1980 Republican Party presidential primaries

1980 Republican Party presidential primaries

←  1976 January 21 to June 28, 1980 1984  →
1,990 delegates to the Republican National Convention 996 (majority) votes needed to win
Candidate Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush John B. Anderson Home state California Texas Illinois Delegate count 1,407 250 59 Contests won 42 9 0 Popular vote 7,709,793 3,070,033 1,572,174 Percentage 59.79% 23.81% 12.19%
First place by first-instance vote First place by delegate allocation First place by convention roll call      Reagan     Bush     Uncommitted
Previous Republican nominee Gerald Ford Republican nominee Ronald Reagan

From January 21 to June 28, 1980, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1980 United States presidential election. Retired Hollywood actor and two-term California governor Ronald Reagan was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the Republican National Convention held from July 14 to 17, 1980, in Detroit, Michigan.

Background

As the 1980 presidential election approached, incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter appeared vulnerable. High gas prices, economic stagflation, a renewed Cold War with the Soviet Union following the invasion of Afghanistan, and the Iran hostage crisis that developed when Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran all contributed to a general dissatisfaction with Carter's presidency; his job approval rating sank to below 20 percent in late-1979 as a result. Consequently, the president faced stiff Democratic primary challenges from Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and California Governor Jerry Brown. A large field of Republican challengers also emerged.

Candidates

Nominee

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
Ronald Reagan			Governor of California (1967–1975)	California	(Campaign • Positions) Secured nomination: May 24, 1980	7,709,793 (59.79%)	42	George Bush

Withdrew during primaries

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date	Popular vote	Contests won
George H. W. Bush			Director of Central Intelligence Agency (1976–1977)	Texas	Campaign Withdrew: May 26 (endorsed Ronald Reagan, nominated for vice president)	3,070,033 (23.81%)	9 CT, DC, DE, IA, ME, MA, MI, PA, PR
John Anderson			U.S. Representative from Illinois (1961–1981)	Illinois	Withdrew: April 24 (ran as independent)	1,572,174 (12.19%)	None
Phil Crane			U.S. Representative from Illinois (1969–2005)	Illinois	Withdrew: April 17 [1] (endorsed Ronald Reagan)	97,793 (0.76%)	None
Ben Fernandez			Special Envoy to Paraguay (1973)	California	Withdrew: March 30 (endorsed Ronald Reagan)	25,520 (0.20%)	None
Bob Dole			U.S. Senator from Kansas (1969–1996)	Kansas	Withdrew: March 15 (endorsed Ronald Reagan)	7,204 (0.06%)	None
John Connally			Secretary of the Treasury (1971–1972)	Texas	Withdrew: March 9 (endorsed Ronald Reagan)	82,625 (0.64%)	None
Howard Baker			U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1967–1985)	Tennessee	Withdrew: March 5 (endorsed Ronald Reagan)	181,153 (1.41%)	None
Harold Stassen			Director of the Foreign Operations Administration (1953–1955)	Pennsylvania	[ data missing ]	25,425 (0.20%)	None

Withdrew before primaries

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign Withdrawal date
Larry Pressler			U.S. Senator from South Dakota (1979–1997)	South Dakota	January 8, 1980
Lowell Weicker			U.S. Senator from Connecticut (1971–1989)	Connecticut	May 16, 1979

Declined to run

Jesse Helms	Jim Thompson	Bill Simon	Jack Kemp	Elliot Richardson	Alexander Haig	Gerald Ford
U.S. Senator from North Carolina (1973–2003)	Governor of Illinois (1977–1991)	United States Secretary of the Treasury (1974–1977)	U.S. Representative from New York (1971–1989)	United States Secretary of Commerce (1976–1977)	Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1974–1979)	U.S. President from Michigan (1974–1977)
November 8, 1978 [2]	January 23, 1979 [3]	March 6, 1979 (Endorsed Ronald Reagan) [4]	September 28, 1979 [5]	October 16, 1979 [6]	December 22, 1979 [7]	March 15, 1980 [8]

Speculated Candidates

The following potential candidates were considered possible candidates to run for the Republican nomination in 1980 by the media, but never stated a preference for or against running. ^{[9] [10]}

• Frank Borman, former astronaut from Indiana and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Air Lines
• Bill Brock, RNC Chairman of Tennessee; former Senator from Tennessee
• John Danforth, Senator from Missouri
• Pete du Pont, Governor of Delaware
• Spiro Agnew, former vice president of the United States
• John Heinz, Senator from Pennsylvania
• Charles Mathias, Senator from Maryland
• Charles Percy, Senator from Illinois
• William Ruckelshaus, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Richard Schweiker, Senator from Pennsylvania; presumptive running mate of Ronald Reagan in 1976

