Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976
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| Democratic Presidential Primaries, 1976 |
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Due to the absence of any clear front-runner for the nomination, a record number of Democrats competed for their party's presidential nomination in 1976. Most of these candidates would drop out early in the race.
The 1976 campaign featured a record number of state primaries and caucuses, and it was the first presidential campaign in which the primary system was dominant. However, most of the Democratic candidates failed to realize the significance of the increased number of primaries, or the importance of creating momentum by winning the early contests. The one candidate who did see the opportunities in the new nominating system was Jimmy Carter, a former state senator and Governor of Georgia. Carter, who was virtually unknown at the national level, would never have gotten the Democratic nomination under the old, boss-dominated nominating system, but given the public disgust with political corruption following Nixon's resignation, Carter realized that his obscurity and "fresh face" could be an asset in the primaries. Carter's plan was to run in all of the primaries and caucuses, beginning with the Iowa caucus, and build up momentum by winning "somewhere" each time primary elections were held. Carter startled many political experts by finishing second in the Iowa caucuses (where he came in second to "uncommitted"). Carter then won the New Hampshire primary, thus proving that a Southerner could win in the North. He then proceeded to slowly but steadily accumulate delegates in primaries around the nation. He also knocked his key rivals out of the race one by one. He defeated George Wallace in the North Carolina primary, thus eliminating his main rival in the South. He defeated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson in Pennsylvania, thus forcing Jackson to quit the race. In the Wisconsin primary Carter scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over Arizona Congressman Morris Udall, thus eliminating Udall as a serious contender. As Carter closed in on the nomination, an "ABC" (Anybody But Carter) movement started among Northern and Western liberal Democrats who worried that Carter's Southern upbringing would make him too conservative for the Democratic Party. The leaders of the "ABC" movement - Idaho Senator Frank Church and California Governor Jerry Brown - both announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination and defeated Carter in several late primaries. However, their campaigns both started too late to prevent Carter from gathering the remaining delegates he needed to capture the nomination.
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[edit] Candidates
The candidates were:
- Birch Bayh, U.S senator from Indiana
- Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. senator from Texas
- Jerry Brown, Governor of California
- Robert Byrd, U.S. senator from West Virginia ("favorite son" candidate)
- Hugh L. Carey, Governor of New York
- Jimmy Carter, former Governor of Georgia
- César Chávez, labor activist from California
- Frank Church, U.S. senator from Idaho
- Fred R. Harris, former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, former candidate for the 1972 nomination, and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee
- Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S. senator from Minnesota and former Vice President and 1968 presidential nominee and candidate for the 1952, 1960 and 1972 nominations
- Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, U.S. senator from Washington, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and former candidate for the 1972 nomination
- Leon Jaworski, special prosecutor in the Watergate Scandal from Texas
- Barbara Jordan, U.S. representative from Texas
- Eugene McCarthy, former U.S. senator and candidate for the 1968 and 1972 nominations from Minnesota
- Ellen McCormack, pro-life activist from New York
- Walter F. Mondale, U.S. senator and candidate for the 1972 nomination from Minnesota
- Jennings Randolph, U.S. senator from West Virginia
- Terry Sanford, former Governor of North Carolina
- Milton Shapp, Governor of Pennsylvania
- Sargent Shriver, former ambassador to France, first director of the Peace Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity, and 1972 vice-presidential nominee
- Adlai Stevenson III, U.S. senator from Illinois ("favorite son" candidate)
- Morris "Mo" Udall, U.S. representative from Arizona
- George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, former candidate for the 1972 nomination, and 1968 American Independent Party presidential nominee
 Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana |
 Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas |
 Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia |
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 Former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia |
 Senator Frank Church of Idaho |
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 Former Senator and DNC Chairman Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma |
 Senator and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota |
 Senator and former DNC Chairman Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson of Washington |
 Prosecutor Leon Jaworski of Texas |
 Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas |
 Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts |
 Former Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota |
 Mrs. Ellen McCormack an activist from New York |
 Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota |
 Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia |
 Former Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina |
|
 Former Peace Corps Director, Ambassador to France and 1972 V.P. Nominee Sargent Shriver of Maryland |
