The 1964 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 14 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, over the Republican nominee, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Johnson ran with Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, while Goldwater's running mate was Congressman William E. Miller of New York.

Johnson carried Massachusetts in a landslide, taking 76.19% of the vote to Goldwater's 23.44%, a Democratic victory margin of 52.75%. This made it the third-most Democratic state in the nation, after Rhode Island and Hawaii, and remains the strongest-ever Democratic showing in Massachusetts.Counting the Votes; Massachusetts Even in the midst of the nationwide Democratic landslide of that year, Massachusetts still weighed in as 30% more Democratic than the national average.

Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, but had voted Republican as recently as 1956, when Dwight Eisenhower won the state by 19 points. In 1960, Massachusetts native John F. Kennedy had carried the state with 60.22% of the vote, which up to that point was the strongest-ever Democratic showing in Massachusetts, but this record was quickly overtaken by Johnson in 1964.

The staunch conservative Barry Goldwater was widely seen in the liberal Northeastern United States 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; Schlafly, Phyllis. Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution, pp. 286–290 Thus, Goldwater performed especially weakly in liberal Northeastern states such as Massachusetts. Not only did Johnson win every Northeastern state—the first time that a Democratic presidential candidate had done so—but he won all of them with over 60% of the vote.

While Kennedy had won 60% in Massachusetts in 1960 mostly by garnering the ethnic Catholic vote, in 1964 the traditional Democratic coalition was joined by a mass defection of moderate Yankee Republicans who had voted for Eisenhower and Nixon but could not support Goldwater. Consequently, the incumbent Johnson was able to sweep the state—and indeed Goldwater wrote off this state and neighboring Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, as well as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan, from the beginning of his presidential campaign, prior to Kennedy's assassination.Kelley, Stanley junior. "The Goldwater Strategy", The Princeton Review, pp. 8–11

Results 1964 United States presidential election in MassachusettsPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent) 1,786,422 76.19% 14 Republican Barry Goldwater 549,727 23.44% 0 Socialist Labor Eric Hass 4,755 0.20% 0 Prohibition E. Harold Munn 3,735 0.16% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 159 0.01% 0 Totals 2,344,798 100.00% 14 Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 70%/87%

Results by county CountyLyndon B. JohnsonDemocraticBarry GoldwaterRepublicanVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % Barnstable 20,101 56.85% 15,133 42.80% 121 0.34% 4,968 14.05% 35,355 Berkshire 48,839 75.92% 15,160 23.57% 332 0.52% 33,679 52.35% 64,331 Bristol 146,885 78.70% 39,230 21.02% 521 0.28% 107,655 57.68% 186,636 Dukes 2,187 68.05% 1,015 31.58% 12 0.37% 1,172 36.47% 3,214 Essex 210,135 74.27% 71,653 25.32% 1,157 0.41% 138,482 48.95% 282,945 Franklin 17,106 66.76% 8,344 32.56% 174 0.68% 8,762 34.20% 25,624 Hampden 133,085 74.67% 44,299 24.86% 835 0.47% 88,786 49.81% 178,219 Hampshire 32,058 73.45% 11,385 26.09% 202 0.46% 20,673 47.36% 43,645 Middlesex 439,790 76.25% 134,729 23.36% 2,291 0.40% 305,061 52.89% 576,810 Nantucket 1,197 66.98% 587 32.85% 3 0.17% 610 34.13% 1,787 Norfolk 186,488 72.84% 68,612 26.80% 912 0.36% 117,876 46.04% 256,012 Plymouth 82,007 68.15% 37,941 31.53% 387 0.32% 44,066 36.62% 120,335 Suffolk 257,161 86.22% 40,251 13.50% 842 0.28% 216,910 72.72% 298,254 Worcester 209,383 77.08% 61,388 22.60% 860 0.32% 147,995 54.48% 271,631Totals1,786,42276.19%549,72723.44%8,6490.37%1,236,69552.74%2,344,798

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Barnstable Dukes Franklin Nantucket Plymouth

Analysis Johnson swept every county in Massachusetts, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had done so. This feat would not be repeated until 1992 (since which time, Democrats have swept every county in Massachusetts in every modern election).Sullivan, Robert David. "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century", America Magazine in The National Catholic Review, June 29, 2016 Johnson was the first Democrat ever to win Barnstable County, Dukes County, Franklin County or Plymouth County, and the first to carry Nantucket County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.Melendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004, pp. 91–92 In Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston, Johnson took 86.2% of the vote. Not until 2020 would any Massachusetts county again hand a presidential candidate more than 80% of the popular vote (on that occasion, Suffolk County to Joe Biden).

The election of 1964 remains the only one in which a Democratic presidential nominee has broken 70% of the vote in Massachusetts. Johnson's 76.19% remains the highest vote share any presidential candidate of either party has ever received in the state, and his 52.74% margin of victory is the widest margin by which any presidential candidate of either party has ever carried the state.

See also United States presidential elections in Massachusetts

References