United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 1960

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →

Nominee John F. Kennedy Richard Nixon Party Democratic Republican Home state Massachusetts California Running mate Lyndon B. Johnson Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Electoral vote 32 0 Popular vote 2,556,282 2,439,956 Percentage 51.06% 48.74%

County results Kennedy   50-60%   60-70% Nixon   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%

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

Elections in Pennsylvania
Federal government U.S. President 1789 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 U.S. Senate Class One 1788 1791 1793 1794 1797 1802 1808 February 1814 1814 1820-21 1826 1831 1832-33 1840 1845 1851 1857 1861 1863 1869 1875 1881 1887 1893 1901 1905 1909 1911 1916 1922 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1991 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018 Class Three 1788 1795 1801 December 1801 1806 1812 1818 1824–25 1830 1834 1836 1843 1845 1849 1856 1861 1867 1873 1877 1879 1885 1891 1897 1903 1909 1914 1920 1922 1926 1930 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 U.S. House of Representatives 1788 1791 1792 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1843 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1964 1968 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2010, 12th 2012 2014 2016 2018 2019, 12th 2020
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Elections by year State elections 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016
Philadelphia Mayors 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Other municipal elections 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017
Pittsburgh Mayors 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1957 1959 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2007 2009 2013 2017
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v t e

The 1960 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8, 1960. Voters chose 32 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Background[edit]

Pennsylvania had historically been a powerfully Republican state that owing to industrialization had become Democratic-leaning following the New Deal:^[1] 1960 saw Democrats surpass Republicans in registration for the first time since the Civil War.^[2] However, the nomination of the second Catholic presidential candidate in John F. Kennedy complicated this issue because most of rural Pennsylvania was powerfully Appalachian and extremely hostile to voting for a Catholic,^[3] creating the potential for large anti-Democratic swings and trends in the northeastern non-Yankee Pocono Mountains. The non-Appalachian Pennsylvania Dutch Country had been similarly hostile to Catholicism throughout the state’s history,^[4] and owing to opposition to Irish control of the Democratic Party most of the state’s urban Catholics would before the New Deal back dominant Republican machines in which they had no actual political power.^[5]

However, in 1958 Pennsylvania – a state historically very reluctant to elect Catholics to major offices – had elected David L. Lawrence as Governor. Nevertheless, his margin was much smaller than polls had previously predicted, with decreases vis-à-vis the 1954 gubernatorial election even in heavily Catholic urban counties.^[6]Massachusetts Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy had emerged as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination but Pennsylvania Democrats were reluctant to run his for fear of an anti-Catholic reaction in traditionally Democratic rural counties. However, lobbying by Boston Archbishop Richard Cushing meant Governor Lawrence released sixty-four of the state’s eighty-one delegates for Kennedy^[7] in a bid to stop Adlai Stevenson II from gaining a third nomination.^[8]

Primaries[edit]

Pennsylvania held its primaries on April 26.^[9][10]

Democratic primary[edit]

With 81 delegates to the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Pennsylvania was among the largest states to hold a primary.^[9] Pennsylvania's nonbinding Democratic primary did not list candidate's names. However, write-in presidential preference votes were allowed. Delegates were elected directly.^[9]

By January 1960, the Kennedy campaign became aware of "non-partisan citizen committees" operating in support of Kennedy's candidacy in the state, without any direct connection to his official campaign.^[9] However, the state as a whole was still cold on Kennedy.^[9] Its liberals were fervent supporters of Adlai Stevenson II, and therefore hoped to see Stevenson nominated for a third time.^[9] Philadelphia's Democratic organization, which had a significant sway upon the state's Democratic establishment, was led by William J. Green Jr., who favored the prospective candidacy of Stuart Symington.^[9] As the year progressed, Green and other leaders were persuaded by polls to switch their allegiance to Kennedy.^[9] Liberal senator Joseph S. Clark Jr. even made it known that Kennedy ranked at least second (behind Stevenson) in his own preference.^[9]

However, despite others moving to embrace Kennedy, Governor David L. Lawrence withheld his own support from Kennedy, even as he picked hp momentum in the state.^[9] Lawrence still reserved hope that Adlai Stevenson could be successfully nominated at the convention.^[9] An older Catholic Democrat, Lawrence was public in his belief that the country was still not ready to elect a Catholic president.^[9] Kennedy would tell reporters that inquired with him about Lawrence's frequent comments doubting the viability of a Catholic presidential nominee by stating that he was, "deeply disturbed" by them.^[9] Referencing Lawrence's own strong victory in the state's 1958 gubernatorial election, Kennedy commented that, "It still behooves him now to be urging that this same opportunity should be denied to others."^[9]

Kennedy handily won the primary.

Results[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Nixon was the only candidate on the Republican primary ballot and won nearly all of the vote. However, thousands of write-in votes were cast for other individuals.^[10]

Results[edit]

General election[edit]

Richard Nixon campaign at Muhlenburg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania narrowly voted for the Democratic nominee Senator Kennedy over the Republican nominee, Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy won Pennsylvania by a slim margin of 2.32 percentage points, being aided rather than hindered by his Catholic faith owing to the numerical power of his co-religionists in urban Philadelphia, Lackawanna County, and in the industrial areas around Lake Erie.^[6] This clearly outnumbered anti-Catholic sentiment in rural areas, which caused him to lose ground vis-à-vis Adlai Stevenson in sixteen rural counties.^[6]

Results[edit]

Results by county[edit]

References[edit]