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1980 United States presidential election in Alabama
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June 2025
September 2023
1980 United States presidential election
Alabama November 4, 1980 1976 United States presidential election in Alabama 1976 1984 United States presidential election in Alabama 1984 Presidential x200px Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981-cropped.jpg Ronald Reagan Republican Party (United States) California George H. W. Bush 9 654,192 48.75% Jimmy Carter presidential portrait (cropped 1).jpg Jimmy Carter Democratic Party (United States) Georgia Walter Mondale 0 636,730 47.45% 300px County results 300px Congressional district results 1 300px
Reagan
#f2b3be 40–50%
#e27f90 50–60%
#cc2f4a 60–70%
Carter
#b9d7ff 40–50%
#86b6f2 50–60%
#4389e3 60–70%
#1666cb 70–80%
#0645b4 80–90% President Jimmy Carter Democratic Ronald Reagan Republican 1980 United States presidential election in Alabama No
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.
The key to Reagan’s narrow victory statewide, was his landslide victory in the ‘Over the Mountain’ suburbs of Birmingham. For example, The Locksley Fire Station precinct in Mountain Brook, voted for Reagan by landslide margin of 3,662 to 527 for Carter, this precinct alone nearly accounted for 20 percent of Reagan’s statewide margin.1980-11-05 The key to Reagan’s narrow 1980 Alabama victory. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-the-key-to-reagans/184155238/ 2025-11-02 The Birmingham News 45 Reagan’s support from these areas contributed to Reagan winning Jefferson County (the state’s largest county), by a larger raw vote margin than he won the state by, in spite of easily losing to Carter in precincts the core of Birmingham.
2024 11 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.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
Among white voters, 59% supported Reagan while 36% supported Carter.Black Black 1992 295Black Black 1992 335
Results
1980 United States presidential election in AlabamaLeip Dave 1980 Presidential General Election Results – Alabama https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1980&fips=1&f=1&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas
Republican Party (United States)
Ronald Reagan
654,192
48.75%
6.14
Democratic Party (United States)
Jimmy Carter
636,730
47.45%
8.28
Independent (United States)
John B. Anderson
16,481
1.23%
N/A
AL Conservative
#800080
John Rarick
15,010
1.12%
0.34
Libertarian Party (United States)
Ed Clark
13,318
0.99%
0.86
AL Statesman
#FF00FF
Benjamin Bubar
1,743
0.13%
0.43
Communist Party USA
Gus Hall
1,629
0.12%
0.05
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
Clifton DeBerry
1,303
0.10%
N/A
Socialist Party USA
David McReynolds
1,006
0.07%
N/A
Citizens Party (United States)
Barry Commoner
517
0.04%
N/A
1,341,929
100.00%
Result by county
CountyRonald ReaganRepublicanJimmy CarterDemocraticJohn B. AndersonIndependentJohn Rarickhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=1908 Our Campaigns AL US President Race, November 4, 1980Alabama ConservativeEd ClarkLibertarianVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal # % # % # % # % # % # % # % 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% 8,436Totals654,19248.75%636,73047.45%16,4811.23%15,0101.12%13,3180.99%6,1980.46%17,4621.30%1,341,929
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Autauga
Blount
Calhoun
Chiliton
Cleiburne
Coffee
Covington
DeKalb
Dale
Elmore
Escambia
Geneva
Madison
Monroe
Pike
St. Clair
Tuscaloosa
Winston
Result by congressional district
District Reagan Carter RepresentativeAlabama 1 1st 57.5% 41.5%Jack EdwardsAlabama 2 2nd 53.7% 45.2%William L. DickinsonAlabama 3 3rd 47.0% 51.9%Bill NicholsAlabama 4 4th 46.5% 52.8%Tom BevillAlabama 5 5th 42.2% 55.7%Ronnie FlippoAlabama 6 6th 54.9% 43.5%John Hall Buchanan Jr. (96th Congress)Albert L. Smith Jr. (97th Congress)Alabama 7 7th 47.6% 51.4%Richard Shelby
See also
United States presidential elections in Alabama
References
Works cited
Black Earl Earl Black (political scientist) Black Merle Merle Black The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected Harvard University Press 1992 https://archive.org/details/vitalsouthhowpre0000blac 0674941306
1980
Alabama
Category:1980 Alabama elections