1968 United States presidential election in Georgia

The 1968 United States presidential election in Georgia was held on November 5, 1968. American Independent Party candidate George Wallace received the most votes, and won all twelve of the state's electoral college votes.^[2]

Wallace, who ran a campaign based upon support for segregation, won all but seventeen of the state's 159 counties. Nixon won ten, all either suburban Atlanta, Athens, or Augusta area counties, or historically pro-Union counties of North Georgia. Owing to Wallace's sweep of almost all of the state south of the Unionist North Georgia counties and outside of Atlanta, Cobb and DeKalb counties were two of only three amongst 210 Southern counties carried by Goldwater for the Republicans for the first time ever or since Reconstruction to vote for Nixon.^[3]

With 42.83% of the popular vote, Georgia would prove to be Wallace's fourth strongest state after Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.^[4]

51% of white voters supported Wallace, 36% supported Nixon, and 13% supported Humphrey.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Results

United States presidential election in Georgia, 1968^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	American Independent	George Wallace	535,550	42.83%	12
	Republican	Richard Nixon	380,111	30.40%	0
	Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	334,440	26.75%	0
	Write-ins	Eugene McCarthy	56	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Dick Gregory	9	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Fred Halstead	7	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Eldridge Cleaver	2	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Charlene Mitchell	2	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Henning A. Blomen	1	0.00%	0
Totals			1,250,266	100.00%	12
Voter turnout					—

