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1976 United States presidential election

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1976 United States presidential election

← 1972 November 2, 1976 1980 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout54.8%[1] Decrease 1.4 pp
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Georgia Michigan
Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole
Electoral vote 297 240[a]
States carried 23 + DC 27
Popular vote 40,831,881 39,148,634
Percentage 50.1% 48.0%

1976 United States presidential election in California1976 United States presidential election in Oregon1976 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1976 United States presidential election in Idaho1976 United States presidential election in Nevada1976 United States presidential election in Utah1976 United States presidential election in Arizona1976 United States presidential election in Montana1976 United States presidential election in Wyoming1976 United States presidential election in Colorado1976 United States presidential election in New Mexico1976 United States presidential election in North Dakota1976 United States presidential election in South Dakota1976 United States presidential election in Nebraska1976 United States presidential election in Kansas1976 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1976 United States presidential election in Texas1976 United States presidential election in Minnesota1976 United States presidential election in Iowa1976 United States presidential election in Missouri1976 United States presidential election in Arkansas1976 United States presidential election in Louisiana1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1976 United States presidential election in Illinois1976 United States presidential election in Michigan1976 United States presidential election in Indiana1976 United States presidential election in Ohio1976 United States presidential election in Kentucky1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi1976 United States presidential election in Alabama1976 United States presidential election in Georgia1976 United States presidential election in Florida1976 United States presidential election in South Carolina1976 United States presidential election in North Carolina1976 United States presidential election in Virginia1976 United States presidential election in West Virginia1976 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1976 United States presidential election in Maryland1976 United States presidential election in Delaware1976 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey1976 United States presidential election in New York1976 United States presidential election in Connecticut1976 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1976 United States presidential election in Vermont1976 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1976 United States presidential election in Maine1976 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1976 United States presidential election in Hawaii1976 United States presidential election in Alaska1976 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1976 United States presidential election in Maryland1976 United States presidential election in Delaware1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey1976 United States presidential election in Connecticut1976 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1976 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1976 United States presidential election in Vermont1976 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Carter/Mondale and red denotes those won by Ford/Dole. Pink is the electoral vote for Ronald Reagan by a Washington faithless elector. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 1976. The Democratic ticket of former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and Minnesota senator Walter Mondale narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent president Gerald Ford and Kansas senator Bob Dole. This was the first presidential election since 1932 in which the incumbent was defeated, as well as the only Democratic victory of the six such presidential elections between 1968 and 1988 and the last time the Democratic ticket would win until 1992.

Ford ascended to the presidency when Richard Nixon, resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which badly damaged the Republican Party and its electoral prospects. Ford promised to continue Nixon's political agenda and govern as a moderate Republican, causing considerable backlash from the conservative wing of his party. This spurred former California governor Ronald Reagan to mount a significant challenge against him in the Republican primaries, in which Ford narrowly prevailed.[2] Carter was unknown outside of his home state of Georgia at the start of the Democratic primaries, but he emerged as the front-runner after his victories in the first set of primaries. Campaigning as a political moderate within his own party and as a Washington outsider, Carter defeated numerous opponents to clinch the Democratic nomination.[3]

Ford pursued a "Rose Garden strategy" in which he sought to portray himself as an experienced leader focused on fulfilling his role as chief executive.[4] On the other hand, Carter emphasized his status as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington.[5] Saddled with a poor economy, the fall of South Vietnam, and the political fallout from the Watergate Scandal, including his unpopular pardon of Richard Nixon, Ford trailed by a wide margin in polls taken after Carter's formal nomination in July 1976. Ford's polling rebounded after a strong performance in the first presidential debate, and the race was close on election day.

Carter won a majority of the popular and electoral votes. He was able to carry several Midwestern and Northeastern swing states, as well as all the Southern states except for Oklahoma and Virginia. Ford dominated the Western states. Carter's victory at the polls was due in part to the backlash against the Watergate scandal that still was deeply hurting Republican candidates, and with Carter's rhetoric of honesty and compassion resonating with many of those voters who felt distrustful of politics post-Watergate. Ford also suffered from the popular lampooning of him as a stumbling buffoon by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live despite the fact that he had been an All-American football player at the University of Michigan. Ford became the first president to ever fail to win a national election as president or vice president (he was appointed VP in 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and ascended to President in 1974 with the resignation of President Richard Nixon).

As of 2024, this is also the last election in which the Democratic candidate won the majority of states in the South, carrying the states of Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas (mainly due to Carter's southern roots), and the most recent election in which the losing candidate carried more states than the winning candidate. This is the only election in which California voted Republican while Ohio voted Democrat, the last time that North Carolina and Indiana did not vote for the same candidate, and the last time West Virginia went Democratic by more than 15 points; it was also only in this election and in 1988 that Democrats performed better in Maine's 2nd District than in the 1st.

