1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

The 1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 5, 1968 as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose twelve electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

November 5, 1968

Nominee Richard Nixon Hubert Humphrey George Wallace Party Republican Democratic Independent Home state New York[lower-alpha 1] Minnesota Alabama Running mate Spiro Agnew Edmund Muskie S. Marvin Griffin Electoral vote 12 0 0 Popular vote 809,997 748,804 127,835 Percentage 47.89% 44.27% 7.56%

County Results Nixon   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Humphrey   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%

President before election Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

Background

Politics in Wisconsin since the Populist movement had been dominated by the Republican Party,[1] as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, fled from William Jennings Bryan’s agrarian and free silver sympathies.[2] Competition between the “League” under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative “Regular” faction[3] would develop into the Wisconsin Progressive Party in the late 1930s, which was opposed to the conservative German Democrats and to the national Republican Party, and allied with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the federal level. During the two wartime elections, the formerly Democratic German counties in the east of the state – which had been powerfully opposed to the Civil War because they saw it as a “Yankee” war and opposed the military draft instituted during it[4] – viewed Communism as a much greater threat to America than Nazism and consequently opposed President Roosevelt’s war effort.[5] Consequently, these historically Democratic counties became virtually the most Republican in the entire state, and became a major support base for populist conservative Senator Joe McCarthy, who became notorious for his investigations into Communists inside the American government.

The 1958 midterm elections, however, saw a major change in Wisconsin politics, as Gaylord A. Nelson became only the state’s second Democratic Governor since 1895, and the state also elected Democrats to the position of treasurer and Senator, besides that party gaining a majority in the State Assembly for only the second time since the middle 1890s. They maintained a close balance in the early 1960s, signalling the state’s transition to a swing state. Predicted racial backlash from urban Polish-Americans, seen in the 1964 primaries when George Wallace received over 30 percent of Wisconsin’s vote,[6] did not affect Lyndon B. Johnson’s big victory in the state in 1964, but would have severe effects when racial unrest began in 1966.

Anti-war Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy would easily win Wisconsin’s 1968 Democratic presidential primary against incumbent President Johnson, who soon announced he would not run for re-election in 1968.[7] Former Vice-President and 1960 Republican nominee Richard Nixon won eighty percent of the vote in the state’s Republican primary.[7]

Vote

At the beginning of the campaign, the deep divisions within the Democratic Party were worrisome for political scientists and for the party itself.[8] The first poll said that Nixon was certain to carry Wisconsin,[9] and this opinion was repeated early in October.[10]

Hopes remained dim as the election neared despite the belief by local Representative Clement J. Zablocki that the independent candidacy of George Wallace was losing its impact in the racial-unrest-stricken southern urban counties around Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha,[11] where Wallace had campaigned extensively in September in his effort to put the election into the House of Representatives.[12] Although the gap would narrow in the last polls,[13] Wisconsin would be carried by Nixon with 47.89 percent of the vote, over Humphrey with 44.27 percent and Wallace with 7.56 percent. Wallace’s fared best in rural northern areas away from Lake Superior, and in southern suburbs affected by racial conflict.

Results

1968 United States presidential election in Wisconsin[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon	809,997	47.89%	12
	Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	748,804	44.27%	0
	Independent	George Wallace	127,835	7.56%	0
	Write-ins	—	2,342	0.14%	0
	Independent	Henning A. Blomen	1,338[lower-alpha 2]	0.08%	0
	Independent	Fred Halstead	1,222[lower-alpha 2]	0.07%	0
Totals			1,691,538	100.0%	12