Polling

National polling

Poll source	Publication date	John Anderson	Howard Baker	George Bush	John Connally	Bob Dole	Gerald Ford	Ronald Reagan	Others
Gallup [11]	Aug. 1977	–	8%	–	–	–	20%	33%	3%
Gallup [11]	Apr. 1978	–	11%	–	4%	4%	40%	30%	4%
Gallup [11]	July 1978	–	9%	1%	5%	4%	37%	31%	5%
Gallup [11]	Dec. 1978	1%	9%	1%	6%	1%	24%	40%	11% [a]
Gallup [11]	Apr. 1979	2%	8%	1%	12%	1%	26%	31%	11% [b]
Gallup [11]	May 1979	–	10%	–	8%	3%	27%	28%	–
Gallup [11]	June 1979	0%	11%	0%	5%	0%	29%	37%	5%
Gallup [11]	July 1979	3%	11%	1%	9%	2%	27%	32%	15% [c]
Gallup [11]	Aug. 1979	1%	10%	3%	8%	1%	21%	29%	16% [d]
Gallup [11]	Nov. 1979	1%	14%	2%	10%	3%	22%	33%	15% [e]
Gallup [11]	Nov. 1979	0%	11%	5%	8%	3%	24%	40%	—
Gallup [11]	Dec. 1979	1%	9%	7%	10%	4%	18%	40%	10% [f]
Gallup [11]	Jan. 1980	3%	9%	9%	9%	0%	27%	33%	—
Gallup [11]	Jan. 1980	0%	6%	28%	7%	0%	18%	29%	—
Gallup [11]	Feb. 1980	2%	6%	17%	4%	1%	32%	34%	3% [g]
Gallup [11]	Feb. 1980	3%	7%	16%	–	–	25%	44%	—

1. Including 1% for Phil Crane.
2. Including 2% for Phil Crane.
3. Including 2% for Phil Crane.
4. Including 1% each for Phil Crane, Benjamin Fernandez, and Harold Stassen.
5. Including 1% each for Phil Crane, Benjamin Fernandez, and Harold Stassen.
6. Including 1% each for Phil Crane, Benjamin Fernandez, and Harold Stassen.
7. 1% each for Phil Crane, Benjamin Fernandez, and Harold Stassen.

Primary race

• 
  The Nashua debate between Reagan and Bush
• 
  A Chicago debate with Crane, Bush, moderator Eric Sevareid, Reagan, and Anderson

	Active campaign		Exploratory committee		Withdrawn candidate		Republican National Convention
	Midterm elections		Debates		Primaries

Ronald Reagan, who had narrowly lost the 1976 Republican nomination to President Gerald Ford, was the early odds-on favorite to win the nomination in 1980. He was so far ahead in the polls that campaign director John Sears decided on an "above the fray" strategy. He did not attend many of the multi-candidate forums and straw polls in the summer and fall of 1979. George H. W. Bush, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chairman of the Republican National Committee, did go to all the "cattle calls", and began to come in first at a number of these events. Along with the top two, a number of other Republican politicians entered the race. In January 1980, the Iowa Republicans decided to have a straw poll as a part of their caucuses for that year. Bush defeated Reagan by a small margin. Bush declared he had "the Big Mo", and with Reagan boycotting the Puerto Rico primary in deference to New Hampshire, Bush won the territory easily, giving him an early lead going into New Hampshire.

With the other candidates in single digits, the Nashua Telegraph offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting the other candidates to participate at short notice. The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage. As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, Jon Breen, the editor of the Nashua Telegraph and debate moderator, ordered a technician to mute Reagan's microphone. When the technician refused, Breen repeated his order. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green[ sic ]!" ^{[12] [13] [14]} Eventually the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate proceeded between Reagan and Bush. Reagan's quote was often repeated as "I paid for this microphone!" and dominated news coverage of the event; Reagan sailed to an easy win in New Hampshire. ^[15]

Ronald Reagan delivering his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan, on July 17, 1980.

