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 County results Congressional district resultsGoldwater 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100%
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The1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 3, 1964, as part of the1964 United States presidential election, which was held on that day throughout all fifty states and theDistrict of Columbia. Voters chose seven electors, or representatives to theElectoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Less than 10% of Mississippi's black population were registered voters.[1] GovernorPaul B. Johnson Jr. told Mississippians to disobey theCivil Rights Act of 1964.[2][3] Ultimately, Goldwater won Mississippi with a 74.28 point margin of victory over Johnson, making Mississippi 97% more Republican than the nation and Goldwater the first Republican to win the state sinceReconstruction, even outperforming Johnson's 71% margin of victory inthe District of Columbia. While Goldwater would suffer a landslide defeat to Johnson in both the national popular vote andElectoral College, his performance in Mississippi was the largest presidential vote share of any Republican presidential nominee ever in any state.[4] Goldwater's victory, alongside Johnson'svictory in Rhode Island marked the last time a Presidential nominee won over 80% of the vote in a state.
Over ninety percent of Mississippi's electorate viewed President Johnson as having done a bad job and 96.4 percent opposed the Civil Rights Act, compared to only 54 percent in theantebellum slave states and Oklahoma.[5] Additionally, 87 percent of Mississippi voters, vis-à-vis 48 percent in the South as a whole, believed that President Johnson was failing at countering domesticCommunism.[5] This reflected the widespread belief among Mississippi whites that civil rights activists were funded by communists.[6][7]
Neither Governor Johnson nor any other major state or federal politician offered President Johnson any support in his statewide campaign, which was left to inexperiencedGreenville lawyer Douglas Wynn.[8] Governor Johnson and four of the state's five Congressmen were silent about supporting Goldwater, though CongressmanJohn Bell Williams supported him openly.[8]
In July, polling suggested Goldwater would receive ninety percent of Mississippi's vote,[9] but this fell to seventy in August[10] and to between sixty and sixty-five in October due to fears that he would abolish theRural Electrification Administration.[9] By the weekend before election day, University of California political scientistPeter H. Odegard believed that Goldwater would win only Alabama[a] and Mississippi.[11] Mississippi was one of five states that swung more Republican in 1964, alongside Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Goldwater defeated Johnson by a margin comparable to what had been predicted in the earliest polls, and much greater than predicted immediately before the election. Over-representation of urban areas in polling was blamed for this discrepancy.[12] As of the2024 presidential election, this is the last time thatClaiborne,Holmes andJefferson counties voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[13] Goldwater received 90% of the white vote in the state.[14]