Results by county

County	Richard Milhous Nixon Republican		Hubert Horatio Humphrey Democratic		George Corley Wallace Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast[15]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	1,691	44.81%	1,614	42.77%	461	12.22%	8	0.21%	77	2.04%	3,774
Ashland	2,557	35.74%	4,147	57.96%	401	5.60%	50	0.70%	-1,590	-22.22%	7,155
Barron	7,526	55.38%	5,183	38.14%	867	6.38%	13	0.10%	2,343	17.24%	13,589
Bayfield	2,333	40.92%	3,036	53.24%	323	5.66%	10	0.18%	-703	-12.33%	5,702
Brown	30,133	53.67%	21,615	38.50%	4,341	7.73%	54	0.10%	8,518	15.17%	56,143
Buffalo	2,992	54.21%	2,112	38.27%	413	7.48%	2	0.04%	880	15.94%	5,519
Burnett	2,056	45.81%	2,010	44.79%	414	9.22%	8	0.18%	46	1.02%	4,488
Calumet	5,792	56.77%	3,609	35.37%	792	7.76%	10	0.10%	2,183	21.40%	10,203
Chippewa	7,772	47.38%	7,335	44.72%	1,282	7.82%	14	0.09%	437	2.66%	16,403
Clark	6,325	51.20%	4,601	37.24%	1,398	11.32%	30	0.24%	1,724	13.95%	12,354
Columbia	8,633	52.60%	6,698	40.81%	1,067	6.50%	16	0.10%	1,935	11.79%	16,414
Crawford	3,316	54.09%	2,391	39.00%	419	6.84%	4	0.07%	925	15.09%	6,130
Dane	39,917	38.36%	59,951	57.61%	3,771	3.62%	422	0.41%	-20,034	-19.25%	104,061
Dodge	14,909	57.88%	8,949	34.74%	1,875	7.28%	26	0.10%	5,960	23.14%	25,759
Door	5,647	63.34%	2,728	30.60%	535	6.00%	6	0.07%	2,919	32.74%	8,916
Douglas	5,656	29.59%	12,506	65.43%	930	4.87%	23	0.12%	-6,850	-35.84%	19,115
Dunn	5,415	51.44%	4,392	41.73%	709	6.74%	10	0.10%	1,023	9.72%	10,526
Eau Claire	11,799	46.66%	12,302	48.65%	1,169	4.62%	17	0.07%	-503	-1.99%	25,287
Florence	821	48.32%	718	42.26%	157	9.24%	3	0.18%	103	6.06%	1,699
Fond du Lac	18,184	55.59%	12,563	38.41%	1,934	5.91%	28	0.09%	5,621	17.18%	32,709
Forest	1,264	40.14%	1,470	46.68%	412	13.08%	3	0.10%	-206	-6.54%	3,149
Grant	10,789	62.49%	5,414	31.36%	1,054	6.11%	7	0.04%	5,375	31.13%	17,264
Green	6,502	61.03%	3,501	32.86%	641	6.02%	10	0.09%	3,001	28.17%	10,654
Green Lake	4,893	63.69%	2,299	29.92%	488	6.35%	3	0.04%	2,594	33.76%	7,683
Iowa	4,005	54.03%	2,897	39.08%	509	6.87%	2	0.03%	1,108	14.95%	7,413
Iron	1,137	34.30%	1,913	57.71%	262	7.90%	3	0.09%	-776	-23.41%	3,315
Jackson	3,172	52.88%	2,293	38.22%	529	8.82%	5	0.08%	879	14.65%	5,999
Jefferson	12,478	54.97%	8,716	38.40%	1,470	6.48%	34	0.15%	3,762	16.57%	22,698
Juneau	3,828	53.60%	2,595	36.33%	712	9.97%	7	0.10%	1,233	17.26%	7,142
Kenosha	17,089	40.57%	21,427	50.86%	3,548	8.42%	62	0.15%	-4,338	-10.30%	42,126
Kewaunee	4,467	57.25%	2,622	33.61%	703	9.01%	10	0.13%	1,845	23.65%	7,802
La Crosse	17,433	55.76%	11,570	37.00%	2,214	7.08%	50	0.16%	5,863	18.75%	31,267
Lafayette	4,084	55.10%	2,853	38.49%	470	6.34%	5	0.07%	1,231	16.61%	7,412
Langlade	3,712	49.44%	3,064	40.81%	718	9.56%	14	0.19%	648	8.63%	7,508
Lincoln	4,793	51.37%	3,858	41.35%	670	7.18%	9	0.10%	935	10.02%	9,330
Manitowoc	13,562	44.23%	15,298	49.89%	1,790	5.84%	11	0.04%	-1,736	-5.66%	30,661
Marathon	16,907	44.40%	18,063	47.43%	3,051	8.01%	60	0.16%	-1,156	-3.04%	38,081
Marinette	7,134	48.24%	6,415	43.37%	1,223	8.27%	18	0.12%	719	4.86%	14,790
Marquette	2,374	61.15%	1,228	31.63%	279	7.19%	1	0.03%	1,146	29.52%	3,882
Menominee	179	24.19%	531	71.76%	30	4.05%	0	0.00%	-352	-47.57%	740
Milwaukee	160,022	39.81%	206,027	51.26%	35,056	8.72%	831	0.21%	-46,005	-11.45%	401,936
Monroe	6,938	57.74%	4,012	33.39%	1,056	8.79%	9	0.07%	2,926	24.35%	12,015
Oconto	5,680	53.74%	3,737	35.36%	1,141	10.80%	11	0.10%	1,943	18.38%	10,569
Oneida	5,077	48.55%	4,435	42.41%	941	9.00%	5	0.05%	642	6.14%	10,458
Outagamie	25,080	59.29%	14,224	33.63%	2,956	6.99%	41	0.10%	10,856	25.66%	42,301
Ozaukee	12,155	58.11%	7,246	34.64%	1,505	7.19%	13	0.06%	4,909	23.47%	20,919
Pepin	1,493	49.98%	1,263	42.28%	231	7.73%	0	0.00%	230	7.70%	2,987
Pierce	4,990	48.76%	4,783	46.74%	453	4.43%	8	0.08%	207	2.02%	10,234
Polk	5,593	48.88%	5,179	45.26%	656	5.73%	15	0.13%	414	3.62%	11,443
Portage	6,180	36.10%	10,014	58.49%	900	5.26%	27	0.16%	-3,834	-22.39%	17,121
Price	3,096	47.44%	2,794	42.81%	621	9.52%	15	0.23%	302	4.63%	6,526
Racine	28,028	44.78%	27,045	43.21%	7,457	11.91%	56	0.09%	983	1.57%	62,586
Richland	4,141	59.82%	2,288	33.05%	485	7.01%	8	0.12%	1,853	26.77%	6,922
Rock	25,229	50.97%	20,567	41.56%	3,655	7.38%	42	0.08%	4,662	9.42%	49,493
Rusk	2,666	44.74%	2,559	42.94%	726	12.18%	8	0.13%	107	1.80%	5,959
Sauk	8,608	53.64%	6,406	39.92%	1,019	6.35%	15	0.09%	2,202	13.72%	16,048
Sawyer	2,475	52.17%	1,830	38.58%	435	9.17%	4	0.08%	645	13.60%	4,744
Shawano	8,444	63.75%	3,602	27.20%	1,181	8.92%	18	0.14%	4,842	36.56%	13,245
Sheboygan	17,764	44.86%	20,170	50.93%	1,592	4.02%	76	0.19%	-2,406	-6.08%	39,602
St. Croix	6,595	46.61%	6,807	48.11%	735	5.20%	11	0.08%	-212	-1.50%	14,148
Taylor	3,043	43.96%	2,910	42.04%	959	13.85%	10	0.14%	133	1.92%	6,922
Trempealeau	4,861	50.69%	3,971	41.41%	747	7.79%	10	0.10%	890	9.28%	9,589
Vernon	5,824	55.18%	3,666	34.73%	1,062	10.06%	3	0.03%	2,158	20.45%	10,555
Vilas	3,339	58.12%	1,798	31.30%	598	10.41%	10	0.17%	1,541	26.82%	5,745
Walworth	15,040	61.85%	7,505	30.87%	1,755	7.22%	15	0.06%	7,535	30.99%	24,315
Washburn	2,425	47.63%	2,273	44.65%	384	7.54%	9	0.18%	152	2.99%	5,091
Washington	12,439	54.96%	8,104	35.81%	2,065	9.12%	23	0.10%	4,335	19.16%	22,631
Waukesha	47,557	54.98%	31,947	36.93%	6,921	8.00%	79	0.09%	15,610	18.05%	86,504
Waupaca	10,606	67.13%	3,978	25.18%	1,206	7.63%	9	0.06%	6,628	41.95%	15,799
Waushara	4,187	65.35%	1,652	25.78%	566	8.83%	2	0.03%	2,535	39.57%	6,407
Winnebago	25,361	53.84%	18,605	39.50%	3,045	6.46%	93	0.20%	6,756	14.34%	47,104
Wood	11,795	48.29%	10,921	44.71%	1,695	6.94%	16	0.07%	874	3.58%	24,427
Totals	809,997	47.89%	748,804	44.27%	127,835	7.56%	2,342	0.14%	61,193	3.62%	1,691,538

