The 1960 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 8, 1960 as part of
that year's national presidential election. Eleven
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 ...
electors were elected, of whom six voted for
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 ...
Harry F. Byrd of
Virginia and five for Senator
John F. Kennedy of
Massachusetts.
In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states. Twenty-two electors were on the ballot, 11
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and 11 Democrats. Voters could vote for up to eleven candidates. As a result of a state primary, the Democratic Party had a mixed slate of electors, five being pledged to Kennedy and the remaining six being
unpledged.
The highest vote for a presidential elector was 324,050 votes for
Frank M. Dixon
Frank Murray Dixon (July 25, 1892 – October 11, 1965) was an American Democratic politician. He served as the 40th Governor of Alabama from 1939 to 1943 and is most known for reorganizing the state government and reforming the way property t ...
, who was unpledged; the highest vote for an elector pledged to Kennedy was 318,303 for C. G. Allen, and the highest vote for a Republican elector was 237,981 for Cecil Durham, which was fewer than the vote for any Democratic elector.
[ As a result, six unpledged electors and five electors pledged to Kennedy were elected. All six elected unpledged electors cast their vote for Byrd.
Varying methods have been used to break down the vote into Kennedy and unpledged votes. One method is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the 324,050 votes as unpledged votes, giving a total much higher than the actual votes cast. Another is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the remainder (5,747 votes) as unpledged votes.][ ''Congressional Quarterly'' calculated the popular vote in this manner at the time of the 1960 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
Results
Results by county
See also
* United States presidential elections in Alabama
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Alabama, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1819, Alabama has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil ...
* United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote
Notes
References
{{1960 United States elections
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 ...
Alabama
1960 Alabama elections