 Senator Adlai Stevenson III of Illinois |
[edit] Primaries
[edit] Statewide contest by winner
Results by state[1]:
| Jimmy Carter | Jerry Brown | George Wallace | Mo Udall | Scoop Jackson | Frank Church | Robert Byrd | Sargent Shriver | Ellen McCormack | Fred Harris | Birch Bayh | Hubert Humphrey | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 27 | Iowa | 28% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 10% | 13% | 0% |
| February 24 | New Hampshire | 28% | 0% | 1% | 23% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 1% | 11% | 15% | 6% |
| March 2 | Massachusetts | 14% | 0% | 17% | 18% | 22% | 0% | 0% | 7% | 4% | 8% | 5% | 1% |
| March 2 | Vermont | 42% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 28% | 9% | 13% | 0% | 0% |
| March 9 | Florida | 35% | 0% | 31% | 2% | 24% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| March 16 | Illinois | 48% | 0% | 28% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 16% | 0% | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| March 23 | North Carolina | 54% | 0% | 35% | 2% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| April 6 | Wisconsin | 37% | 0% | 13% | 36% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| April 27 | Pennsylvania | 37% | 0% | 11% | 19% | 25% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| May 4 | Georgia | 83% | 11% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 4 | Indiana | 68% | 0% | 15% | 0% | 12% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 11 | Nebraska | 38% | 0% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 38% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 7% |
| May 11 | West Virginia | 0% | 0% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 89% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 18 | Maryland | 37% | 48% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| May 18 | Michigan | 43% | 0% | 7% | 43% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| May 25 | Arkansas | 63% | 0% | 17% | 8% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 25 | Idaho | 12% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 79% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| May 25 | Kentucky | 59% | 0% | 17% | 11% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 25 | Nevada | 23% | 53% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| May 25 | Oregon | 27% | 25% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 34% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| May 25 | Tennessee | 77% | 0% | 11% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| June 1 | Montana | 25% | 3% | 0% | 6% | 3% | 59% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| June 1 | Rhode Island | 30% | 0% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| June 1 | South Dakota | 41% | 0% | 2% | 33% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| June 8 | California | 20% | 59% | 3% | 5% | 1% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| June 8 | New Jersey | 58% | 0% | 9% | 0% | 9% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| June 8 | Ohio | 52% | 0% | 6% | 21% | 3% | 14% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Carter
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (his home state)
- Indiana
- Iowa (technically won by "uncommitted", but Carter finished before all other candidates)
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Church
Udall
Brown
- California (his home state)
- Maryland
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- Rhode Island
Jackson
- Alaska
- Massachusetts
- New York
- Washington (his home state)
Wallace
- Alabama (his home state)
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
Humphrey
- Minnesota (his home state)
- North Dakota
Byrd
- West Virginia (his home state)
Stevenson
- Illinois (his home state)
[edit] Total popular vote
Total popular vote in primaries[2]
- Jimmy Carter - 6,235,609 (39.27%)
- Jerry Brown - 2,449,374 (15.43%)
- George Wallace - 1,955,388 (12.31%)
- Mo Udall - 1,611,754 (10.15%)
- Henry M. Jackson - 1,134,375 (7.14%)
- Frank Church - 830,818 (5.23%)
- Robert Byrd - 340,309 (2.14%)
- Sargent Shriver - 304,399 (1.92%)
- Unpledged - 283,437 (1.79%)
- Ellen McCormack - 238,027 (1.50%)
- Fred R. Harris - 234,568 (1.48%)
- Milton Shapp - 88,254 (0.56%)
- Birch Bayh - 86,438 (0.54%)
- Hubert Humphrey - 61,992 (0.39%)
- Ted Kennedy - 19,805 (0.13%)
- Lloyd Bentsen - 4,046 (0.03%)
- Terry Sanford - 404 (0.00%)
[edit] Democratic National Convention
The 1976 Democratic National Convention was held in New York City. By the time the convention opened Carter already had more than enough delegates to win the nomination, and so the major emphasis at the convention was to create an appearance of party unity, which had been lacking in the 1968 and 1972 Democratic Conventions. Carter easily won the nomination on the first ballot; he then chose Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota, a liberal and a protege of Hubert Humphrey, as his running mate.
The tally at the convention was[3]:
- Jimmy Carter - 2,239 (74.48%)
- Mo Udall - 330 (10.98%)
- Jerry Brown - 301 (10.01%)
- George Wallace - 57 (1.90%)
- Ellen McCormack - 22 (0.73%)
- Frank Church - 19 (0.63%)
- Hubert Humphrey - 10 (0.33%)
- Henry M. Jackson - 10 (0.33%)
- Fred R. Harris - 9 (0.30%)
- Milton Shapp - 2 (0.07%)
- Robert Byrd - 2 (0.07%)
- Hugh Carey, Cesar Chavez, Leon Jaworski, Barbara Jordan, Ted Kennedy, George McGovern, Edmund Muskie, Jennings Randolph, Fred Stover - each 1 vote (0.03%)
[edit] Vice-Presidential nomination
According to Jimmy Carter[4], his top choices for Vice Presidency were: Walter Mondale, Edmund Muskie, Frank Church, Adlai Stevenson III, John Glenn and Henry M. Jackson. He selected Mondale.
The vice presidential tally, in part, was:
- Walter Mondale 2837
- House Speaker Carl Albert 36
- Ronald Dellums 20
- Fritz Efaw 12
- Barbara Jordan 17
- Others 53
[edit] References
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