Nominations

[edit]

Democratic Party

[edit]
Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party (United States)
1976 Democratic Party ticket
Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale
for President for Vice President
76th
Governor of Georgia
(1971–1975)
U.S. Senator
from Minnesota
(1964–1976)
Campaign
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the nomination race
Jerry Brown George Wallace Mo Udall Robert C. Byrd Ellen McCormack Walter Fauntroy Walter Washington Jesse Gray Frank Church Henry M. Jackson Lloyd Bentsen Milton Shapp Fred Harris Sargent Shriver Birch Bayh Terry Sanford
Governor of California
(1975–1983)
Governor of Alabama
(1963–1967; 1971–1979)
U.S. Representative
for Arizona's 2nd congressional district
(1961–1991)
U.S. Senator from West Virginia
(1959–2010)
Chair of the New York Right to Life Party
(1970–1976)
Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
for District of Columbia's at-large congressional district
(1971–1991)
Mayor of the District of Columbia
(1967–1979)
New York State Assemblyman from the 70th district
(1972–1975)
U.S. Senator from Idaho
(1957–1981)
U.S. Senator from Washington
(1953–1983)
U.S. Senator from Texas
(1971–1993)
Governor of Pennsylvania
(1971–1979)
U.S. Senator from Oklahoma
(1964–1973)
Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States
in 1972
U.S. Senator from Indiana
(1963–1981)
Governor of North Carolina
(1961–1965)
Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign Campaign[broken anchor] Campaign Campaign Campaign
LN: July 15, 1976
2,449,374 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
1,955,388 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
1,611,754 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
340,309 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
238,027 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
10,149 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
5,161 votes
LN: July 15, 1976
3,574 votes
W: June 14, 1976
830,818 votes
W: May 1, 1976
1,134,375 votes
W: May 1, 1976
4,046 votes
W: April 27, 1976
88,254 votes
W: April 2, 1976
234,568 votes
W: March 16, 1976
304,399 votes
W: March 4, 1976
86,438 votes
W: January 25, 1976
404 votes

The surprise winner of the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination was Jimmy Carter, a former state senator and governor of Georgia. When the primaries began, Carter was little-known at the national level, and many political pundits regarded a number of better-known candidates, such as Senator Henry M. Jackson from Washington, Representative Morris Udall from Arizona, Governor George Wallace of Alabama, and California Governor Jerry Brown, as the favorites for the nomination. However, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Carter realized that his status as a Washington outsider, political centrist, and moderate reformer could give him an advantage over his better-known establishment rivals. Carter also took advantage of the record number of state primaries and caucuses in 1976, to eliminate his better-known rivals one-by-one.

Henry M. Jackson made a fateful decision not to compete in the early Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, which Jimmy Carter won after liberals split their votes among four other candidates. Though Jackson went on to win the Massachusetts and New York primaries, he was forced to quit the race on May 1, after losing the critical Pennsylvania primary to Carter by twelve percentage points. Carter then defeated Governor Wallace, his main conservative challenger, by a wide margin in the North Carolina primary, thus forcing Wallace to end his campaign. Representative Udall, a liberal, then became Carter's main challenger. He finished second to Carter in the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, South Dakota, and Ohio primaries, and won the caucuses in his home state of Arizona, while running even with Carter in the New Mexico caucuses. However, the fact that Udall finished second to Carter in most of these races meant that Carter steadily accumulated more delegates for the nomination than he did.

As Carter closed in on the nomination, an "ABC" ("Anybody But Carter") movement started among Northern and Western liberal Democrats who worried that Carter's Southern upbringing would make him too conservative for the Democratic Party. The leaders of the "ABC" movement, Idaho Senator Frank Church and California Governor Jerry Brown, both announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination, and defeated Carter in several late primaries. However, their campaigns started too late to prevent Carter from gathering the remaining delegates he needed to capture the nomination.

By June 1976, Carter had captured more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. At the 1976 Democratic National Convention, Carter easily won the nomination on the first ballot; Udall finished in second place. Carter then chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, a liberal, as his running mate.

Republican Party

[edit]
Republican Party (United States)
Republican Party (United States)
1976 Republican Party ticket
Gerald Ford Bob Dole
for President for Vice President
38th
President of the United States
(1974–1977)
U.S. Senator
from Kansas
(1969–1996)
Campaign
Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the nomination race
Ronald Reagan
Governor of California
(1967–1975)
Campaign
LN: August 19, 1976
4,760,222 votes

The contest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1976 was between two serious candidates: incumbent president Gerald Ford, a member of the party's moderate wing, and former governor of California Ronald Reagan, a member of the party's conservative wing. The presidential primary campaign between the two men was hard-fought and relatively even; by the start of the Republican Convention in August 1976, the race for the nomination was still too close to call. Ford defeated Reagan by a narrow margin on the first ballot at the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, and chose Senator Bob Dole from Kansas as his running mate in the place of incumbent vice president Nelson Rockefeller, who had announced the previous year that he was not interested in being considered for the vice presidential nomination.[6] The 1976 Republican Convention was the last political convention to open with the presidential nomination still being undecided until the actual balloting at the convention.

