United States presidential election in Vermont, 1980

United States presidential election in Vermont, 1980
Vermont
November 4, 1980
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter John B. Anderson
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state California Georgia Illinois
Running mate George H.W. Bush Walter Mondale Patrick Lucey
Electoral vote 3 0 0
Popular vote 94,598 81,891 31,760
Percentage 44.37% 38.41% 14.90%

County Results
  Carter—<50%
  Reagan—<50%
  Reagan—50-60%
President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

 Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elections in Vermont

The 1980 United States Presidential Election in Vermont took place on November 4, 1980 as part of the 1980 United States Presidential Election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Vermont voted for the Republican nominee Ronald Reagan of California and his running mate George H.W. Bush of Texas. Reagan took 44.37% of the vote to incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter's 38.41%, a victory margin of 5.96%. Independent John Anderson took 14.90%.

While winning in a nationwide electoral landslide, Reagan's victory in Vermont was the weakest victory for a Republican nominee in the Green Mountain State since the founding of the GOP, with only Barry Goldwater having performed worse when he lost the state in the 1964 Democratic landslide.

Long a bastion of liberal Republicanism, Vermont was the only state in the nation to swing Democratic in 1980, having delivered a more comfortable 11.20% margin of victory to moderate Republican Gerald Ford just four years earlier in 1976, even as the rest of the nation swung hard toward the GOP in 1980. Whereas Ford had swept every county in the state of Vermont, Reagan lost two Northwestern counties, Chittenden and Grand Isle, to Carter. The conservative Reagan would bleed a substantial amount of support in the state to John Anderson, who had been a liberal Republican congressman before mounting his independent bid for the presidency.

This election would mark the beginning of Vermont's transition from a staunchly Republican state to being one of the most Democratic states. Ronald Reagan represented the ascendency of the conservative movement within the modern Republican Party, a party which would become increasingly dominated by conservatives, Southerners, and Evangelical Christians during and after Reagan's administration. Vermont would consequently begin shifting increasingly toward the Democrats in the years to come.

Results

United States presidential election in Vermont, 1980[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan 94,598 44.37% 3
Democratic Jimmy Carter 81,891 38.41% 0
Independent John Anderson 31,760 14.90% 0
Citizens Barry Commoner 2,316 1.09% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 1,900 0.89% 0
No party Write-ins 413 0.19% 0
Socialist David McReynolds 136 0.06% 0
Communist Gus Hall 118 0.06% 0
Socialist Workers Clifton DeBerry 75 0.04% 0
Totals 213,207 100.00% 3
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 58%/68%

References

  1. ↑ "1984 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2013-04-14.