Lee Bandy, a writer for the South Carolina newspaper The State stated that heading into the South Carolina primary, political operative Lee Atwater worked to engineer a victory for Reagan: "Lee Atwater figured that Connally was their biggest threat here in South Carolina. So Lee leaked a story to me that John Connally was trying to buy the black vote. Well, that story got out, thanks to me, and it probably killed Connally. He spent $10 million for one delegate. Lee saved Ronald Reagan's candidacy." ^[16]

Reagan swept the South, and although he lost five more primaries to Bush—including the Massachusetts primary in which he came in third place behind John B. Anderson—the former governor had a lock on the nomination very early in the season. Reagan said he would always be grateful to the people of Iowa for giving him "the kick in the pants" he needed.

Reagan was an adherent to a policy known as supply-side economics, which argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services, such as adjusting income tax and capital gains tax rates. Accordingly, Reagan promised an economic revival that would benefit all sectors of the population. He said that cutting tax rates would actually increase tax revenues because the lower rates would cause people to work harder as they would be able to keep more of their money. Reagan also called for a drastic cut in "big government" and pledged to deliver a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the primaries, Bush called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increase revenues at the same time.

Results

Tablemaker's Note: ^[a]

Date (daily totals)	Contest	Total pledged delegates
			Delegates won and popular vote
			Ronald Reagan	George Bush	John B. Anderson	Howard Baker	Phil Crane	John Connally	Bob Dole	Others	Uncommitted
January 21	Iowa Caucus [17] 106,608	0 (of 38)	31,348 (29.40%)	33,530 (31.45%)	4,585 (4.30%)	16,773 (15.73%)	7,135 (6.69%)	9,861 (9.25%)	1,576 (1.48%)	–	1,800 (1.69%)
February 2	Arkansas District Conventions [18]	12 (of 19)	6 Del.	1 Del.	–	4 Del.	–	–	–	–	1 Del.
February 16	Arkansas State Convention [19]	7 (of 19)	1 Del.	1 Del.	–	–	–	1 Del.	–	–	4 Del.
February 17	Puerto Rico Primary [20] 187,946	14 (of 20)	–	14 Del. 112,901 (60.07%)	–	70,025 (37.26%)	–	2,039 (1.08%)	457 (0.24%)	2,524 [b] (1.34%)	–
February 26	New Hampshire Primary [21] 146,782	23 (of 23)	15 Del. 72,734 (49.55%)	5 Del. 33,304 (22.69%)	14,622 (9.96%)	2 Del. 18,760 (12.78%)	2,633 (1.79%)	2,215 (1.51%)	608 (0.41%)	1,906 WI [c] (1.30%)	–
March 1	Iowa County Conventions [22] 2,902 CDs	0 (of 38)	925 CDs (31.87%)	1,150 CDs (39.63%)	64 CDs (2.21%)	322 CDs (11.10%)	91 CDs (3.14%)	127 CDs (4.38%)	2 CDs (0.07%)	–	221 CDs (7.62%)
March 4	Massachusetts Primary [23] 400,826	42 (of 42)	13 Del. 115,334 (28.77%)	14 Del. 124,365 (31.03%)	13 Del. 122,987 (30.68%)	2 Del. 19,366 (4.82%)	4,669 (1.16%)	4,714 (1.18%)	577 (0.14%)	6,571 WI [d] (1.64%)	2,243 (0.56%)
	Vermont Primary [24] 65,611	0 (of 19)	19,720 (30.06%)	14,226 (21.68%)	19,030 (29.00%)	8,055 (12.28%)	1,238 (1.89%)	884 WI (1.35%)	–	2,458 WI [e] (3.75%)	–
March 8	South Carolina Primary [25] 145,501	25 (of 25)	25 Del. 79,549 (54.67%)	21,569 (14.82%)	–	773 (0.53%)	–	43,113 (29.63%)	117 (0.08%)	380 [f] (0.26%)	–
March 11 (126)	Alabama Primary [26] 211,353	27 (of 27)	18 Del. 147,352 (69.72%)	9 Del. 54,730 (25.90%)	–	1,963 (0.93%)	5,099 (2.41%)	1,077 (0.51%)	447 (0.21%)	685 [g] (0.32%)	–
	Florida Primary [27] 614,995	51 (of 51)	51 Del. 345,699 (56.21%)	185,996 (30.24%)	56,636 (9.21%)	6,345 (1.03%)	12,000 (1.95%)	4,958 (0.81%)	1,086 (0.18%)	2,275 [h] (0.37%)	–
	Georgia Primary [28] 200,171	36 (of 36)	36 Del. 146,500 (73.18%)	25,293 (12.64%)	16,853 (8.42%)	1,571 (0.78%)	6,308 (3.15%)	2,388 (1.19%)	249 (0.12%)	1,009 [i] (0.50%)	–
