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1960 United States presidential election in Alabama

The 1960 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 8, 1960 as part of that year's national presidential election. Eleven Democratic electors were elected, of whom six voted for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia and five for Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.[1]

In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states. Twenty-two electors were on the ballot, 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Voters could vote for up to eleven candidates. As a result of a state primary, the Democratic Party had a mixed slate of electors, five being pledged to Kennedy and the remaining six being unpledged.[2][3] The highest vote for a presidential elector was 324,050 votes for Frank M. Dixon, who was unpledged; the highest vote for an elector pledged to Kennedy was 318,303 for C. G. Allen, and the highest vote for a Republican elector was 237,981 for Cecil Durham, which was fewer than the vote for any Democratic elector.[2] As a result, six unpledged electors and five electors pledged to Kennedy were elected. All six elected unpledged electors cast their vote for Byrd.[4]

Varying methods have been used to break down the vote into Kennedy and unpledged votes. One method is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the 324,050 votes as unpledged votes, giving a total much higher than the actual votes cast.[5] Another is to take the 318,303 votes as Kennedy votes and the remainder (5,747 votes) as unpledged votes.[6] A third is to split the 324,050 in the proportion of 5⁄11 to 6⁄11, following the proportion of electors, giving 147,295 votes for Kennedy and 176,755 for unpledged electors.[7] In all cases, Republican candidate Richard Nixon of California, then Vice President of the United States, has 237,981 votes. If the last method is used, it means that Nixon won the popular vote in Alabama; it also means that he won the popular vote nationally.[3][7] Congressional Quarterly calculated the popular vote in this manner at the time of the 1960 election.[3] This remains the last election in which Lee County, Shelby County, Baldwin County, and Mobile County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[8]

Results

Results by county

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f All 6 unpledged electors voted for Harry F. Byrd
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at The votes for electors on this slate were not separated by county
  3. ^ All county totals are for the highest elector in each slate.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Alabama". 270 to Win. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Alabama and the 1960 Popular Vote". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Trende, Sean. "Did JFK Lose the Popular Vote?". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  4. ^ "1960 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Kennedy Wins 1960 Presidential Election in Closest Race of the 20th Century". CQ Almanac Online. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  6. ^ White, Theodore H. (1961). The Making of the President, 1960. p. 461.
  7. ^ a b Fund, John (November 20, 2003). "A Minority President". Opinion Journal. Archived from the original on November 23, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  9. ^ Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1963. Montgomery, Alabama: Walker Printing Co. pp. 663–671. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "Official Results of Election". The New York Times. December 16, 1960.
  11. ^ "Election Statistics, 1920 to Present". Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "AL US Presidential election, November 08, 1960". Our campaigns.