1968 United States presidential election in Ohio

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election

The 1968 United States presidential election in Ohio took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Ohio voters chose 26 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1968 United States presidential election in Ohio

← 1964 November 5, 1968 1972 →

Nominee Richard Nixon Hubert Humphrey George Wallace Party Republican Democratic American Independent Home state New York[a] Minnesota Alabama Running mate Spiro Agnew Edmund Muskie S. Marvin Griffin Electoral vote 26 0 0 Popular vote 1,791,014 1,700,586 467,495 Percentage 45.23% 42.95% 11.81%

County Results Nixon   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Humphrey   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Elected President Richard Nixon Republican

Ohio was won by the Republican Party candidate, former Vice President Richard Nixon by a narrow margin of 2.28%. Nixon won the vast majority of Ohio's counties, including the major cities of Columbus, Cincinnati, Canton and Hamilton. The Democratic Party candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, kept the race close by winning the major cities of Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Dayton, Youngstown, Lorain, and Springfield.

The American Independent Party candidate, former Alabama governor George Wallace, had his best performance in the Midwestern United States, taking 11.81% of the popular vote, despite being far from his base of support in the Deep South. This was due to Ohio's presence along the borders of Kentucky and West Virginia, which are considered part of the southern United States. In the north, Wallace appealed to blue-collar workers and union members who usually voted Democratic, but who had become disgruntled with the racial violence and anti-Vietnam War protests. As a result, this split in the Democratic vote between Humphrey and Wallace was enough for Nixon to narrowly carry Ohio.^{[citation needed]}

As of the 2024 presidential election^[update], this is the last election in which Mercer County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[1] Nixon became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying Clark, Cuyahoga, Harrison, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, or Portage Counties, as well as the first to do so without carrying Montgomery or Tuscarawas Counties since William Howard Taft in 1908.

Campaign

A United States Supreme Court case involving ballot access occurred during the election cycle in Ohio, Williams v. Rhodes. The case involved the American Independent Party along with the Socialist Labor Party; with the American Independent Party getting enough signatures but not filing its petition prior to the February 7 deadline while the Socialist Labor Party had been of the ballot since 1948 and that year in 1968 they did not collect enough signatures. Both of the parties sued the state in a US District Court arguing being kept off the ballot was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution before later merging the cases. In the District Court it was found that both political parties must be given write-in status but the state did not have to put the candidates names on the ballot. The US Supreme Court found it violated the Equal Protection Clause in a 6-3 decision.^[2]

Results

1968 United States presidential election in Ohio[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Richard Nixon	1,791,014	45.23%	26
	Democrat	Hubert Humphrey	1,700,586	42.95%	0
	American Independent	George Wallace	467,495	11.81%	0
	No party	Dick Gregory (write-in)	372	0.01%	0
	No party	Henning A. Blomen (write-in)	120	0.00%	0
	No party	Fred Halstead (write-in)	69	0.00%	0
	No party	Charlene Mitchell (write-in)	23	0.00%	0
	No party	E. Harold Munn (write-in)	19	0.00%	0
Totals			3,959,698	100.00%	26
Voter turnout (Voting age)					63%

