The 1960 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. The

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

candidate

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, narrowly won the state of Texas with 50.52 percent of the vote to the

Republican 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 ...

candidate Vice President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's 48.52%, a margin of two percent, giving him the state's 24 electoral votes. Despite the presence of U.S. Senator

Lyndon B. 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 ...

on the Democratic ticket, the result made Texas the tenth closest state in the election. Nixon's strong performance in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, Harris County, the Panhandle, and the Hill Country kept the race close. Fears of anti-Catholic voting in West Texas, which had given

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

a narrow win over Al Smith in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

, were not entirely realized. It is notable that the sparsely populated rural Plains counties of

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

, Bailey, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Dawson, Donley, Floyd, Gaines,

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

, Hardeman, Hartley, Moore, Motley, Parmer, Wheeler, Willbarger and Yoakum switched from Stevenson to Nixon, as did Wise County north of Fort Worth, while a further thirty-eight counties saw Kennedy fail to reach Stevenson's vote percentage. However, this was more than offset by Kennedy's gains in heavily Hispanic Catholic South Texas, where few Mexicans had voted in

. Anti-Catholic voting was also lessened by appeals from former President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, who campaigned for Kennedy and Johnson.Carty, T.; ''A Catholic in the White House?: Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy's Presidential Campaign'', p. 90 Nixon himself later commented "we lost Texas...because of that asshole Congressman", referring to

Bruce Alger Bruce Reynolds Alger (June 12, 1918 – April 13, 2015) was an American politician, real estate agent and developer, and a Republican U.S. representative from Texas, the first to have represented a Dallas district since Reconstruction. He serv ...

. The only Republican congressman in Texas at the time, Alger had led protestors, many of them well-heeled conservative women, against Johnson's visit to Dallas on November 4th. One woman pulled his wife's gloves out of her hand, and her hat was knocked off by a protestor's placard. Nicknamed the "mink coat mob", the resulting press coverage was a humiliation for Texas Republicans and was blamed for damaging the party's electoral results in the South generally at a time when wives were regarded as sacrosanct. Nixon would narrowly lose Texas again in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, although he did win the presidency that year. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, he sought re-election and won Texas with an overwhelming sixty-six percent of the popular vote. , this is the last time Glasscock County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004'', pp. 311–319

Results

Results by county

References

{{Elections in Texas footer 1960 Texas 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 * Jan ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Results

Results by county

See also

References