The 1980 United States presidential election in California refers to how California participated in the 1980 United States presidential election. California voted for the Republican nominee, the state's former governor Ronald Reagan, in a landslide over the Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter. Reagan won his home state by a wide 16.78% margin and carried all but three counties. Among the counties Reagan won was Plumas, the first Republican victory in that county since 1920. Reagan is also the last Republican candidate to carry the counties of Marin and Santa Cruz in a presidential election.
1980 stands as the last election in which California voted more Republican than the United States as a whole.[1] This election indeed constitutes the most Republican California has voted relative to the whole nation since 1928, when anti-Catholic prejudice against Al Smith had a substantial influence; here, it was widely believed that Carter lacked understanding of critical Western issues, most importantly water development.[2] This also remains the last time a Republican won the San Francisco Bay Area, and the last one where San Francisco gave less than 60% of the vote to the Democratic candidate.
Results
United States presidential election in California, 1980[3] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
Percentage |
Electoral votes |
|
Republican |
Ronald Reagan |
4,524,858 |
52.69% |
45 |
|
Democratic |
Jimmy Carter (incumbent) |
3,083,661 |
35.91% |
0 |
|
Independent |
John B. Anderson |
739,833 |
8.62% |
0 |
|
Libertarian |
Ed Clark |
148,434 |
1.73% |
0 |
|
Independent |
Barry Commoner |
61,063 |
0.71% |
0 |
|
Peace and Freedom |
Maureen Smith |
18,116 |
0.21% |
0 |
|
American Independent |
John Rarick |
9,856 |
0.11% |
0 |
|
No party |
Gus Hall (write-in) |
847 |
0.01% |
0 |
|
No party |
Andrew Pulley (write-in) |
231 |
0.00% |
0 |
|
No party |
Percy Greaves, Jr. (write-in) |
87 |
0.00% |
0 |
|
No party |
Ben Bubar (write-in) |
36 |
0.00% |
0 |
|
No party |
Write-ins |
26 |
0.00% |
0 |
|
No party |
Deirdre Griswold (write-in) |
15 |
0.00% |
0 |
Invalid or blank votes |
|
|
— |
Totals |
8,587,063 |
100.00% |
45 |
Voter turnout |
|
— |
Results by county
County |
Reagan |
Votes |
Carter |
Votes |
Anderson |
Votes |
Others |
Votes |
Orange |
67.90% |
529,797 |
22.65% |
176,704 |
7.09% |
55,299 |
2.36% |
18,412 |
Glenn |
64.80% |
5,386 |
26.79% |
2,227 |
6.46% |
537 |
1.95% |
162 |
Inyo |
64.79% |
5,201 |
25.91% |
2,080 |
6.42% |
515 |
2.88% |
231 |
Modoc |
64.48% |
2,579 |
26.15% |
1,046 |
7.32% |
293 |
2.05% |
82 |
Sutter |
63.47% |
11,778 |
27.50% |
5,103 |
5.87% |
1,089 |
3.16% |
587 |
Mono |
62.32% |
2,132 |
25.29% |
865 |
8.83% |
302 |
3.57% |
122 |
San Diego |
60.81% |
435,910 |
27.26% |
195,410 |
9.41% |
67,491 |
2.52% |
18,055 |
Ventura |
60.28% |
114,930 |
29.54% |
56,311 |
7.81% |
14,887 |
2.37% |
4,522 |
Riverside |
59.87% |
145,642 |
31.51% |
76,650 |
6.73% |
16,362 |
1.90% |
4,624 |
San Bernardino |
59.68% |
172,957 |
31.67% |
91,790 |
6.59% |
19,106 |
2.06% |
5,959 |
Kern |
59.65% |
72,842 |
33.65% |
41,097 |
4.75% |
5,799 |
1.95% |
2,383 |
Tehama |
59.13% |
9,140 |
31.26% |
4,832 |
6.56% |
1,014 |
3.05% |
471 |
Calaveras |
58.92% |
6,054 |
29.94% |
3,076 |
7.55% |
776 |
3.59% |
369 |
Tulare |
58.32% |
41,317 |
35.51% |
25,155 |
4.58% |
3,244 |
1.60% |
1,130 |
El Dorado |
58.27% |
21,238 |
29.53% |
10,765 |
9.02% |
3,287 |
3.18% |
1,159 |
Shasta |
58.09% |
27,547 |
32.40% |
15,364 |
6.79% |
3,220 |
2.71% |
1,287 |
Colusa |
58.00% |
2,897 |
32.13% |
1,605 |
