1980 United States presidential election in California

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1980 United States presidential election in California
Turnout	77.24% (of registered voters) 4.29 pp ; 57.04% (of eligible voters) 0.28 pp
Reagan 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%	Carter 40–50% 50–60%
President before election; Jimmy Carter ; Democratic	Elected President; Ronald Reagan ; Republican

Last updated August 11, 2025

The 1980 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Republican nominee, the state's former governor Ronald Reagan, in a landslide over the Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter. Reagan won his home state by a wide 16.78% point margin and carried all but three counties. Carter carried only three of the state's 58 counties: Alameda, San Francisco and Yolo.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time for a Republican candidate to carry the counties of Marin and Santa Cruz in a presidential election.^[2] This election was also the most Republican California has voted relative to the whole nation since 1928 and was the last time it was more Republican than the nation as a whole.^{[ citation needed ]} It was widely believed that Carter lacked understanding of critical Western issues, most importantly water development.^[3] This also remains the last time a Republican won the San Francisco Bay Area, and the last one in which San Francisco gave less than 60% of the vote to the Democratic candidate.

Primaries

1980 Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	Delegates
Ted Kennedy	1,507,142	151
Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	1,266,216	127
Jerry Brown	135,962	0
Others	71,779	0
Uncommitted	382,759	38
Totals	3,363,858	317

1980 Republican Primary
Candidate	Votes	Delegates
Ronald Reagan	2,057,923	146
John Anderson	349,315	25
George H.W. Bush	125,113	0
Others	31,707	0
Totals	2,564,058	171

Results

1980 United States presidential election in California^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	4,524,858	52.69%	45
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	3,083,661	35.91%	0
	Independent	John B. Anderson	739,833	8.62%	0
	Libertarian	Ed Clark	148,434	1.73%	0
	Independent	Barry Commoner	61,063	0.71%	0
	Peace and Freedom	Maureen Smith	18,116	0.21%	0
	American Independent	John Rarick	9,856	0.11%	0
	No party	Gus Hall (write-in)	847	0.01%	0
	No party	Andrew Pulley (write-in)	231	0.00%	0
	No party	Percy Greaves, Jr. (write-in)	87	0.00%	0
	No party	Ben Bubar (write-in)	36	0.00%	0
	No party	Write-ins	26	0.00%	0
	No party	Deirdre Griswold (write-in)	15	0.00%	0
Invalid or blank votes					—
Totals			8,587,063	100.00%	45
Voter turnout					—

Results by county

County	Ronald Reagan Republican		Jimmy Carter Democratic		John B. Anderson Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Alameda	158,531	37.96%	201,720	48.30%	40,834	9.78%	16,532	3.96%	-43,189	-10.34%	417,617
Alpine	254	55.10%	133	28.85%	50	10.85%	24	5.21%	121	26.25%	461
Amador	5,401	55.85%	3,191	33.00%	788	8.15%	290	3.00%	2,210	22.85%	9,670
Butte	38,188	57.85%	19,520	29.57%	6,108	9.25%	2,196	3.33%	18,668	28.28%	66,012
Calaveras	6,054	58.92%	3,076	29.94%	776	7.55%	369	3.59%	2,978	28.98%	10,275
Colusa	2,897	58.00%	1,605	32.13%	325	6.51%	168	3.36%	1,292	25.87%	4,995
Contra Costa	144,112	50.12%	107,398	37.35%	28,209	9.81%	7,826	2.72%	36,714	12.77%	287,545
Del Norte	4,016	57.48%	2,338	33.46%	486	6.96%	147	2.10%	1,678	24.02%	6,987
El Dorado	21,238	58.27%	10,765	29.53%	3,287	9.02%	1,159	3.18%	10,473	28.74%	36,449
Fresno	82,515	51.13%	65,254	40.43%	10,727	6.65%	2,890	1.79%	17,261	10.70%	161,386
Glenn	5,386	64.80%	2,227	26.79%	537	6.46%	162	1.95%	3,159	38.01%	8,312
Humboldt	24,047	49.39%	17,113	35.15%	5,440	11.17%	2,092	4.30%	6,934	14.24%	48,692
Imperial	12,068	55.92%	7,961	36.89%	1,203	5.57%	347	1.61%	4,107	19.03%	21,579
Inyo	5,201	64.79%	2,080	25.91%	515	6.42%	231	2.88%	3,121	38.88%	8,027
Kern	72,842	59.65%	41,097	33.65%	5,799	4.75%	2,383	1.95%	31,745	26.00%	122,121
Kings	10,531	55.37%	7,299	38.37%	901	4.74%	290	1.52%	3,232	17.00%	19,021
Lake	8,934	53.64%	5,978	35.90%	1,157	6.95%	585	3.51%	2,956	17.74%	16,654
Lassen	4,464	54.45%	2,941	35.87%	543	6.62%	250	3.05%	1,523	18.58%	8,198
Los Angeles	1,224,533	50.18%	979,830	40.15%	175,882	7.21%	59,940	2.46%	244,703	10.03%	2,440,185
Madera	10,599	53.58%	7,783	39.35%	1,013	5.12%	385	1.95%	2,816	14.23%	19,780
Marin	49,678	45.78%	39,231	36.16%	13,805	12.72%	5,793	5.34%	10,447	9.62%	108,507
Mariposa	3,082	54.96%	1,889	33.68%	458	8.17%	179	3.19%	1,193	21.28%	5,608
Mendocino	12,432	44.05%	10,784	38.21%	2,747	9.73%	2,261	8.01%	1,648	5.84%	28,224
Merced	18,043	48.77%	15,886	42.94%	2,316	6.26%	751	2.03%	2,157	5.83%	36,996
Modoc	2,579	64.48%	1,046	26.15%	293	7.32%	82	2.05%	1,533	38.33%	4,000
Mono	2,132	62.32%	865	25.29%	302	8.83%	122	3.57%	1,267	37.03%	3,421
Monterey	47,452	54.67%	29,086	33.51%	8,008	9.23%	2,248	2.59%	18,366	21.16%	86,794
Napa	23,632	53.67%	14,898	33.83%	4,218	9.58%	1,287	2.92%	8,734	19.84%	44,035
Nevada	15,207	57.91%	7,605	28.96%	2,235	8.51%	1,214	4.62%	7,602	28.95%	26,261
Orange	529,797	67.90%	176,704	22.65%	55,299	7.09%	18,412	2.36%	353,093	45.25%	780,212
Placer	28,179	54.78%	17,311	33.65%	4,356	8.47%	1,594	3.10%	10,868	21.13%	51,440
Plumas	4,182	51.24%	2,911	35.67%	783	9.59%	285	3.49%	1,271	15.57%	8,161
Riverside	145,642	59.87%	76,650	31.51%	16,362	6.73%	4,624	1.90%	68,992	28.36%	243,278
Sacramento	153,721	47.72%	130,031	40.37%	29,655	9.21%	8,713	2.70%	23,690	7.35%	322,120
San Benito	4,054	53.33%	2,749	36.16%	552	7.26%	247	3.25%	1,305	17.17%	7,602
San Bernardino	172,957	59.68%	91,790	31.67%	19,106	6.59%	5,959	2.06%	81,167	28.01%	289,812
San Diego	435,910	60.81%	195,410	27.26%	67,491	9.41%	18,055	2.52%	240,500	33.55%	716,866
San Francisco	80,967	31.87%	133,184	52.43%	29,365	11.56%	10,512	4.14%	-52,217	-20.56%	254,028
San Joaquin	64,718	55.38%	41,551	35.56%	8,416	7.20%	2,178	1.86%	23,167	19.82%	116,863
San Luis Obispo	38,631	55.56%	20,508	29.50%	8,407	12.09%	1,981	2.85%	18,123	26.06%	69,527
San Mateo	116,491	48.82%	87,335	36.60%	27,985	11.73%	6,826	2.86%	29,156	12.22%	238,637
Santa Barbara	69,629	53.98%	40,650	31.51%	14,786	11.46%	3,930	3.05%	28,979	22.47%	128,995
Santa Clara	229,048	48.02%	166,995	35.01%	65,481	13.73%	15,479	3.25%	62,053	13.01%	477,003
Santa Cruz	37,347	43.53%	32,346	37.70%	10,590	12.34%	5,521	6.43%	5,001	5.83%	85,804
Shasta	27,547	58.09%	15,364	32.40%	3,220	6.79%	1,287	2.71%	12,183	25.69%	47,418
Sierra	855	49.77%	651	37.89%	156	9.08%	56	3.26%	204	11.88%	1,718
Siskiyou	9,331	55.75%	5,664	33.84%	1,269	7.58%	474	2.83%	3,667	21.91%	16,738
Solano	40,919	50.72%	30,952	38.37%	6,713	8.32%	2,092	2.59%	9,967	12.35%	80,676
Sonoma	60,722	48.20%	45,596	36.19%	14,068	11.17%	5,599	4.44%	15,126	12.01%	125,985
Stanislaus	41,595	49.41%	33,683	40.01%	7,134	8.47%	1,774	2.11%	7,912	9.40%	84,186
Sutter	11,778	63.47%	5,103	27.50%	1,089	5.87%	587	3.16%	6,675	35.97%	18,557
Tehama	9,140	59.13%	4,832	31.26%	1,014	6.56%	471	3.05%	4,308	27.87%	15,457
Trinity	3,048	54.96%	1,734	31.27%	506	9.12%	258	4.65%	1,314	23.69%	5,546
Tulare	41,317	58.32%	25,155	35.51%	3,244	4.58%	1,130	1.60%	16,162	22.81%	70,846
Tuolumne	8,810	54.85%	5,449	33.92%	1,390	8.65%	414	2.58%	3,361	20.93%	16,063
Ventura	114,930	60.28%	56,311	29.54%	14,887	7.81%	4,522	2.37%	58,619	30.74%	190,650
Yolo	19,603	39.45%	21,527	43.32%	6,669	13.42%	1,891	3.81%	-1,924	-3.87%	49,690
Yuba	7,942	56.28%	4,896	34.70%	878	6.22%	395	2.80%	3,046	21.58%	14,111
Total	4,524,858	52.69%	3,083,661	35.91%	739,833	8.62%	238,711	2.78%	1,441,197	16.78%	8,587,063

