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Election 1980 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.

1980 presidential election in Massachusetts

Ronald Reagan (Republican) beat Jimmy Carter (Democrat) in Massachusetts in 1980, 41.9% to 41.7%, a margin of 0.2 points and 3,829 votes.

Massachusetts changed party: in 1976 it went Democratic, for Jimmy Carter.

Democrats led in 7 of the 14 counties as they stood then and Republicans in 7. The largest, Middlesex, cast 637,679 votes and went to the Democrat by 2.2 points. The closest was Nantucket, where 109 votes separated the two parties.

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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.

Result

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Ronald Reagan won Republican 1,057,631 41.9%
Jimmy Carter Democratic 1,053,802 41.7%
John B. Anderson Independent 382,539 15.2%
All other candidates 30,326 1.2%
Total2,524,298

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Middlesex 270,751 42.5% 256,999 40.3% 109,929 637,679 D+2.2
Norfolk 117,274 38.6% 136,184 44.8% 50,271 303,729 R+6.2
Essex 116,173 39.0% 130,252 43.8% 51,108 297,533 R+4.7
Worcester 117,326 42.1% 120,100 43.1% 41,135 278,561 R+1.0
Suffolk 113,416 52.5% 73,271 33.9% 29,520 216,207 D+18.6
Bristol 83,460 44.3% 77,545 41.1% 27,600 188,605 D+3.1
Hampden 80,369 44.7% 72,528 40.4% 26,823 179,720 D+4.4
Plymouth 58,772 33.9% 85,593 49.4% 28,883 173,248 R+15.5
Barnstable 23,952 29.1% 41,493 50.4% 16,828 82,273 R+21.3
Berkshire 29,458 43.3% 27,063 39.8% 11,510 68,031 D+3.5
Hampshire 27,611 45.7% 21,117 35.0% 11,627 60,355 D+10.8
Franklin 11,830 39.3% 12,528 41.6% 5,764 30,122 R+2.3
Dukes 2,370 43.9% 1,809 33.5% 1,218 5,397 D+10.4
Nantucket 1,040 36.6% 1,149 40.5% 649 2,838 R+3.8

Counties as they stood in 1980; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Massachusetts in every presidential election we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2024 Kamala Harris (D) D+25.2
2020 Joe Biden (D) D+33.5
2016 Hillary Clinton (D) D+27.2
2012 Barack Obama (D) D+23.1
2008 Barack Obama (D) D+25.8
2004 John Kerry (D) D+25.2
2000 Al Gore (D) D+27.3
1996 Bill Clinton (D) D+33.4
1992 Bill Clinton (D) D+18.5
1988 Michael Dukakis (D) D+7.9
1984 Ronald Reagan (R) R+2.8
1980 Ronald Reagan (R) R+0.2
1976 Jimmy Carter (D) D+15.7
1972 George McGovern (D) D+9.0
1968 Hubert Humphrey (D) D+30.1
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (D) D+52.7
1960 John F. Kennedy (D) D+20.7
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) R+18.9
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) R+8.8
1948 Harry S. Truman (D) D+11.5
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+5.8
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+6.7
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+9.5
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) D+4.0
1928 Al Smith (D) D+1.1
1924 Calvin Coolidge (R) R+37.4
1920 Warren G. Harding (R) R+40.7
1916 Charles Evans Hughes (R) R+3.9
1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) D+3.6
1908 William Howard Taft (R) R+24.2
1904 Theodore Roosevelt (R) R+20.7
1900 William McKinley (R) R+19.7
1896 William McKinley (R) R+43.1
1892 Benjamin Harrison (R) R+6.6
1888 Benjamin Harrison (R) R+9.4
1884 James G. Blaine (R) R+8.0
1880 James A. Garfield (R) R+18.8
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes (R) R+16.0
1872 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+38.5
1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R) R+39.5