1980 Presidential Election
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. Reagan, aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home, won the election in a landslide. Carter, after defeating Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. For his part, Reagan, the former Governor of California, repeatedly ridiculed Carter, and won a decisive victory; in the simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years. This election marked the beginning of what is popularly called the "Reagan Revolution."
Source: Wikipedia
1980 Election Results
Candidate | Party | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
✓ | Ronald Reagan | Republican | 489 | 43,901,812 | |
Jimmy Carter (I) | Democratic | 49 | 35,483,820 | ||
John Anderson | Independent | 0 | 5,719,850 | ||
Ed Clark | Libertarian | 0 | 921,128 |
1980 Election Facts
- Independent candidate John B. Anderson received 5,719,437 votes, but no Electoral Votes
- Issues of the Day: Iran hostage crisis, USSR invasion of Afghanistan (Summer Olympics boycott), Inflation
Margin of Victory Map
This map is shaded by how large the popular vote difference was between the two nominees. It is a way to view the relative competitiveness of each state. These maps are also available as a timeline for each election from 1972-2020.