1964 West Virginia gubernatorial election

1964 West Virginia gubernatorial election

← 1960 November 3, 1964 1968 →
 
Nominee Hulett C. Smith Cecil H. Underwood
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 433,023 355,559
Percentage 54.91% 45.09%

County results
Smith:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Underwood:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election

Wally Barron
Democratic

Elected Governor

Hulett C. Smith
Democratic

The 1964 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1964, to elect the governor of West Virginia.

West Virginia at the time was a solidly Democratic state, and the 1964 election year was a strong year for the Democrats nationally with Lyndon Johnson scoring a landslide win over the Republican Barry Goldwater.

The Democrats from a field of four including the Julius Singleton, the speaker of the House of Delegates and Harold Cutright who would seek the 1966 Senate nomination as a Republican. The Democrats nominated Hulett Smith recent chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party and son of former Sixth District Representative Joe Smith.

The Republicans overwhelmingly chose the popular former governor Cecil Underwood.