(Campaign) Announced: Nov. 18, 1967 Withdrew: February 28, 1968
Favorite sons
The following candidates ran only in their home state's primary, caucus, or convention. They ran for the purpose of controlling their state's respective delegate slate at the national convention and did not appear to be considered national candidates by the media. The media referred to them as "favorite son" candidates.
The following persons were listed in two or more major national polls or were the subject of media speculation surrounding their potential candidacy, but declined to actively seek the nomination.
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^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, including the January 6, 1969 edition of the Congressional Record, list his home state as New York.
^This should not be taken as a finalized list of results. While a significant amount of research was done, there were a number of Delegates who were not bound by the instruction, or "Pledged" to a candidate, though an attempt has been made to display their initial preferences. Some states also held primaries for the delegate positions, and these on occasion were where slates or candidates pledge to a certain candidate might be elected; however, as these elections allowed for a single person to vote for multiple candidates, as many as the number of positions being filled, it is difficult to determine how many people actually voted in these primaries. For this reason, while the results of some are in the table, they are not included in the popular vote summaries at the bottom of the table. Also information on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, who elected five and three delegates respectively to the Republican Convention, was not found.
^Committed to Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania.
^Two delegates initially refused to commit to a candidate, but later backed Nixon.
^Only six of eleven districts held conventions on this date.
^Only five of eleven districts held conventions on this date.
^A resolution was passed endorsing Governor Dewey Bartlett as a favorite-son, but he withdrew himself from consideration.
^Includes 5,511 Write-In votes (5.30%) for Eugene McCarthy, 1,778 Write-In votes (1.71%) for Lyndon Johnson, 527 votes (0.51%) for Willis Stone, 374 Write-In votes (5.30%) for Paul Fisher, and 247 Write-In votes (0.24%) for Herbert Hoover
^This is an estimate, as no hard number was provided in the source.
^The source claims that Nixon could call upon 16 of the 24 Iowa delegates; the estimate of 7 accounts for the minimum 9 elected in the District Conventions.
^No poll was done on the delegation, so preferences are not known.
^No poll was done on the delegation, so preferences are not known.
^Includes 18,800 Write-In votes (6.52%) for Eugene McCarthy, 13,290 Write-In votes (4.61%) for George Wallace, 10,431 Write-In votes (3.62%) for Robert Kennedy, 4,651 Write-In votes (1.61%) for Hubert Humphrey, 3,088 Write-In votes (1.07%) for Lyndon Johnson, and 1,271 Write-In votes (0.44%) for Raymond Shafer
^Loosely Committed to Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania.
^All votes for Governor John Volpe of Massachusetts.
^Includes 9,758 Write-In votes (9.16%) for Eugene McCarthy, 1,184 Write-In votes (1.11%) for Robert Kennedy, 828 Write-In votes (0.78%) for Hubert Humphrey, 297 Write-In votes (0.28%) for George Wallace, and 70 Write-In votes (0.07%) for Charles Percey
^District Conventions were held the earlier on April 20; preferences are not known amongst those delegates, however.
^Includes 1,544 Write-In votes (0.77%) for Eugene McCarthy, 1,302 votes (0.65%) for Americus Liberator, 885 Write-In votes (0.44%) for Robert Kennedy, 533 Write-In votes (0.27%) for George Wallace, 219 Write-In votes (0.11%) for Hubert Humphrey, 32 Write-In votes (0.02%) for John Lindsay, and 19 Write-In votes (0.01%) for Lyndon Johnson.
^Nominally uncommitted, the delegates were reportedly solidly behind Rockefeller
^In the 4th District there was a resolution passed advocating for the nomination of Charlton Lyons, the '64 Republican nominee for Governor, as a Favorite Son for the Louisiana delegation.
^Includes 7,387 Write-In votes (2.37%) for Eugene McCarthy, and 1,723 Write-In votes (0.55%) for Robert Kennedy.
^The date is assumed from the source, as hard data on the 1st and 2nd District Conventions could not be found.
^Two delegates not polled are included here; seven delegates leaned towards either Nixon or Reagan equally.
