1976  1980 Presidential Election Returns  1984

After four years of President Jimmy Carter, the country was restless. Inflation was high. The economy was weak. Voters saw President Carter as having a great moral character, but also as a weak and ineffective leader. He faced a stiff primary challenge from Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, but Kennedy's campaign sputtered. Carter was ultimately renominated. Furthermore, the Iran hostage situation, among other foreign crises, weakened the image of the President with voters. The Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan, the former Governor of California, to run against Carter. Reagan helped to counter the downtrodden mood of the people. He campaigned on getting tough on foreign policy, especially with the Soviet Union. Carter criticized him as a warmonger, but voters saw in Reagan a strong leader. Reagan even helped to secure the release of the hostages in Iran. One Reagan primary opponent, John Anderson, ran as an independent. He campaigned as a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. Though Carter painted Reagan as an extremist, the optimistic mood of Ronald Reagan helped him to win a substantial victory. Reagan greatly helped his cause by asking voters during a debate if they were better off then they were four years ago. Voters clearly said "no" and elected Reagan. UNITED STATES VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 43,899,248 52 489 Carter/Mondale* 35,481,435 42 49 Anderson/Lucey 5,719,437 6 0 Clark/Koch 921,128 1 0 All Other Candidates 166,464 0 0 Commoner/Harris 107,014 0 0 Hall/Davis 44,933 0 0 Rarick/Shearer 40,906 0 0 ALABAMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  654,192 49 9 Carter/Mondale* 636,730 47 0 Anderson/Lucey 16,481 1 0 ALASKA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  86,112 54 3 Carter/Mondale* 41,842 26 0 Anderson/Lucey 11,155 7 0 ARIZONA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  529,688 61 6 Carter/Mondale* 246,843 28 0 Anderson/Lucey 76,952 9 0 ARKANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  403,164 48 6 Carter/Mondale* 398,041 48 0 Anderson/Lucey 22,468 3 0 CALIFORNIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  4,524,828 53 45 Carter/Mondale* 3,083,661 36 0 Anderson/Lucey 739,833 9 0 COLORADO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  652,264 55 7 Carter/Mondale* 367,973 31 0 Anderson/Lucey 130,633 11 0 CONNECTICUT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  677,210 48 8 Carter/Mondale* 541,732 39 0 Anderson/Lucey 171,807 12 0 DELAWARE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  111,252 47 3 Carter/Mondale* 105,754 45 0 Anderson/Lucey 16,288 7 0 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 23,313 13 0 Carter/Mondale* 130,231 75 3 Anderson/Lucey 16,131 9 0 FLORIDA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,046,951 56 17 Carter/Mondale* 1,419,475 39 0 Anderson/Lucey 189,692 5 0 GEORGIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 654,168 41 0 Carter/Mondale* 890,733 56 12 Anderson/Lucey 36,055 2 0 HAWAII VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 130,112 43 0 Carter/Mondale* 135,879 45 4 Anderson/Lucey 32,021 11 0 IDAHO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  290,699 66 4 Carter/Mondale* 110,192 25 0 Anderson/Lucey 27,058 6 0 ILLINOIS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,358,049 50 26 Carter/Mondale* 1,981,413 42 0 Anderson/Lucey 346,754 7 0 INDIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,255,656 56 13 Carter/Mondale* 844,197 38 0 Anderson/Lucey 111,639 5 0 IOWA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  676,026 51 8 Carter/Mondale* 508,672 39 0 Anderson/Lucey 115,633 9 0 KANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  566,812 58 7 Carter/Mondale* 326,150 33 0 Anderson/Lucey 68,231 7 0 KENTUCKY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  635,274 49 9 Carter/Mondale* 616,417 48 0 Anderson/Lucey 31,127 2 0 LOUISIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  792,853 51 10 Carter/Mondale* 708,453 46 0 Anderson/Lucey 26,345 2 0 MAINE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  238,522 46 4 Carter/Mondale* 220,974 42 