1960 United States presidential election in California

none June 2025 September 2023 1960 United States presidential election 1960 United States presidential election in California California presidential no 1956 United States presidential election in California 1956 1964 United States presidential election in California 1964 88.32% (of registered voters) 1.76 pp 68.77% (of eligible voters) 1.18 ppHistorical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018 https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2018-general/sov/04-historical-voter-reg-participation.pdf California Secretary of State 2022-05-05 November 8, 1960 x200px Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President (cropped).tiff Richard Nixon Republican Party (United States) California Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. 32 3,259,722 50.10% Jfk2 (3x4).jpg John F. Kennedy Democratic Party (United States) Massachusetts Lyndon B. Johnson 0 3,224,099 49.55% 325px 400px County results Nixon #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% Kennedy #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% President Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Party (United States) John F. Kennedy Democratic Party (United States) The 1960 United States presidential election in California took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. California voted for the Republican nominee, Vice President Richard Nixon, over the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Although California was Nixon's home state, which he represented in the House and Senate, and initial political base, his margin of victory over Kennedy turned out to be extremely narrow; in fact, it was the closest of the states that Nixon won, and the fourth closest state in the election after Hawaii, Illinois and Missouri.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1960&f=0&off=0&elect=0 1960 Presidential Election Statistics Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2018-03-05 On the morning of November 9, the NBC victory desk erroneously projected California for Kennedy. Nixon would later win California again against Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and then against George McGovern in 1972. This was the first time since 1912 that the state voted for a losing candidate, as well as the first time since 1884 that the state backed a losing Republican candidate. Primaries Democratic primary 1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries California governor Pat Brown won the state's Democratic primary as a favorite son.Oliphant Thomas Wilkie Curtis 2017 The road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign Simon & Schuster This was the state's first presidential favorite son delegation since the creation of the presidential primary in 1912.Lee Buchanan 1961 312 Kennedy had not come easily to his decision not to compete in the California primary, and had at one point tentatively filed to run in the primary. He had begun to contemplate the state's primary at an early stage in the development of his campaign. By early 1958, Kennedy's team had recognized the state to be a Democratic target for the midterm elections, since economic woes had weakened the Republican Party's strength in the state. This meant that the 1958 midterm election would serve to gauge the prospect of Democrats winning the state in the 1960 presidential election. In February 1958, Ted Sorensen spent $1,500 in order to commission a survey in California that would be conducted that March, coinciding with a two-day visit by Kennedy to the state. The survey showed Kennedy winning 55 to 45% in a then-hypothetical general election race against Nixon. The survey also demonstrated Kennedy to have a strong lead in California among Catholics, who constituted one-fifth of the state's populace. Kennedy, however, remained undecided as to whether or not he would compete in the state's primary. In November 1958, the midterm elections delivered encouraging signs for Democratic prospects of carrying the state in 1960. Pat Brown had defeated the Nixon-backed Republican candidate, outgoing U.S. Senate Minority Leader William Knowland, in the state's