Others

[edit]

General election

[edit]

Polling

[edit]
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Jimmy
Carter (D)
Gerald
Ford (R)
Eugene
McCarthy (I)
Other Undecided Margin
Harris[8] January 5–14, 1976 36% 49% - 15% 13
Harris[9] Late January, 1976 37% 48% - 15% 11
Harris[10] March, 1976 42% 49% - 9% 7
Gallup[11] March 10–13, 1976 47% 42% - - 11% 5
Gallup[12] March 19–22, 1976 48% 46% - - 6% 2
Gallup[13] March 26–29, 1976 47% 46% - 2% 5% 1
Gallup[14] April 9–12, 1976 49% 43% - 2% 6% 6
Harris[10] April 9–15, 1976 47% 43% - 10% 4
Gallup[15] April 30 – May 3, 1976 52% 43% - - 5% 9
Harris[16] June, 1976 53% 40% - - 7% 13
Gallup[17] June 11–14, 1976 55% 37% - 3% 5% 18
Gallup[18] June 25–28, 1976 53% 36% - - 11% 17
July 12–15: Democratic National Convention
Harris[19] July 16–19, 1976 62% 27% 5% - 6% 35
Gallup[20] July 16–19, 1976 62% 29% - - 9% 33
Harris[21] July 31 – August 4, 1976 61% 32% - - 7% 29
Gallup[22] August 6–9, 1976 57% 32% - 3% 8% 25
54% 32% 6% 1% 7% 22
August 16–19: Republican National Convention
Harris[23] August 18–20, 1976 53% 39% 6% - 2% 14
Gallup[24] August 20–23, 1976 50% 37% - - 13% 13
Gallup[25] August 27–30, 1976 54% 36% - 2% 8% 18
Harris[26] September 24–25, 1976 50% 41% - - 9% 9
46% 39% 5% 1% 9% 7
Gallup[27] September 24–27, 1976 51% 40% 4% 1% 4% 11
Gallup[28] September 27 – October 4, 1976 47% 45% 1% 1% 6% 2
Harris[21] October 7–11, 1976 47% 42% - - 11% 5
44% 40% 6% 1% 9% 4
Gallup[29] October 8–11, 1976 48% 42% 2% 2% 6% 6
Gallup[30] October 15–18, 1976 47% 41% 2% 2% 8% 6
Harris[31] October 19–22, 1976 45% 42% 5% 1% 7% 3
Gallup[32] October 22–25, 1976 49% 44% 2% 1% 4% 5
Harris[33] October 23–26, 1976 45% 44% 4% - 7% 1
Gallup[34] October 28–30, 1976 46% 47% 2% 1% 4% 1
Harris[35] October 29–31, 1976 46% 45% 3% 1% 5% 1
Election Results Nov. 2, 1976 50.08% 48.02% 0.91% 0.99% - 2.06

Fall campaign

[edit]
Former Governor Jimmy Carter (left) and President Gerald Ford (right) at the presidential debate at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia on September 23, 1976

One of the advantages Ford held over Carter as the general election campaign began was his presidential privilege to preside over events celebrating the United States Bicentennial; this often resulted in favorable publicity for Ford. These included the Washington, D. C., fireworks display on the Fourth of July, which was televised nationally.[36] On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network. These events were part of Ford's "Rose Garden" strategy to win the election, meaning that instead of appearing as a typical politician, Ford presented himself as a "tested leader" who was busily fulfilling the role of national leader and chief executive. Not until October did Ford leave the White House to actively campaign across the nation.[citation needed]

Carter ran as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington political scandals,[37] which many voters found attractive in the wake of the Watergate scandal that had led to President Richard Nixon's resignation. Ford, although personally unconnected with Watergate, was seen by many as too close to the discredited Nixon administration, especially after he granted Nixon a presidential pardon for any crimes he might have committed during his term of office. Ford's pardon of Nixon caused his popularity, as measured by public opinion polls, to plummet. Ford's refusal to explain his reasons for pardoning Nixon publicly (he would do so in his memoirs several years later), also hurt his image.[citation needed]

Ford unsuccessfully asked Congress to end the 1950s-era price controls on natural gas, which had caused a dwindling of American natural gas reserves after the 1973 oil crisis.[38] Carter stated during his campaign that he opposed the ending of the price controls and thought such a move would be "disastrous".[39]

After the Democratic National Convention, Carter held a 33-point lead over Ford in the polls.[40] However, as the campaign continued, the race greatly tightened. During the campaign Playboy magazine published a controversial interview with Carter; in the interview, Carter admitted to having "lusted in my heart" for women other than his wife and used the word "screw," which cut into his support among women and evangelical Christians.[41] On September 23, Ford performed well in what was the first televised presidential debate since 1960. Polls taken after the debate showed that most viewers felt that Ford was the winner. Carter was also hurt by Ford's charges that he lacked the necessary experience to be an effective national leader and that he was vague on many issues.[citation needed]

Carter campaign headquarters

However, Ford also committed a costly blunder in the campaign that halted his momentum. During the second presidential debate on October 6, Ford stumbled when he asserted that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration". He added that he did not "believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union", and made the same claim with regard to Yugoslavia and Romania (Yugoslavia was not a Warsaw Pact member).[42] Ford refused to retract his statement for almost a week after the debate, causing his surge in the polls to stall and allowing Carter to maintain a slight lead in the polls.[citation needed]

