The 1964 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 3, 1964, and was part of the
1964 United States presidential election
The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President of the Un ...
. Voters chose 29 representatives, or electors to the
Electoral College, who voted for
president and
vice president.
Pennsylvania overwhelmingly voted for the
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
nominee,
President Lyndon B. Johnson, over the
Republican nominee,
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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 ...
. Johnson won Pennsylvania by a margin of 30.22%. Apart from
William Howard Taft in
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6 ...
when third-party candidates obtained substantial minorities of the vote, Goldwater's 34.7% of the vote is easily the worst showing for a Republican in the state since the party was founded.
[Counting the Votes]
Pennsylvania
Even relative to Johnson's popular vote landslide, Pennsylvania came out as 7.64% more Democratic than the nation at-large; the only occasion under the current two-party system that the state has been more anomalously Democratic than this was in
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
Republican landslide when Pennsylvania came out about 10 points more Democratic than the US at-large.
Despite this, this is the only time since Alaska's admission to the union in 1959 that
Alaska voted to the left of Pennsylvania.
Johnson won all but four counties: the central Pennsylvania counties of
Snyder and
Union, which have not voted Democratic since
the Civil War,
[Sullivan, Robert David]
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 northeastern border
Wayne County, which has never voted Democratic since
Grover Cleveland won it in
1892
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States.
* February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado.
* February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...
, and
Lebanon County
Lebanon County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Lebanon Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon.
The county was formed from portions of Dauphin ...
, which has only once voted Democratic since
1856
Events
January–March
* January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California.
* January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyag ...
when Franklin Roosevelt won by 587 votes in
1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
. This is the only occasion since 1856 when
Lancaster County has not voted for the Republican presidential candidate, and was the first time since that election when suburban
Delaware County had not voted Republican.
[Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004'', pp. 287-290 ] 7 other counties –
Somerset,
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
and the northern bloc of
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
Tioga Tioga may refer to:
United States communities
*Tioga, California, former name of Bennettville, California
*Tioga, Colorado
*Tioga, Florida
* Tioga, Iowa
*Tioga, Louisiana
*Tioga, New York, a town in Tioga County
*Tioga County, New York, a county at ...
,
Potter
A potter is someone who makes pottery.
Potter may also refer to:
Places United States
*Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US
* Potter, Arkansas
*Potter, Nebraska
* Potters, New Je ...
,
Cameron
Cameron may refer to:
People
* Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan
* Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
;Mononym
* Cam'ron (born 197 ...
and
McKean McKean may refer to:
Places
* McKean, Pennsylvania
* McKean County, Pennsylvania
* McKean Island, island in the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati
* McKean Township (disambiguation)
Other uses
* McKean (surname), people with the surname ''McKea ...
– also cast their solitary vote for a Democratic presidential candidate since at least
the Civil War. In addition to these counties voting Democratic for the solitary occasion since the Civil War, a large bloc of
Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
and adjacent areas – comprising
York County,
Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to:
Australia
* Cumberland County, New South Wales
* the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia
Canada
*Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
*Cumberland, historic county
*Cumberlan ...
,
Franklin County,
Adams County,
Blair County
Blair County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 122,822. Its county seat is Hollidaysburg. The county was created on February 26, 1846, from parts of Huntingdon and Bedford counties.
Blai ...
,
Lycoming County,
Northumberland County,
Bedford County,
Clarion County
Clarion County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,241. Its county seat is Clarion. The county was formed on March 11, 1839, from parts of Venango and Armstrong counties. Clarion Cou ...
,
Crawford County,
Fulton County,
Huntingdon County
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...
,
Pike County,
Venango County
Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805.
Venango County comprises the Oil City, ...
,
Mifflin County,
Perry County Perry County may refer to:
United States
*Perry County, Alabama
*Perry County, Arkansas
*Perry County, Illinois
*Perry County, Indiana
*Perry County, Kentucky
*Perry County, Mississippi
*Perry County, Missouri
*Perry County, Ohio
*Perry Coun ...
,
Jefferson County,
Susquehanna County
Susquehanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose. The county was created on February 21, 1810, from part ...
,
Wyoming County,
Juniata County
Juniata County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,509. Its county seat is Mifflintown. The county was created on March 2, 1831, from part of Mifflin County and named for the Juniata Riv ...
,
Montour County
Montour County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,136. Its county seat is Danville. The county is named for Andrew Montour, a prominent Mét ...
, and
Sullivan County – have never voted for a Democratic candidate since.
This was also the last occasion until
Barack Obama in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
that the Democrats won
Dauphin County,
Berks County,
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe:
* Monroe County, Alabama
*Monroe County, Arkansas
* Monroe County, Florida
* Monroe County, Georgia
*Monroe County, Illinois
*Monroe County, Indian ...
and
Chester County Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee, United States
* Cheshire or the County Palatine of Chester, a ceremonial county in the North Wes ...
. Within the more typically Democratic western and eastern peripheries Johnson won over 73% of the vote in
Greene and
Fayette Counties. As of the
2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
, this is also the most recent time that
Philadelphia County was not the most Democratic county in the state.
Results
Results by county
Analysis
Ever since the Republican Party formed in 1854 to stop
the spread of slavery into
the territories,
Pennsylvania had been a solidly Republican state apart from the industrial "Black Country" of the southwest, the urban core of
Philadelphia County, and those areas which had not supported the
Civil War, such as the northern part of the
Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the northeastern
Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...
. The southwestern region, however, had come to make the state Democratic-leaning in the 1950s, although relative to national trends Pennsylvania trended Republican in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
.
However, during the 1960s the GOP was turning its attention from the declining rural Yankee counties to the growing and traditionally Democratic Catholic vote, along with the conservative
Sun Belt
The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...
whose growth was driven by lower taxes, warm weather, and air conditioning. This growth meant that activist Republicans centred in the traditionally Democratic, but by the 1960s, middle-class Sun Belt had become much more conservative than the majority of members in the historic Northeastern GOP stronghold.
The consequence of this was that a bitterly divided Republican Party was able to nominate the staunchly conservative
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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 ...
of
Arizona, who ran with the equally conservative Republican National Committee chair,
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
William E. Miller
William Edward Miller (March 22, 1914 – June 24, 1983) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from New York as a Republican. During the 1964 presidential election, he was the Republican nominee fo ...
of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. The staunch
conservative Goldwater was widely seen in the
liberal Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...
as a right-wing extremist; he had voted against the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
, and the Johnson campaign portrayed him as a warmonger who as president would provoke a nuclear war.
Goldwater wrote Pennsylvania off from the very beginning of his campaign, whilst local Republicans generally preferred moderate
Governor William Scranton, who was encouraged to run (to no effect) by ex-President and former
Gettysburg native
Dwight D. Eisenhower. Many Pennsylvania Congressmen, notably
James G. Fulton
James Grove (Jim) Fulton (March 1, 1903 – October 6, 1971) was an American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1945 to 1971.
Early life and education
James G. Fulton was born in Do ...
, refused to endorse Goldwater.
[Donaldson; ''Liberalism's Last Hurrah'', p. 180]
See also
*
List of United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania
United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania occur when voters in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cast ballots for electors to the Electoral College as part of a national election to elect the President and Vice President of the U ...
References
{{United States elections
Pennsylvania
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 ...
1964 Pennsylvania elections