1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey

none June 2025 September 2023 1976 United States presidential election 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey New Jersey presidential no 1972 United States presidential election in New Jersey 1972 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey 1980 November 2, 1976 80.57%https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/other/2022-1925-general-election-data.pdf General Election Data - 1924 to 2022 NJ.gov ( 3.84%) x200px Gerald Ford, second official portrait of the President of the United States, February 1976 (HQ) (cropped closer).jpg Gerald Ford Republican Party (United States) Michigan Bob Dole 17 1,509,688 50.08% Jimmy Carter 1977 cropped.jpg Jimmy Carter Democratic Party (United States) Georgia Walter Mondale 0 1,444,653 47.92% 350px 350px County results Ford #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% Carter #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% President Gerald Ford Republican Party (United States) Jimmy Carter Democratic Party (United States) The 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 2, 1976. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Voters chose 17 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president. New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Gerald Ford of Michigan and his running mate Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. Ford and Dole defeated the Democratic nominees, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Ford narrowly carried New Jersey with 50.08% of the vote to Carter's 47.92%, a victory margin of 2.16%.1976 Presidential General Election Results - New Jersey http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1976&fips=34&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 16 November 2013 Anti-war former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, running as an independent presidential candidate, came in a distant third, with 1.09%. New Jersey weighed in for this election as about 4% more Republican than the national average. New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican lean, and Gerald Ford, a moderate Republican, held enough appeal among New Jersey's many moderate suburban voters to carry the state 50–48 even as Jimmy Carter narrowly won nationally by a 50–48 margin. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time a Democrat won the presidency and/or the national popular vote without winning New Jersey. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004. This was the last of 3 times that New Jersey voted for the loser of the presidential election in the 20th century, the other times being 1916 and 1948. Republican primary 1976 New Jersey Republican presidential primary Democratic primary 1976 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary Results 1976 United States presidential election in New JerseyPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Gerald Ford (incumbent) 1,509,688 50.08% 17 Democratic Jimmy Carter 1,444,653 47.92% 0 Independent Eugene McCarthy 32,717 1.09% 0 Libertarian Roger MacBride 9,449 0.31% 0 American Independent Lester Maddox 7,716 0.26% 0 Socialist Labor Julius Levin 3,686 0.12% 0 Communist Gus Hall 1,662 0.06% 0 U.S. Labor Lyndon LaRouche 1,650 0.05% 0 Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 1,184 0.04% 0 People's Margaret Wright 1,044 0.03% 0 Prohibition Ben Bubar 554 0.02% 0 Socialist Frank Zeidler 469 0.02% 0 Totals 3,014,472 100.0% 17 Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 58%/80% Results by county County Gerald FordRepublican Jimmy CarterDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Atlantic 36,733 45.56% 41,965 52.05% 1,932 2.40% -5,232 -6.49% 80,630 Bergen 237,331 55.86% 180,738 42.54% 6,784 1.60% 56,593 13.32% 424,853 Burlington 60,960 48.07% 63,309 49.92% 2,551 2.01% -2,349 -1.85% 126,820 Camden 82,801 42.33% 108,854 55.65% 3,956 2.02% -26,053 -13.32% 195,611 Cape May 19,498 53.18% 16,489 44.97% 680 1.85% 3,009 8.21% 36,667 Cumberland 20,535 40.84% 29,165 58.00% 587 1.17% -8,630 -17.16% 50,287 Essex 133,911 