Results by county

County	Richard Nixon Republican		Hubert Humphrey Democratic		George Wallace American Independent		Various candidates Write-ins		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	3,973	51.54%	2,685	34.83%	1,049	13.61%	1	0.01%	1,288	16.71%	7,708
Allen	23,124	60.30%	10,994	28.67%	4,231	11.03%			12,130	31.63%	38,349
Ashland	9,745	62.49%	4,526	29.02%	1,323	8.48%			5,219	33.47%	15,594
Ashtabula	17,058	46.66%	16,738	45.79%	2,753	7.53%	6	0.02%	320	0.87%	36,555
Athens	7,837	47.79%	7,351	44.82%	1,207	7.36%	5	0.03%	486	2.97%	16,400
Auglaize	9,368	56.96%	5,550	33.74%	1,528	9.29%	1	0.01%	3,818	23.22%	16,447
Belmont	11,512	31.94%	22,056	61.19%	2,478	6.87%			-10,544	-29.25%	36,046
Brown	4,700	44.27%	3,610	34.00%	2,307	21.73%			1,090	10.27%	10,617
Butler	35,962	48.73%	23,649	32.04%	14,188	19.22%	3	0.00%	12,313	16.69%	73,802
Carroll	4,634	52.39%	3,119	35.26%	1,092	12.34%	1	0.01%	1,515	17.13%	8,846
Champaign	6,863	53.83%	4,264	33.44%	1,621	12.71%	2	0.02%	2,599	20.39%	12,750
Clark	23,748	43.58%	24,029	44.10%	6,710	12.31%	4	0.01%	-281	-0.52%	54,491
Clermont	15,299	48.04%	8,859	27.82%	7,690	24.15%	1	0.00%	6,440	20.22%	31,849
Clinton	6,265	56.56%	2,982	26.92%	1,830	16.52%			3,283	29.64%	11,077
Columbiana	19,947	46.21%	19,382	44.90%	3,832	8.88%	9	0.02%	565	1.31%	43,170
Coshocton	7,256	53.59%	5,013	37.03%	1,270	9.38%			2,243	16.56%	13,539
Crawford	11,898	56.64%	6,737	32.07%	2,373	11.30%			5,161	24.57%	21,008
Cuyahoga	238,791	35.44%	363,540	53.95%	71,360	10.59%	148	0.02%	-124,749	-18.51%	673,839
Darke	10,926	53.78%	7,371	36.28%	2,015	9.92%	3	0.01%	3,555	17.50%	20,315
Defiance	7,348	52.64%	5,686	40.73%	925	6.63%			1,662	11.91%	13,959
Delaware	9,029	57.72%	4,056	25.93%	2,557	16.34%	2	0.01%	4,973	31.79%	15,644
Erie	13,023	48.50%	11,388	42.41%	2,437	9.08%	1	0.00%	1,635	6.09%	26,849
Fairfield	14,810	52.03%	9,533	33.49%	4,124	14.49%			5,277	18.54%	28,467
Fayette	5,339	51.99%	2,966	28.88%	1,962	19.11%	2	0.02%	2,373	23.11%	10,269
Franklin	148,933	51.78%	101,240	35.20%	37,390	13.00%	61	0.02%	47,693	16.58%	287,624
Fulton	7,817	64.14%	3,338	27.39%	1,033	8.48%			4,479	36.75%	12,188
Gallia	5,134	58.10%	2,660	30.10%	1,039	11.76%	3	0.03%	2,474	28.00%	8,836
Geauga	11,857	51.76%	7,825	34.16%	3,226	14.08%			4,032	17.60%	22,908
Greene	17,589	45.36%	15,178	39.14%	5,999	15.47%	9	0.02%	2,411	6.22%	38,775
Guernsey	7,336	49.44%	5,815	39.19%	1,685	11.36%	1	0.01%	1,521	10.25%	14,837
Hamilton	183,611	50.24%	135,057	36.95%	46,742	12.79%	73	0.02%	48,554	13.29%	365,483
Hancock	15,032	61.08%	6,918	28.11%	2,659	10.80%			8,114	32.97%	24,609
Hardin	6,963	53.82%	4,180	32.31%	1,794	13.87%			2,783	21.51%	12,937
Harrison	3,532	45.87%	3,594	46.68%	574	7.45%			-62	-0.81%	7,700
Henry	6,970	63.21%	3,256	29.53%	799	7.25%	1	0.01%	3,714	33.68%	11,026
Highland	6,489	51.81%	3,828	30.56%	2,208	17.63%			2,661	21.25%	12,525
Hocking	3,998	45.94%	3,701	42.53%	1,003	11.53%			297	3.41%	8,702
Holmes	3,350	58.47%	1,898	33.13%	479	8.36%	2	0.03%	1,452	25.34%	5,729
Huron	9,456	53.38%	6,515	36.78%	1,741	9.83%	2	0.01%	2,941	16.60%	17,714
Jackson	5,870	53.52%	4,021	36.66%	1,077	9.82%			1,849	16.86%	10,968
Jefferson	12,949	33.53%	21,917	56.76%	3,740	9.69%	9	0.02%	-8,968	-23.23%	38,615
Knox	9,072	55.01%	5,725	34.71%	1,695	10.28%			3,347	20.30%	16,492
Lake	28,450	43.40%	27,932	42.61%	9,160	13.97%	17	0.03%	518	0.79%	65,559
Lawrence	9,782	46.75%	8,671	41.44%	2,470	11.81%			1,111	5.31%	20,923
Licking	19,542	48.89%	15,021	37.58%	5,405	13.52%	2	0.01%	4,521	11.31%	39,970
Logan	8,362	56.12%	4,889	32.81%	1,647	11.05%	1	0.01%	3,473	23.31%	14,899
Lorain	34,252	39.95%	42,642	49.74%	8,825	10.29%	8	0.01%	-8,390	-9.79%	85,727
Lucas	69,403	38.98%	91,346	51.31%	17,260	9.69%	28	0.02%	-21,943	-12.33%	178,037