gubernatorial election, and Democrat Clair Engle defeated the Nixon-backed Republican candidate, outgoing governor Goodwin Knight, in the race for the Senate seat being vacated by Knowland. California was one of several large state delegations to the Democratic National Convention whose support the Kennedy campaign came to believe was integral when they mapped out his path to secure the nomination. The Kennedy campaign was concerned that Brown might run against Kennedy as a favorite son in the primary. Brown saw himself as a potential running mate on the Democratic ticket. However, he recognized that his chances of being selected would disappear if Kennedy were the presidential nominee, as Brown and Kennedy were both Catholics and a ticket composed of two Catholics was improbable. Thus, Brown recognized that he would need for Kennedy to lose the nomination if he were to stand a chance at securing the vice-presidential nomination for himself. California's Democratic Party landscape at the time stood largely divided between Brown loyalists and Adlai Stevenson supporters, many of whom had hopes of nominating Stevenson a third consecutive time. Kennedy's campaign began to consider the possibility of pursuing a compromise with Brown in which he would run as a favorite candidate committed to Kennedy. Such a compromise would have granted Brown the profile and ego boost of winning the state's primary, while allowing Kennedy to eschew a scenario in which he could underperform or be defeated in one of the last primaries, which would weaken the momentum he needed to have heading into the convention. It would also have avoided the risk of dividing the state party, which was important since a divided state party would have decimated any chance Kennedy stood of carrying the state in the general election. At the same time, such a compromise would still have secured the support of California's delegation for Kennedy. Kennedy's campaign decided that, so long as their candidate still had momentum from having won primaries in other key states, there would be no problem in having Brown run as a surrogate candidate in California. To help persuade Brown to be inclined towards such an agreement, Larry O'Brien met with Brown on behalf of the campaign and showed him polling that Louis Harris had conducted for them which showed Kennedy winning the state 60% to 40% in a two-way race against Brown and was also beating him in a three-way matchup featuring Humphrey, polling 47% against Brown's 33% and Humphrey's 20%. The campaign ultimately reached an informal agreement with Brown to have him run, pledged to Kennedy, as a favorite son. Despite their informal agreement with Brown, Kennedy's campaign continued to possess worries about the state's primary. They were uncertain as to what degree Brown was intent on honoring their agreement. They also recognized that there was a potential that Stevenson might run in the state's primary. Another concern involved the candidacy of Hubert Humphrey. Kennedy's team believed that there was a possibility that Humphrey might file to run in the state. While Kennedy's campaign strategy aimed to have killed Humphrey's candidacy well in advance of the California primary by dealing him critical defeats in earlier primaries, they were still somewhat concerned about a potential scenario in which Kennedy would have failed to knock Humphrey out of the race and Humphrey ran in the California primary. They were worried that, in such an instance, Brown might prove to be a much less effective an opponent to Humphrey than Kennedy himself would be. To precautionarily leave open the campaign's options, on the March 9 deadline to file for the primary, Kennedy filed his own slate of prospective delegates which would be, at least tentatively, registered to run against Brown's slate. Humphrey filed a slate of his own later that day. This blindsided Brown, who believed that he had secured promises from both candidates that neither of them would run against him in the California primary. By the time of the California primary, Humphrey had already ended his campaign. Since he had only filed as a precaution for the possibility of Humphrey competing in