1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina

Main article: 1980 United States presidential election

1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina

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Nominee Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter Party Republican Democratic Home state California Georgia Running mate George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale Electoral vote 8 0 Popular vote 441,207 427,560 Percentage 49.57% 48.04%

County Results Reagan   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Carter   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Jimmy Carter Democratic Elected President Ronald Reagan Republican

The 1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by a very slim margin of 1 point and a half. ^[1] This remains the third-closest presidential election in South Carolina history after the controversial 1876 election and the transformative 1952 election.

Campaign

The state weighed in for this election as 8% more Democratic than the national average, just 3% less than four years earlier. As of the 2020 presidential election ^[update] , this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Anderson, Cherokee, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Saluda and York. ^[2]

64% of white voters supported Reagan while 32% supported Carter. ^{[3] [4]}

Carter lost in eight of the ten most populous counties. ^[5]

Predictions

Source	Rating	As of
The Times and Democrat [6]	Tossup	September 23, 1980
Boca Raton News [7]	Tossup	October 12, 1980
The Charlotte Observer [8]	Tossup	October 22, 1980
Anderson Independent [9]	Tossup	October 29, 1980
Fort Worth Star-Telegram [10]	Tossup	October 31, 1980
The State [11]	Tossup	November 2, 1980
Daily Press [12]	Lean D	November 3, 1980

Results

Electoral results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Percentage		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Ronald Reagan	Republican	California	441,207	49.57%	8	George H. W. Bush	Texas	8
Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	Democratic	Georgia	427,560	48.04%	0	Walter Mondale (incumbent)	Minnesota	0
John B. Anderson	Independent	Illinois	14,150	1.59%	0	Patrick Lucey	Wisconsin	0
Ed Clark	Libertarian	California	4,975	0.56%	0	David Koch	New York	0
John Rarick	American Independent	Louisiana	1,815	0.20%	0	Eileen Shearer	California	0
—	Write-ins	—	37	0.04%	0	—	—	0
Total			890,105	100%	8			8
Needed to win					270			270