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Results by congressional district

District	Reagan	Carter	Representative
1st	59.0%	32.7%	Harold T. Johnson (96th Congress)
1st	59.0%	32.7%	Eugene A. Chappie (97th Congress)
2nd	51.7%	37.4%	Donald H. Clausen
3rd	49.2%	41.1%	Bob Matsui
4th	49.2%	41.1%	Vic Fazio
5th	40.6%	45.9%	John L. Burton
6th	34.2%	54.8%	Phillip Burton
7th	50.2%	40.2%	George Miller
8th	33.5%	54.8%	Ron Dellums
9th	46.0%	44.9%	Pete Stark
10th	46.5%	42.5%	Don Edwards
11th	50.4%	38.0%	William Royer (96th Congress)
11th	50.4%	38.0%	Tom Lantos (97th Congress)
12th	47.5%	36.1%	Pete McCloskey
13th	54.2%	32.7%	Norman Mineta
14th	57.0%	35.0%	Norman D. Shumway
15th	48.5%	44.4%	Tony Coelho
16th	52.6%	35.7%	Leon Panetta
17th	57.2%	36.7%	Chip Pashayan
18th	63.9%	31.0%	Bill Thomas
19th	55.6%	33.9%	Bob Lagomarsino
20th	65.5%	26.3%	Barry Goldwater Jr.
21st	52.6%	39.2%	James C. Corman (96th Congress)
21st	52.6%	39.2%	Bobbi Fiedler (97th Congress)
22nd	62.4%	30.2%	Carlos Moorhead
23rd	47.4%	42.0%	Anthony Beilenson
24th	42.8%	48.4%	Henry Waxman
25th	36.0%	57.5%	Edward R. Roybal
26th	65.3%	28.0%	John H. Rousselot
27th	59.1%	31.2%	Bob Dornan
28th	24.8%	69.9%	Julian Dixon
29th	17.5%	80.3%	Augustus Hawkins
30th	44.8%	49.1%	George E. Danielson
31st	35.1%	60.3%	Charles H. Wilson (96th Congress)
31st	35.1%	60.3%	Mervyn Dymally (97th Congress)
32nd	49.3%	44.1%	Glenn M. Anderson
33rd	64.0%	29.6%	Wayne R. Grisham
34th	62.4%	29.7%	Dan Lungren
35th	63.2%	29.5%	James F. Lloyd (96th Congress)
35th	63.2%	29.5%	David Dreier (97th Congress)
36th	54.0%	38.3%	George Brown Jr.
37th	64.0%	29.7%	Jerry Lewis
38th	64.8%	28.5%	Jerry M. Patterson
39th	71.4%	21.8%	William E. Dannemeyer
40th	70.8%	21.4%	Robert Badham
41st	59.0%	29.2%	Bob Wilson (96th Congress)
41st	59.0%	29.2%	Bill Lowery (97th Congress)
42nd	53.9%	37.5%	Lionel Van Deerlin (96th Congress)
42nd	53.9%	37.5%	Duncan L. Hunter (97th Congress)
43rd	67.6%	24.2%	Clair Burgener

References

↑ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
↑ Reisner, Marc; Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water ; p. 11 ISBN 0140178244
↑ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.

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[1] "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.

[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] Reisner, Marc; Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water ; p. 11 ISBN 0140178244

[4] "1980 Presidential General Election Results – California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 25, 2008.

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