^Includes 1,358 Write-In votes (1.53%) for Eugene McCarthy, 616 Write-In votes (0.70%) for George Wallace, 227 Write-In votes (0.26%) for Robert Kennedy, 145 Write-In votes (0.16%) for Hubert Humphrey, and 6 Write-In votes (0.01%) for Lyndon Johnson.
^Committed to Senator Clifford Case of New Jersey.
^Includes 586 Write-In votes (2.62%) for George Wallace, 162 Write-In votes (0.72%) for Eugene McCarthy, and 120 Write-In votes (0.54%) for Charles Percy.
Nixon was the front-runner for the Republican nomination and to a great extent the story of the Republican primary campaign and nomination is the story of one Nixon opponent after another entering the race and then dropping out.
Nixon's first challenger was Michigan Governor George W. Romney. Romney's grandfather, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had emigrated to Mexico in 1886 with his three wives and their children, after the U.S. federal government outlawed polygamy. However Romney's parents (monogamous under new church doctrine) retained their U.S. citizenship and returned to the United States with him and his siblings in 1912.[141] Questions were occasionally asked about Romney's eligibility to hold the office of President due to his birth in Mexico, given an asserted ambiguity in the United States Constitution over the phrase "natural-born citizen".[142][143]
By February 1967, some newspapers were questioning Romney's eligibility given his Mexican birth.[144]
A Gallup poll in mid-1967 showed Nixon with 39%, followed by Romney with 25%. However, in a slip of the tongue, Romney told a news reporter that he had been "brainwashed" by the military and the diplomatic corps into supporting the Vietnam War; the remark led to weeks of ridicule in the national news media. As the year 1968 opened, Romney was opposed to further American intervention in Vietnam and had decided to run as the Republican version of Eugene McCarthy (The New York Times 2/18/1968). Romney's support slowly faded and he withdrew from the race on February 28, 1968. (The New York Times 2/29/1968).
Nixon won a resounding victory in the important New Hampshire primary on March 12, winning 78% of the vote. Anti-war Republicans wrote in the name of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the leader of the GOP's liberal wing, who received 11% of the vote and became Nixon's new challenger. Nixon led Rockefeller in the polls throughout the primary campaign. Rockefeller defeated Nixon in the Massachusetts primary on April 30 but otherwise fared poorly in the state primaries and conventions.
By early spring, California GovernorRonald Reagan, the leader of the GOP's conservative wing, had become Nixon's chief rival. In the Nebraska primary on May 14, Nixon won with 70% of the vote to 21% for Reagan and 5% for Rockefeller. While this was a wide margin for Nixon, Reagan remained Nixon's leading challenger. Nixon won the next primary of importance, Oregon, on May 15 with 65% of the vote and won all the following primaries except for California (June 4), where only Reagan appeared on the ballot. Reagan's margin in California gave him a plurality of the nationwide primary vote, but when the Republican National Convention assembled, Nixon had 656 delegates according to a UPI poll (with 667 needed for the nomination).
At the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, Reagan and Rockefeller planned to unite their forces in a stop-Nixon movement, but the strategy fell apart when neither man agreed to support the other for the nomination. Rockefeller in particular was seen as unacceptable to Southern Conservatives. Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot. He was able to secure the nomination because of the support of many Southern delegates, after he and his subordinates made concessions to Strom Thurmond and Harry Dent.[164] Nixon then chose Maryland GovernorSpiro Agnew to be his Vice-Presidential candidate, despite complaints from within the GOP that Agnew was an unknown quantity, and that a better-known and more popular candidate, such as Romney, should have been the Vice-Presidential nominee. However, Agnew was seen as a candidate who could appeal to Rockefeller Republicans, was acceptable to Southern Conservatives, and had a solid law-and-order record.[165] It was also reported that Nixon's first choice for running mate was his longtime friend and ally, Robert Finch, who was the lieutenant governor of California since 1967 and later his HEW Secretary, but Finch declined the offer.
The Republican Convention tally (667 needed to secure nomination)[166]
^Homan, Richard (6 Aug 1968). "Agnew Gives Nixon 16 Backers: Agnew Moves to Nixon Camp With 16 of 26 Md. Delegates May Be Decisive". The Washington Post. p. A1.