A vice-presidential debate, the first formal one of its kind,[43] between Bob Dole and Walter Mondale also hurt the Republican ticket when Dole asserted that military unpreparedness on the part of Democratic presidents was responsible for all of the wars the U.S. had fought in the 20th century. Dole, a World War II veteran, noted that in every 20th-century war, from World War I to the Vietnam War, a Democrat had been president. Dole then pointed out that the number of U.S. casualties in "Democrat wars" was roughly equal to the population of Detroit. Many voters felt that Dole's criticism was unfairly harsh, and that his dispassionate delivery made him seem cold. Years later, Dole would remark that he regretted the comment, believing that it had hurt the Republican ticket.[44] One factor that did help Ford in the closing days of the campaign was a series of popular television appearances he did with Joe Garagiola, a retired baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals and a well-known announcer for NBC Sports. Garagiola and Ford appeared in a number of shows in several large cities. During the show, Garagiola would ask Ford questions about his life and beliefs; the shows were so informal, relaxed, and laid-back that some television critics labelled them the "Joe and Jerry Show". Ford and Garagiola obviously enjoyed one another's company, and they remained friends after the election was over.[citation needed]

Presidential debates

[edit]

There were three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate during the 1976 general election.[45][46]

Debates among candidates for the 1976 U.S. presidential election
No. Date Host City Moderator Panelists Participants Viewership
(Millions)
P1 Thursday, September 23, 1976 Walnut Street Theatre Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Edwin Newman Elizabeth Drew
James P. Gannon
Frank Reynolds
Governor Jimmy Carter
President Gerald Ford
69.7[45]
P2 Wednesday, October 6, 1976 Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco, California Pauline Frederick Max Frankel
Henry Trewhitt
Richard Valeriani
Governor Jimmy Carter
President Gerald Ford
63.9[45]
VP Friday, October 15, 1976 Alley Theatre Houston, Texas James Hoge Marilyn Berger
Hal Bruno
Walter Mears
Senator Bob Dole
Senator Walter Mondale
43.2[45]
P3 Friday, October 22, 1976 Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall[47] Williamsburg, Virginia Barbara Walters Joseph Kraft
Robert Maynard
Jack Nelson
Governor Jimmy Carter
President Gerald Ford
62.7[45]

Results

[edit]

Despite his campaign's blunders, Ford managed to close the remaining gap in the polls, and by election day, the race was judged to be even. It took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner. It was not until 3:30 am EST that NBC was able to declare that Carter had carried Mississippi and had thus accumulated more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Seconds later, ABC News also declared Carter the winner, based on projections for Carter in Wisconsin and Hawaii, while CBS News announced Carter's victory at 3:45 am.[48] Carter defeated Ford by two percentage points in the national popular vote.

The electoral vote was the closest since 1916; Carter carried 23 states, with 297 electoral votes, while Ford won 27 states, with 240 electoral votes (one elector, future state Senator Mike Padden from Washington state, pledged to Ford, voted for Reagan[49]). Carter's victory came primarily from his near-sweep of the South (he lost only Virginia and Oklahoma), and his narrow victories in large Northern states such as New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Ford did well in the West, carrying every state in that region, except for Hawaii. The most tightly contested state in the election was Oregon, which Ford won by under 2,000 votes.

By percentage of the vote, the states that secured Carter's victory were Wisconsin (1.68% margin) and Ohio (.27% margin). Had Ford won these states and all other states he carried, he would have won the presidency. The 27 states he won were, and still are, the most states ever carried by a losing candidate for president. Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the 22nd Amendment would have disqualified him from running in 1980, as he served more than two years of Nixon's second term.

Records

[edit]

Carter was the first Democratic presidential nominee since John F. Kennedy in 1960 to carry states in the Deep South (Bill Clinton was the only Democrat since 1976 to carry more than one state from the Deep South, doing so in 1992), and the only one since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 to carry a majority of all southern states. Carter performed very strongly in his home state of Georgia, carrying 66.7% of the vote and every county in the state. His winning of 23 states was only the second time in history that the winner of the election won fewer than half the states (after 1960). His 50.1% of the vote was the only time since 1964 that a Democrat managed to obtain an absolute majority of the popular vote in a presidential election until Barack Obama won 52.9% of the vote in 2008. Carter is one of six Democrats since the American Civil War to obtain an absolute majority of the popular vote, the others being Samuel J. Tilden, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

This election represents the last time to date that Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina would vote Democratic, and the last time North Carolina would vote Democratic until 2008, as well as the last time Florida voted Democratic until 1996, and the last time Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee voted Democratic until 1992.[50]

This election was the last time that a Democrat won the presidency without winning a number of modern blue states and swing states, specifically California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. This is the only time a Democrat has won without New Mexico, as well as one of only two times it voted for a candidate who lost the popular vote, in addition to 2024. Similarly, it is one of only three instances in which a Democrat won without Nevada (the others being the two elections of Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892). The Democrats did not win without Iowa again until 2020.

