1976 United States presidential election in Oregon

1976 United States presidential election in Oregon
Ford 40–50% 50–60%	Carter 40–50% 50–60%
President before election; Gerald Ford ; Republican	Elected President; Jimmy Carter ; Democratic

Last updated April 14, 2024

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

Oregon was narrowly won by incumbent President Gerald Ford (R–Michigan) with 47.78% of the popular vote, against Jimmy Carter (D–Georgia), with 47.62% of the popular vote. Separated by a margin of 1,713 votes, this was the closest state in the 1976 presidential election.^[1] This was also the closest presidential election in Oregon since its statehood in 1859. Oregon voted in this election at just over 2% more Republican than the nation-at-large.

None of the third-party candidates amounted to a significant portion of the vote, but Eugene McCarthy (I–Minnesota) won 3.90% of the popular vote and came third overall in the nation. Despite losing in Oregon, Carter went on to win the national election and became the 39th president of the United States.

As of 2020, this is the last occasion when Crook County, Wheeler County and Linn County have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.^[2] It was to end almost a century as a bellwether for Crook County, which was to become solidly Republican following the "Reagan Revolution".^[3] Clackamas County, which supported Ford, would not vote for a losing presidential nominee again until 2016. This was the last election in which Oregon would vote Republican in a close presidential election, as well as in which it would vote for a losing Republican, as of 2020. This was also the last time that Oregon voted more Republican than Texas.

Results

1976 United States presidential election in Oregon^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	492,120	47.78%
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	490,407	47.62%
	Independent	Eugene McCarthy	40,207	3.90%
	Write-in^{[lower-alpha 1]}		7,142	0.69%
Total votes			1,029,876	100%