6.51% |
325 |
3.36% |
168 |
Nevada |
57.91% |
15,207 |
28.96% |
7,605 |
8.51% |
2,235 |
4.62% |
1,214 |
Butte |
57.85% |
38,188 |
29.57% |
19,520 |
9.25% |
6,108 |
3.33% |
2,196 |
Del Norte |
57.48% |
4,016 |
33.46% |
2,338 |
6.96% |
486 |
2.10% |
147 |
Yuba |
56.28% |
7,942 |
34.70% |
4,896 |
6.22% |
878 |
2.80% |
395 |
Imperial |
55.92% |
12,068 |
36.89% |
7,961 |
5.57% |
1,203 |
1.61% |
347 |
Amador |
55.85% |
5,401 |
33.00% |
3,191 |
8.15% |
788 |
3.00% |
290 |
Siskiyou |
55.75% |
9,331 |
33.84% |
5,664 |
7.58% |
1,269 |
2.83% |
474 |
San Luis Obispo |
55.56% |
38,631 |
29.50% |
20,508 |
12.09% |
8407 |
2.85% |
1981 |
San Joaquin |
55.38% |
64,718 |
35.56% |
41,551 |
7.20% |
8,416 |
1.86% |
2,178 |
Kings |
55.37% |
10,531 |
38.37% |
7,299 |
4.74% |
901 |
1.52% |
290 |
Alpine |
55.10% |
254 |
28.85% |
133 |
10.85% |
50 |
5.21% |
24 |
Mariposa |
54.96% |
3,082 |
33.68% |
1,889 |
8.17% |
458 |
3.19% |
179 |
Trinity |
54.96% |
3,048 |
31.27% |
1,734 |
9.12% |
506 |
4.65% |
258 |
Tuolumne |
54.85% |
8,810 |
33.92% |
5,449 |
8.65% |
1390 |
2.58% |
414 |
Placer |
54.78% |
28,179 |
33.65% |
17,311 |
8.47% |
4,356 |
3.10% |
1,594 |
Monterey |
54.67% |
47,452 |
33.51% |
29,086 |
9.23% |
8,008 |
2.59% |
2,248 |
Lassen |
54.45% |
4,464 |
35.87% |
2,941 |
6.62% |
543 |
3.05% |
250 |
Santa Barbara |
53.98% |
69,629 |
31.51% |
40,650 |
11.46% |
14,786 |
3.05% |
3,930 |
Napa |
53.67% |
23,632 |
33.83% |
14,898 |
9.58% |
4,218 |
2.92% |
1,287 |
Lake |
53.64% |
8,934 |
35.90% |
5,978 |
6.95% |
1,157 |
3.51% |
585 |
Madera |
53.58% |
10,599 |
39.35% |
7,783 |
5.12% |
1,013 |
1.95% |
385 |
San Benito |
53.33% |
4,054 |
36.16% |
2,749 |
7.26% |
552 |
3.25% |
247 |
Plumas |
51.24% |
4,182 |
35.67% |
2,911 |
9.59% |
783 |
3.49% |
285 |
Fresno |
51.13% |
82,515 |
40.43% |
65,254 |
6.65% |
10,727 |
1.79% |
2,890 |
Solano |
50.72% |
40,919 |
38.37% |
30,952 |
8.32% |
6,713 |
2.59% |
2,092 |
Los Angeles |
50.18% |
1,224,533 |
40.15% |
979,830 |
7.21% |
175,882 |
2.46% |
59940 |
Contra Costa |
50.12% |
144,112 |
37.35% |
107,398 |
9.81% |
28,209 |
2.72% |
7,826 |
Sierra |
49.77% |
855 |
37.89% |
651 |
9.08% |
156 |
3.26% |
56 |
Stanislaus |
49.41% |
41,595 |
40.01% |
33,683 |
8.47% |
7,134 |
2.11% |
1,774 |
Humboldt |
49.39% |
24,047 |
35.15% |
17,113 |
11.17% |
5,440 |
4.30% |
2,092 |
San Mateo |
48.82% |
116,491 |
36.60% |
87,335 |
11.73% |
27,985 |
2.86% |
6,826 |
Merced |
48.77% |
18,043 |
42.94% |
15,886 |
6.26% |
2,316 |
2.03% |
751 |
Sonoma |
48.20% |
60,722 |
36.19% |
45,596 |
11.17% |
14,068 |
4.44% |
5,599 |
Santa Clara |
48.02% |
229,048 |
35.01% |
166,995 |
13.73% |
65,481 |
3.25% |
15,479 |
Sacramento |
47.72% |
153,721 |
40.37% |
130,031 |
9.21% |
29,655 |
2.70% |
8,713 |
Marin |
45.78% |
49,678 |
36.16% |
39,231 |
12.72% |
13,805 |
5.34% |
5,793 |
Mendocino |
44.05% |
12,432 |
38.21% |
10,784 |
9.73% |
2,747 |
8.01% |
2,261 |
Santa Cruz |
43.53% |
37,347 |
37.70% |
32,346 |
12.34% |
10,590 |
6.43% |
5,521 |
Yolo |
39.45% |
19,603 |
43.32% |
21,527 |
13.42% |
6,669 |
3.81% |
1,891 |
Alameda |
37.96% |
158,531 |
48.30% |
201,720 |
9.78% |
40,834 |
3.96% |
16,532 |
San Francisco |
31.87% |
80,967 |
52.43% |
133,184 |
11.56% |
29,365 |
4.14% |
10,512 |
References
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Candidates | | |
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General articles | |
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Local results | |
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Other 1980 elections | |
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