Goldwater and his brother had long time political and business connections with organized crime figures in Las Vegas and Arizona, along with a fellow Arizona Republican PArty Chairman Harry Rosenzwieg.. Even my father knew about them and wouldn't vote for him back in the 1960's. His brother's bank floated a loan to help build the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, for one. Willie Bioff contributed to his 1952 Senate campaign. A lot of Republicans switched Parties in that Presidential election. Goldwater did poorly in Republican areas, and LBJ won in a landslide even with George Wallace stealing a lot of Democrat votes. The Civil Rights Act was also popular with GOP voters that year, and Goldwater had voted against it.