The 1964 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 3, 1964. Alabama voters chose ten representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-president. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other states.
Goldwater received 77% of the white vote.[1] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Sumter County, Greene County, Wilcox County, Lowndes County and Bullock County voted for a Republican candidate, as well as the last time that Macon County did not vote for the national Democratic candidate.[2] Alabama was one of five states that swung more Republican in 1964, alongside Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Alabama was central to the Civil rights movement in the 1960s.[3] Governor George Wallace condemned and refused to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[4] The primary chose a set of unpledged Democratic electors.[5] by a margin of five-to-one,[6] Under Wallace's guidance, the Alabama Democratic Party placed this slate of unpledged Democratic electors on the ballot,[7][8] against the advice of some legal scholars,[9] but after planning to run for president himself (as he would do in 1968), decided against this in July. Johnson was the third winning president-elect to not appear on the ballot in Alabama, after Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and Harry S. Truman in 1948.
Initially, it was expected that this slate – the only option for mainstream Democrats in Alabama – would be pledged to Wallace himself, but he released them from pledges to vote for him if elected.[10] Once campaigning began, Wallace supported Republican nominee Barry Goldwater over the unpledged slate,[11] although he did campaign for Democratic candidates for state and local offices.[12]
^Roberts, Chalmers (August 2, 1964). "Goldwater Splits The South: Civil Rights Act Already Has Cost LBJ at Least Four States". The Boston Globe. p. A-3.
^Sullivan, Joseph W. (September 19, 1964). "The GOP in Dixie: Civil Rights Stand Gives Goldwater a Wide Lead In Most of the South Survey Finds Senator Ahead Everywhere but in Texas; Other Republicans Benefit But Margin Has Narrowed". The Wall Street Journal. p. 1.
^Eubanks, Bicknell (October 27, 1964). "Republicans Battle in Dixie: Likely Breakthrough". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 4.
^Manly, Chely (October 29, 1964). "Johnson Gains in South but Dixie Is Still Strong for Barry: Goldwater Keeps Loyal Army of Backers". The Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
^Kraslow, David (November 1, 1964). "How South Will Vote Remains Big Question: Goldwater "Fairly Safe" in Three States, Johnson in One, Rest Considered Toss-ups". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. (17.
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