It was the first time in exactly 100 years when Florida and Virginia supported different candidates, and the first time since Oklahoma statehood in 1907 when Oklahoma and Tennessee did so.

As Carter won 319 more counties than Ford, this election would mark the last time a Democrat won a majority of counties.

This election was the last time until 2024 in which the popular vote margin in all states and DC swung in the same direction from the previous election.

Statistics

[edit]
Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote
Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Jimmy Carter Democratic Georgia 40,831,881 50.08% 297 Walter Mondale Minnesota 297
Gerald Ford (incumbent) Republican Michigan 39,148,634 48.02% 240 Bob Dole Kansas 241
Ronald Reagan Republican California [b] [b] 1
Eugene McCarthy None Minnesota 744,763 0.91% 0 [c] [c] 0
Roger MacBride Libertarian Virginia 172,557 0.21% 0 David Bergland California 0
Lester Maddox American Independent Georgia 170,373 0.21% 0 William Dyke Wisconsin 0
Thomas J. Anderson American [d] 158,724 0.19% 0 Rufus Shackelford Florida 0
Peter Camejo Socialist Workers California 90,986 0.11% 0 Willie Mae Reid Illinois 0
Gus Hall Communist New York 58,709 0.07% 0 Jarvis Tyner New York 0
Margaret Wright People's California 49,016 0.06% 0 Benjamin Spock Connecticut 0
Lyndon LaRouche U.S. Labor New York 40,018 0.05% 0 R. Wayne Evans Michigan 0
Other 75,119 0.09% Other
Total 81,540,780 100% 538 538
Needed to win 270 270

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1976 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved August 7, 2005.

Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 7, 2005.

Popular vote
Carter
50.08%
Ford
48.02%
McCarthy
0.91%
Others
0.57%
Electoral vote
Carter
55.20%
Ford
44.61%
Reagan
0.19%

Results by state

[edit]

Source: [51]

This election represents the second time that the winning candidate has received a majority of the electoral votes while the second-place candidate carried a majority of the states. It had previously happened in the 1960 election. The "margin" column shows the difference between the two leading candidates, and the "swing" column shows the margin swing from the respective party's nominee from 1972 to 1976.

