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1976 United States presidential election in California

←  1972 November 2, 1976 1980 →
Turnout81.53% (of registered voters) Decrease 0.60 pp
57.32% (of eligible voters) Decrease 7.20 pp [1]
 
Nominee Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Michigan Georgia
Running mate Bob Dole Walter Mondale
Electoral vote 45 0
Popular vote 3,882,244 3,742,284
Percentage 49.35% 47.57%

County Results

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

The 1976 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California narrowly voted for the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford, over the Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.

Ford won the state with a plurality of 49.35% of the vote to Carter's 47.57%, a victory margin of 1.78%, which made California almost 4% more Republican than the nation-at-large.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that a Democrat has won the counties of Amador, El Dorado, Lassen, Madera, Placer, Shasta, Sierra and Yuba, [2] Carter is also the last candidate from either party to carry Los Angeles by only a plurality. This also remains the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate won at least 40% of the vote in San Francisco, and the last time that county was not the most Democratic in the state. This is also the last time when a Democrat has won the presidency without winning California and the last time that the state would vote Republican in a close election. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004.

Results

1976 United States presidential election in California [3]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Gerald Ford ( incumbent) 3,882,244 49.35% 45
Democratic Jimmy Carter 3,742,284 47.57% 0
No party Eugene McCarthy ( write-in) 58,412 0.74% 0
Independent Roger MacBride 56,388 0.72% 0
American Independent Lester Maddox 51,098 0.65% 0
Peace and Freedom Margaret Wright 41,731 0.53% 0
Independent Peter Camejo 17,259 0.22% 0
Independent Gus Hall 12,766 0.16% 0
No party Thomas J. Anderson (write-in) 4,565 0.06% 0
No party Jules Levin (write-in) 222 0.00% 0
No party Write-ins 74 0.00% 0
No party Ben Bubar (write-in) 34 0.00% 0
No party Ernest Miller (write-in) 26 0.00% 0
No party Frank Taylor (write-in) 14 0.00% 0
Invalid or blank votes
Totals 7,867,117 100.00% 45
Voter turnout

