1976 United States presidential election

The 1976 United States presidential election happened on November 2, 1976. Jimmy Carter, the Democratic candidate and former Governor of Georgia, won the election. He defeated the incumbent president, Gerald Ford, who was a Republican.

1976 United States presidential election

← 1972 November 2, 1976 1980 →

538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout53.5%[1] Decrease 1.7 pp
  Jimmy Carter 1977 cropped.jpg Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg
Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Georgia Michigan
Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole
Electoral vote 297 240[2]
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 HampshireElectoralCollege1976.svg
About this image
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 the number of electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Jimmy Carter won the election by 297 electoral votes, compared to incumbent president Gerald Ford, who received 240 electoral votes. A faithless elector from Washington voted for Ronald Reagan, who would win the 1980 election.

This election followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal. It is the last election to have a Democratic candidate to receive a preferable vote in the American South, which is typically known to be Republican; however, Florida is considered a swing state.

This is the last election where one of the two major candidates is still alive. Jimmy Carter is currently 99 years old, and has been the oldest living former president since George H.W. Bush's death in 2018.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Democratic candidates

Candidates gallery

Republican Party

Republican candidates

1976 United States Presidential Election Media

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  2. A faithless Republican elector voted for Reagan for president. The same elector voted for Dole for vice president as pledged.