0 Anderson/Lucey 53,327 10 0 MARYLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 680,606 44 0 Carter/Mondale* 726,161 47 10 Anderson/Lucey 119,537 8 0 MASSACHUSETTS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,057,631 42 14 Carter/Mondale* 1,053,802 42 0 Anderson/Lucey 382,539 15 0 MICHIGAN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,915,225 49 21 Carter/Mondale* 1,661,532 43 0 Anderson/Lucey 275,223 7 0 MINNESOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 873,241 43 0 Carter/Mondale* 954,174 47 10 Anderson/Lucey 174,990 9 0 MISSISSIPPI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  441,089 49 7 Carter/Mondale* 429,281 48 0 Anderson/Lucey 12,036 1 0 MISSOURI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,074,181 51 12 Carter/Mondale* 931,182 44 0 Anderson/Lucey 77,920 4 0 MONTANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  206,814 57 4 Carter/Mondale* 118,032 32 0 Anderson/Lucey 29,281 8 0 NEBRASKA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  419,937 66 5 Carter/Mondale* 166,851 26 0 Anderson/Lucey 44,933 7 0 NEVADA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  155,017 63 3 Carter/Mondale* 66,666 27 0 Anderson/Lucey 17,651 7 0 NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  221,705 58 4 Carter/Mondale* 108,864 28 0 Anderson/Lucey 49,693 13 0 NEW JERSEY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,546,557 52 17 Carter/Mondale* 1,147,364 39 0 Anderson/Lucey 234,632 8 0 NEW MEXICO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  250,779 55 4 Carter/Mondale* 167,826 37 0 Anderson/Lucey 29,459 6 0 NEW YORK VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,893,831 47 41 Carter/Mondale* 2,728,372 44 0 Anderson/Lucey 467,801 8 0 NORTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  915,018 49 13 Carter/Mondale* 875,635 47 0 Anderson/Lucey 52,800 3 0 NORTH DAKOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  193,695 64 3 Carter/Mondale* 79,189 26 0 Anderson/Lucey 23,640 8 0 OHIO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,206,545 52 25 Carter/Mondale* 1,752,414 41 0 Anderson/Lucey 254,472 6 0 OKLAHOMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  695,570 61 8 Carter/Mondale* 402,026 35 0 Anderson/Lucey 38,284 3 0 OREGON VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  571,044 48 6 Carter/Mondale* 456,890 39 0 Anderson/Lucey 112,389 10 0 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,261,872 50 27 Carter/Mondale* 1,937,540 42 0 Anderson/Lucey 292,921 6 0 RHODE ISLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 154,793 37 0 Carter/Mondale* 198,342 48 4 Anderson/Lucey 59,819 14 0 SOUTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  441,207 50 8 Carter/Mondale* 427,560 48 0 Anderson/Lucey 14,150 2 0 SOUTH DAKOTA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  198,343 61 4 Carter/Mondale* 103,855 32 0 Anderson/Lucey 21,431 6 0 TENNESSEE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  787,761 49 10 Carter/Mondale* 783,051 48 0 Anderson/Lucey 35,991 2 0 TEXAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  2,510,705 55 26 Carter/Mondale* 1,881,147 41 0 Anderson/Lucey 111,613 2 0 UTAH VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  439,687 73 4 Carter/Mondale* 124,266 21 0 Anderson/Lucey 30,284 5 0 VERMONT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  94,598 44 3 Carter/Mondale* 81,891 38 0 Anderson/Lucey 31,760 15 0 VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  989,609 53 12 Carter/Mondale* 752,174 40 0 Anderson/Lucey 95,418 5 0 WASHINGTON VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  865,244 50 9 Carter/Mondale* 650,193 37 0 Anderson/Lucey 185,073 11 0 WEST VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush 334,206 45 0 Carter/Mondale* 367,462 50 6 Anderson/Lucey 31,691 4 0 WISCONSIN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  1,088,845 48 11 Carter/Mondale* 981,584 43 0 Anderson/Lucey 160,657 7 0 WYOMING VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Reagan/Bush  110,700 63 3 Carter/Mondale* 49,427 28 0 Anderson/Lucey 12,072 7 0 SYMBOLS KEY Republican Democratic Libertarian Green Independent Citizens Communist Other Winner * Incumbent + Incumbent Party