1980 Presidential Election

November 4, 1980 · The Long Realignment · 538 electoral votes, 270 to win

Reagan's 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' converted a close race into a 44-state sweep amid inflation, gas lines and the Iran hostage crisis, and brought a Republican Senate with it. Anderson's independent run took 6.6%.

Elected

Ronald Reagan

Republican

Electoral vote

489 of 538

Popular vote

50.7%

43,903,230 votes

Turnout

54.2%

VEP 58.5% · VAP 55.1%

The result

EV share
Ronald ReaganRepublicanGeorge H. W. Bush489
43,903,23050.70%44
Jimmy CarterDemocraticWalter Mondale49
35,480,11541.00%7
John B. AndersonIndependentPatrick Lucey—5,719,8506.60%—
Ed ClarkLibertarianDavid Koch—921,1281.06%—
Barry CommonerCitizensLaDonna Harris—233,0520.27%—
Gus HallCommunistAngela Davis—44,9330.05%—

86,302,308 votes recorded for the candidates listed.

Results by state

AlabamaRonald Reagan48.8%9Jimmy Carter · 47.5%
AlaskaRonald Reagan54.3%3Jimmy Carter · 26.4%
ArizonaRonald Reagan60.6%6Jimmy Carter · 28.2%
ArkansasRonald Reagan48.1%6Jimmy Carter · 47.5%
CaliforniaRonald Reagan52.7%45Jimmy Carter · 35.9%
ColoradoRonald Reagan55.1%7Jimmy Carter · 31.1%
ConnecticutRonald Reagan48.2%8Jimmy Carter · 38.5%
D of ColumbiaJimmy Carter74.8%3Ronald Reagan · 13.4%
DelawareRonald Reagan47.2%3Jimmy Carter · 44.8%
FloridaRonald Reagan55.5%17Jimmy Carter · 38.5%
GeorgiaJimmy Carter55.8%12Ronald Reagan · 41.0%
HawaiiJimmy Carter44.8%4Ronald Reagan · 42.9%
IdahoRonald Reagan66.5%4Jimmy Carter · 25.2%
IllinoisRonald Reagan49.6%26Jimmy Carter · 41.7%
IndianaRonald Reagan56.0%13Jimmy Carter · 37.7%
IowaRonald Reagan51.3%8Jimmy Carter · 38.6%
KansasRonald Reagan57.9%7Jimmy Carter · 33.3%
KentuckyRonald Reagan49.1%9Jimmy Carter · 47.6%
LouisianaRonald Reagan51.2%10Jimmy Carter · 45.7%
MaineRonald Reagan45.6%4Jimmy Carter · 42.3%
MarylandJimmy Carter47.1%10Ronald Reagan · 44.2%
MassachusettsRonald Reagan41.9%14Jimmy Carter · 41.7%
MichiganRonald Reagan49.0%21Jimmy Carter · 42.5%
MinnesotaJimmy Carter46.5%10Ronald Reagan · 42.6%
MississippiRonald Reagan49.4%7Jimmy Carter · 48.1%
MissouriRonald Reagan51.2%12Jimmy Carter · 44.3%
MontanaRonald Reagan56.8%4Jimmy Carter · 32.4%
NebraskaRonald Reagan65.9%5Jimmy Carter · 26.0%
NevadaRonald Reagan62.5%3Jimmy Carter · 26.9%
New HampshireRonald Reagan57.7%4Jimmy Carter · 28.4%
New JerseyRonald Reagan52.0%17Jimmy Carter · 38.6%
New MexicoRonald Reagan54.9%4Jimmy Carter · 36.7%
New YorkRonald Reagan46.7%41Jimmy Carter · 44.0%
North CarolinaRonald Reagan49.3%13Jimmy Carter · 47.2%
North DakotaRonald Reagan64.2%3Jimmy Carter · 26.3%
OhioRonald Reagan51.5%25Jimmy Carter · 40.9%
OklahomaRonald Reagan60.5%8Jimmy Carter · 35.0%
OregonRonald Reagan48.3%6Jimmy Carter · 38.7%
PennsylvaniaRonald Reagan49.6%27Jimmy Carter · 42.5%
Rhode IslandJimmy Carter47.7%4Ronald Reagan · 37.2%
South CarolinaRonald Reagan49.4%8Jimmy Carter · 48.1%
South DakotaRonald Reagan60.5%4Jimmy Carter · 31.7%
TennesseeRonald Reagan48.7%10Jimmy Carter · 48.4%
TexasRonald Reagan55.3%26Jimmy Carter · 41.4%
UtahRonald Reagan72.8%4Jimmy Carter · 20.6%
VermontRonald Reagan44.4%3Jimmy Carter · 38.4%
VirginiaRonald Reagan53.0%11Jimmy Carter · 40.3%
WashingtonRonald Reagan49.7%8Jimmy Carter · 37.3%
West VirginiaJimmy Carter49.8%6Ronald Reagan · 45.3%
WisconsinRonald Reagan47.9%11Jimmy Carter · 43.2%
WyomingRonald Reagan62.6%3Jimmy Carter · 28.0%

The state table accounts for 487 of Ronald Reagan's 489 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

97th Congress

1981–1983

Divided government

Senate

46–53

Democratic vs Republican · 1 others

House

242–192

Democratic vs Republican · 1 others