1964 United States presidential election in Indiana

A presidential election was held in Indiana on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election. The Democratic ticket of the incumbent president of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson and the senior U.S. senator from Minnesota Hubert Humphrey defeated the Republican ticket of the junior U.S. senator from Arizona Barry Goldwater and the U.S. representative from New York's 40th congressional district William E. Miller. Johnson defeated Goldwater in the national election with 486 electoral votes.^[2]

The governor of Alabama George Wallace challenged Johnson for the Democratic nomination in the 1964 presidential primaries. Many observers assumed that Wallace, a segregationist, would do well in Indiana, based on the state's history of Ku Klux Klan activity, anti-Black racism, and conservative politics.^[3] Coming on the heels of a stronger-than-expected performance in Wisconsin, the Indiana primary was seen as a crucial "test" of Wallace's candidacy.^[4]

Johnson did not appear on the Indiana ballot; instead, Wallace faced the Democratic governor of Indiana Matthew E. Welsh, who ran as a stalking horse for the incumbent. Welsh's slogan was "Clear the Way for LBJ; Vote for Welsh the 5th of May." Welsh took seriously the possibility that Wallace could carry Indiana and ran a "vigorous" campaign.^[5] With no presidential ambitions of his own, his sole objective was to prevent a strong showing for Wallace that could embarrass the state and undermine the national civil rights movement.^[6]

The race received national press attention, with prominent journalists including Walter Cronkite traveling to Indiana to cover the primary. Welsh defeated Wallace by a wide margin; while Wallace received significant support from Lake and Porter counties, his statewide percentage fell below that which he had polled in Wisconsin one month prior.^[7]

Johnson became the first Democrat to carry Indiana in a presidential election since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and the only Democratic presidential candidate to carry Randolph and Wabash counties.^[9] As of 2024, this is the most recent election in which Allen, Adams, Bartholomew, Brown, Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fayette, Fountain, Franklin, Grant, Hancock, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, LaGrange, Lawrence, Marshall, Miami, Montgomery, Noble, Orange, Parke, Pulaski, Putnam, Ripley, Shelby, Tipton, Warren, Wells, White, and Whitley counties voted for the Democratic ticket.^[10]

• United States presidential elections in Indiana

• Bottorf, John D. (1964). General Election Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Indiana: 1964 General Election Statistics. Indianapolis: Indiana Secretary of State.
• Congressional Quarterly (1985). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (2nd ed.). Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.
• Madison, James H. (1986). The Indiana Way: A State History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• McGillivray, Alice V.; Scammon, Richard M. (1994). America at the Polls, 1960–1992: Kennedy to Clinton; A Handbook of American Presidential Election Statistics. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.
• Menendez, Albert J. (2009). The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868–2004. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company.
• Sullivan, Robert David (June 29, 2016). "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved over the Past Century". America.
• Welsh, Matthew E. (1994). "The 1964 Primary Election". In Gray, Ralph D. (ed.). Indiana History: A Book of Readings. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 392–402.