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 County results Congressional district results
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The1968 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine[2] representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Washington was won by the Democratic candidate,Vice PresidentHubert Humphrey, with 47.23 percent of the popular vote, against the Republican candidate, formerSenator and Vice PresidentRichard Nixon, with 45.12 percent of the popular vote.American candidateGeorge Wallace also appeared on the ballot, finishing with 7.44 percent of the popular vote.[3][4]
Nixon became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying Washington state sinceWilliam McKinley in1896. Despite Nixon losing the statewide election, he became the first Republican to carryFerry County sinceWarren G. Harding did so in1920.[5] Along withMaine, Washington was one of only two states that Nixon lost in 1968 that he won in his unsuccessful attempt at the presidency in1960.
George Wallace was most successful inEastern Washington, which has a tradition of hostility to Washington D.C. interference, and also to Northeastern big business. Wallace possessed little appeal in heavily Yankee and Scandinavian-settledWestern Washington.[6]
This election would prove the last time the Democrats won any mainland postbellum state untilMichael Dukakis carriedWashington andOregon in 1988 – in the intervening period many pundits spoke of a "Solid Republican West". This was the fifth and final election in which Washington voted for a different candidate than neighboringOregon.
This table lists election forecasts for Washington state in the 1968 presidential election.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| St. Petersburg Times[7] | Lean R | September 11, 1968 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hubert Humphrey | 616,037 | 47.23% | |
| Republican | Richard Nixon | 588,510 | 45.12% | |
| American Independent | George Wallace | 96,990 | 7.44% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Eldridge Cleaver | 1,609 | 0.12% | |
| Socialist Labor | Henning Blomen | 488 | 0.04% | |
| Free Ballot | Charlene Mitchell | 377 | 0.03% | |
| Socialist Workers | Fred Halstead | 270 | 0.02% | |
| Total votes | 1,304,281 | 100% | ||
| County | Hubert Humphrey Democratic | Richard Nixon Republican | George Wallace American Independent | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast[8] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 1,270 | 30.67% | 2,572 | 62.11% | 299 | 7.22% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,302 | -31.44% | 4,141 |
| Asotin | 2,693 | 49.56% | 2,307 | 42.45% | 433 | 7.97% | 1 | 0.02% | 386 | 7.11% | 5,434 |
| Benton | 10,878 | 38.06% | 14,659 | 51.29% | 3,024 | 10.58% | 18 | 0.06% | -3,781 | -13.23% | 28,579 |
| Chelan | 6,787 | 39.39% | 9,093 | 52.77% | 1,324 | 7.68% | 26 | 0.15% | -2,306 | -13.38% | 17,230 |
| Clallam | 7,030 | 49.39% | 5,921 | 41.60% | 1,248 | 8.77% | 35 | 0.25% | 1,109 | 7.79% | 14,234 |
| Clark | 23,046 | 51.82% | 18,858 | 42.40% | 2,514 | 5.65% | 56 | 0.13% | 4,188 | 9.42% | 44,474 |
| Columbia | 754 | 35.04% | 1,221 | 56.74% | 175 | 8.13% | 2 | 0.09% | -467 | -21.70% | 2,152 |
| Cowlitz | 13,363 | 51.90% | 10,842 | 42.10% | 1,507 | 5.85% | 38 | 0.15% | 2,521 | 9.80% | 25,750 |
| Douglas | 2,764 | 41.47% | 3,234 | 48.52% | 663 | 9.95% | 4 | 0.06% | -470 | -7.05% | 6,665 |
| Ferry | 596 | 42.97% | 608 | 43.84% | 182 | 13.12% | 1 | 0.07% | -12 | -0.87% | 1,387 |
| Franklin | 4,038 | 42.17% | 4,234 | 44.22% | 1,299 | 13.57% | 4 | 0.04% | -196 | -2.05% | 9,575 |
