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United States · Election results history · 1976
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.

1976 presidential election results by state and county

Jimmy Carter, a former governor of Georgia, defeated President Gerald Ford by 297 electoral votes to 240, rebuilding the Democratic hold on the South.

Jimmy Carter (Democrat) beat Gerald Ford in 1976, winning 297 electoral votes to 240, with 1 going to other candidates. Jimmy Carter carried 24 states and Gerald Ford 27. Across the states, the Democratic and Republican vote came to 40,829,085 and 39,147,469 (D+2.1 of all votes cast).

The closest states were Oregon (R+0.2), Ohio (D+0.2) and Maine (R+0.8). 22 states changed party from 1972: Alabama to the Democrats, Arkansas to the Democrats, Delaware to the Democrats, Florida to the Democrats, Georgia to the Democrats, Hawaii to the Democrats, Kentucky to the Democrats, Louisiana to the Democrats, Maryland to the Democrats, Minnesota to the Democrats, Mississippi to the Democrats, Missouri to the Democrats, New York to the Democrats, North Carolina to the Democrats, Ohio to the Democrats, Pennsylvania to the Democrats, Rhode Island to the Democrats, South Carolina to the Democrats, Tennessee to the Democrats, Texas to the Democrats, West Virginia to the Democrats and Wisconsin to the Democrats.

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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 presidential election

Gerald Ford was the only president never elected to national office, having become vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned and president after Nixon's resignation in 1974. His pardon of Nixon was unpopular, the economy was suffering from inflation and recession, and he only narrowly survived a primary challenge from Ronald Reagan. Democrats nominated Jimmy Carter, a little-known former governor who campaigned as an honest outsider after Watergate. Carter won 23 states and the District of Columbia. He swept the South except for Virginia, flipping the whole region from Nixon's 1972 column, and added Northern industrial states including New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Ohio went to Carter by just 0.2 points, enough to settle the election. Ford carried 27 states, mostly in the West and Plains, and recovered strongly in the final weeks. He won Oregon by 0.2 points, Maine by 0.8, Iowa by 1.0 and Oklahoma by 1.2. The final count was 297 electoral votes for Carter and 240 for Ford, with one Washington elector voting for Reagan. It was the last time a Democrat carried most of the South in a presidential election.