Notes

1. Although he was born in California and he served as a U.S. Senator from California, in 1968 Richard Nixon's official state of residence was New York, because he moved there to practice law after his defeat in the 1962 California gubernatorial election. During his first term as president, Nixon re-established his residency in California. Consequently, most reliable reference books list Nixon's home state as New York in the 1968 election and his home state as California in the 1972 (and 1960) election.
2. Votes for this candidate were not separated by county but listed only as a state-wide total. They are included in the statewide total are the bottom of the county table.[15]

References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN 0313213798
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 ISBN 0815719094
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; ‘Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980’; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168 ISBN 978-1-107-09509-0
4. Phillips, Kevin P.; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 381-382, 414 ISBN 978-0-691-16324-6
5. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, pp. 387-388
6. Phillips; The Emerging Republican Majority, p. 396
7. Kenworthy, E.W.; ‘M‘Carthy Wins Wisconsin: Polls 57% to Johnson’s 35; G.O.P. Gives 80% to Nixon: Reagan Gets 10% Kennedy Write-in 6%’; Special to The New York Times ; April 3, 1968, p. 1
8. Otten, Allen L.; ‘A Party Divided: Democrats’ Rifts Pose Problems for Candidates As Campaign Develops’; The Wall Street Journal, August 29, 1968, p. 1
9. Broder, David; ‘Nixon, Wallace have 22 states all sewed up’, The Boston Globe, September 11, 1968, p. 15
10. ‘Electoral Vote: Nixon 359, HHH 46’; The Boston Globe, October 7, 1968, p. 24
11. Lyons, Richard L.; ‘Wisconsin’s Nelson Likely to Buck GOP Tide: Campaign '68 House Fight Sees Wallace Decline Knowles Popular’; The Washington Post, Times Herald, October 29, 1968, p. A4
12. Evans, Rowland and Novak, Robert; ‘Growing Wallace Strength Poses a Threat to Nixon in Key States’; The Washington Post, September 20, 1968, p. A25
13. ‘A Final State-by-State Political Survey...: ...A Last Reading on the Campaign of 1968’; The Washington Post, Times-Herald, November 3, 1968, p. B4
14. "1968 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin". Retrieved August 19, 2016.
15. "WI US President Race, November 05, 1968". Our Campaigns.