| Garfield | 602 | 37.96% | 841 | 53.03% | 143 | 9.02% | 0 | 0.00% | -239 | -15.07% | 1,586 |
| Grant | 5,773 | 40.18% | 7,007 | 48.77% | 1,574 | 10.96% | 13 | 0.09% | -1,234 | -8.59% | 14,367 |
| Grays Harbor | 13,480 | 59.43% | 7,720 | 34.03% | 1,426 | 6.29% | 58 | 0.26% | 5,760 | 25.40% | 22,684 |
| Island | 3,238 | 40.48% | 4,077 | 50.96% | 677 | 8.46% | 8 | 0.10% | -839 | -10.48% | 8,000 |
| Jefferson | 2,251 | 49.97% | 1,827 | 40.55% | 407 | 9.03% | 20 | 0.44% | 424 | 9.42% | 4,505 |
| King | 223,469 | 47.05% | 218,457 | 46.00% | 31,450 | 6.62% | 1,559 | 0.33% | 5,012 | 1.05% | 474,935 |
| Kitsap | 22,273 | 55.94% | 14,520 | 36.47% | 2,986 | 7.50% | 36 | 0.09% | 7,753 | 19.47% | 39,815 |
| Kittitas | 3,921 | 44.92% | 4,212 | 48.25% | 579 | 6.63% | 17 | 0.19% | -291 | -3.33% | 8,729 |
| Klickitat | 2,454 | 47.44% | 2,355 | 45.52% | 357 | 6.90% | 7 | 0.14% | 99 | 1.92% | 5,173 |
| Lewis | 8,444 | 45.23% | 8,779 | 47.03% | 1,428 | 7.65% | 17 | 0.09% | -335 | -1.80% | 18,668 |
| Lincoln | 1,721 | 34.06% | 2,994 | 59.25% | 337 | 6.67% | 1 | 0.02% | -1,273 | -25.19% | 5,053 |
| Mason | 4,540 | 52.85% | 3,397 | 39.55% | 638 | 7.43% | 15 | 0.17% | 1,143 | 13.30% | 8,590 |
| Okanogan | 4,379 | 44.08% | 4,490 | 45.19% | 1,064 | 10.71% | 2 | 0.02% | -111 | -1.11% | 9,935 |
| Pacific | 3,740 | 56.62% | 2,491 | 37.71% | 364 | 5.51% | 10 | 0.15% | 1,249 | 18.91% | 6,605 |
| Pend Oreille | 1,350 | 49.74% | 1,117 | 41.16% | 245 | 9.03% | 2 | 0.07% | 233 | 8.58% | 2,714 |
| Pierce | 72,670 | 53.54% | 51,436 | 37.90% | 11,391 | 8.39% | 221 | 0.16% | 21,234 | 15.64% | 135,718 |
| San Juan | 685 | 34.90% | 1,164 | 59.30% | 108 | 5.50% | 6 | 0.31% | -479 | -24.40% | 1,963 |
| Skagit | 10,529 | 46.60% | 10,354 | 45.83% | 1,667 | 7.38% | 44 | 0.19% | 175 | 0.77% | 22,594 |
| Skamania | 1,221 | 51.30% | 968 | 40.67% | 189 | 7.94% | 2 | 0.08% | 253 | 10.63% | 2,380 |
| Snohomish | 44,019 | 50.35% | 36,252 | 41.47% | 7,005 | 8.01% | 148 | 0.17% | 7,767 | 8.88% | 87,424 |
| Spokane | 49,423 | 44.69% | 52,650 | 47.61% | 8,420 | 7.61% | 101 | 0.09% | -3,227 | -2.92% | 110,594 |
| Stevens | 2,948 | 40.14% | 3,435 | 46.77% | 957 | 13.03% | 5 | 0.07% | -487 | -6.63% | 7,345 |
| Thurston | 14,228 | 46.65% | 13,742 | 45.06% | 2,493 | 8.17% | 36 | 0.12% | 486 | 1.59% | 30,499 |
| Wahkiakum | 899 | 53.67% | 641 | 38.27% | 131 | 7.82% | 4 | 0.24% | 258 | 15.40% | 1,675 |
| Walla Walla | 5,841 | 34.52% | 10,042 | 59.34% | 1,028 | 6.07% | 12 | 0.07% | -4,201 | -24.82% | 16,923 |
| Whatcom | 14,003 | 44.88% | 14,695 | 47.10% | 2,387 | 7.65% | 114 | 0.37% | -692 | -2.22% | 31,199 |
| Whitman | 5,218 | 37.84% | 7,810 | 56.64% | 710 | 5.15% | 51 | 0.37% | -2,592 | -18.80% | 13,789 |
| Yakima | 19,499 | 38.09% | 27,488 | 53.69% | 4,161 | 8.13% | 50 | 0.10% | -7,989 | -15.60% | 51,198 |
| Totals | 616,037 | 47.23% | 588,510 | 45.12% | 96,990 | 7.44% | 2,744 | 0.21% | 27,527 | 2.11% | 1,304,281 |
This table shows the results by congressional district. The candidate who won the largest amount of the vote nationally is shown first. Humphrey won 4 out of 7 of Washington's congressional districts while Nixon won the other 3 congressional districts.[9]
| District[9] | Nixon | Humphrey | Wallace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 50% | 44.9% | 5.1% |
| 2nd | 44.5% | 47.5% | 8% |
| 3rd | 41.8% | 51.5% | 6.7% |
| 4th | 52.7% | 38.7% | 8.6% |
| 5th | 48.3% | 43.5% | 8.2% |
| 6th | 37.6% | 54.2% | 8.3% |
| 7th | 40.4% | 51.7% | 7.9% |
State and district results of the1968 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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