1976 United States presidential election in Washington (state)

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1976 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
Flag of Washington.svg
  1972 November 2, 1976 1980  
  Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg Jimmy Carter 1977 cropped.jpg
Nominee Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Michigan Georgia
Running mate Bob Dole Walter Mondale
Electoral vote8 [lower-alpha 1] 0
Popular vote777,732717,323
Percentage50.00%46.11%

Washington Presidential Election Results 1976.svg
County Results

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

The 1976 United States presidential election in Washington was held on November 2, 1976 as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Contents

Incumbent President Gerald Ford won the state of Washington with 50% of the vote, which made the state 6% more Republican than the nation-at-large, [1] but Ford received only eight of the state's nine electoral votes. Former California Governor Ronald Reagan lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford in 1976 and was not on the ballot in any state. However, he was given one electoral vote by Washington faithless elector Mike Padden.

As of 2020, the 1976 election remains the last time that a Democrat would win the presidency without carrying Washington state, or that the state would vote Republican in a close nationwide contest. 1976 was also the last time until 2016 that a presidential candidate would lose an electoral vote to a faithless elector in the state. The 1976 election was also the last time that Clallam County backed the losing national candidate, and the county now has the nation's longest streak of picking the winner of the electoral college in presidential elections by being the only county in the nation, as of 2020, that has backed the winning national candidate every time since 1980. In addition, Clallam County has only twice gone for the losing national candidate since 1920 (in 1968 and 1976).

Results

1976 United States presidential election in Washington [1]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Gerald Ford (incumbent)777,73250.00%8
Democratic Jimmy Carter 717,32346.11%0
Independent Eugene McCarthy 36,9862.38%0
Right Government Lester Maddox 8,5850.55%0
American Thomas J. Anderson 5,0460.32%0
Libertarian Roger MacBride 5,0420.32%0
Bicentennial Reality Margaret Wright 1,1240.07%0
Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 9050.06%0
U.S. Labor Lyndon LaRouche 9030.06%0
Communist Gus Hall 8170.05%0
Socialist Labor Julius Levin 7130.05%0
Socialist Frank Zeidler 3580.02%0
Republican Ronald Reagan 00.00%1
Totals1,555,534100.00%9
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered voters)60%/75%

Results by county

County results [2]
CountyGerald Rudolph Ford
Republican
James Earl Carter
Democratic
Eugene Joseph McCarthy
Independent
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %#%#%
Adams 2,79558.56%1,79037.50%681.43%1152.41%1,00521.08%4,773
Asotin 2,75247.22%2,89849.73%801.38%871.50%-146-2.51%5,828
Benton 22,13563.95%11,30632.67%6771.96%4411.28%10,82931.33%34,611
Chelan 10,49256.13%7,62340.78%3221.73%2191.17%2,86915.38%18,692
Clallam 9,13249.67%8,26844.97%4752.60%4182.29%8644.72%18,386
Clark 27,93845.65%31,08050.78%1,4692.40%5970.98%-3,142-5.14%61,201
Columbia 1,15356.69%82940.76%291.43%231.13%32415.93%2,034
Cowlitz 12,53144.11%14,95852.66%5621.98%2931.03%-2,427-8.56%28,406
Douglas 4,54753.09%3,80944.48%1111.30%830.97%7388.63%8,564
Ferry 77645.86%81448.11%452.66%553.25%-38-2.25%1,692
Franklin 5,67154.51%4,36942.00%1921.85%1511.45%1,30212.54%10,403
Garfield 89257.18%61639.49%261.67%231.48%27617.73%1,560
Grant 9,19251.87%7,77743.89%4002.26%3051.73%1,4158.01%17,721
Grays Harbor 9,46439.61%13,47856.41%5342.24%3311.39%-4,014-16.86%23,893
Island 7,80455.33%5,85941.54%2801.99%1340.95%1,94513.82%14,104
Jefferson 2,79445.86%2,91347.82%1993.29%1362.25%-119-1.97%6,092
King 279,38250.79%248,74345.22%14,2342.60%5,4831.00%30,6095.59%550,119
Kitsap 23,12445.56%25,70150.64%1,1792.33%6421.27%-2,577-5.09%50,750
Kittitas 4,76547.57%4,85848.50%2672.67%990.99%-93-0.93%10,017
Klickitat 2,57344.99%2,89050.53%1262.21%1192.08%-317-5.55%5,719
Lewis 10,93351.65%9,02642.64%5572.64%6012.85%1,9079.03%21,167
Lincoln 2,92557.57%1,97838.93%981.93%711.40%94718.67%5,081
Mason 4,75842.14%6,06053.67%2682.38%1781.58%-1,302-11.56%11,291
Okanogan 5,45547.05%5,54347.81%3382.92%2332.01%-88-0.76%11,595
Pacific 2,78137.84%4,27858.20%1922.62%771.05%-1,497-20.43%7,350
Pend Oreille 1,51647.82%1,53348.36%621.96%511.61%-17-0.54%3,170
Pierce 74,66846.92%78,23849.16%4,3162.72%1,5020.95%-3,570-2.25%159,148
San Juan 1,99853.68%1,46739.41%1524.12%762.06%53114.38%3,722
Skagit 13,06048.66%12,71847.39%5752.15%4121.54%3421.28%26,837
Skamania 1,10241.55%1,43654.15%823.09%301.13%-334-12.60%2,652
Snohomish 55,37547.95%55,62348.16%2,4702.14%1,7311.50%-248-0.22%115,488
Spokane 68,29053.37%55,66043.50%2,0331.59%1,6831.32%12,6309.89%127,954
Stevens 4,71951.81%3,82441.98%1811.99%3573.93%8959.86%9,109
Thurston 21,00047.67%21,24748.23%1,1202.55%4941.13%-247-0.56%44,056
Wahkiakum 70441.17%94255.09%321.87%301.76%-238-13.93%1,710
Walla Walla 10,88359.15%7,01238.11%3281.78%1530.83%3,87121.07%18,400
Whatcom 20,00748.00%19,73947.36%1,3933.36%3730.90%2680.65%41,679
Whitman 8,16854.21%6,19741.13%4282.85%2151.43%1,97113.13%15,068
Yakima 29,47853.12%24,22343.65%1,0861.96%6241.13%5,2559.48%55,492
Totals777,73250.00%717,32346.11%36,9862.38%23,4931.51%60,4093.88%1,555,534

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

  1. One elector voted for Ronald Reagan for president and Bob Dole for vice president

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References

  1. 1 2 "1976 Presidential General Election Results – Washington" . Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  2. "Elections Search Results - November 1976 General". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 24, 2022.