California, Kennedy attempted to make peace. Kennedy withdrew, granting Brown the opportunity to run unopposed. Feeling betrayed by Kennedy, Brown did not publicly endorse him, much to the chagrin of the Kennedy campaign. Brown, ultimately, held weak control over a fractious state delegation, whose ranks included a number of Stevenson loyalists, and Stevenson had left open the possibility of being drafted as a candidate at the convention. After failing to secure a public endorsement from Brown ahead of the convention, Kennedy and his team ultimately resorted to courting individual members of its delegation for their support. 180,000 people participated in other Democratic primaries, but abstained from the Democratic presidential primary.Lee Buchanan 1961 311 1960 California Democratic Presidential Primary Resultshttps://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/results-of-1960-presidential-election-primaries RESULTS OF 1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PRIMARIES John F. Kennedy presidential library January 18, 2019 PartyCandidateVotesPercentage Democratic Pat Brown 1,354,031 67.7% Democratic George H. McLain 646,387 32.3% Totals 2,000,418 100.00% Republican primary 1960 Republican Party presidential primaries Nixon won California's Republican primary, in which he was unopposed. 200,000 people participated in other Republican primaries, but abstained from the Republican presidential primary.Lee Buchanan 1961 311 1960 California Republican Presidential Primary ResultsPartyCandidateVotesPercentage Republican Richard Nixon 1,517,652 100.00% Totals 1,517,652 100.00% Campaign Viva Kennedy clubs were created and registered 150,000 Mexican-Americans to vote.Lee Buchanan 1961 316 Whitaker and Baxter managed Nixon's campaign in the north while Baus and Ross managed his campaign in the south. Don Bradley, the executive secretary of the California Democratic Party, managed Kennedy's campaign in the north while Jesse M. Unruh managed his campaign in the south.Lee Buchanan 1961 316-317 Kennedy was initially believed to have won the state on election night, but absentee ballots resulted in Nixon winning.Kallina 1985 113 This was the first time since the 1912 election that California supported the losing presidential candidate.Lee Buchanan 1961 309 The Democrats maintained their control over the state legislature in the concurrent elections.Lee Buchanan 1961 322 Results 1960 United States presidential election in Californiahttp://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1960&fips=6&f=1&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 1960 Presidential General Election Results - California 2008-08-25 Dave Leip's U.S. Election AtlasOur Campaigns - CA US President Race - Nov 08, 1960PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Richard Nixon 3,259,722 50.10% 32 Democratic John F. Kennedy 3,224,099 49.55% 0 Prohibition Rutherford Decker 21,706 0.33% 0 No party Eric Hass (write-in) 1,051 0.02% 0 Invalid or blank votes — Totals 6,506,578 100.00% 32 Voter turnout — Results by county County Richard NixonRepublican John F. KennedyDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Alameda 183,354 45.61% 217,172 54.02% 1,474 0.37% -33,818 -8.41% 402,000 Alpine 132 76.74% 40 23.26% 0 0.00% 92 53.48% 172 Amador 2,175 44.51% 2,690 55.04% 22 0.45% -515 -10.53% 4,887 Butte 20,838 57.60% 15,163 41.92% 174 0.48% 5,675 15.68% 36,175 Calaveras 2,820 52.60% 2,509 46.80% 32 0.60% 311 5.80% 5,361 Colusa 2,497 51.37% 2,348 48.30% 16 0.33% 149 3.07% 4,861 Contra Costa 82,922 46.82% 93,622 52.86% 579 0.32% -10,700 -6.04% 177,123 Del Norte 3,024 48.05% 3,225 51.24% 45 0.71% -201 -3.19% 6,294 El Dorado 6,065 49.16% 6,175 50.05% 97 0.79% -110 -0.89% 12,337 Fresno 57,930 44.32% 72,164 55.21% 608 0.47% -14,234 -10.89% 130,702 Glenn 3,911 53.17% 3,410 46.36% 35 0.47% 501 6.81% 7,356 Humboldt 18,074 46.71% 20,391 52.70% 226 0.59% -2,317 -5.99% 38,691 Imperial 10,606 53.55% 9,119 46.04% 81 0.41% 1,487 7.51% 19,806 Inyo 2,962 54.65% 2,443 45.07% 15 0.28% 519 9.58% 5,420 Kern 52,800 50.43% 51,440 49.13% 465 0.44% 1,360 1.30% 104,705 Kings 6,991 42.31% 9,439 57.13% 92 0.56% -2,448 -14.82% 16,522 Lake 4,176 58.74% 2,897 40.75% 36 