Results by county

County^[8]	George Wallace American Independent		Richard Nixon Republican		Hubert Humphrey Democratic		Various candidates Write-ins		Margin		Total votes cast
County^[8]	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Appling	2,678	63.26%	795	18.78%	760	17.95%			1,883	44.48%	4,233
Atkinson	1,554	61.47%	288	11.39%	686	27.14%			868	34.33%	2,528
Bacon	1,935	69.11%	586	20.93%	279	9.96%			1,349	48.18%	2,800
Baker	1,067	62.25%	99	5.78%	548	31.97%			519	30.28%	1,714
Baldwin	2,678	37.66%	2,318	32.60%	2,109	29.66%	6	0.10%	360	5.06%	7,111
Banks	1,434	67.39%	398	18.70%	296	13.91%			1,036	48.69%	2,128
Barrow	2,731	52.79%	1,372	26.52%	1,070	20.68%			1,359	26.27%	5,173
Bartow	4,052	49.11%	2,045	24.78%	2,149	26.05%	5	0.10%	1,903	23.06%	8,251
Ben Hill	1,833	54.38%	661	19.61%	876	25.99%	1	0.00%	957	28.39%	3,371
Berrien	2,810	73.41%	566	14.79%	451	11.78%	1	0.00%	2,244	58.62%	3,828
Bibb	17,328	41.86%	13,490	32.59%	10,579	25.55%			3,838	9.27%	41,397
Bleckley	2,458	68.07%	756	20.94%	396	10.97%	1	0.00%	1,702	47.13%	3,611
Brantley	1,709	75.52%	237	10.47%	317	14.01%			1,392	61.51%	2,263
Brooks	2,404	63.60%	589	15.58%	787	20.82%			1,617	42.78%	3,780
Bryan	1,428	60.28%	381	16.08%	560	23.64%			868	36.64%	2,369
Bulloch	3,953	50.33%	2,113	26.90%	1,788	22.77%			1,840	23.43%	7,854
Burke	1,802	36.82%	1,416	28.93%	1,676	34.25%			126	2.57%	4,894
Butts	1,490	49.13%	584	19.25%	959	31.62%			531	17.51%	3,033
Calhoun	979	51.26%	234	12.25%	697	36.49%			282	14.77%	1,910
Camden	1,988	51.17%	751	19.33%	1,146	29.50%			842	21.67%	3,885
Candler	1,624	58.78%	552	19.98%	587	21.25%			1,037	37.53%	2,763
Carroll	6,509	54.38%	3,135	26.19%	2,326	19.43%			3,374	28.19%	11,970
Catoosa	6,449	68.66%	2,043	21.75%	901	9.59%			4,406	46.91%	9,393
Charlton	1,157	59.52%	332	17.08%	455	23.41%			702	36.11%	1,944
Chatham	17,238	32.19%	18,106	33.81%	18,201	33.99%			-95	-0.18%	53,545
Chattahoochee	303	58.16%	70	13.44%	148	28.41%			155	29.75%	521
Chattooga	3,024	56.35%	1,087	20.26%	1,255	23.39%			1,769	32.96%	5,366
Cherokee	3,351	44.91%	2,675	35.85%	1,434	19.22%	2	0.00%	676	9.06%	7,462
Clarke	3,452	23.31%	5,800	39.17%	5,543	37.43%	13	0.10%	-257	-1.74%	14,808
Clay	608	48.33%	133	10.57%	516	41.02%	1	0.10%	92	7.31%	1,258
Clayton	11,665	49.77%	8,256	35.22%	3,510	14.98%	7	0.00%	3,409	14.55%	23,438
Clinch	1,142	64.16%	304	17.08%	334	18.76%			808	45.40%	1,780
Cobb	17,805	39.38%	18,649	41.25%	8,755	19.37%			-844	-1.87%	45,209
Coffee	3,785	59.54%	1,241	19.52%	1,331	20.94%			2,454	38.60%	6,357
Colquitt	6,325	67.82%	1,882	20.18%	1,119	12.00%			4,443	47.64%	9,326
Columbia	2,207	46.48%	1,636	34.46%	905	19.06%			571	12.02%	4,748
Cook	2,438	68.41%	521	14.62%	603	16.92%	2	0.10%	1,835	51.49%	3,564
Coweta	3,791	50.97%	2,442	32.84%	1,204	16.19%			1,349	18.13%	7,437
Crawford	886	54.66%	246	15.18%	489	30.17%			397	24.49%	1,621
Crisp	3,271	62.63%	935	17.90%	1,017	19.47%			2,254	43.16%	5,223
Dade	2,460	73.32%	613	18.27%	282	8.41%			1,847	55.05%	3,355
Dawson	845	52.81%	509	31.81%	246	15.38%			336	21.00%	1,600
Decatur	4,576	64.87%	749	10.62%	1,729	24.51%			2,847	40.36%	7,054
DeKalb	23,954	22.98%	52,485	50.35%	27,796	26.67%	2	0.00%	-24,689	-23.68%	104,237
