,839541,41850,5242,183,64373.02%80.52%74.69%74.80%66.28%54.36% RepublicanBarry Goldwater120,125135,780229,291274,35142,330801,87726.81%19.20%25.16%25.05%33.59%45.54% Socialist LaborEric Hass966552879748713,2160.11%0.15%0.10%0.10%0.09%0.08% Socialist WorkersClifton DeBerry780248494311211,8540.06%0.12%0.05%0.05%0.04%0.02%TOTAL625,719539,594915,503816,82892,9462,990,590100.00%

Results by county County Lyndon B. JohnsonDemocratic/Liberal Barry GoldwaterRepublican Eric HassOur Campaigns; NY US President 1964Socialist Labor Clifton DeBerrySocialist Workers Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # % Albany 114,827 78.03% 32,224 21.90% 66 0.04% 35 0.02% 82,603 56.13% 147,152 Allegany 10,329 57.26% 7,688 42.62% 10 0.06% 12 0.07% 2,641 14.64% 18,039 Bronx 403,014 74.69% 135,780 25.16% 552 0.10% 248 0.05% 267,234 49.53% 539,594 Broome 59,021 64.76% 32,048 35.16% 54 0.06% 16 0.02% 26,973 29.60% 91,139 Cattaraugus 21,994 66.78% 10,907 33.12% 22 0.07% 10 0.03% 11,087 33.66% 32,933 Cayuga 24,090 67.73% 11,453 32.20% 13 0.04% 10 0.03% 12,637 35.53% 35,566 Chautauqua 42,924 69.17% 19,069 30.73% 44 0.07% 19 0.03% 23,855 38.44% 62,056 Chemung 26,332 64.10% 14,716 35.82% 24 0.06% 10 0.02% 11,616 28.28% 41,082 Chenango 11,653 61.49% 7,293 38.48% 4 0.02% 2 0.01% 4,360 23.01% 18,952 Clinton 18,398 75.12% 6,078 24.82% 9 0.04% 7 0.03% 12,320 50.30% 24,492 Columbia 14,516 61.62% 9,023 38.30% 13 0.06% 6 0.03% 5,493 23.32% 23,558 Cortland 11,110 64.33% 6,149 35.61% 4 0.02% 7 0.04% 4,961 28.72% 17,270 Delaware 11,686 58.24% 8,359 41.66% 15 0.07% 4 0.02% 3,327 16.58% 20,064 Dutchess 50,179 62.94% 29,503 37.01% 29 0.04% 14 0.02% 20,676 25.93% 79,725 Erie 344,910 73.14% 125,962 26.71% 513 0.11% 191 0.04% 218,948 46.43% 471,576 Essex 10,739 64.75% 5,837 35.19% 5 0.03% 4 0.02% 4,902 29.56% 16,585 Franklin 12,467 71.94% 4,846 27.96% 10 0.06% 6 0.03% 7,621 43.98% 17,329 Fulton 15,846 68.46% 7,278 31.44% 18 0.08% 5 0.02% 8,568 37.02% 23,147 Genesee 15,713 65.91% 8,114 34.03% 8 0.03% 6 0.03% 7,599 31.88% 23,841 Greene 10,034 56.07% 7,842 43.82% 9 0.05% 9 0.05% 2,192 12.25% 17,894 Hamilton 1,603 55.80% 1,269 44.17% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% 334 11.63% 2,873 Herkimer 20,136 66.42% 10,159 33.51% 11 0.04% 11 0.04% 9,977 32.91% 30,317 Jefferson 25,175 70.10% 10,718 29.84% 9 0.03% 12 0.03% 14,457 40.26% 35,914 Kings 684,839 74.80% 229,291 25.05% 879 0.10% 494 0.05% 455,548 49.75% 915,503 Lewis 6,584 67.33% 3,185 32.57% 5 0.05% 5 0.05% 3,399 34.76% 9,779 Livingston 13,481 65.38% 7,120 34.53% 8 0.04% 10 0.05% 6,361 30.85% 20,619 Madison 14,313 61.75% 8,858 38.21% 9 0.04% 0 0.00% 5,455 23.54% 23,180 Monroe 205,226 71.86% 80,099 28.05% 170 0.06% 87 0.03% 125,127 43.81% 285,582 Montgomery 19,370 69.52% 8,471 30.40% 12 0.04% 8 0.03% 10,899 39.12% 27,861 Nassau 382,590 60.53% 248,886 39.37% 428 0.07% 211 0.03% 133,704 21.16% 632,115 New York 503,848 80.52% 120,125 19.20% 966 0.15% 780 0.12% 383,723 61.32% 625,719 Niagara 67,260 70.07% 28,663 29.86% 44 0.05% 18 0.02% 38,597 40.21% 95,985 Oneida 73,359 64.80% 39,737 35.10% 82 0.07% 32 0.03% 33,622 29.70% 113,210 Onondaga 128,630 66.99% 63,205 32.92% 128 0.07% 51 0.03% 65,425 34.07% 192,014 Ontario 