United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1964

United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1964

November 3, 1964

Nominee Lyndon B. Johnson Barry Goldwater Party Democratic Republican Home state Texas Arizona Running mate Hubert Humphrey William E. Miller Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 315,463 74,615 Percentage 80.9% 19.1%

County Results   Johnson—80-90%   Johnson—70-80%

President before election Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic President-elect Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic

The 1964 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 4 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President.

Rhode Island voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, over the Republican nominee, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Johnson ran with incumbent Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, while Goldwater's running mate was Congressman William E. Miller of New York.

Johnson carried Rhode Island in a mega landslide, taking 80.87% of the vote to Goldwater's 19.13%, a Democratic victory margin of 61.74%. This made Rhode Island Lyndon Johnson's strongest state in the nation.

Even in the midst of a massive nationwide Democratic landslide, Rhode Island weighed in as 39% more Democratic than the national average in the 1964 election.

The staunch conservative Barry Goldwater was widely seen in the Northeastern United States as a right-wing extremist; he had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Johnson campaign portrayed him as a warmonger who as president would provoke a nuclear war. While John F. Kennedy had won 63.63% in Rhode Island in 1960 mostly by sweeping the ethnic Catholic vote, in 1964, this traditional Democratic coalition was joined by mass defections of moderate Yankee Republicans who had voted for Eisenhower and Nixon but could not support the extremist Goldwater. Consequently, the incumbent Johnson was able to take more than 80% of the vote in liberal Rhode Island.

Johnson swept all 5 counties in Rhode Island with over 70% of the vote. In Providence County, the most populated county, home to the state's capital and largest city, Providence, Johnson took an epic 83.5% of the vote. This was the strongest showing ever for a Democratic presidential candidate in Providence.

Johnson's 80.87% remains the highest vote share percentage any presidential candidate of either party has ever received in Rhode Island, and his 61.74% victory margin remains the widest margin by which any candidate of either party has ever won the state.

Results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Pct		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Elect. vote
Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	Texas	315,463	80.87%	4	Hubert Humphrey	Minnesota	4
Barry Goldwater	Republican	Arizona	74,615	19.13%	0	William E. Miller	New York	0
Total			390,078	100%	4			4
Needed to win					270			270

References

• OurCampaigns - RI US President Race - Nov 03, 1964