1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey

Main article: 1960 United States presidential election

1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey

November 8, 1960

Nominee John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon Party Democratic Republican Home state Massachusetts California Running mate Lyndon B. Johnson Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Electoral vote 16 0 Popular vote 1,385,415 1,363,324 Percentage 49.96% 49.16%

County Results Kennedy   50-60%   60-70% Nixon   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Dwight Eisenhower Republican Elected President John F. Kennedy Democratic

The 1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 8, 1960. All 50 states were part of the 1960 United States presidential election. Voters chose 16 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New Jersey was won by the Democratic nominees, Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and his running mate Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Kennedy and Johnson defeated the Republican nominees, Vice President Richard Nixon of California and his running mate Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts.

Kennedy carried New Jersey with 49.96% of the vote to Nixon's 49.16%, a margin of 0.80%. Kennedy managed to narrowly win the state despite winning only seven counties to Nixon's 14. However, Kennedy managed to rack up large margins decisively winning some of the most heavily populated counties in the state, while keeping the results very close in those heavily populated counties that he lost. As the first Roman Catholic nominee, from an urban Irish immigrant background, John Kennedy appealed strongly to working-class Catholics and other urban ethnic immigrant groups, who turned out in record numbers to support him. Thus Kennedy's support base was condensed into mostly heavily populated urban areas.

New Jersey in this era was usually a swing state with a slight Republican lean. But in 1960, excitement among the many Catholic and other ethnic immigrant communities that populated New Jersey's cities for the historic candidacy of John F. Kennedy led to record turnout to elect the first Catholic president, thus narrowly delivering the state to Kennedy. The Great Migration also helped Kennedy, who clearly won the state's African-American voters. As Kennedy eked out a razor-thin victory nationally to win the presidency, New Jersey voted basically how the nation voted. But under the unique circumstances that made Kennedy popular in Northeastern states, New Jersey's results in 1960 made it about .18% more Democratic than the national average. This was also the last election until fellow Democratic candidate from Massachusetts John Kerry did so in 2004, when a Northern Democrat won New Jersey, as the next three Democratic presidential candidates to carry the state were all from the South (Lyndon B. Johnson was from Texas, Bill Clinton from Arkansas, and Al Gore from Tennessee), even though New Jersey is a northern state. This was also the first time since 1904 that New Jersey voted more Democratic than the rest of the nation. This is the last time a Democrat won without Burlington, Gloucester, and Atlantic counties. This is the most recent election in which the statewide winning candidate did not carry Union County.

Primaries

Democratic primary

See also: 1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries

No candidates ran in the Democratic primary. Unpledged at-large delegates were elected.

Governor Robert B. Meyner wanted to lead an unpledged state delegation to the convention to support him as a favorite son. Kennedy opted to allow him to do this, and therefore did not compete in New Jersey. Kennedy did so because he was confident that Meyner lacked national appeal, and thus, if convention voting went into multiple rounds, Kennedy would be able to secure the backing of New Jersey delegates after the first round.

Republican primary

See also: 1960 Republican Party presidential primaries

No candidates ran in the Republican primary. Unpledged at-large delegates were elected.

Results

1960 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	John F. Kennedy	1,385,415	49.96%	16
	Republican	Richard Nixon	1,363,324	49.16%	0
	Socialist Workers	Farrell Dobbs	11,402	0.41%	0
	Conservative	J. Bracken Lee	8,708	0.31%	0
	Socialist Labor	Eric Hass	4,262	0.15%	0
Totals			2,773,111	100.0%	16
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)					71%/90%

Results by county

By county

County John Fitzgerald Kennedy Democratic Richard Milhous Nixon Republican Various candidates Other parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Atlantic 36,129 46.94% 39,158 50.88% 1,682 2.19% -3,029 -3.94% 76,969 Bergen 156,165 40.90% 224,969 58.92% 674 0.18% -68,804 -18.02% 381,808 Burlington 39,321 48.22% 42,112 51.65% 106 0.13% -2,791 -3.42% 81,539 Camden 102,083 54.73% 84,066 45.07% 366 0.20% 18,017 9.66% 186,515 Cape May 10,137 38.66% 16,076 61.31% 9 0.03% -5,939 -22.65% 26,222 Cumberland 23,199 52.12% 21,283 47.81% 30 0.07% 1,916 4.30% 44,512 Essex 217,878 55.35% 167,848 42.64% 7,897 2.01% 50,030 12.71% 393,623 Gloucester 29,752 47.79% 32,474 52.16% 33 0.05% -2,722 -4.37% 62,259 Hudson 174,754 59.99% 113,972 39.13% 2,566 0.88% 60,782 20.87% 291,292 Hunterdon 8,863 35.84% 15,842 64.06% 26 0.11% -6,979 -28.22% 24,731 Mercer 74,166 61.16% 46,924 38.69% 179 0.15% 27,242 22.46% 121,269 Middlesex 116,095 58.18% 83,025 41.60% 436 0.22% 33,070 16.57% 199,556 Monmouth 62,434 43.34% 81,382 56.49% 244 0.17% -18,948 -13.15% 144,060 Morris 42,698 36.22% 75,039 63.66% 146 0.12% -32,341 -27.43% 117,883 Ocean 20,113 38.75% 31,430 60.56% 355 0.68% -11,317 -21.81% 51,898 Passaic 90,950 50.70% 80,853 45.07% 7,599 4.24% 10,097 5.63% 179,402 Salem 12,394 46.58% 14,192 53.34% 21 0.08% -1,798 -6.76% 26,607 Somerset 28,489 43.92% 36,200 55.81% 174 0.27% -7,711 -11.89% 64,863 Sussex 7,269 30.75% 16,362 69.21% 11 0.05% -9,093 -38.46% 23,642 Union 119,986 48.97% 123,224 50.29% 1,798 0.73% -3,238 -1.32% 245,008 Warren 12,540 42.58% 16,893 57.36% 20 0.07% -4,353 -14.78% 29,453 Totals 1,385,415 49.96% 1,363,324 49.16% 24,372 0.88% 22,091 0.80% 2,773,111 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Essex Hudson Mercer Middlesex Camden Passaic Cumberland

Analysis

In urban Hudson County, home to Bayonne, Jersey City, and Hoboken, and part of the New York City area where Kennedy did very well, Kennedy won countywide by a decisive 60–39 margin. This represented a major shift from 1956, when Republican Dwight Eisenhower had won Hudson County by 20 points. In Mercer County, home to the state capital of Trenton, Kennedy received his largest share of the vote, winning 61–39.

Essex County, home to Newark, had long been Republican-leaning, last voting Democratic in 1936. However Kennedy won the heavily populated county by a decisive 55–42 margin, the start of a re-alignment of the county; by the end of the 1960s, Essex County would be the most Democratic county in New Jersey. Kennedy also won heavily populated Middlesex County by a 58–41 margin. In equally heavily populated Union County, Nixon won, but only by a razor-thin 50–49 margin. This is the last time that Union County voted for the statewide loser, the longest active bellwether streak in the state. In Passaic County, Kennedy won by a 51–45 margin. In Camden County, Kennedy won 55–45.

Nixon was able to keep the race close statewide by winning several fairly populated suburban counties, like Monmouth County and Morris County, along with many rural counties; overall his biggest prize was heavily populated Bergen County, which went to Nixon by a 59–41 margin. Nixon's strongest county by vote share was rural Sussex County, where he received 69% of the vote to Kennedy's 31%.

See also

• United States presidential elections in New Jersey
• Presidency of John F. Kennedy
• Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson