1980 United States presidential election in Alabama

Main article: 1980 United States presidential election
1980 United States presidential election in Alabama
← 1976 November 4, 1980 1984 →
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Georgia
Running mate George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale
Electoral vote 9 0
Popular vote 654,192 636,730
Percentage 48.75% 47.45%
President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

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The United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 4, 1980. Former California Governor Ronald Reagan narrowly won the state and its 9 electoral votes, winning 48.8% to incumbent President Jimmy Carter's 47.5%. John B. Anderson came in third place, winning 1.23%, although Alabama was Anderson's weakest state in the entire country. Two other candidates, Conservative Party nominee John Rarick and Libertarian Party candidate Ed Clark, each received close to one percent of the vote.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Limestone County, Morgan County, Marshall County, Talladega County, Cullman County, Tallapoosa County, Bibb County, Randolph County, Henry County, Lamar County, and Clay County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the most recent election where Alabama was more Democratic than the nation at-large and where Alabama voted left of several modern-day blue and purple states like California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.[1]

59% of white voters supported Reagan while 36% supported Carter.[2][3]

Results

General election results[4]
Party Nominee Popular vote Percentage Electoral vote
Republican Ronald Reagan 654,192 48.75% 9
Democratic Jimmy Carter (incumbent) 636,730 47.45% 0
Independent John B. Anderson 16,481 1.23% 0
AL Conservative John Rarick 15,010 1.12% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 13,318 0.99% 0
AL Statesman Benjamin Bubar 1,743 0.13% 0
Communist Gus Hall 1,629 0.12% 0
Socialist Workers Clifton DeBerry 1,303 0.10% 0
Socialist David McReynolds 1,006 0.07% 0
Citizens Barry Commoner 517 0.04% 0

Result by county

County Ronald Reagan
Republican 		Jimmy Carter
Democratic 		John B. Anderson
Independent 		John Rarick[5]
Alabama Conservative 		Ed Clark[5]
Libertarian 		Various candidates[5]
Other parties 		Margin Total
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Autauga 6,292 56.87% 4,295 38.82% 125 1.13% 216 1.95% 119 1.08% 16 0.14% 1,997 18.05% 11,063
Baldwin 18,652 65.78% 8,448 29.80% 414 1.46% 272 0.96% 465 1.64% 102 0.36% 10,204 35.98% 28,353
Barbour 4,171 46.34% 4,458 49.53% 65 0.72% 202 2.24% 80 0.89% 25 0.28% -287 -3.19% 9,001
Bibb 2,491 44.30% 3,097 55.08% 22 0.39% 5 0.09% 8 0.14% 0 0.00% -606 -10.78% 5,623
Blount 6,819 53.59% 5,656 44.45% 75 0.59% 37 0.29% 92 0.72% 45 0.35% 1,163 9.14% 12,724
Bullock 1,446 25.65% 3,960 70.25% 29 0.51% 158 2.80% 33 0.59% 11 0.20% -2,514 -44.60% 5,637
Butler 3,810 45.53% 4,156 49.67% 59 0.71% 205 2.45% 107 1.28% 31 0.37% -346 -4.14% 8,368
Calhoun 17,475 49.17% 17,017 47.88% 433 1.22% 90 0.25% 286 0.80% 240 0.68% 458 1.29% 35,541
Chambers 4,864 40.88% 6,649 55.88% 122 1.03% 145 1.22% 96 0.81% 23 0.19% -1,785 -15.00% 11,899
Cherokee 2,482 38.55% 3,764 58.47% 63 0.98% 51 0.79% 70 1.09% 8 0.12% -1,282 -19.92% 6,438
Chilton 6,615 57.64% 4,706 41.00% 60 0.52% 17 0.15% 46 0.40% 33 0.29% 1,909 16.64% 11,477
Choctaw 2,859 43.45% 3,680 55.93% 22 0.33% 5 0.08% 14 0.21% 0 0.00% -821 -12.48% 6,580
Clarke 5,059 47.44% 5,249 49.23% 55 0.52% 197 1.85% 84 0.79% 19 0.18% -190 -1.79% 10,663
Clay 2,764 48.09% 2,858 49.73% 34 0.59% 34 0.59% 41 0.71% 16 0.28% -94 -1.64% 5,747
Cleburne 2,389 52.78% 2,050 45.29% 34 0.75% 21 0.46% 27 0.60% 5 0.11% 339 7.49% 4,526
Coffee 6,760 50.45% 6,140 45.82% 189 1.41% 153 1.14% 137 1.02% 20 0.15% 620 4.63% 13,399
Colbert 6,619 33.07% 12,550 62.71% 209 1.04% 315 1.57% 226 1.13% 94 0.47% -5,931 -29.64% 20,013
Conecuh 2,948 47.69% 3,102 50.19% 29 0.47% 48 0.78% 36 0.58% 18 0.29% -154 -2.50% 6,181
Coosa 1,714 40.72% 2,383 56.62% 19 0.45% 55 1.31% 25 0.59% 13 0.31% -669 -15.90% 4,209
Covington 7,014 51.54% 6,305 46.33% 110 0.81% 55 0.40% 70 0.51% 54 0.40% 709 5.21% 13,608
Crenshaw 2,478 47.15% 2,704 51.45% 39 0.74% 11 0.21% 14 0.27% 10 0.19% -226 -4.30% 5,256
Cullman 10,212 45.92% 11,525 51.82% 228 1.03% 81 0.36% 124 0.56% 70 0.31% -1,313 -5.90% 22,240
Dale 7,247 57.64% 4,936 39.26% 134 1.07% 112 0.89% 130 1.03% 14 0.11% 2,311 18.38% 12,573
Dallas 7,647 42.14% 9,770 53.84% 131 0.72% 412 2.27% 164 0.90% 23 0.13% -2,123 -11.70% 18,147
DeKalb 9,673 51.75% 8,820 47.19% 107 0.57% 8 0.04% 51 0.27% 31 0.17% 853 4.56% 18,690
Elmore 8,688 57.20% 5,947 39.15% 171 1.13% 219 1.44% 140 0.92% 25 0.16% 2,741 18.05% 15,190
Escambia 6,513 54.04% 5,148 42.71% 87 0.72% 91 0.75% 136 1.13% 78 0.65% 1,365 11.33% 12,053
Etowah 16,177 42.79% 20,790 54.99% 358 0.95% 147 0.39% 234 0.62% 100 0.26% -4,613 -12.20% 37,806
Fayette 3,315 48.83% 3,389 49.92% 47 0.69% 4 0.06% 23 0.34% 11 0.16% -74 -1.09% 6,789
Franklin 4,448 41.33% 6,136 57.01% 51 0.47% 30 0.28% 66 0.61% 32 0.30% -1,688 -15.68% 10,763
Geneva 4,747 49.30% 4,703 48.85% 67 0.70% 45 0.47% 45 0.47% 21 0.22% 44 0.45% 9,628
Greene 1,034 22.79% 3,474 76.55% 16 0.35% 6 0.13% 7 0.15% 1 0.02% -2,440 -53.76% 4,538
Hale 2,074 34.69% 3,583 59.93% 56 0.94% 224 3.75% 35 0.59% 7 0.12% -1,509 -25.24% 5,979
Henry 2,813 47.85% 2,973 50.57% 18 0.31% 29 0.49% 26 0.44% 20 0.34% -160 -2.72% 5,879
Houston 14,884 64.05% 7,848 33.77% 184 0.79% 104 0.45% 132 0.57% 86 0.37% 7,036 30.28% 23,238