19,922 64.72% 10,847 35.24% 7 0.02% 8 0.03% 9,075 29.48% 30,784 Orange 48,244 61.13% 30,610 38.78% 49 0.06% 21 0.03% 17,634 22.35% 78,924 Orleans 9,304 62.46% 5,567 37.37% 18 0.12% 7 0.05% 3,737 25.09% 14,896 Oswego 24,788 66.59% 12,415 33.35% 13 0.03% 10 0.03% 12,373 33.24% 37,226 Otsego 15,190 63.67% 8,643 36.23% 19 0.08% 7 0.03% 6,547 27.44% 23,859 Putnam 12,636 57.75% 9,219 42.14% 11 0.05% 13 0.06% 3,417 15.61% 21,879 Queens 541,418 66.28% 274,351 33.59% 748 0.09% 311 0.04% 267,067 32.69% 816,828 Rensselaer 51,170 71.01% 20,814 28.88% 55 0.08% 21 0.03% 30,356 42.13% 72,060 Richmond 50,524 54.36% 42,330 45.54% 71 0.08% 21 0.02% 8,194 8.82% 92,946 Rockland 46,173 63.74% 26,187 36.15% 53 0.07% 29 0.04% 19,986 27.59% 72,442 St. Lawrence 29,173 70.62% 12,102 29.30% 23 0.05% 24 0.06% 17,071 41.32% 41,307 Saratoga 29,264 68.57% 13,364 31.32% 56 0.08% 24 0.03% 15,900 37.25% 42,675 Schenectady 51,892 70.30% 21,848 29.60% 8 0.07% 3 0.03% 30,044 40.70% 73,820 Schoharie 7,187 63.09% 4,193 36.81% 3 0.04% 2 0.03% 2,994 26.28% 11,391 Schuyler 4,326 59.62% 2,925 40.31% 7 0.05% 6 0.04% 1,401 19.31% 7,256 Seneca 8,890 66.46% 4,473 33.44% 20 0.05% 12 0.03% 4,417 33.02% 13,376 Steuben 24,634 60.61% 15,988 39.34% 15 0.04% 8 0.02% 8,646 21.27% 40,645 Suffolk 180,598 55.51% 144,350 44.37% 277 0.09% 108 0.03% 36,248 11.14% 325,333 Sullivan 16,728 67.52% 8,006 32.31% 23 0.09% 18 0.07% 8,722 35.21% 24,775 Tioga 10,411 59.26% 7,147 40.68% 4 0.02% 5 0.03% 3,264 18.58% 17,567 Tompkins 16,103 63.90% 9,070 35.99% 12 0.05% 17 0.07% 7,033 27.91% 25,202 Ulster 35,486 59.82% 23,749 40.03% 60 0.10% 31 0.05% 11,737 19.79% 59,326 Warren 12,772 61.94% 7,834 37.99% 10 0.05% 4 0.02% 4,938 23.95% 20,620 Washington 13,826 62.87% 8,160 37.10% 3 0.01% 4 0.02% 5,666 25.77% 21,993 Wayne 18,729 63.83% 10,586 36.08% 14 0.05% 13 0.04% 8,143 27.75% 29,342 Westchester 243,723 61.98% 149,052 37.90% 318 0.08% 142 0.04% 94,671 24.08% 393,235 Wyoming 8,866 59.19% 6,099 40.71% 10 0.07% 5 0.03% 2,767 18.48% 14,980 Yates 4,983 57.52% 3,675 42.42% 5 0.06% 0 0.00% 1,308 15.10% 8,663Totals4,913,15668.56%2,243,55931.31%6,0850.08%3,2150.04%2,669,59737.25%7,166,015

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Allegany Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Essex Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Nassau Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Rensselaer Richmond Rockland St. Lawrence Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Wyoming Yates

Analysis As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the only time in American history that the counties of Genesee,The Political Graveyard; Genesee County, New York Livingston,The Political Graveyard; Livingston County, New York Orleans, and WyomingWyoming County, New York voted for the Democratic presidential nominee. It is also the last time that Allegany, Greene, Hamilton, Putnam, Steuben, Tioga, and Wayne counties voted Democratic. Most of these counties were in the far western reaches of New York where the Whig Party was strongest in the Second Party System, before the rise of the Republican Party and during which Democrats regularly won more than a handful of upstate New York counties.