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1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey
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1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey November 4, 1980 New Jersey presidential no 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey 1976 1984 United States presidential election in New Jersey 1984 79.75%https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/other/2022-1925-general-election-data.pdf General Election Data - 1924 to 2022 NJ.gov ( 0.82%) x160px Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981-cropped.jpg Ronald Reagan Republican Party (United States) California George H. W. Bush 17 1,546,557 51.97% Jimmy Carter presidential portrait (cropped 1).jpg Jimmy Carter Democratic Party (United States) Georgia Walter Mondale 0 1,147,364 38.56% John B. Anderson in New Jersey (cropped).jpg John B. Anderson Anderson AlternativeAnderson’s party was listed on this state’s ballot as “Anderson Alternative”.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1980&fips=34&f=0&off=0&elect=0 1980 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey May 20, 2015 Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas DCDCDC Illinois Patrick Lucey 0 234,632 7.88% 350px 350px County results
Reagan
#f2b3be 40–50%
#e27f90 50–60%
#cc2f4a 60–70%
Carter
#b9d7ff 40–50%
#86b6f2 50–60% President Jimmy Carter Democratic Party (United States) Ronald Reagan Republican Party (United States)
1980 United States presidential election
The 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose seventeen electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, former actor and Governor Ronald Reagan of California and former CIA Director George H. W. Bush of Texas. Reagan and Bush defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate incumbent Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Also in the running was former Republican Congressman John B. Anderson of Illinois, who ran as an independent with former Ambassador and Governor Patrick Lucey of Wisconsin.
right|thumb|Ronald Reagan giving a speech at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey on September 1, 1980.
Reagan carried New Jersey with 51.97% of the vote to Carter's 38.56%, a margin of 13.42%.1980 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1980&fips=34&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0 14 November 2013 Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
Anderson came in a strong but distant third, with 7.88% of the vote. Reagan won 18 of the state's 21 counties, with Carter only holding onto the 3 most heavily Democratic counties in New Jersey: Essex County, Hudson County, and Mercer County. New Jersey weighed in for this election as almost 4% more Republican than the national average.
New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican tilt; four years earlier, in 1976, the state had narrowly backed Republican Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter by a 50–48 margin, as Carter won nationally over Ford by a similarly narrow 50–48 margin. However, in 1980, with Reagan winning convincingly at the national level, the state easily remained in the Republican column. Carter was also hurt in the state by the candidacy of John Anderson, who had been a liberal Republican Congressman and whose campaign appealed strongly to Northeastern liberals and moderates who viewed Reagan as being too extreme and too far to the right,Howison, Geoffrey D.; The 1980 Presidential Election: Ronald Reagan and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement (Critical Moments in American History), p. 108 1136174117 but who were dissatisfied with the status quo under the Carter Administration.McMahon, Kevin J.;Winning the White House, 2008, p. 85 0230100422 Carter bled a substantial amount of support among such liberals and moderates in New Jersey who would likely have leaned Democratic in 1980 but instead voted for Anderson as a protest vote,Lipset, Seymour; Party Coalitions in the 1980s, p. 228 1412830494 pushing Carter below 40% and widening Reagan's margin over Carter.
Results
1980 United States presidential election in New JerseyPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votesRepublicanRonald Reagan1,546,55751.97%17DemocraticJimmy Carter (incumbent)1,147,36438.56%0Anderson AlternativeJohn B. Anderson234,6327.88%0LibertarianEd Clark20,6520.69%0CitizensBarry Commoner8,2030.28%0Right to LifeEllen McCormack3,9270.13%0Middle ClassKurt Lynen3,6940.12%0CommunistGus Hall2,5550.09%0Socialist WorkersAndrew Pulley2,1980.07%0SocialistDavid McReynolds1,9730.07%0Down with LawyersBill Gahres1,7180.06%0Workers WorldDeirdre Griswold1,2880.04%0IndependentMartin Wendelken9230.03%0Totals2,975,684100.0%17Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered)55%/79%
Results by county
Countyhttps://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1980/1980-general-results-president.pdf 1980 General Election Results - President 1980 January 24, 2024 nj.govRonald ReaganRepublicanJimmy CarterDemocraticJohn B. AndersonAnderson AlternativeEd ClarkLibertarianVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%#%#%Atlantic37,97349.83%31,28641.06%5,5827.33%8001.05%5610.74%6,6878.77%76,202Bergen232,04355.89%139,47433.60%38,2429.21%2,6610.64%2,7370.66%92,56922.29%415,157Burlington68,41551.94%50,08338.03%11,3148.59%1,0100.77%8870.67%18,33213.91%131,709Camden87,93947.07%80,03342.84%16,1258.63%1,2670.68%1,4440.77%7,9064.23%186,808Cape May22,72959.08%12,70833.03%2,5506.63%3120.81%1720.45%10,02126.05%38,471Cumberland23,24250.09%19,35641.71%3,2537.01%3240.70%2280.49%3,8868.38%46,403Essex117,22240.82%145,28150.59%21,2717.41%1,1920.42%2,2000.77%-28,059-9.77%287,166Gloucester40,30651.08%29,80437.77%7,5339.55%8511.08%4090.52%10,50213.31%78,903Hudson91,20745.90%95,62248.13%8,9414.50%8400.42%2,0781.05%-4,415-2.23%198,688Hunterdon21,40358.75%10,02927.53%3,6109.91%4041.11%9842.70%11,37431.22%36,430Mercer53,45041.57%60,88847.35%12,1179.42%1,1530.90%9740.76%-7,438-5.78%128,582Middlesex122,35450.73%97,30440.34%17,4637.24%1,7870.74%2,2980.95%25,05010.39%241,206Monmouth120,17356.69%71,32833.65%17,4448.23%1,6960.80%1,3300.63%48,84523.04%211,971Morris105,26060.63%48,96528.20%17,1819.90%1,3750.79%8230.47%56,29532.43%173,604Ocean98,43362.47%46,92329.78%10,0736.39%1,1650.74%9740.62%51,51032.69%157,568Passaic82,53151.92%61,48638.68%9,3855.90%9040.57%4,6452.92%21,04513.24%158,951Salem13,00051.03%10,20940.08%1,8007.07%2651.04%2000.79%2,79110.95%25,474Somerset52,59157.21%29,47032.06%8,3469.08%5990.65%9221.00%23,12125.15%91,928Sussex27,06363.94%10,53124.88%3,9889.42%5181.22%2270.54%16,53239.06%42,327Union112,28851.66%86,07439.60%15,5867.17%1,1570.53%2,2341.03%26,21412.06%217,339Warren16,93554.99%10,51034.13%2,8289.18%3721.21%1520.49%6,42520.86%30,797Totals1,546,55751.97%1,147,36438.56%234,6327.88%20,6520.69%26,4790.89%399,19313.41%2,975,684
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Middlesex
Burlington
Camden
Salem
Gloucester
Atlantic
Cumberland
right 280px Swing by county 280px Trend relative to the state by county
Legend #d40000 Republican — >15% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5−15% #ff2a2a Republican — +10−12.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5−10% #ff8080 Republican — +5−7.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5−5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0−2.5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0−2.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5−5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5−7.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #09ceff Democratic — +10−12.5% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5−15% #00a1c8 Democratic — >15% 280px County flips Legend
Democratic
#92c5de Hold
Republican
#f48882 Hold
#ca0120 Flip
See also
United States presidential elections in New Jersey
Presidency of Ronald Reagan
References
expanded
Notes
lower-alpha
Category:United States presidential elections in New Jersey
Category:1980 New Jersey elections
New Jersey