Election 1976 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1976 governor election results by state and county
Jimmy Carter's win came with nine Democratic governor victories to five Republican ones in 1976, as each party took several states from the other.
14 governor races were held in 1976. Democrats won 9 and Republicans 5.
The closest were Missouri (D+0.7), North Dakota (D+5.0) and Utah (D+6.1). 7 governorships changed party: Delaware to the Republicans, Illinois to the Republicans, Missouri to the Democrats, North Carolina to the Democrats, Vermont to the Republicans, Washington to the Democrats and West Virginia to the Democrats.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1976 governor elections
Jimmy Carter defeated President Gerald Ford in 1976, the first presidential election after Watergate. Fourteen states elected governors, and Democrats won nine to the Republicans' five. Democrats gained Missouri, where Joseph P. Teasdale unseated Christopher S. "Kit" Bond by 0.7 points, North Carolina with James B. Hunt Jr., West Virginia with John D. Rockefeller IV, and Washington, where Dixy Lee Ray beat John D. Spellman by about nine points to become the state's first woman governor. Republicans took Delaware, where Pierre S. du Pont IV beat Governor Sherman W. Tribbitt by 14 points, Illinois, where James R. Thompson won the first of four terms, and Vermont with Richard A. Snelling. Otis R. Bowen was re-elected in Indiana and Meldrim Thomson Jr. won again in New Hampshire. Scott M. Matheson won Utah for the Democrats, and Arthur A. Link held North Dakota.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | David H. Pryor | 605,083 (83.2%) | Leon Griffith | 121,716 (16.7%) | 150 | D+66.5 |
| Delaware flip | Sherman W. Tribbitt | 97,480 (42.5%) | Pierre S. duPont IV | 130,531 (56.9%) | 1,552 | R+14.4 |
| Illinois flip | Michael J. Howlett | 1,606,989 (34.7%) | James R. Thompson | 3,000,395 (64.7%) | 28,344 | R+30.1 |
| Indiana | Larry A. Conrad | 927,243 (42.6%) | Otis R. Bowen | 1,236,555 (56.8%) | 11,526 | R+14.2 |
| Missouri flip | Joseph P. Teasdale | 971,184 (50.2%) | Kit Bond | 958,110 (49.6%) | 4,215 | D+0.7 |
| Montana | Thomas Lee Judge | 195,420 (61.7%) | Bob Woodahl | 115,848 (36.6%) | 5,452 | D+25.1 |
| New Hampshire | Harry V. Spanos | 145,015 (42.3%) | Meldrim Thomson Jr. | 197,589 (57.7%) | 65 | R+15.3 |
| North Carolina flip | Jim Hunt | 1,081,293 (65.0%) | David T. Flaherty | 564,102 (33.9%) | 18,368 | D+31.1 |
| North Dakota | Arthur A. Link | 153,309 (51.6%) | Richard Elkin | 138,321 (46.5%) | 5,619 | D+5.0 |
| Rhode Island | J. Joseph Garrahy | 218,561 (54.8%) | James L. Taft | 178,254 (44.7%) | 1,868 | D+10.1 |
| Utah | Scott M. Matheson | 280,706 (52.0%) | Vernon B. Romney | 248,027 (46.0%) | 10,916 | D+6.1 |
| Vermont flip | Stella B. Hackel | 75,262 (40.5%) | Richard A. Snelling | 99,268 (53.4%) | Bernie Sanders (Liberty Union) 11,317 (6.1%) |
R+12.9 |
| Washington flip | Dixy Lee Ray | 821,797 (53.1%) | John D. Spellman | 687,039 (44.4%) | 37,544 | D+8.7 |
| West Virginia flip | Jay Rockefeller | 495,661 (66.2%) | Cecil H. Underwood | 253,420 (33.8%) | 189 | D+32.3 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.