Dodge	3,406	59.85%	1,055	18.54%	1,230	21.61%			2,176	38.24%	5,691
Dooly	1,803	57.49%	454	14.48%	879	28.03%			924	29.46%	3,136
Dougherty	9,317	49.66%	5,611	29.91%	3,831	20.42%	3	0.00%	3,706	19.75%	18,762
Douglas	4,159	57.37%	1,848	25.49%	1,242	17.13%			2,311	31.88%	7,249
Early	2,797	71.55%	327	8.37%	785	20.08%			2,012	51.47%	3,909
Echols	533	83.02%	53	8.26%	56	8.72%			477	74.30%	642
Effingham	2,561	64.59%	769	19.39%	635	16.02%			1,792	45.20%	3,965
Elbert	3,252	60.42%	914	16.98%	1,216	22.59%			2,036	37.83%	5,382
Emanuel	3,307	54.11%	1,297	21.22%	1,508	24.67%			1,799	29.44%	6,112
Evans	1,475	58.76%	543	21.63%	492	19.60%			932	37.13%	2,510
Fannin	1,188	20.16%	3,475	58.98%	1,229	20.86%			-2,246	-38.12%	5,892
Fayette	1,888	57.09%	867	26.22%	551	16.66%	1	0.00%	1,021	30.87%	3,307
Floyd	10,001	46.49%	7,470	34.72%	4,036	18.76%	5	0.00%	2,531	11.77%	21,512
Forsyth	2,397	54.07%	1,389	31.33%	647	14.60%			1,008	22.74%	4,433
Franklin	2,691	64.49%	716	17.16%	766	18.36%			1,925	46.13%	4,173
Fulton	36,995	20.66%	64,153	35.83%	77,847	43.47%	73	0.00%	-13,694	-7.64%	179,068
Gilmer	1,259	31.30%	2,074	51.55%	690	17.15%			-815	-20.25%	4,023
Glascock	733	75.96%	185	19.17%	47	4.87%			548	56.79%	965
Glynn	5,341	43.36%	3,725	30.24%	3,247	26.36%	4	0.00%	1,616	13.12%	12,317
Gordon	3,077	50.83%	1,815	29.99%	1,161	19.18%			1,262	20.84%	6,053
Grady	3,817	65.78%	561	9.67%	1,425	24.56%			2,392	41.22%	5,803
Greene	1,223	34.84%	652	18.58%	1,635	46.58%			-412	-11.74%	3,510
Gwinnett	8,909	50.94%	5,350	30.59%	3,226	18.45%	4	0.00%	3,559	20.35%	17,489
Habersham	3,008	52.87%	1,611	28.32%	1,070	18.81%			1,397	24.55%	5,689
Hall	5,546	40.65%	4,923	36.08%	3,174	23.26%			623	4.57%	13,643
Hancock	1,104	30.25%	381	10.44%	2,165	59.32%			-1,061	-29.07%	3,650
Haralson	3,251	59.40%	1,451	26.51%	771	14.09%			1,800	32.89%	5,473
Harris	1,851	46.93%	1,021	25.89%	1,072	27.18%			779	19.75%	3,944
Hart	3,208	67.20%	586	12.27%	979	20.51%	1	0.00%	2,229	46.69%	4,774
Heard	1,153	63.63%	303	16.72%	356	19.65%			797	43.98%	1,812
Henry	3,604	45.40%	2,017	25.41%	2,317	29.19%			1,287	16.21%	7,938
Houston	7,339	50.76%	4,285	29.64%	2,831	19.58%	2	0.00%	3,054	21.12%	14,457
Irwin	1,955	68.36%	430	15.03%	474	16.57%	1	0.00%	1,481	51.79%	2,860
Jackson	3,473	56.48%	1,139	18.52%	1,537	25.00%			1,936	31.48%	6,149
Jasper	926	41.77%	456	20.57%	835	37.66%			91	4.11%	2,217
Jeff Davis	1,958	67.26%	577	19.82%	376	12.92%			1,381	47.44%	2,911
Jefferson	2,090	40.05%	1,227	23.51%	1,899	36.39%	2	0.00%	191	3.66%	5,218
Jenkins	1,249	49.43%	574	22.71%	704	27.86%			545	21.57%	2,527
Johnson	2,041	71.16%	381	13.28%	446	15.55%			1,595	55.61%	2,868
Jones	1,770	49.61%	693	19.42%	1,105	30.97%			665	18.64%	3,568
Lamar	1,440	51.34%	575	20.50%	790	28.16%			650	23.18%	2,805
Lanier	1,024	66.41%	241	15.63%	277	17.96%			747	48.45%	1,542
Laurens	6,649	51.79%	2,738	21.33%	3,451	26.88%			3,198	24.91%	12,838
Lee	1,201	53.05%	389	17.18%	673	29.73%	1	0.00%	528	23.32%	2,264
Liberty	1,365	38.68%	592	16.78%	1,572	44.55%			-207	-5.87%	3,529
Lincoln	1,290	58.93%	408	18.64%	491	22.43%			799	36.50%	2,189
Long	1,037	58.69%	156	8.83%	574	32.48%			463	26.21%	1,767
Lowndes	5,679	50.91%	3,073	27.55%	2,402	21.53%			2,606	23.36%	11,154