Legend
States/districts won by Ford/Dole
States/districts won by Carter/Mondale
At-large results (Maine used the Congressional District Method)
Jimmy Carter
Democratic
Gerald Ford
Republican
Eugene McCarthy
Independent
Roger MacBride
Libertarian
Margin Swing State Total
State electoral
votes
# % electoral
votes
# % electoral
votes
# % electoral
votes
# % electoral
votes
# % #
Alabama 9 659,170 55.73 9 504,070 42.61 - - - - 1,481 0.13 - 155,100 13.11 60.00 1,182,850 AL
Alaska 3 44,058 35.65 - 71,555 57.90 3 - - - 6,785 5.49 - -27,497 -22.25 1.26 123,574 AK
Arizona 6 295,602 39.80 - 418,642 56.37 6 19,229 2.59 - 7,647 1.03 - -123,040 -16.57 14.69 742,719 AZ
Arkansas 6 499,614 64.94 6 268,753 34.93 - 647 0.08 - - - - 230,861 30.01 68.12 769,396 AR
California 45 3,742,284 47.57 - 3,882,244 49.35 45 58,412 0.74 - 56,388 0.72 - -139,960 -1.78 11.68 7,867,117 CA
Colorado 7 460,353 42.58 - 584,367 54.05 7 26,107 2.41 - 5,330 0.49 - -124,014 -11.47 16.54 1,081,135 CO
Connecticut 8 647,895 46.90 - 719,261 52.06 8 - - - - - - -71,366 -5.17 13.27 1,381,526 CT
Delaware 3 122,596 51.98 3 109,831 46.57 - 2,437 1.03 - - - - 12,765 5.41 25.82 235,834 DE
D.C. 3 137,818 81.63 3 27,873 16.51 - - - - 274 0.16 - 109,945 65.12 8.58 168,830 DC
Florida 17 1,636,000 51.93 17 1,469,531 46.64 - 23,643 0.75 - 103 0.00 - 166,469 5.28 49.40 3,150,631 FL
Georgia 12 979,409 66.74 12 483,743 32.96 - 991 0.07 - 175 0.01 - 495,666 33.78 84.17 1,467,458 GA
Hawaii 4 147,375 50.59 4 140,003 48.06 - - - - 3,923 1.35 - 7,372 2.53 27.49 291,301 HI
Idaho 4 126,549 37.12 - 204,151 59.88 4 - - - 3,558 1.04 - -77,602 -22.76 15.44 340,932 ID
Illinois 26 2,271,295 48.13 - 2,364,269 50.10 26 55,939 1.19 - 8,057 0.17 - -92,974 -1.97 16.55 4,718,833 IL
Indiana 13 1,014,714 45.70 - 1,183,958 53.32 13 - - - - - - -169,244 -7.62 25.15 2,220,362 IN
Iowa 8 619,931 48.46 - 632,863 49.47 8 20,051 1.57 - 1,452 0.11 - -12,932 -1.01 16.12 1,279,306 IA
Kansas 7 430,421 44.94 - 502,752 52.49 7 13,185 1.38 - 3,242 0.34 - -72,331 -7.55 30.60 957,845 KS
Kentucky 9 615,717 52.75 9 531,852 45.57 - 6,837 0.59 - 814 0.07 - 83,865 7.19 35.79 1,167,142 KY
Louisiana 10 661,365 51.73 10 587,446 45.95 - 6,588 0.52 - 3,325 0.26 - 73,919 5.78 42.75 1,278,439 LA
Maine † 2 232,279 48.07 - 236,320 48.91 2 10,874 2.25 - 10 0.00 - -4,041 -0.84 22.14 483,208 ME
Maine-1 1 123,598 47.90 127,019 49.22 1 6,025 2.33 -3,421 -1.32 - 250,617 ME1
Maine-2 1 108,681 48.27 109,301 48.54 1 4,849 2.15 -620 -0.27 217,982 ME2
Maryland 10 759,612 53.04 10 672,661 46.96 - - - - - - - 86,951 6.07 29.97 1,432,273 MD
Massachusetts 14 1,429,475 56.11 14 1,030,276 40.44 - 65,637 2.58 - 135 0.01 - 399,199 15.67 6.70 2,547,557 MA
Michigan 21 1,696,714 46.44 - 1,893,742 51.83 21 47,905 1.31 - 5,406 0.15 - -197,028 -5.39 9.00 3,653,749 MI
Minnesota 10 1,070,440 54.90 10 819,395 42.02 - 35,490 1.82 - 3,529 0.18 - 251,045 12.87 18.38 1,949,931 MN
Mississippi 7 381,309 49.56 7 366,846 47.68 - 4,074 0.53 - 2,787 0.36 - 14,463 1.88 60.45 769,360 MS
Missouri 12 998,387 51.10 12 927,443 47.47 - 24,029 1.23 - - - - 70,944 3.63 28.22 1,953,600 MO
Montana 4 149,259 45.40 - 173,703 52.84 4 - - - - - - -24,444 -7.44 12.64 328,734 MT
Nebraska 5 233,692 38.46 - 359,705 59.19 5 9,409 1.55 - 1,482 0.24 - -126,013 -20.74 20.26 607,668 NE
Nevada 3 92,479 45.81 - 101,273 50.17 3 - - - 1,519 0.75 - -8,794 -4.36 23.00 201,876 NV
New Hampshire 4 147,635 43.47 - 185,935 54.75 4 4,095 1.21 - 936 0.28 - -38,300 -11.28 17.84 339,618 NH
New Jersey 17 1,444,653 47.92 - 1,509,688 50.08 17 32,717 1.09 - 9,449 0.31 - -65,035 -2.16 22.64 3,014,472 NJ
New Mexico 4 201,148 48.28 - 211,419 50.75 4 - - - 1,110 0.27 - -10,271 -2.47 22.02 416,590 NM
New York 41 3,389,558 51.95 41 3,100,791 47.52 - 4,303 0.07 - 12,197 0.19 - 288,767 4.43 21.77 6,525,225 NY
North Carolina 13 927,365 55.27 13 741,960 44.22 - - - - 2,219 0.13 - 185,405 11.05 51.63 1,677,906 NC
North Dakota 3 136,078 45.80 - 153,470 51.66 3 2,952 0.99 - 256 0.09 - -17,392 -5.85 20.43 297,094 ND
Ohio 25 2,011,621 48.92 25 2,000,505 48.65 - 58,258 1.42 - 8,961 0.22 - 11,116 0.27 21.87 4,111,873 OH
Oklahoma 8 532,442 48.75 - 545,708 49.96 8 14,101 1.29 - - - - -13,266 -1.21 48.49 1,092,251 OK
Oregon 6 490,407 47.62 - 492,120 47.78 6 40,207 3.90 - - - - -1,713 -0.17 9.95 1,029,876 OR
Pennsylvania 27 2,328,677 50.40 27 2,205,604 47.73 - 50,584 1.09 - - - - 123,073 2.66 22.64 4,620,787 PA
Rhode Island 4 227,636 55.36 4 181,249 44.08 - 479 0.12 - 715 0.17 - 46,387 11.28 17.47 411,170 RI
South Carolina 8 450,825 56.17 8 346,140 43.13 - - - - - - - 104,685 13.04 55.70 802,594 SC
South Dakota 4 147,068 48.91 - 151,505 50.39 4 - - - 1,619 0.54 - -4,437 -1.48 7.15 300,678 SD
Tennessee 10 825,879 55.94 10 633,969 42.94 - 5,004 0.34 - 1,375 0.09 - 191,910 13.00 50.95 1,476,346 TN
Texas 26 2,082,319 51.14 26 1,953,300 47.97 - 20,118 0.49 - 263 0.01 - 129,019 3.17 36.13 4,071,884 TX
Utah 4 182,110 33.65 - 337,908 62.44 4 3,907 0.72 - 2,438 0.45 - -155,798 -28.79 12.46 541,198 UT
Vermont 3 81,044 43.14 - 102,085 54.34 3 4,001 2.13 - 4 0.00 - -21,041 -11.20 15.00 187,855 VT
Virginia 12 813,896 47.96 - 836,554 49.29 12 - - - 4,648 0.27 - -22,658 -1.34 36.38 1,697,094 VA
Washington 9 717,323 46.11 - 777,732 50.00 8 36,986 2.38 - 5,042 0.32 - -60,409 -3.88 14.40 1,555,534 WA
West Virginia 6 435,914 58.07 6 314,760 41.93 - - - - - - - 121,154 16.14 43.36 750,674 WV
Wisconsin 11 1,040,232 49.50 11 1,004,987 47.83 - 34,943 1.66 - 3,814 0.18 - 35,245 1.68 11.35 2,101,336 WI
Wyoming 3 62,239 39.81 - 92,717 59.30 3 624 0.40 - 89 0.06 - -30,478 -19.49 19.05 156,343 WY
TOTALS: 538 40,831,881 50.08 297 39,148,634 48.02 240 740,460 0.91 - 172,557 0.21 - 1,683,247 2.06 25.21 81,531,584 US

Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Ford won all four votes.[52]

States that flipped from Republican to Democratic

[edit]

Close states

[edit]
Gerald Ford (right) watching election returns with Joe Garagiola on election night in 1976. Garagiola is reacting to television reports that Ford had just been projected as having lost Texas to Carter.
A campaign button from election eve where Carter and Mondale spent the evening in Flint Michigan at a rally It is notable as only a handful of counties in Michigan went to Carter in 1976, and no surrounding counties where Carter held the rally went to him.
A Ford-Dole campaign button.

States where margin of victory was under 1% (35 electoral votes):

  1. Oregon, 0.16% (1,713 votes)
  2. Ohio, 0.27% (11,116 votes)
  3. Maine's 2nd Congressional District, 0.28% (620 votes)
  4. Maine, 0.84% (4,041 votes)

States where margin of victory was under 5% (264 electoral votes):

  1. Iowa, 1.01% (12,932 votes)
  2. Oklahoma, 1.21% (13,266 votes)
  3. Virginia, 1.34% (22,658 votes)
  4. Maine's 1st Congressional District, 1.36% (3,421 votes)
  5. South Dakota, 1.48% (4,437 votes)
  6. Wisconsin, 1.68% (35,245 votes) (tipping point state)
  7. California, 1.78% (139,960 votes)
  8. Mississippi, 1.88% (14,463 votes)
  9. Illinois, 1.97% (92,974 votes)
  10. New Jersey, 2.16% (65,035 votes)
  11. New Mexico, 2.47% (10,271 votes)
  12. Hawaii, 2.53% (7,372 votes)
  13. Pennsylvania, 2.66% (123,073 votes)
  14. Texas, 3.17% (129,019 votes)
  15. Missouri, 3.63% (70,944 votes)
  16. Washington, 3.88% (60,409 votes)
  17. Nevada, 4.36% (8,794 votes)
  18. New York, 4.43% (288,767 votes)

States where margin of victory was more than 5%, but less than 10% (105 electoral votes):

  1. Connecticut, 5.16% (71,366 votes)
  2. Florida, 5.29% (166,469 votes)
  3. Michigan, 5.39% (197,028 votes)
  4. Delaware, 5.41% (12,765 votes)
  5. Louisiana, 5.78% (73,919 votes)
  6. North Dakota, 5.86% (17,392 votes)
  7. Maryland, 6.08% (86,951 votes)
  8. Kentucky, 7.18% (83,865 votes)
  9. Montana, 7.44% (24,444 votes)
  10. Kansas, 7.55% (72,331 votes)
  11. Indiana, 7.62% (169,244 votes)

Statistics

[edit]

[51]

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)

  1. Banks County, Georgia 87.85%
  2. Starr County, Texas 87.25%
  3. Brantley County, Georgia 86.50%
  4. Duval County, Texas 86.36%
  5. Wilcox County, Georgia 86.15%

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)

  1. Jackson County, Kentucky 79.80%
  2. Owsley County, Kentucky 77.03%
  3. Hooker County, Nebraska 76.35%
  4. Ottawa County, Michigan 74.12%
  5. Arthur County, Nebraska 73.66%