Every state

StateDemocratVotesRepublicanVotesOthersMargin EV
Alabama flip Jimmy Carter659,170 (55.7%) Gerald Ford504,070 (42.6%) 19,610 D+13.1 9
Alaska Jimmy Carter44,058 (35.7%) Gerald Ford71,555 (57.9%) Roger MacBride (Libertarian) 6,785 (5.5%)
 R+22.3 3
Arizona Jimmy Carter295,602 (39.8%) Gerald Ford418,642 (56.4%) 28,475 R+16.6 6
Arkansas flip Jimmy Carter498,604 (65.0%) Gerald Ford267,903 (34.9%) 1,028 D+30.1 6
California Jimmy Carter3,742,284 (47.6%) Gerald Ford3,882,244 (49.3%) 242,589 R+1.8 45
Colorado Jimmy Carter460,801 (42.6%) Gerald Ford584,278 (54.0%) 36,361 R+11.4 7
Connecticut Jimmy Carter647,895 (46.7%) Gerald Ford719,261 (51.9%) 19,199 R+5.2 8
Delaware flip Jimmy Carter122,461 (52.0%) Gerald Ford109,780 (46.6%) 3,401 D+5.4 3
District of Columbia Jimmy Carter137,818 (81.6%) Gerald Ford27,873 (16.5%) 3,139 D+65.1 3
Florida flip Jimmy Carter1,636,000 (51.9%) Gerald Ford1,469,531 (46.6%) 45,100 D+5.3 17
Georgia flip Jimmy Carter979,409 (66.9%) Gerald Ford483,743 (33.1%) D+33.9 12
Hawaii flip Jimmy Carter147,375 (50.6%) Gerald Ford140,003 (48.1%) 3,923 D+2.5 4
Idaho Jimmy Carter126,549 (37.1%) Gerald Ford204,151 (59.9%) 10,232 R+22.8 4
Illinois Jimmy Carter2,271,295 (48.1%) Gerald Ford2,364,269 (50.1%) 85,718 R+2.0 26
Indiana Jimmy Carter1,014,714 (45.7%) Gerald Ford1,183,958 (53.3%) 21,690 R+7.6 13
Iowa Jimmy Carter619,931 (48.5%) Gerald Ford632,864 (49.5%) 26,508 R+1.0 8
Kansas Jimmy Carter430,421 (44.9%) Gerald Ford502,752 (52.5%) 24,672 R+7.6 7
Kentucky flip Jimmy Carter615,717 (52.8%) Gerald Ford531,852 (45.6%) 19,573 D+7.2 9
Louisiana flip Jimmy Carter661,365 (51.8%) Gerald Ford587,446 (46.0%) 28,572 D+5.8 10
Maine Jimmy Carter232,279 (48.1%) Gerald Ford236,320 (48.9%) 14,369 R+0.8 4
Maryland flip Jimmy Carter759,612 (53.0%) Gerald Ford672,661 (47.0%) D+6.1 10
Massachusetts Jimmy Carter1,429,475 (56.1%) Gerald Ford1,030,276 (40.4%) 87,807 D+15.7 14
Michigan Jimmy Carter1,696,714 (46.5%) Gerald Ford1,893,742 (51.9%) 61,134 R+5.4 21
Minnesota flip Jimmy Carter1,070,440 (54.9%) Gerald Ford819,395 (42.0%) 60,096 D+12.9 10
Mississippi flip Jimmy Carter381,329 (49.6%) Gerald Ford366,846 (47.7%) 20,215 D+1.9 7
Missouri flip Jimmy Carter998,387 (51.1%) Gerald Ford927,443 (47.5%) 27,770 D+3.6 12
Montana Jimmy Carter149,259 (45.4%) Gerald Ford173,703 (52.8%) 5,772 R+7.4 4
Nebraska Jimmy Carter233,293 (38.4%) Gerald Ford359,219 (59.2%) 14,237 R+20.8 5
Nevada Jimmy Carter92,479 (45.8%) Gerald Ford101,273 (50.2%) 8,124 R+4.4 3
New Hampshire Jimmy Carter147,645 (43.5%) Gerald Ford185,935 (54.7%) 6,047 R+11.3 4
New Jersey Jimmy Carter1,444,653 (47.9%) Gerald Ford1,509,688 (50.1%) 60,131 R+2.2 17
New Mexico Jimmy Carter201,148 (48.3%) Gerald Ford211,419 (50.7%) 4,023 R+2.5 4
New York flip Jimmy Carter3,389,558 (51.9%) Gerald Ford3,100,791 (47.5%) 34,876 D+4.4 41
North Carolina flip Jimmy Carter927,365 (55.3%) Gerald Ford741,960 (44.2%) 8,581 D+11.1 13
North Dakota Jimmy Carter136,078 (45.8%) Gerald Ford153,684 (51.7%) 7,546 R+5.9 3
Ohio flip Jimmy Carter2,009,959 (48.9%) Gerald Ford2,000,626 (48.7%) 99,871 D+0.2 25
Oklahoma Jimmy Carter532,442 (48.7%) Gerald Ford545,708 (50.0%) 14,101 R+1.2 8
Oregon Jimmy Carter490,407 (47.6%) Gerald Ford492,120 (47.8%) 47,349 R+0.2 6
Pennsylvania flip Jimmy Carter2,328,677 (50.4%) Gerald Ford2,205,604 (47.7%) 86,506 D+2.7 27
Rhode Island flip Jimmy Carter227,636 (55.4%) Gerald Ford181,249 (44.1%) 1,699 D+11.3 4
South Carolina flip Jimmy Carter450,807 (56.2%) Gerald Ford346,149 (43.1%) 5,627 D+13.0 8
South Dakota Jimmy Carter147,068 (48.9%) Gerald Ford151,505 (50.4%) 2,105 R+1.5 4
Tennessee flip Jimmy Carter825,879 (55.9%) Gerald Ford633,969 (42.9%) 16,498 D+13.0 10
Texas flip Jimmy Carter2,082,319 (51.1%) Gerald Ford1,953,300 (48.0%) 36,265 D+3.2 26
Utah Jimmy Carter182,110 (33.6%) Gerald Ford337,908 (62.4%) 21,200 R+28.8 4
Vermont Jimmy Carter81,044 (43.1%) Gerald Ford102,085 (54.3%) 4,726 R+11.2 3
Virginia Jimmy Carter813,896 (48.0%) Gerald Ford836,554 (49.3%) 46,644 R+1.3 12
Washington Jimmy Carter717,323 (46.1%) Gerald Ford777,732 (50.0%) 60,479 R+3.9 9
West Virginia flip Jimmy Carter435,864 (58.1%) Gerald Ford314,726 (41.9%) D+16.1 6
Wisconsin flip Jimmy Carter1,040,232 (49.5%) Gerald Ford1,004,987 (47.8%) 56,117 D+1.7 11
Wyoming Jimmy Carter62,239 (39.8%) Gerald Ford92,717 (59.3%) 1,387 R+19.5 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). Maine and Nebraska are shown whole, without their district votes. 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.

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