Lumpkin	1,048	49.18%	687	32.24%	396	18.58%			361	16.94%	2,131
McDuffie	1,709	42.46%	1,324	32.89%	991	24.62%	1	0.00%	385	9.57%	4,025
McIntosh	841	40.07%	315	15.01%	943	44.93%			-102	-4.86%	2,099
Macon	1,559	50.11%	598	19.22%	954	30.67%			605	19.44%	3,111
Madison	2,529	67.42%	600	16.00%	621	16.56%	1	0.00%	1,908	50.86%	3,751
Marion	849	66.22%	186	14.51%	247	19.27%			602	46.95%	1,282
Meriwether	2,571	47.17%	1,120	20.55%	1,760	32.29%			811	14.88%	5,451
Miller	1,862	81.60%	249	10.91%	171	7.49%			1,613	70.69%	2,282
Mitchell	3,647	64.73%	731	12.97%	1,255	22.28%	1	0.00%	2,392	42.45%	5,634
Monroe	1,422	44.16%	770	23.91%	1,028	31.93%			394	12.23%	3,220
Montgomery	1,433	62.63%	352	15.38%	503	21.98%			930	40.65%	2,288
Morgan	1,391	46.68%	616	20.67%	973	32.65%			418	14.03%	2,980
Murray	1,750	45.50%	1,278	33.23%	818	21.27%			472	12.27%	3,846
Muscogee	15,804	45.69%	11,193	32.36%	7,591	21.95%	2	0.00%	4,611	13.33%	34,590
Newton	3,017	45.20%	1,660	24.87%	1,996	29.90%	2	0.00%	1,021	15.30%	6,675
Oconee	1,405	55.49%	713	28.16%	414	16.35%			692	27.33%	2,532
Oglethorpe	1,737	66.73%	383	14.71%	483	18.56%			1,254	48.17%	2,603
Paulding	3,054	60.43%	977	19.33%	1,023	20.24%			2,031	40.19%	5,054
Peach	1,638	41.96%	904	23.16%	1,362	34.89%			276	7.07%	3,904
Pickens	1,392	37.34%	1,659	44.50%	677	18.16%			-267	-7.16%	3,728
Pierce	2,144	66.38%	579	17.93%	507	15.70%			1,565	48.45%	3,230
Pike	1,442	59.61%	345	14.26%	632	26.13%			810	33.48%	2,419
Polk	4,240	53.16%	1,729	21.68%	2,007	25.16%			2,233	28.00%	7,976
Pulaski	1,569	58.59%	595	22.22%	514	19.19%			974	36.37%	2,678
Putnam	1,177	42.91%	594	21.66%	972	35.44%			205	7.47%	2,743
Quitman	459	61.45%	90	12.05%	198	26.51%			261	34.94%	747
Rabun	1,407	52.52%	680	25.38%	590	22.02%	2	0.10%	727	27.14%	2,679
Randolph	1,438	48.45%	502	16.91%	1,028	34.64%			410	13.81%	2,968
Richmond	9,532	26.26%	14,993	41.30%	11,770	32.42%	7	0.00%	-3,223	-8.88%	36,302
Rockdale	2,215	47.91%	1,195	25.85%	1,213	26.24%			1,002	21.67%	4,623
Schley	619	56.68%	164	15.02%	309	28.30%			310	28.38%	1,092
Screven	1,830	44.02%	916	22.04%	1,411	33.94%			419	10.08%	4,157
Seminole	1,922	77.10%	201	8.06%	369	14.80%	1	0.00%	1,553	62.30%	2,493
Spalding	4,953	45.11%	3,077	28.03%	2,949	26.86%			1,876	17.08%	10,979
Stephens	2,802	54.60%	1,295	25.23%	1,035	20.17%			1,507	29.37%	5,132
Stewart	932	56.35%	233	14.09%	489	29.56%			443	26.79%	1,654
Sumter	3,489	53.08%	1,383	21.04%	1,701	25.88%			1,788	27.20%	6,573
Talbot	688	45.41%	317	20.92%	510	33.66%			178	11.75%	1,515
Taliaferro	508	35.83%	232	16.36%	678	47.81%			-170	-11.98%	1,418
Tattnall	3,405	65.30%	852	16.34%	957	18.35%			2,448	46.95%	5,214
Taylor	1,626	60.00%	393	14.50%	691	25.50%			935	34.50%	2,710
Telfair	2,502	58.73%	720	16.90%	1,038	24.37%			1,464	34.36%	4,260
Terrell	1,798	49.68%	545	15.06%	1,275	35.23%	1	0.00%	523	14.45%	3,619
Thomas	5,039	50.98%	2,261	22.87%	2,583	26.13%	2	0.00%	2,456	24.85%	9,885
Tift	3,942	57.79%	1,692	24.81%	1,187	17.40%			2,250	32.98%	6,821
Toombs	3,405	59.76%	1,397	24.52%	896	15.72%			2,008	35.24%	5,698
Towns	589	20.66%	1,492	52.33%	770	27.01%			-722	-25.32%	2,851
Treutlen	1,081	57.01%	474	25.00%	341	17.99%			607	32.01%	1,896