Voter demographics

[edit]
Social groups and the presidential vote, 1976
Carter Ford Size[A 1]
Party
Democratic 77 22 43
Independent 43 54 23
Republican 9 90 28
Ideology
Liberal 70 26 18
Moderate 51 48 51
Conservative 29 69 31
Ethnicity
Black 82 16 10
Hispanic 74 24 2
White 47 51 88
Gender
Female 50 48 48
Male 50 48 52
Religion
Protestant 44 55 46
White Protestant 42 57 41
Catholic 54 44 25
Jewish 64 34 5
Family income
Less than US$10,000 58 40 13
$10,000–$14,999 55 43 15
$15,000–$24,999 48 50 29
$25,000–$50,000 36 62 24
Over $50,000 5
Occupation
Professional or manager 41 57 39
Clerical, sales, white-collar 46 53 11
Blue-collar 57 41 17
Farmer 3
Unemployed 65 34 3
Education
Less than high school 58 39 11
High school graduate 54 44 28
Some college 50 49 28
College graduate 43 55 27
Union membership
Labor union household 59 39 28
No member of household in union 43 55 62
Age
18–21 years old 48 49 6
22–29 years old 51 46 17
30–44 years old 49 49 31
45–59 years old 48 51 23
60 years or older 47 52 18
Region
East 51 47 25
South 54 45 27
Midwest 48 50 27
West 46 51 19
Community size
City over 250,000 58 40 18
Suburb/small city 51 47 53
Rural/town 47 51 29

Source: CBS News/New York Times interviews with 12,782 voters as they left the polls, as reported in The New York Times, November 9, 1980, p. 28, and in further analysis. The 1976 data are from CBS News interviews.

  1. ^ "Size" = share of 1980 national total.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A faithless Republican elector, Mike Padden in Washington, voted for Ronald Reagan to be president. Padden voted for Bob Dole to be vice president as pledged. As a result, Ford had 240 electoral votes instead of 241.
  2. ^ a b Mike Padden, a Republican faithless elector from Washington, gave Ronald Reagan one electoral vote.
  3. ^ a b The running mate of McCarthy varied from state to state.
  4. ^ Research has not yet determined whether Anderson's home state was Tennessee or Texas at the time of the 1976 election.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "1976 Ford Presidential Campaign - Republican Convention". www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "Jimmy Carter: Campaigns and Elections | Miller Center". millercenter.org. October 4, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "1976 Ford Presidential Campaign - General Election". www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Jackson, Harold (November 20, 2023). "Rosalynn Carter obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  6. ^ "The President and the Vice President have a complete understanding between them regarding the Vice President's decision. The letter speaks for itself. The initiative was the Vice President's" (PDF). Fordlibrarymuseum.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Democrats Edge Ford, Reagan". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "Key Groups Giving Slip To Reagan". Chicago Tribune.
  10. ^ a b "Two Democrats Ahead Of Ford". The Atlanta Constitution. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 668.
  12. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 674.
  13. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 678.
  14. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 745.
  15. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 758.
  16. ^ "Carter's Well Ahead Of Both GOP Foes". Muncie Evening Press. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  17. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 774.
  18. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 795.
  19. ^ "Carter Lead Over Ford Isn't Really That Huge". Asbury Park Press. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  20. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 802.
  21. ^ a b "Ford, But Not Reagan, Moving Up On Carter". Chicago Tribune.
  22. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 815.
  23. ^ "McCarthy Cuts Into Carter's Lead". Asbury Park Press. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  24. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 851.
  25. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 852.
  26. ^ "Carter Ahead, But Ford Gaining". Lexington Herald-Leader. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 864.
  28. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 877.
  29. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 878.
  30. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 886.
  31. ^ "Carter's Leading Ford, But..." The Ithaca Journal. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  32. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 894.
  33. ^ "Harris Survey: Carter's Lead Shrinks To 45-44%". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  34. ^ Gallup, George (1972). The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1972-1977. Vol. II. p. 900.
  35. ^ "Survey: Carter Clings To One-Point Lead". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  36. ^ "Election of 1976: A Political Outsider Prevails". Archived from the original on August 2, 2003. Retrieved August 2, 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) C-SPAN. Retrieved on June 20, 2012.
  37. ^ "Commercials - 1976 - Essence". The Living Room Candidate. August 9, 1974. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  38. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. pp. 321–322. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
  39. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. pp. 321–322. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
  40. ^ "Gerald Ford Retrospective". Gallup. December 29, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  41. ^ Chapter three The Bicentennial election. Archived May 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ "Debating Our Destiny: The Second 1976 Presidential Debate – October 6, 1976". Pbs.org. October 6, 1976. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  43. ^ "The First VP Debate: Dole-Mondale, 10-15-76". Janda.org. October 15, 1976. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  44. ^ Bob Dole interview, November 10, 1999. PBS.org.
  45. ^ a b c d e "CPD: 1976 Debates". www.debates.org. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  46. ^ "1976 Debates Overview". AllPolitics. CNN. 1996. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  47. ^ "The Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford - October 22, 1976" (PDF). Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  48. ^ Jules Witcover. Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972–1976 (New York: Viking), p. 11.
  49. ^ Camden, Jim (December 17, 2016). "Electoral College wasn't done deal in 1976. Will it be in 2016?". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  50. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century" Archived November 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  51. ^ a b "1976 Presidential General Election Data - National". Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  52. ^ Barone, Michael; Matthews, Douglas; Ujifusa, Grant (1977). The Almanac of American Politics, 1978. E. P. Dutton.

Further reading

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[edit]