| 1964 United States presidential election in Mississippi[15] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Mississippi Republican | Barry Goldwater | 356,528 | 87.14% | 7 | |
| National Democratic | Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent) | 52,618 | 12.86% | 0 | |
| Totals | 409,146 | 100.00% | 7 | ||
| Voter turnout (Voting age) | 33.9% | ||||
| County | Barry Goldwater Republican | Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic | Margin | Total votes cast | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 5,900 | 84.37% | 1,093 | 15.63% | 4,807 | 68.74% | 6,993 |
| Alcorn | 3,377 | 63.79% | 1,917 | 36.21% | 1,460 | 27.58% | 5,294 |
| Amite | 2,742 | 96.38% | 103 | 3.62% | 2,639 | 92.76% | 2,845 |
| Attala | 4,409 | 94.37% | 263 | 5.63% | 4,146 | 88.74% | 4,672 |
| Benton | 934 | 79.83% | 236 | 20.17% | 698 | 59.66% | 1,170 |
| Bolivar | 4,680 | 86.49% | 731 | 13.51% | 3,949 | 72.98% | 5,411 |
| Calhoun | 3,224 | 91.64% | 294 | 8.36% | 2,930 | 83.28% | 3,518 |
| Carroll | 2,043 | 95.42% | 98 | 4.58% | 1,945 | 90.84% | 2,141 |
| Chickasaw | 3,138 | 91.83% | 279 | 8.17% | 2,859 | 83.66% | 3,417 |
| Choctaw | 2,096 | 93.32% | 150 | 6.68% | 1,946 | 86.64% | 2,246 |
| Claiborne | 1,226 | 93.59% | 84 | 6.41% | 1,142 | 87.18% | 1,310 |
| Clarke | 3,591 | 93.42% | 253 | 6.58% | 3,338 | 86.84% | 3,844 |
| Clay | 2,848 | 92.65% | 226 | 7.35% | 2,622 | 85.30% | 3,074 |
| Coahoma | 4,172 | 81.23% | 964 | 18.77% | 3,208 | 62.46% | 5,136 |
| Copiah | 4,506 | 94.96% | 239 | 5.04% | 4,267 | 89.92% | 4,745 |
| Covington | 3,033 | 88.55% | 392 | 11.45% | 2,641 | 77.10% | 3,425 |
| DeSoto | 2,928 | 86.40% | 461 | 13.60% | 2,467 | 72.80% | 3,389 |
| Forrest | 9,291 | 89.17% | 1,128 | 10.83% | 8,163 | 78.34% | 10,419 |
| Franklin | 2,211 | 96.05% | 91 | 3.95% | 2,120 | 92.10% | 2,302 |
| George | 2,797 | 92.04% | 242 | 7.96% | 2,555 | 84.08% | 3,039 |
| Greene | 1,845 | 89.52% | 216 | 10.48% | 1,629 | 79.04% | 2,061 |
| Grenada | 3,648 | 95.92% | 155 | 4.08% | 3,493 | 91.84% | 3,803 |
| Hancock | 2,550 | 62.95% | 1,501 | 37.05% | 1,049 | 25.90% | 4,051 |
| Harrison | 16,301 | 75.14% | 5,393 | 24.86% | 10,908 | 50.28% | 21,694 |
| Hinds | 36,831 | 87.93% | 5,058 | 12.07% | 31,773 | 75.86% | 41,889 |
| Holmes | 3,115 | 96.59% | 110 | 3.41% | 3,005 | 93.18% | 3,225 |
| Humphreys | 1,863 | 95.69% | 84 | 4.31% | 1,779 | 91.38% | 1,947 |
| Issaquena | 456 | 93.06% | 34 | 6.94% | 422 | 86.12% | 490 |
| Itawamba | 2,140 | 65.50% | 1,127 | 34.50% | 1,013 | 31.00% | 3,267 |
| Jackson | 11,357 | 82.73% | 2,371 | 17.27% | 8,986 | 65.46% | 13,728 |
| Jasper | 2,994 | 92.69% | 236 | 7.31% | 2,758 | 85.38% | 3,230 |
| Jefferson | 1,258 | 94.80% | 69 | 5.20% | 1,189 | 89.60% | 1,327 |
| Jefferson Davis | 2,351 | 90.91% | 235 | 9.09% | 2,116 | 81.82% | 2,586 |
| Jones | 12,123 | 85.95% | 1,981 | 14.05% | 10,142 | 71.90% | 14,104 |
| Kemper | 2,185 | 91.96% | 191 | 8.04% | 1,994 | 83.92% | 2,376 |
| Lafayette | 3,202 | 81.64% | 720 | 18.36% | 2,482 | 63.28% | 3,922 |
| Lamar | 3,372 | 90.99% | 334 | 9.01% | 3,038 | 81.98% | 3,706 |
| Lauderdale | 13,291 | 89.36% | 1,583 | 10.64% | 11,708 | 78.72% | 14,874 |
