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.
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538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 53.5%[1]  1.7 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Error: Image is invalid or non-existent. 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Candidates
Democratic Party
| 1976 Democratic Party Ticket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy Carter | Walter Mondale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 76th Governor of Georgia (1971–1975) |
U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1964–1976) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Democratic candidates
- Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia
- Jerry Brown, governor of California
- George Wallace, governor of Alabama
- Morris Udall, U.S. representative from Arizona
- Henry M. Jackson, U.S. senator from Washington
- Frank Church, U.S. senator from Idaho
- Robert Byrd, U.S. senator from West Virginia
- Sargent Shriver, former U.S. ambassador to France, from Maryland
- Fred R. Harris, former U.S. senator from Oklahoma
- Birch Bayh, U.S. senator from Indiana
- Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. senator from Texas
- Terry Sanford, former governor of North Carolina
- Milton Shapp, governor of Pennsylvania
- Walter Fauntroy, U.S. representative from Washington, D.C.
- Ellen McCormack, housewife
Candidates gallery
- Gerald Ford, official Presidential photo.jpg
- Ronald Reagan wearing cowboy hat at Rancho Del Cielo 1976.jpg
Republican Party
| 1976 Republican Party Ticket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerald Ford | Bob Dole | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 38th President of the United States (1974-1977) |
U.S. Senator from Kansas (1969–1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Republican candidates
- Gerald Ford, President of the United States from Michigan
- Ronald Reagan, former governor of California
1976 United States Presidential Election Media
- Democratic Disc.svg
Democratic Party (United States)
- Walter Mondale 1977 vice presidential portrait.jpg
Walter F. Monday [sic] served in the U.S. Senate from 1964 to 1976, and as vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
- Carter Mondale 1976 campaign logo 2.svg
Carter Mondale 1976 campaign logo
- Jerry Brown, SoS '72 (croppedcloser3).jpg
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Secretary of State, during press conference.
- George Wallace (D-AL) (3x4).jpg
Portrait of George Wallace (1919 - 1998), governor of Alabama and a candidate for president on several occasions. He is best known for his pro-segregation stance during the 1960s, and was left paralyzed after a failed assassination attempt in 1972. Alabama, 1962.
- Representative Mo Udall Listens (cropped).png
Morris Udall sits behind a table and listens as his head rests on his fist during a campaign stop during the race for the Democratic nomination for president, New York City, 1976.
- Scoop Jackson campaigning in 1976 (cropped).jpg
Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson campaigning for president in 1976.
References
- ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ↑ A faithless Republican elector voted for Reagan for president. The same elector voted for Dole for vice president as pledged.