Why Did LBJ win Florida, the Upper South, and Idaho in 1964?

[Sumner 1868]

There was a civil rights backlash in Florida, but Kennedy-Goldwater votes were cancelled out by Nixon-LBJ votes from other areas. According to the book Patchwork Nation: Sectionalism and Political Change in American Politics, only 57.7 percent of 1960 Kennedy supporters in Florida voted for Johnson, while 54.6 percent of 1960 Nixon supporters in Florida voted for Goldwater.

[Sumner 1868]

But what about Idaho? Why was the margin between Goldwater and Johnson so close?

Southern Idaho had a bit of a swing towards Goldwater, probably because civil rights wasn't especially popular in Idaho. This was somewhat cancelled out by Johnson improving in the traditionally Democratic Panhandle.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Fears Goldwater would end various public works projects and other federal programs trumped race in much of the South that year.

[Sumner 1868]

LBJ did pretty good in Arkansas as well:

Arkansas Dixiecrat machine stood out in 1964 from other Wallace 1968 states because; unlike other "Good Ol' Boys" machines in the South; they actually supported the War on Poverty. They had little choice in the matter - Arkansas was the second poorest state in the nation in 1964 (Mississippi was first) with a 47.7% poverty rate (see here), which in those days meant less than $3,000 a year.