Why did Multnomah County (Portland, OR) vote R in 1960, but never again?

[Nichlemn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County,_Oregon#Law_and_government

Usually, the last time a place voted Republican if it hasn't for a while was in strong nationwide victory, but 1960 was a classic toss-up election. It then didn't vote for Nixon in 1968 or even 1972, despite his larger nationwide margins.

[CosmicDestiny]

Oregon was the only state west of the Rockies that voted for Dewey in '48.  Oregon had a strong GOP tradition, but in 1964, Goldwater's extremism turned Portlandians off.  It seems like after Goldwater, it's never been the same.  Also, Portland likely had a "Berkeley effect" in which counter-culture/hippies moved the populace left during the '60s.  The city became much more liberal after that decade.     

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Not as interesting as those that last voted R in 1980, such as now hardcore Democratic counties Marin CA and Tompkins NY. Mondale made them reliably D.

Also interesting is that Alpine and Mono counties in California were hardcore Republican for a long time, and picked Kerry 2004 to become Democratic counties.

[RedSLC]

Not as interesting as those that last voted R in 1980, such as now hardcore Democratic counties Marin CA and Tompkins NY. Mondale made them reliably D.

John Anderson did pretty well in both of these counties, which might have helped Reagan carry them (considering he won both without an absolute majority).

Also interesting is that Alpine and Mono counties in California were hardcore Republican for a long time, and picked Kerry 2004 to become Democratic counties.

This is interesting. These counties were two of only five counties in California to vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964, and if I'm correct, Alpine was the most republican county in the entire state at one point.

Environmentalism could be one reason, especially in places like Mammoth Lakes, but this doesn't explain why the two counties are also relatively liberal on social issues nowadays, too (both counties voted against banning SSM, and in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana).

[Mechaman]

Looks like Nixon won it by a pretty thin margin.

Looking at historical records it looks like one of those traditionally Republican Western/Plains counties that became pretty Democratic during the New Deal era.  Of course, like many counties like it, there was a heavy swing back towards the GOP column during Ike, but I should note that Ike's margin went down by a half in 1956 compared to 1960.  If I had to guess many voters were returning to their old school voting habits as Ike was seen as a pretty non-committal president in regards to the political spectrum (though many prefer to call him a "dynamic conservative").  Western and Plains States parties, up to the Civil Rights Era, were very undefined ideologically as you would have outright left wingers in both the Republican and Democratic Parties.  There wasn't the class based politics like there was in the East and the South, which made ideological alignments easier to identify.
Nixon's win, which was razor thin, is more proof of the oncoming trend than an exception.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County,_Oregon#Law_and_government

Usually, the last time a place voted Republican if it hasn't for a while was in strong nationwide victory, but 1960 was a classic toss-up election. It then didn't vote for Nixon in 1968 or even 1972, despite his larger nationwide margins.

I always wondered the same thing about Genesee County, MI.  It narrowly went for Nixon in 1960 and the GOP candidate for Michigan governor that year, but it seemed to lean D both before and after that.

[mianfei]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County,_Oregon#Law_and_government

Usually, the last time a place voted Republican if it hasn't for a while was in strong nationwide victory, but 1960 was a classic toss-up election. It then didn't vote for Nixon in 1968 or even 1972, despite his larger nationwide margins.

People forget how anti-Catholic the Pacific Northwest was, probably because it's brand of anti-Catholicism so different from the more familiar anti-Catholicism of Appalachia.

Although La Follette had gained around 30 percent of the vote there in 1924, and his family endorsed Al Smith when La Follette died in 1925, much of the La Follette Pacific Northwest vote was turned over to Hoover. The same thing applied in 1960, where all three Pacific states trended Republican despite large-scale Democratic gains at state and local levels since 1954.

A generic Protestant Democrat would likely have swept the Pacific States in 1960.