Madison	5,882	57.15%	2,780	27.01%	1,631	15.85%			3,102	30.14%	10,293
Mahoning	42,948	34.75%	68,433	55.38%	12,189	9.86%	8	0.01%	-25,485	-20.63%	123,578
Marion	12,887	53.10%	8,611	35.48%	2,772	11.42%	1	0.00%	4,276	17.62%	24,271
Medina	14,089	52.31%	9,194	34.14%	3,632	13.49%	18	0.07%	4,895	18.17%	26,933
Meigs	4,759	56.29%	2,921	34.55%	774	9.15%	1	0.01%	1,838	21.74%	8,455
Mercer	6,313	44.43%	6,801	47.86%	1,095	7.71%			-488	-3.43%	14,209
Miami	16,997	50.62%	13,228	39.40%	3,348	9.97%	4	0.01%	3,769	11.22%	33,577
Monroe	2,686	42.27%	3,105	48.87%	562	8.84%	1	0.02%	-419	-6.60%	6,354
Montgomery	84,766	40.93%	96,082	46.39%	26,232	12.67%	40	0.02%	-11,316	-5.46%	207,120
Morgan	3,030	57.51%	1,789	33.95%	450	8.54%			1,241	23.56%	5,269
Morrow	4,898	55.58%	2,405	27.29%	1,509	17.12%			2,493	28.29%	8,812
Muskingum	15,260	48.13%	13,089	41.28%	3,356	10.59%			2,171	6.85%	31,705
Noble	2,615	53.06%	1,726	35.02%	587	11.91%			889	18.04%	4,928
Ottawa	7,149	47.30%	6,319	41.81%	1,647	10.90%			830	5.49%	15,115
Paulding	4,074	53.01%	2,703	35.17%	908	11.82%			1,371	17.84%	7,685
Perry	4,815	44.96%	4,811	44.92%	1,084	10.12%			4	0.04%	10,710
Pickaway	6,690	53.25%	3,536	28.14%	2,335	18.58%	3	0.02%	3,154	25.11%	12,564
Pike	3,247	40.01%	3,445	42.45%	1,423	17.54%			-198	-2.44%	8,115
Portage	15,064	41.27%	16,348	44.78%	5,093	13.95%			-1,284	-3.51%	36,505
Preble	6,544	52.63%	3,817	30.70%	2,073	16.67%			2,727	21.93%	12,434
Putnam	7,188	59.38%	3,530	29.16%	1,387	11.46%			3,658	30.22%	12,105
Richland	23,484	53.63%	14,988	34.23%	5,311	12.13%	4	0.01%	8,496	19.40%	43,787
Ross	11,284	50.72%	6,873	30.90%	4,087	18.37%	2	0.01%	4,411	19.82%	22,246
Sandusky	11,696	53.10%	8,581	38.96%	1,745	7.92%	3	0.01%	3,115	14.14%	22,025
Scioto	15,310	47.37%	13,836	42.81%	3,171	9.81%			1,474	4.56%	32,317
Seneca	12,040	52.30%	8,970	38.97%	2,010	8.73%			3,070	13.33%	23,020
Shelby	7,248	47.60%	6,479	42.55%	1,499	9.85%			769	5.05%	15,226
Stark	68,414	47.88%	57,675	40.36%	16,775	11.74%	24	0.02%	10,739	7.52%	142,888
Summit	82,649	39.56%	100,068	47.89%	26,157	12.52%	67	0.03%	-17,419	-8.33%	208,941
Trumbull	33,076	39.97%	40,365	48.77%	9,314	11.25%	5	0.01%	-7,289	-8.80%	82,760
Tuscarawas	14,102	43.44%	15,617	48.11%	2,741	8.44%	1	0.00%	-1,515	-4.67%	32,461
Union	6,415	62.66%	2,431	23.74%	1,392	13.60%			3,984	38.92%	10,238
Van Wert	7,835	57.92%	4,360	32.23%	1,332	9.85%			3,475	25.69%	13,527
Vinton	2,219	52.31%	1,608	37.91%	414	9.76%	1	0.02%	611	14.40%	4,242
Warren	12,663	48.68%	6,756	25.97%	6,595	25.35%			5,907	22.71%	26,014
Washington	11,888	58.25%	6,922	33.92%	1,597	7.83%	1	0.00%	4,966	24.33%	20,408
Wayne	15,151	58.34%	8,891	34.24%	1,924	7.41%	4	0.02%	6,260	24.10%	25,970
Williams	8,059	59.76%	4,456	33.04%	970	7.19%			3,603	26.72%	13,485
Wood	16,111	53.81%	10,867	36.30%	2,952	9.86%	9	0.03%	5,244	17.51%	29,939
Wyandot	5,265	57.90%	2,919	32.10%	910	10.01%			2,346	25.80%	9,094
Totals	1,791,014	45.23%	1,700,586	42.95%	467,495	11.81%	603	0.02%	90,428	2.28%	3,959,698

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Adams
• Ashland
• Ashtabula
• Athens
• Auglaize
• Brown
• Butler
• Carroll
• Champaign
• Clermont
• Clinton
• Columbiana
• Coshocton
• Crawford
• Darke
• Defiance
• Erie
• Fairfield
• Fayette
• Franklin
• Gallia
• Geauga
• Greene
• Guernsey
• Hamilton
• Hardin
• Henry
• Highland
• Hocking
• Holmes
• Huron
• Jackson
• Knox
• Lake
• Lawrence
• Licking
• Logan
• Madison
• Marion
• Medina
• Meigs
• Miami
• Morgan
• Morrow
• Muskingum
• Noble
• Ottawa
• Paulding
• Perry
• Pickaway
• Preble
• Putnam
• Richland
• Ross
• Sandusky
• Scioto
• Seneca
• Shelby
• Stark
• Van Wert
• Vinton
• Warren
• Washington
• Wayne
• Williams
• Wood
• Wyandot

See also

• United States presidential elections in Ohio

Notes

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.