March 18	Illinois Pres. Primary [29] 1,130,081	0 (of 92)	547,355 (48.44%)	124,057 (10.98%)	415,193 (36.74%)	7,051 (0.62%)	24,865 (2.20%)	4,548 (0.40%)	1,843 (0.16%)	5,169 [j] (0.46%)	–
	Illinois Del. Primary [30]	92 (of 92)	46 Del.	2 Del.	26 Del.	–	4 Del.	–	–	–	–
March 25	Connecticut Primary [31] 182,284	35 (of 35)	14 Del. 61,735 (33.87%)	15 Del. 70,367 (38.60%)	6 Del. 40,354 (22.14%)	2,446 (1.34%)	1,887 (1.04%)	598 (0.33%)	333 (0.18%)	308 [k] (0.17%)	4,256 (2.33%)
	New York Del. Primary [32] [33]	117 (of 123)	72 Del.	6 Del.	1 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	38 Del.
April 1	Kansas Primary [34] 285,398	35 (of 35)	20 Del. 179,739 (62.98%)	4 Del. 35,838 (12.56%)	5 Del. 51,924 (18.19%)	3,603 (1.26%)	1,367 (0.48%)	2,067 (0.72%)	–	4,134 [l] (1.45%)	6,726 (2.36%)
	Wisconsin Primary [35] 907,853	34 (of 34)	28 Del. 364,898 (40.19%)	276,164 (30.42%)	6 Del. 248,623 (27.39%)	3,298 (0.36%)	2,951 (0.33%)	2,312 (0.26%)	–	7,012 WI [m] (0.77%)	4,951 (0.29%)
April 5	Louisiana Primary [36] 42,397	29 (of 29)	29 Del. 31,256 (73.72%)	8,066 (19.02%)	–	–	–	–	–	820 [n] (1.93%)	2,255 (5.32%)
April 17	North Dakota State Convention [37]	28 (of 28)	12 Del.	1 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	4 Del.
April 19	Maine State Convention [38]	21 (of 21)	–	17 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	4 Del.
	Minnesota District Conventions [o] [39]	6 (of 34)	6 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
April 20	Alaska State Convention [40]	19 (of 19)	19 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
April 22	Pennsylvania Pres. Primary [41] 1,241,411	0 (of 83)	527,916 (42.53%)	626,759 (50.49%)	26,890 WI (2.17%)	30,846 (2.49%)	–	10,656 (0.86%)	–	18,344 [p] (1.48%)	–
	Pennsylvania Del. Primary [41]	76 (of 83)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	76 Del. [q]
	Vermont Caucus [42] 979 SDs [r]	0 (of 19)	318 SDs (32.48%)	67 SDs (6.84%)	13 SDs (1.33%)	–	–	–	–	–	–
April 26	Minnesota District Conventions [s] [43]	3 (of 34)	3 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Missouri District Conventions [t] [44] [45]	15 (of 37)	15 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
May 3	Arizona State Convention [46]	28 (of 28)	28 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Minnesota District Conventions [u] [47]	12 (of 34)	4 Del.	8 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Missouri District Conventions [v] [45]	15 (of 37)	15 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Oklahoma State Convention [46]	28 (of 28)	28 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Texas Primary [48] 526,769	80 (of 80)	65 Del. 268,798 (50.49%)	15 Del. 249,819 (47.43%)	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,152 (1.55%)
May 6	Washington, D.C. Pres. Primary [49] 7,529	0 (of 14)	–	4,973 (66.05%)	2,025 (26.90%)	–	–	–	–	261 [w] (3.47%)	–
	Washington, D.C. Del. Primary [49]	14 (of 14)	–	14 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Indiana Primary [48] 568,313	56 (of 56)	56 Del. 419,016 (73.73%)	92,955 (16.36%)	56,342 (9.91%)	–	–	–	–	–	–
	North Carolina Primary [50] 168,391	40 (of 40)	30 Del. 113,854 (67.61%)	10 Del. 36,631 (21.75%)	8,542 (5.07%)	2,543 (1.51%)	547 (0.33%)	1,107 (0.66%)	629 (0.37%)	–	4,538 (2.70%)
	Tennessee Primary [50] 195,210	32 (of 32)	24 Del. 144,625 (74.09%)	8 Del. 35,274 (18.07%)	8,722 (4.47%)	16 WI (0.01%)	1,574 (0.81%)	1 WI (0.00%)	629 (0.37%)	22 WI [x] (0.01%)	4,976 (2.55%)
May 10	Wyoming State Convention [51]	19 (of 19)	16 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3 Del.
May 13	Maryland Primary [52] 167,303	30 (of 30)	15 Del. 80,557 (48.15%)	15 Del. 68,389 (40.88%)	16,244 (9.71%)	–	2,113 (1.26%)	–	–	–	–
	Nebraska Primary [52] 205,203	25 (of 25)	25 Del. 155,995 (76.02%)	31,380 (15.29%)	11,879 (5.79%)	–	1,062 (0.52%)	–	1,420 (0.69%)	3,467 [y] (1.69%)	–
