1976 Presidential Election
November 2, 1976 · The Long Realignment · 538 electoral votes, 270 to win
Carter, an outsider running on trust after Watergate, narrowly beat the unelected incumbent Ford, whose pardon of Nixon and 'no Soviet domination' debate stumble both cost him. The South returned briefly to the Democratic column.
Elected
Jimmy Carter
Democratic
Electoral vote
297 of 538
Popular vote
50.1%
40,831,881 votes
Turnout
54.8%
VAP 55.7%
The result
| EV share | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Carter | Democratic | Walter Mondale | 297 | 40,831,881 | 50.10% | 24 | |
| Gerald Ford | Republican | Bob Dole | 240 | 39,148,634 | 48.00% | 27 | |
| Ronald Reagan | Republican | Bob Dole | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | — | |
| Eugene McCarthy | Independent | — | — | 744,763 | 0.91% | — | |
| Roger MacBride | Libertarian | David Bergland | — | 172,557 | 0.21% | — | |
| Lester Maddox | American Independent | William Dyke | — | 170,373 | 0.21% | — | |
| Thomas J. Anderson | American | Rufus Shackelford | — | 158,724 | 0.19% | — |
81,226,932 votes recorded for the candidates listed.
Results by state
| Alabama | Jimmy Carter | 55.7% | 9 | Gerald Ford · 42.6% |
| Alaska | Gerald Ford | 57.9% | 3 | Jimmy Carter · 35.7% |
| Arizona | Gerald Ford | 56.4% | 6 | Jimmy Carter · 39.8% |
| Arkansas | Jimmy Carter | 65.0% | 6 | Gerald Ford · 34.9% |
| California | Gerald Ford | 49.3% | 45 | Jimmy Carter · 47.6% |
| Colorado | Gerald Ford | 54.0% | 7 | Jimmy Carter · 42.6% |
| Connecticut | Gerald Ford | 52.1% | 8 | Jimmy Carter · 46.9% |
| Delaware | Jimmy Carter | 52.0% | 3 | Gerald Ford · 46.6% |
| District of Columbia | Jimmy Carter | 81.6% | 3 | Gerald Ford · 16.5% |
| Florida | Jimmy Carter | 51.9% | 17 | Gerald Ford · 46.6% |
| Georgia | Jimmy Carter | 66.7% | 12 | Gerald Ford · 33.0% |
| Hawaii | Jimmy Carter | 50.6% | 4 | Gerald Ford · 48.1% |
| Idaho | Gerald Ford | 59.3% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 36.8% |
| Illinois | Gerald Ford | 50.1% | 26 | Jimmy Carter · 48.1% |
| Indiana | Gerald Ford | 53.3% | 13 | Jimmy Carter · 45.7% |
| Iowa | Gerald Ford | 49.5% | 8 | Jimmy Carter · 48.5% |
| Kansas | Gerald Ford | 52.5% | 7 | Jimmy Carter · 44.9% |
| Kentucky | Jimmy Carter | 52.8% | 9 | Gerald Ford · 45.6% |
| Louisiana | Jimmy Carter | 51.7% | 10 | Gerald Ford · 46.0% |
| Maine | Gerald Ford | 48.9% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 48.1% |
| Maryland | Jimmy Carter | 52.8% | 10 | Gerald Ford · 46.7% |
| Massachusetts | Jimmy Carter | 56.1% | 14 | Gerald Ford · 40.4% |
| Michigan | Gerald Ford | 51.8% | 21 | Jimmy Carter · 46.4% |
| Minnesota | Jimmy Carter | 54.9% | 10 | Gerald Ford · 42.0% |
| Mississippi | Jimmy Carter | 49.6% | 7 | Gerald Ford · 47.7% |
| Missouri | Jimmy Carter | 51.1% | 12 | Gerald Ford · 47.5% |
| Montana | Gerald Ford | 52.8% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 45.4% |
| Nebraska | Gerald Ford | 59.2% | 5 | Jimmy Carter · 38.5% |
| Nevada | Gerald Ford | 50.2% | 3 | Jimmy Carter · 45.8% |
| New Hampshire | Gerald Ford | 54.7% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 43.5% |
| New Jersey | Gerald Ford | 50.1% | 17 | Jimmy Carter · 47.9% |
| New Mexico | Gerald Ford | 50.5% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 48.1% |
| New York | Jimmy Carter | 51.9% | 41 | Gerald Ford · 47.5% |
| North Carolina | Jimmy Carter | 55.2% | 13 | Gerald Ford · 44.2% |
| North Dakota | Gerald Ford | 51.6% | 3 | Jimmy Carter · 45.8% |
| Ohio | Jimmy Carter | 48.9% | 25 | Gerald Ford · 48.7% |
| Oklahoma | Gerald Ford | 50.0% | 8 | Jimmy Carter · 48.7% |
| Oregon | Gerald Ford | 47.8% | 6 | Jimmy Carter · 47.6% |
| Pennsylvania | Jimmy Carter | 50.4% | 27 | Gerald Ford · 47.7% |
| Rhode Island | Jimmy Carter | 55.4% | 4 | Gerald Ford · 44.1% |
| South Carolina | Jimmy Carter | 56.2% | 8 | Gerald Ford · 43.1% |
| South Dakota | Gerald Ford | 50.4% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 48.9% |
| Tennessee | Jimmy Carter | 55.9% | 10 | Gerald Ford · 42.9% |
| Texas | Jimmy Carter | 51.1% | 26 | Gerald Ford · 48.0% |
| Utah | Gerald Ford | 62.4% | 4 | Jimmy Carter · 33.6% |
| Vermont | Gerald Ford | 54.4% | 3 | Jimmy Carter · 43.1% |
| Virginia | Gerald Ford | 49.3% | 11 | Jimmy Carter · 48.0% |
| Washington | Gerald Ford | 50.0% | 8 | Jimmy Carter · 46.1% |
| West Virginia | Jimmy Carter | 58.0% | 6 | Gerald Ford · 41.9% |
| Wisconsin | Jimmy Carter | 49.4% | 11 | Gerald Ford · 47.8% |
| Wyoming | Gerald Ford | 59.3% | 3 | Jimmy Carter · 39.8% |
The state table accounts for 239 of Gerald Ford's 240 official electoral votes. The remainder reflect split delegations, district allocations, faithless electors or votes not counted, as recorded at the electoral count.
The Congress it seated
95th Congress
1977–1979
Unified government
Senate
61–38
Democratic vs Republican · 1 others
House
292–143
Democratic vs Republican