| Lawrence | 2,373 | 90.95% | 236 | 9.05% | 2,137 | 81.90% | 2,609 |
| Leake | 4,343 | 96.23% | 170 | 3.77% | 4,173 | 92.46% | 4,513 |
| Lee | 5,165 | 68.19% | 2,409 | 31.81% | 2,756 | 36.38% | 7,574 |
| Leflore | 5,589 | 93.63% | 380 | 6.37% | 5,209 | 87.26% | 5,969 |
| Lincoln | 6,750 | 93.92% | 437 | 6.08% | 6,313 | 87.84% | 7,187 |
| Lowndes | 6,135 | 92.01% | 533 | 7.99% | 5,602 | 84.02% | 6,668 |
| Madison | 3,283 | 92.90% | 251 | 7.10% | 3,032 | 85.80% | 3,534 |
| Marion | 5,469 | 91.55% | 505 | 8.45% | 4,964 | 83.10% | 5,974 |
| Marshall | 2,251 | 86.78% | 343 | 13.22% | 1,908 | 73.56% | 2,594 |
| Monroe | 5,627 | 85.10% | 985 | 14.90% | 4,642 | 70.20% | 6,612 |
| Montgomery | 3,181 | 95.53% | 149 | 4.47% | 3,032 | 91.06% | 3,330 |
| Neshoba | 5,431 | 94.88% | 293 | 5.12% | 5,138 | 89.76% | 5,724 |
| Newton | 4,735 | 95.21% | 238 | 4.79% | 4,497 | 90.42% | 4,973 |
| Noxubee | 1,980 | 96.59% | 70 | 3.41% | 1,910 | 93.18% | 2,050 |
| Oktibbeha | 3,795 | 90.68% | 390 | 9.32% | 3,405 | 81.36% | 4,185 |
| Panola | 4,002 | 90.65% | 413 | 9.35% | 3,589 | 81.30% | 4,415 |
| Pearl River | 4,009 | 84.51% | 735 | 15.49% | 3,274 | 69.02% | 4,744 |
| Perry | 1,775 | 86.42% | 279 | 13.58% | 1,496 | 72.84% | 2,054 |
| Pike | 6,418 | 92.20% | 543 | 7.80% | 5,875 | 84.40% | 6,961 |
| Pontotoc | 2,699 | 79.36% | 702 | 20.64% | 1,997 | 58.72% | 3,401 |
| Prentiss | 2,289 | 69.32% | 1,013 | 30.68% | 1,276 | 38.64% | 3,302 |
| Quitman | 2,065 | 86.01% | 336 | 13.99% | 1,729 | 72.02% | 2,401 |
| Rankin | 7,541 | 95.78% | 332 | 4.22% | 7,209 | 91.56% | 7,873 |
| Scott | 4,729 | 95.21% | 238 | 4.79% | 4,491 | 90.42% | 4,967 |
| Sharkey | 1,116 | 89.71% | 128 | 10.29% | 988 | 79.42% | 1,244 |
| Simpson | 4,949 | 94.81% | 271 | 5.19% | 4,678 | 89.62% | 5,220 |
| Smith | 4,045 | 94.44% | 238 | 5.56% | 3,807 | 88.88% | 4,283 |
| Stone | 1,776 | 90.84% | 179 | 9.16% | 1,597 | 81.68% | 1,955 |
| Sunflower | 4,127 | 94.27% | 251 | 5.73% | 3,876 | 88.54% | 4,378 |
| Tallahatchie | 3,126 | 92.46% | 255 | 7.54% | 2,871 | 84.92% | 3,381 |
| Tate | 2,390 | 89.41% | 283 | 10.59% | 2,107 | 78.82% | 2,673 |
| Tippah | 2,482 | 71.82% | 974 | 28.18% | 1,508 | 43.64% | 3,456 |
| Tishomingo | 1,934 | 66.44% | 977 | 33.56% | 957 | 32.88% | 2,911 |
| Tunica | 945 | 90.52% | 99 | 9.48% | 846 | 81.04% | 1,044 |
| Union | 2,939 | 70.38% | 1,237 | 29.62% | 1,702 | 40.76% | 4,176 |
| Walthall | 3,014 | 95.14% | 154 | 4.86% | 2,860 | 90.28% | 3,168 |
| Warren | 7,409 | 81.96% | 1,631 | 18.04% | 5,778 | 63.92% | 9,040 |
| Washington | 5,611 | 73.68% | 2,004 | 26.32% | 3,607 | 47.36% | 7,615 |
| Wayne | 3,539 | 92.77% | 276 | 7.23% | 3,263 | 85.54% | 3,815 |
| Webster | 2,884 | 92.41% | 237 | 7.59% | 2,647 | 84.82% | 3,121 |
| Wilkinson | 1,473 | 93.46% | 103 | 6.54% | 1,370 | 86.92% | 1,576 |
| Winston | 3,922 | 94.30% | 237 | 5.70% | 3,685 | 88.60% | 4,159 |
| Yalobusha | 2,385 | 90.20% | 259 | 9.80% | 2,126 | 80.40% | 2,644 |
| Yazoo | 4,801 | 95.92% | 204 | 4.08% | 4,597 | 91.84% | 5,005 |
| Totals | 356,528 | 87.14% | 52,618 | 12.86% | 303,910 | 74.28% | 409,146 |
State and district results of the1964 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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