May 17	Hawaii State Convention [53]	14 (of 14)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	14 Del.
May 20 (116)	Michigan Primary [54] 595,176	82 (of 82)	29 Del. 189,184 (31.79%)	53 Del. 341,998 (57.46%)	48,947 (8.22%)	–	–	–	–	4,782 [z] (0.80%)	10,265 (1.73%)
	Oregon Primary [54] 315,366	29 (of 29)	18 Del. 170,449 (54.05%)	11 Del. 109,210 (34.63%)	32,118 (10.18%)	–	2,324 (0.74%)	–	–	1,265 WI (0.40%)	–
May 17	Delaware State Convention [55]	21 (of 21)	4 Del.	6 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	2 Del.
May 25	Vermont State Convention [56]	19 (of 19)	16 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3 Del.
May 27	Idaho Primary [57] 134,879	17 (of 21)	15 Del. 111,868 (82.94%)	5,416 (4.02%)	2 Del. 13,130 (9.74%)	–	1,024 (0.76%)	–	–	–	3,441 (2.55%)
	Kentucky Primary [58] 94,795	27 (of 27)	27 Del. 78,072 (82.36%)	6,861 (7.24%)	4,791 (5.05%)	–	–	–	–	1,987 [aa] (2.10%)	3,084 (3.25%)
	Nevada Primary [59] 47,395	17 (of 17)	14 Del. 39,352 (83.03%)	1 Del. 3,078 (6.49%)	–	–	–	–	–	–	2 Del. 4,965 (10.48%)
May 30	Minnesota State Convention [60]	10 (of 34)	10 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
May 31	Colorado District Conventions [ab] [61]	3 (of 31)	3 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Missouri State Convention [62]	7 (of 37)	7 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
June 3	California Primary [63] 2,564,072	168 (of 168)	168 Del. 2,057,923 (80.26%)	125,113 (4.88%)	349,315 (13.62%)	–	21,465 (0.84%)	–	–	10,256 [ac] (0.40%)	–
	Mississippi Del. Primary [64] 25,751	22 (of 22)	22 Del. 23,028 (89.43%)	2,105 (8.17%)	–	–	–	–	–	–	618 (2.40%)
	Montana Primary [64] 79,473	0 (of 20)	68,794 (86.56%)	7,665 (9.65%)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	New Jersey Pres. Primary [65] 277,977	0 (of 66)	225,959 (81.29%)	47,447 (17.07%)	–	–	–	–	–	4,571 [ad] (1.64%)	–
	New Jersey Del. Primary [65] 79,473	66 (of 66)	63 Del.	2 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	1 Del.
	New Mexico Primary [66] 59,546	22 (of 22)	22 Del. 37,982 (63.79%)	5,892 (9.90%)	–	4,412 (7.41%)	–	–	–	2,742 [ae] (4.60%)	1,347 (2.26%)
	Ohio Primary [67] 856,773	77 (of 77)	77 Del. 692,288 (80.80%)	164,485 (19.20%)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Rhode Island Primary [63] 5,335	13 (of 13)	12 Del. 3,839 (71.96%)	1 Del. 993 (18.61%)	–	–	–	–	–	155 [af] (2.91%)	348 (6.52%)
	South Dakota Primary [68] 82,905	22 (of 22)	22 Del. 72,861 (87.89%)	3,691 (4.45%)	–	–	–	–	–	987 [ag] (1.19%)	5,366 (6.47%)
	West Virginia Pres. Primary [63] 138,016	0 (of 18)	115,407 (83.62%)	19,509 (14.14%)	–	–	–	–	–	3,100 [ah] (2.25%)	–
	West Virginia Del. Primary [63] 138,016	18 (of 18)	15 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3 Del.
June 6	Iowa District Conventions [69] [70]	30 (of 37)	17 Del.	13 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Washington State Convention [71]	37 (of 37)	34 Del.	1 Del.	1 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	1 Del.
June 7	Colorado State Conventions [ai] [72]	28 (of 31)	28 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Iowa State Convention [70]	7 (of 30)	4 Del.	3 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
June 8	Montana State Convention [73]	20 (of 20)	20 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
June 28	Idaho State Convention [74]	4 (of 21)	4 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	Utah State Convention [75]	21 (of 21)	21 Del.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1,990 delegates 12,894,286 votes			1,407 7,709,793 (59.79%)	250 3,070,033 (23.81%)	59 1,572,174 (12.19%)	8 181,153 (1.41%)	4 97,793 (0.76%)	1 82,625 (0.64%)	0 7,204 (0.06%)	0 5,702,278 (52.64%)	156 112,560 (0.87%)