42.40% 174,434 55.23% 7,467 2.36% -40,523 -12.83% 315,812 Gloucester 34,888 46.33% 38,726 51.43% 1,688 2.24% -3,838 -5.10% 75,302 Hudson 92,636 43.55% 116,241 54.64% 3,853 1.81% -23,605 -11.09% 212,730 Hunterdon 19,616 59.50% 12,592 38.20% 758 2.30% 7,024 21.30% 32,966 Mercer 58,453 44.67% 69,621 53.20% 2,782 2.13% -11,168 -8.53% 130,856 Middlesex 113,539 47.14% 122,859 51.01% 4,466 1.85% -9,320 -3.87% 240,864 Monmouth 110,104 54.29% 88,956 43.87% 3,730 1.84% 21,148 10.42% 202,790 Morris 105,921 61.45% 63,749 36.98% 2,703 1.57% 42,172 24.47% 172,373 Ocean 77,875 56.93% 56,413 41.24% 2,493 1.82% 21,462 15.69% 136,781 Passaic 85,102 51.20% 76,194 45.84% 4,930 2.97% 8,908 5.36% 166,226 Salem 11,639 46.60% 12,826 51.35% 512 2.05% -1,187 -4.75% 24,977 Somerset 51,260 57.15% 36,258 40.43% 2,173 2.42% 15,002 16.72% 89,691 Sussex 23,613 60.19% 14,759 37.62% 857 2.18% 8,854 22.57% 39,229 Union 118,019 51.56% 106,267 46.42% 4,616 2.02% 11,752 5.14% 228,902 Warren 15,254 50.67% 14,238 47.29% 613 2.04% 1,016 3.38% 30,105Totals1,509,68850.08%1,444,65347.92%60,1312.00%65,0352.16%3,014,472 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Essex Hudson Mercer Middlesex Burlington Camden Salem Gloucester Atlantic Cumberland By congressional district Ford won 9 of the state's 15 congressional districts, including 5 which elected Democrats, while Carter won the remaining 6 districts.1976 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District https://wwu.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/minimalist/index.html?appid=470d69283c9e42b9ab2d56b9ed42f693 25 May 2026 en 2 November 1976 District Ford Carter RepresentativeNew Jersey 1 1st 42.4% 57.6%James FlorioNew Jersey 2 2nd 49.5% 50.5%William J. HughesNew Jersey 3 3rd 56% 44%James J. HowardNew Jersey 4 4th 46.2% 53.8%Frank ThompsonNew Jersey 5 5th 59.3% 40.7%Millicent FenwickNew Jersey 6 6th 51.7% 48.3%Edwin B. ForsytheNew Jersey 7 7th 58.1% 40.9%Andrew Maguire New Jersey 8 8th 52.1% 47.9%Robert A. RoeNew Jersey 9 9th54.5%45.5%Henry HelstoskiHarold C. HollenbeckNew Jersey 10 10th 27.5% 72.5%Peter RodinoNew Jersey 11 11th 51.7% 48.3%Joseph MinishNew Jersey 12 12th 53.8% 46.2%Matt RinaldoNew Jersey 13 13th 59.3% 40.7%Helen MeynerNew Jersey 14 14th43.4%56.6%Dominick V. DanielsJoseph A. LeFanteNew Jersey 15 15th 46.4% 53.6%Edward J. Patten Analysis Reflecting the closeness of the statewide result, Ford and Carter virtually split New Jersey's 21 counties: Ford won 11 counties to Carter's 10. The native Southerner Jimmy Carter performed unusually well among rural voters in South Jersey, winning 6 out of 7 of the southernmost counties in the state. Carter's strongest county by vote share was rural Cumberland County in the far south of the state by the Delaware border, where he won 58–41. However his comfortable victories in more populous traditional Democratic base counties are what made him competitive statewide: in Essex County, he won 55–42, in Hudson County, he won 55–44, and in Mercer County, he won 53–45. He also won heavily populated Middlesex County, but by a narrow 51–47 margin. The Northern moderate Ford, however, edged out Carter statewide with comfortable victories in heavily populated suburban counties which were dominated by moderate Republicans. In most presidential elections in this era, the most Republican county in the state would usually be rural, sparsely populated Sussex County. While Ford did win Sussex County decisively by a 60–38 margin, Ford's strongest county by vote share was actually suburban Morris County, where he beat Carter 61–37. In suburban Monmouth County, Ford won 54–44. Other important victories for Ford were in fairly populated Ocean County, which he won 57–41, and Passaic County, which he won 51–46. However Ford's biggest prize was very heavily populated Bergen County, which went decisively to Ford by a 56–43 margin. This was the first time since 1916 that a Democrat won the presidency without Passaic County. See also United States presidential elections in New Jersey Presidency of Jimmy Carter References expanded New Jersey 1976 Category:1976 New Jersey elections