Jackson 4,897 34.48% 8,776 61.79% 156 1.10% 185 1.30% 176 1.24% 13 0.09% -3,879 -27.31% 14,203
Jefferson 132,612 51.10% 113,069 43.57% 3,509 1.35% 4,054 1.56% 3,243 1.25% 3,025 1.17% 19,543 7.53% 259,512
Lamar 2,778 44.91% 3,366 54.41% 16 0.26% 5 0.08% 15 0.24% 6 0.10% -588 -9.50% 6,186
Lauderdale 10,467 38.42% 15,379 56.45% 431 1.58% 363 1.33% 496 1.82% 107 0.39% -4,912 -18.03% 27,243
Lawrence 2,456 28.09% 6,112 69.92% 64 0.73% 30 0.34% 54 0.62% 26 0.30% -3,656 -41.83% 8,742
Lee 10,982 49.98% 9,606 43.72% 643 2.93% 290 1.32% 421 1.92% 30 0.14% 1,376 6.26% 21,972
Limestone 4,574 34.18% 8,180 61.12% 183 1.37% 258 1.93% 172 1.29% 17 0.13% -3,606 -26.94% 13,384
Lowndes 1,524 28.60% 3,577 67.12% 15 0.28% 172 3.23% 27 0.51% 14 0.26% -2,053 -38.52% 5,329
Macon 1,259 14.35% 7,028 80.10% 36 0.41% 366 4.17% 38 0.43% 47 0.54% -5,769 -65.75% 8,774
Madison 30,604 47.03% 30,469 46.82% 2,246 3.45% 713 1.10% 900 1.38% 140 0.22% 135 0.21% 65,072
Marengo 4,048 41.90% 5,178 53.60% 35 0.36% 255 2.64% 113 1.17% 31 0.32% -1,130 -11.70% 9,660
Marion 5,182 48.26% 5,450 50.75% 61 0.57% 3 0.03% 28 0.26% 14 0.13% -268 -2.49% 10,738
Marshall 8,159 40.93% 10,854 54.45% 283 1.42% 254 1.27% 362 1.82% 21 0.11% -2,695 -13.52% 19,933
Mobile 67,515 57.71% 46,180 39.47% 1,333 1.14% 563 0.48% 899 0.77% 502 0.43% 21,335 18.24% 116,992
Monroe 4,615 50.87% 4,262 46.98% 43 0.47% 51 0.56% 71 0.78% 30 0.33% 353 3.89% 9,072
Montgomery 35,745 53.75% 28,018 42.13% 985 1.48% 1,149 1.73% 503 0.76% 104 0.16% 7,727 11.62% 66,504
Morgan 13,214 45.14% 14,703 50.23% 457 1.56% 297 1.01% 444 1.52% 156 0.53% -1,489 -5.09% 29,271
Perry 2,262 34.68% 4,208 64.52% 28 0.43% 7 0.11% 13 0.20% 4 0.06% -1,946 -29.84% 6,522
Pickens 3,582 43.78% 4,504 55.05% 61 0.75% 9 0.11% 22 0.27% 4 0.05% -922 -11.27% 8,182
Pike 5,220 52.25% 4,417 44.21% 83 0.83% 158 1.58% 74 0.74% 39 0.39% 803 8.04% 9,991
Randolph 3,279 46.22% 3,378 47.62% 58 0.82% 169 2.38% 168 2.37% 42 0.59% -99 -1.40% 7,094
Russell 4,485 33.22% 8,123 60.17% 137 1.01% 522 3.87% 213 1.58% 20 0.15% -3,638 -26.95% 13,500
Shelby 14,957 64.28% 7,396 31.79% 407 1.75% 183 0.79% 290 1.25% 34 0.15% 7,561 32.49% 23,267
St. Clair 7,768 56.89% 5,236 38.35% 121 0.89% 190 1.39% 322 2.36% 17 0.12% 2,532 18.54% 13,654
Sumter 2,104 29.23% 5,015 69.66% 45 0.63% 8 0.11% 16 0.22% 11 0.15% -2,911 -40.43% 7,199
Talladega 9,902 47.97% 10,159 49.22% 140 0.68% 99 0.48% 153 0.74% 188 0.91% -257 -1.25% 20,641
Tallapoosa 5,958 43.80% 7,260 53.37% 96 0.71% 161 1.18% 88 0.65% 40 0.29% -1,302 -9.57% 13,603
Tuscaloosa 19,750 48.50% 19,103 46.91% 789 1.94% 582 1.44% 397 0.98% 99 0.24% 647 1.59% 40,720
Walker 8,795 38.53% 13,616 59.65% 82 0.36% 96 0.42% 152 0.67% 87 0.38% -4,821 -21.12% 22,828
Washington 3,045 45.96% 3,520 53.13% 24 0.36% 2 0.03% 31 0.47% 3 0.05% -475 -7.17% 6,625
Wilcox 2,280 31.40% 4,951 68.19% 13 0.18% 7 0.10% 8 0.11% 2 0.03% -2,671 -36.79% 7,261
Winston 4,981 59.04% 3,368 39.92% 39 0.46% 5 0.06% 20 0.24% 23 0.27% 1,613 19.12% 8,436
Totals 654,192 48.75% 636,730 47.45% 16,481 1.23% 15,010 1.12% 13,318 0.99% 6,198 0.46% 17,462 1.30% 1,341,929

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

  1. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  2. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
  3. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
  4. ^ Leip, Dave. "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  5. ^ a b c "AL US President Race, November 4, 1980". Our Campaigns.

Works cited