Results by county

County Gerald Rudolph Ford
Republican
James Earl Carter
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin
% # % # % # % #
Orange 62.16% 408,632 35.33% 232,246 2.52% 16,555 26.83% 176,386
Mono 58.80% 1,600 37.67% 1,025 3.53% 96 21.13% 575
Inyo 58.23% 3,905 39.29% 2,635 2.48% 166 18.94% 1,270
San Diego 55.74% 353,302 41.60% 263,654 2.66% 16,839 14.14% 89,648
Sutter 54.21% 8,745 43.18% 6,966 2.60% 420 11.03% 1,779
Tulare 54.52% 31,864 43.72% 25,551 1.76% 1,027 10.80% 6,313
Marin 52.52% 53,425 42.86% 43,590 4.62% 4,700 9.66% 9,835
Ventura 53.20% 82,670 44.10% 68,529 2.70% 4,201 9.10% 14,141
Alpine 50.34% 225 42.28% 189 7.38% 33 8.06% 36
Butte 51.77% 28,400 44.12% 24,203 4.10% 2,251 7.65% 4,197
Glenn 52.67% 4,094 45.04% 3,501 2.29% 178 7.63% 593
Colusa 52.74% 2,733 45.16% 2,340 2.10% 109 7.58% 393
Napa 51.83% 20,839 44.89% 18,048 3.28% 1,318 6.94% 2,791
Kern 52.29% 58,023 45.57% 50,567 2.14% 2,371 6.72% 7,456
San Mateo 50.63% 117,338 44.40% 102,896 4.97% 11,507 6.23% 14,442
San Luis Obispo 51.17% 27,785 45.91% 24,926 2.92% 1,587 5.26% 2,859
Monterey 51.02% 40,896 45.97% 36,849 3.00% 2,408 5.05% 4,047
Santa Barbara 50.83% 60,922 45.91% 55,018 3.26% 3,904 4.92% 5,904
Modoc 51.20% 1,917 46.29% 1,733 2.51% 94 4.91% 184
San Benito 50.87% 3,398 46.74% 3,122 2.40% 160 4.13% 276
Santa Clara 49.46% 219,188 46.94% 208,023 3.59% 15,927 2.52% 11,165
Imperial 49.94% 10,618 48.18% 10,244 1.88% 400 1.76% 374
San Bernardino 49.49% 113,265 47.90% 109,636 2.61% 5,984 1.59% 3,629
San Joaquin 49.60% 50,277 48.08% 48,733 2.32% 2,351 1.52% 1,544
Nevada 48.40% 8,170 46.95% 7,926 4.65% 785 1.45% 244
Kings 49.65% 8,263 48.44% 8,061 1.91% 318 1.21% 202
Calaveras 49.08% 3,695 47.91% 3,607 3.00% 226 1.17% 88
Contra Costa 49.35% 126,598 48.24% 123,742 2.41% 6,194 1.11% 2,856
Riverside 49.24% 97,774 48.46% 96,228 2.29% 4,556 0.78% 1,546
Sonoma 47.72% 50,555 47.52% 50,353 4.76% 5,044 0.20% 202
Siskiyou 48.37% 7,070 48.31% 7,060 3.32% 485 0.06% 10
El Dorado 47.69% 12,472 48.80% 12,763 3.51% 919 -1.11% -291
Fresno 48.10% 72,533 49.71% 74,958 2.20% 3,314 -1.61% -2,425
Mariposa 46.61% 2,012 48.48% 2,093 4.91% 212 -1.87% -81
Los Angeles 47.78% 1,174,926 49.69% 1,221,893 2.53% 62,258 -1.91% -46,967
Tuolumne 46.94% 6,104 49.93% 6,492 3.13% 407 -2.99% -388
Mendocino 45.49% 9,784 49.53% 10,653 4.98% 1,072 -4.04% -869
Trinity 45.66% 1,989 49.86% 2,172 4.48% 195 -4.20% -183
Amador 46.13% 3,699 50.35% 4,037 3.52% 282 -4.22% -338
Shasta 45.63% 17,273 50.72% 19,200 3.65% 1,381 -5.09% -1,927
Madera 45.96% 6,844 51.20% 7,625 2.84% 423 -5.24% -781
Merced 46.08% 14,842 51.65% 16,637 2.26% 729 -5.57% -1,795
Del Norte 45.29% 2,481 50.91% 2,789 3.80% 208 -5.62% -308
Tehama 44.81% 6,110 51.27% 6,990 3.92% 535 -6.46% -880
Placer 45.03% 18,154 52.16% 21,026 2.81% 1,131 -7.13% -2,872
Lake 44.46% 5,462 51.88% 6,374 3.65% 449 -7.42% -912
Stanislaus 44.83% 32,937 52.34% 38,448 2.83% 2,080 -7.51% -5,511
Sacramento 44.63% 123,110 52.27% 144,203 3.10% 8,563 -7.64% -21,093
Yuba 44.74% 5,496 52.51% 6,451 2.75% 338 -7.77% -955
Santa Cruz 43.09% 31,872 51.06% 37,772 5.85% 4,325 -7.97% -5,900
Plumas 43.94% 2,884 52.25% 3,429 3.81% 250 -8.31% -545
Sierra 43.15% 680 53.36% 841 3.49% 55 -10.21% -161
Lassen 42.97% 3,007 54.32% 3,801 2.72% 190 -11.35% -794
San Francisco 40.31% 103,561 52.06% 133,733 7.63% 19,594 -11.75% -30,172
Yolo 42.42% 18,376 54.33% 23,533 3.25% 1,408 -11.91% -5,157
Solano 42.40% 26,136 54.64% 33,682 2.96% 1,826 -12.24% -7,546
Humboldt 41.58% 18,034 54.18% 23,500 4.24% 1,838 -12.60% -5,466
Alameda 38.09% 155,280 57.89% 235,988 4.03% 16,413 -19.80% -80,708

References

  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  3. ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results - California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.