Results by county

County [13]	Ronald Reagan Republican		Jimmy Carter Democratic		John B. Anderson Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Abbeville	2,361	35.60%	4,049	61.05%	111	1.67%	111	1.67%	-1,688	-25.45%	6,632
Aiken	18,570	57.37%	13,014	40.21%	601	1.86%	184	0.57%	5,556	17.16%	32,369
Allendale	1,182	29.62%	2,778	69.62%	17	0.43%	13	0.33%	-1,596	-40.00%	3,990
Anderson	15,667	44.38%	18,801	53.25%	474	1.34%	363	1.03%	-3,134	-8.87%	35,305
Bamberg	2,098	38.69%	3,294	60.75%	17	0.31%	13	0.24%	-1,196	-22.06%	5,422
Barnwell	3,228	48.14%	3,399	50.69%	64	0.95%	14	0.21%	-171	-2.55%	6,705
Beaufort	8,620	51.62%	7,415	44.40%	513	3.07%	152	0.91%	1,205	7.22%	16,700
Berkeley	12,830	55.63%	9,850	42.71%	292	1.27%	92	0.40%	2,980	12.92%	23,064
Calhoun	1,767	45.86%	2,043	53.02%	31	0.80%	12	0.31%	-276	-7.16%	3,853
Charleston	44,111	55.13%	32,727	40.90%	2,222	2.78%	952	1.19%	11,384	14.23%	80,012
Cherokee	5,379	43.32%	6,889	55.48%	86	0.69%	64	0.52%	-1,510	-12.16%	12,418
Chester	3,104	37.12%	5,145	61.52%	87	1.04%	27	0.32%	-2,041	-24.40%	8,363
Chesterfield	3,478	34.88%	6,393	64.11%	64	0.64%	37	0.37%	-2,915	-29.23%	9,972
Clarendon	4,158	40.79%	5,979	58.65%	28	0.27%	29	0.28%	-1,821	-17.86%	10,194
Colleton	4,719	44.76%	5,745	54.49%	58	0.55%	21	0.20%	-1,026	-9.73%	10,543
Darlington	8,289	48.39%	8,489	49.55%	220	1.28%	133	0.78%	-200	-1.16%	17,131
Dillon	3,385	42.31%	4,518	56.48%	59	0.74%	38	0.48%	-1,133	-14.17%	8,000
Dorchester	10,893	59.53%	7,237	39.55%	140	0.77%	28	0.15%	3,656	19.98%	18,298
Edgefield	2,415	40.68%	3,465	58.36%	29	0.49%	28	0.47%	-1,050	-17.68%	5,937
Fairfield	2,098	33.18%	4,153	65.68%	37	0.59%	35	0.55%	-2,055	-32.50%	6,323
Florence	17,069	50.19%	16,391	48.19%	348	1.02%	203	0.60%	678	2.00%	34,011
Georgetown	5,151	42.78%	6,701	55.65%	148	1.23%	42	0.35%	-1,550	-12.87%	12,042
Greenville	46,168	57.41%	32,135	39.96%	1,600	1.99%	512	0.64%	14,033	17.45%	80,415
Greenwood	7,290	43.17%	9,283	54.97%	230	1.36%	85	0.50%	-1,993	-11.80%	16,888
Hampton	2,217	33.58%	4,329	65.56%	35	0.53%	22	0.33%	-2,112	-31.98%	6,603
Horry	14,323	49.62%	13,888	48.12%	528	1.83%	125	0.43%	435	1.50%	28,864
Jasper	1,617	32.54%	3,312	66.65%	32	0.64%	8	0.16%	-1,695	-34.11%	4,969
Kershaw	6,652	55.55%	5,103	42.62%	145	1.21%	74	0.62%	1,549	12.93%	11,974
Lancaster	6,410	42.25%	8,283	54.60%	331	2.18%	146	0.96%	-1,873	-12.35%	15,170
Laurens	6,036	42.83%	7,856	55.74%	125	0.89%	76	0.54%	-1,820	-12.91%	14,093
Lee	2,952	37.48%	4,818	61.17%	18	0.23%	89	1.13%	-1,866	-23.69%	7,877
Lexington	28,313	67.60%	12,334	29.45%	762	1.82%	477	1.14%	15,979	38.15%	41,886
McCormick	797	30.60%	1,774	68.10%	22	0.84%	12	0.46%	-977	-37.50%	2,605
Marion	3,321	37.73%	5,379	61.12%	75	0.85%	26	0.30%	-2,058	-23.39%	8,801
Marlboro	2,585	32.15%	5,378	66.89%	52	0.65%	25	0.31%	-2,793	-34.74%	8,040
Newberry	5,568	52.96%	4,825	45.90%	80	0.76%	40	0.38%	743	7.06%	10,513
Oconee	5,651	41.58%	7,677	56.49%	189	1.39%	74	0.54%	-2,026	-14.91%	13,591
Orangeburg	11,313	40.79%	16,178	58.33%	141	0.51%	101	0.36%	-4,865	-17.54%	27,733
Pickens	9,575	53.42%	7,789	43.46%	402	2.24%	157	0.88%	1,786	9.96%	17,923
Richland	36,337	49.87%	33,158	45.50%	1,812	2.49%	1,562	2.14%	3,179	4.37%	72,869
Saluda	2,450	47.40%	2,651	51.29%	38	0.74%	30	0.58%	-201	-3.89%	5,169
Spartanburg	30,092	51.12%	27,245	46.28%	941	1.60%	591	1.00%	2,847	4.84%	58,869
Sumter	10,557	52.45%	9,205	45.74%	250	1.24%	114	0.57%	1,352	6.71%	20,126
Union	4,035	38.59%	6,274	60.00%	93	0.89%	54	0.52%	-2,239	-21.41%	10,456
Williamsburg	5,110	38.29%	8,135	60.96%	64	0.48%	35	0.26%	-3,025	-22.67%	13,344
York	11,265	46.85%	12,075	50.22%	539	2.24%	164	0.68%	-810	-3.37%	24,043
Totals	441,207	49.57%	427,560	48.04%	14,150	1.59%	7,166	0.81%	13,647	1.53%	890,083

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Beaufort
• Berkeley
• Charleston
• Dorchester
• Florence
• Horry
• Kershaw
• Newberry
• Pickens
• Richland
• Spartanburg
• Sumter

References

1. "1980 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
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. Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
4. Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
5. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 123.
6. "Visit Might Put Reagan "Over the Top" in S.C.". The Times and Democrat . Orangeburg, South Carolina. The Associated Press. September 23, 1980. p. 9b.
7. Tyson, Remer (October 12, 1980). "Long Shot Strategy: Reagan's Efforts in South Paying Off". Boca Raton News . p. 12A.
8. Walser, Jim (October 22, 1980). "Carter, Reagan Battle for S.C.". The Charlotte Observer . Charlotte, North Carolina. Observer Columbia Bureau. p. 1.
9. Ragan (October 29, 1980). "Riley Leads Carter Vote Drive". Anderson Independent-Mail . p. 1.
10. Pettys, Dick (October 31, 1980). "Reagan Quietly Undermining Carter's '76 Support". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . The Associated Press. p. 8A.
11. Stucker, Jan (November 2, 1980). "Carter in the Carolinas — A Tale of Two States". The State . Columbia, South Carolina. p. B1.
12. "Down by the Wire: State by State, It's Just too Close to Call". Daily Press. Victorville, California. November 3, 1980. p. B-1.
13. "SC US President — November 04, 1980". Our Campaigns.

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN   0674941306.
• Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN   0275931455.