0.51% 1,279 17.99% 7,109 Lassen 2,365 40.24% 3,472 59.08% 40 0.68% -1,107 -18.84% 5,877 Los Angeles 1,302,661 49.45% 1,323,818 50.25% 8,020 0.30% -21,157 -0.80% 2,634,499 Madera 5,869 41.75% 8,126 57.81% 62 0.44% -2,257 -16.06% 14,057 Marin 37,620 57.29% 27,888 42.47% 157 0.24% 9,732 14.82% 65,665 Mariposa 1,599 53.97% 1,338 45.16% 26 0.87% 261 8.81% 2,963 Mendocino 9,301 49.29% 9,476 50.21% 94 0.50% -175 -0.92% 18,871 Merced 11,990 43.37% 15,545 56.23% 111 0.40% -3,555 -12.86% 27,646 Modoc 1,839 51.80% 1,691 47.63% 20 0.57% 148 4.17% 3,550 Mono 912 66.33% 457 33.24% 6 0.43% 455 33.09% 1,375 Monterey 33,428 56.26% 25,805 43.43% 180 0.31% 7,623 12.83% 59,413 Napa 15,125 52.56% 13,499 46.91% 154 0.53% 1,626 5.65% 28,778 Nevada 5,419 53.44% 4,633 45.69% 89 0.87% 786 7.75% 10,141 Orange 174,891 60.81% 112,007 38.95% 701 0.24% 62,884 21.86% 287,599 Placer 10,439 43.75% 13,304 55.75% 120 0.50% -2,865 -12.00% 23,863 Plumas 2,015 37.47% 3,333 61.97% 30 0.56% -1,318 -24.50% 5,378 Riverside 65,855 56.15% 50,877 43.38% 544 0.47% 14,978 12.77% 117,276 Sacramento 84,252 43.26% 109,695 56.32% 809 0.42% -25,443 -13.06% 194,756 San Benito 3,056 51.40% 2,876 48.38% 13 0.22% 180 3.02% 5,945 San Bernardino 99,481 52.00% 90,888 47.51% 944 0.49% 8,593 4.49% 191,313 San Diego 223,056 56.41% 171,259 43.31% 1,106 0.28% 51,797 13.10% 395,421 San Francisco 143,001 41.79% 197,734 57.78% 1,484 0.43% -54,733 -15.99% 342,219 San Joaquin 48,441 52.85% 42,855 46.76% 361 0.39% 5,586 6.09% 91,657 San Luis Obispo 17,862 54.04% 14,975 45.30% 218 0.66% 2,887 8.74% 33,055 San Mateo 104,570 51.70% 97,154 48.04% 528 0.26% 7,416 3.66% 202,252 Santa Barbara 38,805 56.73% 29,409 42.99% 188 0.28% 9,396 13.74% 68,402 Santa Clara 131,735 52.67% 117,667 47.05% 690 0.28% 14,068 5.62% 250,092 Santa Cruz 24,858 59.61% 16,659 39.95% 187 0.44% 8,199 19.66% 41,704 Shasta 9,462 38.94% 14,691 60.45% 148 0.61% -5,229 -21.51% 24,301 Sierra 576 46.79% 647 52.56% 8 0.65% -71 -5.77% 1,231 Siskiyou 6,279 42.95% 8,245 56.40% 96 0.65% -1,966 -13.45% 14,620 Solano 18,751 40.88% 26,977 58.81% 141 0.31% -8,226 -17.93% 45,869 Sonoma 34,641 54.10% 29,147 45.52% 244 0.38% 5,494 8.58% 64,032 Stanislaus 30,213 49.62% 30,302 49.77% 375 0.61% -89 -0.15% 60,890 Sutter 7,520 62.91% 4,379 36.63% 55 0.46% 3,141 26.28% 11,954 Tehama 5,522 49.96% 5,483 49.61% 47 0.43% 39 0.35% 11,052 Trinity 1,418 38.35% 2,262 61.17% 18 0.48% -844 -22.82% 3,698 Tulare 29,456 53.97% 24,887 45.60% 239 0.43% 4,569 8.37% 54,582 Tuolumne 3,691 49.11% 3,781 50.31% 44 0.58% -90 -1.20% 7,516 Ventura 35,074 49.59% 35,334 49.96% 315 0.45% -260 -0.37% 70,723 Yolo 10,104 44.73% 12,395 54.87% 90 0.40% -2,291 -10.14% 22,589 Yuba 5,293 51.72% 4,882 47.71% 58 0.57% 411 4.01% 10,233Total3,259,72250.10%3,224,09949.55%22,7570.35%35,6230.55%6,506,578 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic 20em Alameda Contra Costa Del Norte El Dorado Humboldt Los Angeles Mendocino San Francisco Sierra Siskiyou Trinity Tuolumne Ventura Results by congressional district District1960 U.S. Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District https://wwu.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/minimalist/index.html?appid=eeaf147abda34d578f0f75d133bf0d1d 2026-05-22 Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Western Washington UniversityKennedyNixon1st46.6%53.4%2nd52.8%47.2%3rd54.7%45.3%4th51.2%48.9%5th67.7%32.3%6th54.2%45.8%7th52.8%47.2%8th55.1%44.9%9th48.2%51.8%10th46.2%53.8%11th48.2%51.8%12th44.2%55.8%13rd45.7%54.3%14th49%51%15th55.2%44.8%16th44.2%55.8%17th52.2%47.8%18th46.8%53.2%19th65.6%34.4%20th33.1%66.9%21st45.7%54.3%22nd48.3%51.7%23rd58.1%41.9%24th46.4%53.6%25th42.8%57.2%26th69%31%27th47.7%52.3%28th39.7%60.3%29th44%56%30th45.1%54.9% References Works cited Kallina Edmund Was the 1960 Presidential Election Stolen? The Case of Illinois Presidential Studies Quarterly Wiley-Blackwell 1985 15 1 113–118 27550168 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550168 Lee Eugene Buchanan William The 1960 Election in California The Western Political Quarterly University of Utah 1961 14 1 309–26 10.2307/443852 443852 https://www.jstor.org/stable/443852 subscription expanded California 1960 Category:1960 California elections