Results by county

County	Gerald Rudolph Ford Republican		James Earl Carter Democratic		Eugene Joseph McCarthy^[5] Independent		Various candidates^[5] Write-ins		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Baker	3,340	48.27%	3,306	47.78%	225	3.25%	48	0.69%	34	0.49%	6,919
Benton	15,555	53.08%	11,887	40.56%	1,635	5.58%	230	0.78%	3,668	12.52%	29,307
Clackamas	47,671	50.74%	42,504	45.24%	3,318	3.53%	466	0.50%	5,167	5.50%	93,959
Clatsop	6,178	45.37%	6,690	49.13%	684	5.02%	64	0.47%	-512	-3.76%	13,616
Columbia	5,226	37.71%	8,005	57.76%	521	3.76%	107	0.77%	-2,779	-20.05%	13,859
Coos	9,481	38.35%	14,168	57.30%	924	3.74%	152	0.61%	-4,687	-18.96%	24,725
Crook	2,093	43.81%	2,536	53.09%	102	2.14%	46	0.96%	-443	-9.27%	4,777
Curry	2,962	45.52%	3,227	49.59%	294	4.52%	24	0.37%	-265	-4.07%	6,507
Deschutes	9,054	46.71%	9,480	48.91%	729	3.76%	119	0.61%	-426	-2.20%	19,382
Douglas	16,500	50.04%	14,965	45.39%	1,187	3.60%	321	0.97%	1,535	4.66%	32,973
Gilliam	612	52.49%	508	43.57%	36	3.09%	10	0.86%	104	8.92%	1,166
Grant	1,640	51.15%	1,393	43.45%	148	4.62%	25	0.78%	247	7.70%	3,206
Harney	1,652	48.49%	1,567	45.99%	163	4.78%	25	0.73%	85	2.49%	3,407
Hood River	3,210	48.37%	3,114	46.93%	287	4.32%	25	0.38%	96	1.45%	6,636
Jackson	24,237	48.25%	23,384	46.55%	1,926	3.83%	689	1.37%	853	1.70%	50,236
Jefferson	1,810	47.92%	1,769	46.84%	153	4.05%	45	1.19%	41	1.09%	3,777
Josephine	10,726	50.81%	9,061	42.92%	899	4.26%	424	2.01%	1,665	7.89%	21,110
Klamath	11,649	52.50%	9,659	43.53%	652	2.94%	227	1.02%	1,990	8.97%	22,187
Lake	1,575	51.00%	1,381	44.72%	102	3.30%	30	0.97%	194	6.28%	3,088
Lane	46,245	42.67%	56,479	52.12%	4,769	4.40%	874	0.81%	-10,234	-9.44%	108,367
Lincoln	5,755	43.60%	6,685	50.65%	685	5.19%	74	0.56%	-930	-7.05%	13,199
Linn	14,128	45.22%	15,776	50.50%	1,198	3.83%	139	0.44%	-1,648	-5.28%	31,241
Malheur	5,682	59.13%	3,507	36.49%	368	3.83%	53	0.55%	2,175	22.63%	9,610
Marion	35,497	49.08%	33,781	46.70%	2,678	3.70%	375	0.52%	1,716	2.37%	72,331
Morrow	1,091	46.09%	1,162	49.09%	78	3.30%	36	1.52%	-71	-3.00%	2,367
Multnomah	112,400	46.04%	129,060	52.86%	1,064	0.44%	1,635	0.67%	-16,660	-6.82%	244,159
Polk	8,528	48.65%	8,141	46.44%	752	4.29%	109	0.62%	387	2.21%	17,530
Sherman	567	51.13%	491	44.27%	48	4.33%	3	0.27%	76	6.85%	1,109
Tillamook	4,033	45.48%	4,456	50.25%	337	3.80%	41	0.46%	-423	-4.77%	8,867
Umatilla	9,345	51.83%	7,985	44.28%	599	3.33%	102	0.57%	1,360	7.54%	18,031
Union	5,111	52.00%	4,280	43.54%	397	4.04%	41	0.42%	831	8.45%	9,829
Wallowa	1,693	53.76%	1,310	41.60%	110	3.49%	36	1.14%	383	12.16%	3,149
Wasco	4,258	46.08%	4,560	49.35%	350	3.79%	72	0.78%	-302	-3.27%	9,240
Washington	52,376	57.80%	34,847	38.46%	2,999	3.31%	389	0.43%	17,529	19.35%	90,611
Wheeler	355	45.57%	402	51.60%	17	2.18%	5	0.64%	-47	-6.03%	779
Yamhill	9,885	50.38%	8,881	45.27%	773	3.94%	81	0.41%	1,004	5.12%	19,620
Totals	492,120	47.78%	490,407	47.62%	40,207	3.90%	7,142^{[lower-alpha 1]}	0.69%	1,713	0.17%	1,029,876

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

1 2 Amongst these are 1,035 write-ins for national American Party candidate Thomas J. Anderson, which were not separated by county but given only as a statewide total.^[5]

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References

↑ Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S Presidential Elections; 1976 Presidential Election Statistics
↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
↑ Lewis-Beck; Michael S.; 'Election Forecasts in 1984: How Accurate Were They'; Political Science and Politics 18(1) (January 1985), pp. 53-63
↑ Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S Presidential Elections; 1976 Presidential General Election Results – Oregon
1 2 3 Our Campaigns; OR US President, November 02, 1976

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[Anderson-5] 1 2 Amongst these are 1,035 write-ins for national American Party candidate Thomas J. Anderson, which were not separated by county but given only as a statewide total.^[5]

[1] Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S Presidential Elections; 1976 Presidential Election Statistics

[How-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] Lewis-Beck; Michael S.; 'Election Forecasts in 1984: How Accurate Were They'; Political Science and Politics 18(1) (January 1985), pp. 53-63

[4] Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S Presidential Elections; 1976 Presidential General Election Results – Oregon

[Our-6] 1 2 3 Our Campaigns; OR US President, November 02, 1976

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[lower-alpha 1]

[5]

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