^Freeburg, Russell (5 Aug 1968). "Bartlett Withdraws, Indorses Nixon". The Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
^"G.O.P. WARDS OFF A SPLIT IN KANSAS: Leaders Believed Uniting on Carlson as Favorite Son". The New York Times. 14 Jan 1968. p. 25.
^"New Jersey G. O. P. Delegates Back Case". The Chicago Tribune. 23 July 1968. p. 5.
^Lembke, Daryl (23 June 1968). "Washington State GOP Gives Boost to Nixon". Los Angeles Times. p. 2.
^"Hawaii Slate To Back Fong". The Boston Globe. 12 May 1968. p. 24.
^"Rhodes Loses G. O. P. Slate in Ohio Area". Chicago Tribune. 14 May 1968. p. 3.
^Apple, R.W. (16 June 1968). "Rockefeller Wins Shafer's Endorsement: Expects to Gain Most of the 64 Delegates From Pennsylvania". The New York Times. p. 1.
^"Thurmond Stops Reagan, Holds South for Nixon: Thurmond Blocks Reagan's Threat to Nixon in South". Los Angeles Times. 7 Aug 1968. p. 1.
^"Nixon Gets Texas Votes--Enough for Nomination". The Atlanta Constitution. 2 Jul 1968. p. 11.
^"Gov. Volpe Backs Nixon Candidacy". The Austin Statesman. 28 June 1968. p. 48.
^Gallup, George (10 Jan 1965). "GALLUP POLL: Nixon Is Favored by GOP Rank-and-File as Leader". Los Angeles Times. p. J3.
^Gallup, George (24 March 1965). "GALLUP POLL: Nixon's Stock Up, Goldwater's Down". Los Angeles Times. p. 10.
^Gallup, George (27 June 1965). "Nixon Talies GOP Lead for 1968". Los Angeles Times. p. E3.
^Gallup, George (26 Sep 1965). "Nixon Leads in GOP; Romney Makes Gain". Los Angeles Times. p. F2.
^ abGallup, George (5 Dec 1965). "Nixon Widening Lead Over GOP '68 Hopefuls". The Hartford Daily Courant. p. 19A.
^Gallup, George (6 Feb 1966). "Nixon Paces GOP Hopefuls". The Hartford Daily Courant. p. 23A.
^Gallup, George (10 Apr 1966). "Nixon Support Declines but He Still Tops GOP". The Hartford Daily Courant. p. 12A.
^ abcGallup, George (10 July 1966). "Romney Takes Lead Over Nixon in GOP Race". The Hartford Courant. p. 25A.
^ ab"POLL SHOWS NIXON LEADS ROCKEFELLER". The New York Times. 4 Mar 1968. p. 18.
^"--But Gallup Poll Has Nixon in Front". Boston Globe. 14 Feb 1967. p. 15.
^"Nixon Leads Romney: Gallup Poll". The Boston Globe. 19 Mar 1967. p. 2.
^Gallup, George (21 May 1967). "Nixon Increases Lead Over Romney; Becomes Independents' First Choice". The Washington Post. p. A2.
^Gallup, George (12 July 1967). "Nixon Maintains Party Lead As Romney Support Declines". The Washington Post. p. A8.
^Gallup, George (23 Aug 1967). "Reagan Gains Strength, Still Trails Nixon, Romney With GOP Voters". The Washington Post. p. A21.
^ ab"Gallup Poll: Reagan, Rocky Top Romney". Boston Globe. 24 Sep 1967. p. 23.
^Gallup, George (19 Nov 1967). "GOP Voters Give Nixon 3-1 Edge in Poll". Los Angeles Times. p. H1.
^ abGallup, George (21 Feb 1968). "Gallup Finds Nixon Holds Wide Lead". Boston Globe. p. 1.
^Gallup, George (28 July 1968). "Nixon Clear Choice Over Rocky Among GOP Voters". The Hartford Courant. p. 26A.
^"Nixon Favored Over Romney In '68, Gallup Poll Reports". The New York Times. 25 Nov 1965. p. 58.
^ abGallup, George (31 Jan 1968). "Nixon Gains on Romney; Lead Over Rocky Is Cut". The Washington Post. p. A2.
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