The Republican National Convention was held in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to 17, 1980.

Endorsements

Main article: Endorsements in the 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries

See also

• 1980s portal
• United States portal
• Politics portal

• 1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Notes

1. This should not be taken as a finalized list of results. While a significant amount of research was done, there were a number of Delegates who were not bound by the instruction, or "Pledged" to a candidate, and to simplify the data these delegates were considered "Uncommitted". Some states also held primaries for the delegate positions, and these on occasion were where slates or candidates pledge to a certain candidate might be elected; however, as these elections allowed for a single person to vote for multiple candidates, as many as the number of positions being filled, it is difficult to determine how many people actually voted in these primaries. For this reason, while the results of some are in the table, they are not included in the popular vote summaries at the bottom of the table.
2. Includes 1,822 votes (0.97%) for Ben Fernandez and 589 votes (0.31%) for Harold Stassen.
3. Includes 380 Write-In votes (0.26%) for Gerald Ford.
4. Includes 3,398 Write-In votes (0.85%) for Gerald Ford, 374 votes (0.09%) for Benjamin Fernandez, and 218 votes (0.05%) for Harold Stassen.
5. Includes 2,300 Write-In votes (3.51%) for Harold Stassen and 105 Write-In votes (0.16%) for Harold Stassen.
6. Includes 171 votes (0.12%) for Benjamin Fernandez and 150 votes (0.10%) for Harold Stassen.
7. Includes 544 votes (0.26%) for Harold Stassen.
8. Includes 1,377 votes (0.22%) for Harold Stassen and 898 votes (0.15%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
9. Includes 809 votes (0.40%) for Benjmain Fernandez and 200 votes (0.10%) for Harold Stassen.
10. Includes 3,757 votes (0.33%) for Veldi Arvel "VA" Kelley and 1,106 Write-In votes (0.10%) for Gerald Ford.
11. All 308 votes (0.17%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
12. Includes 809 votes (0.40%) for Benjmain Fernandez and 200 votes (0.10%) for Harold Stassen.
13. Includes 1,051 votes (0.12%) for Benjmain Fernandez and 1,010 votes (0.11%) for Harold Stassen.
14. Includes 150 votes (0.35%) for Harold Stassen and 125 votes (0.29%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
15. Only two of eight districts held conventions on this date.
16. Includes 6,767 votes (0.55%) for Harold Stassen and 2,521 votes (0.20%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
17. It was generally felt that Reagan had won over the vast majority of those delegates elected, though legally they were uncommitted.
18. Results only for 537 of the 979 Delegates were accounted for in the source.
19. Only one of eight districts held conventions on this date.
20. Only five of ten districts held conventions on this date.
21. Only five of eight districts held conventions on this date.
22. Only five of ten districts held conventions on this date.
23. Includes 201 votes (2.67%) for Harold Stassen and 60 votes (0.80%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
24. Includes 14 Write-In votes (0.01%) for Gerald Ford.
25. Includes 799 votes (0.39%) for Harold Stassen and 400 votes (0.20%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
26. Includes 2,248 votes (0.38%) for Benjmain Fernandez and 1,938 votes (0.33%) for Harold Stassen.
27. Includes 1,223 votes (1.29%) for Harold Stassen and 764 votes (0.81%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
28. Only one of five districts held conventions on this date.
29. Includes 10,242 votes (0.40%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
30. All votes for Harold Stassen.
31. Includes 1,795 votes (3.01%) for Benjmain Fernandez and 947 votes (1.59%) for Harold Stassen.
32. Includes 107 votes (2.01%) for Harold Stassen and 48 votes (0.90%) for Benjmain Fernandez.
33. All votes for Harold Stassen.
34. All votes for Harold Stassen.
35. The results four district conventions are included, their exact dates not being found.

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