Twenty-seven senators voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when the Senate passed the bill on June 19, 1964, by a margin of 73 to 27. Twenty-one of the “nay” votes came from Democrats, all representing Southern or border states, and six came from Republicans whose stated objections centered on federal power rather than racial policy.1National Archives. Roll Call Tally on Civil Rights Act 1964, June 19, 1964
The 21 Democrats Who Voted No
Every Democratic “nay” vote came from a senator representing a former Confederate state or a border state closely tied to the Southern political establishment. Many had signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto opposing the Supreme Court’s desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, and their vote in 1964 continued more than a decade of organized Southern resistance to federal civil rights enforcement.
Listed by state:2U.S. Senate. Roll Call Vote on Civil Rights Act, June 19, 1964
- Alabama: Lister Hill, John Sparkman
- Arkansas: J. William Fulbright, John McClellan
- Florida: Spessard Holland, George Smathers
- Georgia: Richard Russell, Herman Talmadge
- Louisiana: Allen Ellender, Russell Long
- Mississippi: James Eastland, John Stennis
- North Carolina: Sam Ervin, B. Everett Jordan
- South Carolina: Olin Johnston, Strom Thurmond
- Tennessee: Herbert Walters
- Virginia: Harry F. Byrd Sr., A. Willis Robertson
- West Virginia: Robert C. Byrd
Senator Richard Russell of Georgia led the opposition as head of the Southern bloc, a coalition he had commanded since the late 1940s.3Library of Congress. The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom Not every Southern Democrat joined him. Albert Gore Sr. of Tennessee and Ralph Yarborough of Texas broke with the bloc and voted for the bill, a decision that carried real political risk at home.
The 6 Republicans Who Voted No
None of the Republican opponents represented a Southern state:2U.S. Senate. Roll Call Vote on Civil Rights Act, June 19, 1964
- Arizona: Barry Goldwater
- Iowa: Bourke Hickenlooper
- New Hampshire: Norris Cotton
- New Mexico: Edwin Mechem
- Texas: John Tower
- Wyoming: Milward Simpson
Barry Goldwater was the most prominent Republican opponent and became the party’s 1964 presidential nominee. He framed his vote as a constitutional stand, arguing that Title II (banning discrimination in public accommodations) and Title VII (banning employment discrimination) overreached federal authority under the Commerce Clause. Goldwater said he supported other titles of the bill, including those addressing voting rights and school desegregation, but concluded he could not vote for legislation he believed expanded federal power beyond constitutional limits. The five other Republican opponents voiced similar concerns about government reach into private business decisions.
Two Different Kinds of Opposition
The geographic pattern tells the story. The Democratic “nay” votes mapped almost perfectly onto the former Confederacy, states that had operated as one-party Democratic strongholds since Reconstruction and where maintaining racial segregation was a central feature of the political order. Senators from these states had successfully filibustered every major civil rights bill for decades.
The Republican opposition came from a different place. Goldwater had supported earlier civil rights legislation and had helped integrate the Arizona National Guard and his family’s department stores. His objection to the 1964 Act was narrower and constitutional: he believed Congress lacked authority under the Commerce Clause to tell private businesses whom they had to serve or hire. History has judged that reasoning harshly, but it was a different argument than the one Russell and the Southern bloc were making.
The Filibuster the 27 Could Not Sustain
The final tally was possible only because the Senate first broke a filibuster that consumed 60 working days, including seven Saturdays.4U.S. Senate. Civil Rights Filibuster Ended Russell organized the opposing senators into three rotating teams of six, each holding the floor for four hours a day while the others rested. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia delivered an unbroken speech lasting 14 hours and 13 minutes, finishing on the morning of June 10, 1964.
The Senate then invoked cloture 71 to 29, with 27 Republicans and 44 Democrats voting to end debate. It was the first time the Senate had ever shut down a filibuster on a civil rights bill.5U.S. Senate. Landmark Legislation: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Nine days later the bill itself passed.
What Happened to the Opponents
The vote accelerated a political realignment that reshaped American politics for decades. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina left the Democratic Party for the Republican Party on September 16, 1964, three months after voting against the Act. Harry F. Byrd Jr. of Virginia later left the Democrats in 1970 to serve as an independent.6U.S. Senate. Senators Who Changed Parties During Senate Service
The 1964 presidential election put the shift on the map. Goldwater lost to Lyndon Johnson in a national landslide but carried five Deep South states that had voted Democratic for generations: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina, along with his home state of Arizona. His vote against the Civil Rights Act had made him popular among white Southern voters who viewed federal civil rights enforcement as an intrusion on state authority. Southern states continued shifting toward Republican presidential candidates in the decades that followed.