The 1964 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1964, to elect the

governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. West Virginia at the time was a solidly Democratic state, and the 1964 election year was a strong year for the Democrats nationally with

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

scoring a landslide win over the Republican

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

. The Democrats from a field of four including the Julius Singleton, the speaker of the House of Delegates and Harold Cutright who would seek the 1966 Senate nomination as a Republican. The Democrats nominated

Hulett Smith Hulett Carlson Smith (October 21, 1918 – January 15, 2012) was an American politician who served as the 27th Governor of West Virginia from 1965 to 1969. Biography The son of West Virginia Congressman Joe L. Smith, Hulett C. Smith was born in ...

recent chair of the

West Virginia Democratic Party The West Virginia Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of West Virginia. History The state of West Virginia granted itself statehood after its people, through a state const ...

and son of former Sixth District Representative Joe Smith. The Republicans overwhelmingly chose the popular former governor

Cecil Underwood Cecil Harland Underwood (November 5, 1922 – November 24, 2008) was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career. He was the 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia from 1957 to 1961, and fro ...

Results

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Results by county

References

{{United States elections, 1964

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

November 1964 events in the United States