Troup	6,232	50.39%	3,239	26.19%	2,896	23.42%			2,993	24.20%	12,367
Turner	1,845	68.95%	419	15.66%	412	15.40%			1,426	53.29%	2,676
Twiggs	1,167	50.41%	336	14.51%	812	35.08%			355	15.33%	2,315
Union	906	29.22%	1,221	39.37%	974	31.41%			-247	-7.96%	3,101
Upson	3,599	54.75%	1,494	22.73%	1,480	22.52%			2,105	32.02%	6,573
Walker	8,725	60.92%	3,664	25.58%	1,930	13.48%	2	0.00%	5,061	35.34%	14,321
Walton	4,047	57.83%	1,399	19.99%	1,552	22.18%			2,495	35.65%	6,998
Ware	5,895	57.81%	2,047	20.07%	2,255	22.11%			3,640	35.70%	10,197
Warren	767	43.70%	406	23.13%	582	33.16%			185	10.54%	1,755
Washington	2,029	43.00%	1,247	26.43%	1,443	30.58%			586	12.42%	4,719
Wayne	3,422	59.88%	1,313	22.97%	980	17.15%			2,109	36.91%	5,715
Webster	494	69.28%	72	10.10%	147	20.62%			347	48.66%	713
Wheeler	934	55.83%	251	15.00%	488	29.17%			446	26.66%	1,673
White	1,157	49.13%	762	32.36%	435	18.47%	1	0.00%	395	16.77%	2,355
Whitfield	3,954	34.36%	4,828	41.95%	2,723	23.66%	3	0.00%	-874	-7.59%	11,508
Wilcox	1,822	68.29%	381	14.28%	465	17.43%			1,357	50.86%	2,668
Wilkes	1,709	48.35%	873	24.70%	953	26.96%			756	21.39%	3,535
Wilkinson	1,870	55.26%	685	20.24%	829	24.50%			1,041	30.76%	3,384
Worth	3,049	69.74%	603	13.79%	719	16.45%	1	0.00%	2,330	53.29%	4,372
Totals	535,550	42.83%	380,111	30.40%	334,440	26.75%	165	0.01%	155,439	12.43%	1,250,266

Counties that flipped from Republican to American Independent

Counties that flipped from Democratic to American Independent

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Chatham

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 1968 Presidential General Election Results - Georgia US Election Atlas
^ Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 94-95 ISBN 0786422173
^ "1968 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
^ Black & Black 1992, p. 147.
^ Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
^ Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
^ Fortson, Jr., Ben W. (1968). Official state of Georgia tabulation by counties for Presidential Electors, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representatives, state officers and constitutional amendments, General Election November 5, 1968 (PDF) (Report). Georgia Secretary of State.

Works cited

Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674941306.

[California_1960-1] 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.

[Presidential-2] 1968 Presidential General Election Results - Georgia US Election Atlas

[3] Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 94-95 ISBN 0786422173

[4] "1968 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.

[FOOTNOTEBlackBlack1992147-5] Black & Black 1992, p. 147.

[FOOTNOTEBlackBlack1992295-6] Black & Black 1992, p. 295.

[FOOTNOTEBlackBlack1992335-7] Black & Black 1992, p. 335.

[8] Fortson, Jr., Ben W. (1968). Official state of Georgia tabulation by counties for Presidential Electors, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representatives, state officers and constitutional amendments, General Election November 5, 1968 (PDF) (Report). Georgia Secretary of State.

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