1960 United States presidential election in Virginia

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Nominee Richard Nixon John F. Kennedy Party Republican Democratic Home state California Massachusetts Running mate Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Lyndon B. Johnson Electoral vote 12 0 Popular vote 404,521 362,327 Percentage 52.44% 46.97%

County and independent city results Precinct results Nixon   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Kennedy   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Other   Tie

President before election Dwight Eisenhower Republican Elected President John F. Kennedy Democratic

The1960 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 8, 1960. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.

TheRepublican ticket of then-Vice PresidentRichard Nixon of California and running mateHenry Cabot Lodge Jr. comfortably carried Virginia over theDemocratic ticket of U.S. SenatorJohn F. Kennedy of Massachusetts andLyndon B. Johnson, even while Kennedy narrowly prevailed nationally. In the process, Kennedy became the first Democrat to ever win the presidency without carrying the state, and one of only three Democrats to do so.^[a]

For six decades Virginia had almost completelydisenfranchised its black and poor white populations through the use ofa cumulative poll tax and literacy tests.^[1] So restricted was suffrage in this period that it has been calculated that a third of Virginia's electorate during the first half of the twentieth century comprised state employees and officeholders.^[1]

This limited electorate allowed Virginian politics to be controlled for four decades by theByrd Organization, as progressive “antiorganization” factions were rendered impotent by the inability of almost all their potential electorate to vote.^[2] Historicalfusion withthe “Readjuster” Democrats,^[3] defection of substantial proportions of theNortheast-aligned white electorate of theShenandoah Valley andSouthwest Virginia overfree silver,^[4] and an early move towards a“lily white”Jim Crow party^[3] meant Republicans retained a small but permanent number of legislative seats and local offices in the western part of the state.^[5]

In 1928, the GOP did carry the state's presidential electoral votes due to anti-Catholicism against Al Smith in the Chesapeake Bay region and increased middle-class Republicanism in the cities,^[6] but it was 1952 before any real changes occurred, as in-migration from the traditionally Republican Northeast^[7] meant that growing Washington, D.C., and Richmond suburbs would turn Republican not just in presidential elections but also in Congressional ones,^[8] although the Republicans would not make significant gains in the state legislature. Opposition to theblack civil rights legislation ofHarry S. Truman meant that the Byrd Organization did not supportAdlai Stevenson II,^[9] with the result thatDwight D. Eisenhower carried the state aided by defections of theSouthsideThurmond vote from 1948.^[10] In 1956, Eisenhower repeated his win despite losing his Southside support due to the President's opposition to Byrd's “Massive Resistance” policy followingBrown v. Board of Education,^[11] as continuing Northern in-migration and a rapid swing to him of the modest but growing number of black voters allowed him to maintain his margin.^[12]

In the following years, continuing “Massive Resistance” weakened the GOP in Virginia, as they could not develop a consistent or coherent response:Ted Dalton, who had received 45 percent of the votein 1953 running against the Byrd Organization, won only 36 percent as his policy of “token integration” was drowned out by the state Democrats.^[13]

Although Byrd again refused to endorseDemocratic nominee,SenatorJohn F. Kennedy, his former ally before the end of “Massive Resistance”, GovernorJ. Lindsay Almond, strongly endorsed the Massachusetts Senator against theRepublican nominee, incumbentVice PresidentRichard Nixon.^[14]

^{[dubious –discuss]}

• Accomack
• Alexandria
• Alleghany
• Bedford
• Caroline
• Buckingham
• Charles City
• Campbell
• Clarke
• Covington
• Falls Church
• Giles
• Goochland
• King and Queen
• King George
• Lee
• Louisa
• Northampton
• Norfolk
• Petersburg
• Prince George
• Princess Anne
• Prince William
• Spotsylvania
• Stafford
• Suffolk
• Tazewell
• Virginia Beach
• Warren

• Prince Edward

Unlike such states asOklahoma,Tennessee^[22] orKentucky, Nixon's victory in Virginia despite losing nationally did not reflectanti-Catholicism: only two counties or independent cities gave Nixon a better percentage than Eisenhower had won in 1956.^[21] Nixon's win reflected his continuing dominance of the Byrd Organization stronghold in the Shenandoah Valley, and maintaining Republican control of newly developing suburbs. Kennedy's general gain was greatest amongst the small but slowly growing black electorate, where he reversed Eisenhower's large gains at the preceding election.

As ofthe 2024 presidential election^[update], this is the last occasion whenAppomattox County,Campbell County,Lunenburg County,Mecklenburg County andPittsylvania County have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[23]

Virginia, as the polls hinted, voted for Nixon over Kennedy by a clear though not overwhelming 5.47 percentage point margin, still a double-digit decline from Eisenhower's two victories in the state. This was the first time a Democrat was elected president without carrying the state of Virginia, and the only time between 1924 and 1976 that Virginia backed the losing candidate.

• 1960 United States presidential election by state
• United States presidential elections in Virginia
• 1960 Virginia elections

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