On November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. Kennedy won the popular vote by a narrow margin of 120,000 votes out of a record 68.8 million ballots cast. He won the electoral vote by a wider margin, receiving 303 votes to Nixon's 219. 14 unpledged electors from two states—Alabama and Mississippi—voted for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia, as did one faithless elector in Oklahoma. In the concurrent congressional elections, Democrats retained wide majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Kennedy was the first person born in the 20th century to be elected president, and, at age 43, the youngest person elected to the office. He was also the first Roman Catholic elected to the presidency.