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1976 United States presidential election in Georgia

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1976 United States presidential election in Georgia

← 1972 November 2, 1976 (1976-11-02) 1980 →
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Georgia Michigan
Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole
Electoral vote 12 0
Popular vote 979,409 483,743
Percentage 66.74% 32.96%

County results
Carter
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%
  80–90%


President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

The 1976 United States presidential election in Georgia was held on November 2, 1976. The Democratic candidate, former Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter, overwhelmingly won his home state with 66.74% of the vote ahead of the Republican Party candidate, incumbent President Gerald Ford, giving him the state's 12 electoral votes. Carter carried all of Georgia's 159 counties (the last time any presidential candidate has won every single county in the state) and 10 congressional districts by wide margins.[1]

This is the only presidential election in Georgia's history where the Democratic candidate carried all of Georgia's counties, despite the state's long Democratic streak, as Republicans never carried the state until 1964, compared to this beginning of just a 2-election streak.[2] This represented a complete flip from the previous election when President Richard Nixon also carried every county in Georgia. Carter also carried 160 of 161 of Georgia’s historical counties (losing the former Milton County, which he lost to Ford 51.1-48.9 percent respectively.) In fact many precincts, particularly in North Fulton and DeKalb Counties voted for Ford sometimes by landslide margins. (For example one precinct in Dunwoody voted for Ford by a margin of 1245 to 500). Carter’s percentage total in the popular vote, however, was less than that of previous Democratic victors in the state like Woodrow Wilson, James M. Cox, John W. Davis, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Nevertheless, none of these candidates carried every county in the state, as Carter remains the solitary Democrat to carry historically pro-Union, East Tennessee-oriented[3] Fannin County since 1912, and indeed the only Democrat to obtain a majority of the vote there since William Jennings Bryan in 1900.[4] The following counties have also never voted for a Democrat since: Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Fayette, Columbia, Lee and Lowndes.[5] Douglas and Rockdale counties would not vote Democratic for president again until 2008, and Cobb and Gwinnett would not do so until 2016.

58% of white voters supported Carter while 42% supported Ford.[6][7]

Results

[edit]
United States presidential election in Georgia, 1976
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic James Carter 979,409 66.74% 12
Republican Gerald Ford (incumbent) 483,743 32.96% 0
Write-in Thomas J. Anderson 1,168 0.08% 0
Write-in Lester Maddox 1,071 0.07% 0
Write-in Eugene McCarthy 991 0.07% 0
Write-in Write-ins (scattered) 847 0.06% 0
Write-in Roger MacBride 175 0.01% 0
Write-in Peter Camejo 43 0.00% 0
Write-in Gus Hall 3 0.00% 0
Write-in Ernest Miller 3 0.00% 0
Write-in Julius Levin 2 0.00% 0
Write-in Frank Zeidler 2 0.00% 0
Write-in Lyndon LaRouche 1 0.00% 0
Totals 1,467,458 100.00% 12
Voter turnout 42%

Results by county

[edit]
County[8] Jimmy Carter
Democratic
Gerald Ford
Republican
Margin Total votes cast[a]
# % # % # %
Appling 3,585 78.86% 961 21.14% 2,624 57.72% 4,546
Atkinson 1,560 81.80% 347 18.20% 1,213 63.60% 1,907
Bacon 2,395 80.13% 594 19.87% 1,801 60.26% 2,989
Baker 1,162 79.21% 305 20.79% 857 58.42% 1,467
Baldwin 4,674 56.41% 3,612 43.59% 1,062 12.82% 8,286
Banks 2,387 87.85% 330 12.15% 2,057 73.70% 2,717
Barrow 4,756 77.71% 1,364 22.29% 3,392 55.42% 6,120
Bartow 8,166 81.32% 1,876 18.68% 6,290 62.64% 10,042
Ben Hill 2,449 75.05% 814 24.95% 1,635 50.10% 3,263
Berrien 3,394 85.95% 555 14.05% 2,839 71.90% 3,949
Bibb 31,902 71.34% 12,819 28.66% 19,083 42.68% 44,721
Bleckley 2,605 72.83% 972 27.17% 1,633 45.66% 3,577
Brantley 2,294 86.50% 358 13.50% 1,936 73.00% 2,652
Brooks 2,653 70.65% 1,102 29.35% 1,551 41.30% 3,755
Bryan 2,045 72.88% 761 27.12% 1,284 45.76% 2,806
Bulloch 5,199 62.23% 3,156 37.77% 2,043 24.46% 8,355
Burke 3,014 65.82% 1,565 34.18% 1,449 31.64% 4,579
Butts 2,898 77.97% 819 22.03% 2,079 55.94% 3,717
Calhoun 1,394 76.17% 436 23.83% 958 52.34% 1,830
Camden 2,962 74.85% 995 25.15% 1,967 49.70% 3,957
Candler 1,388 68.24% 646 31.76% 742 36.48% 2,034
Carroll 10,050 73.41% 3,640 26.59% 6,410 46.82% 13,690
Catoosa 6,020 61.31% 3,799 38.69% 2,221 22.62% 9,819
Charlton 1,750 79.47% 452 20.53% 1,298 58.94% 2,202
Chatham 32,075 57.04% 24,160 42.96% 7,915 14.08% 56,235
Chattahoochee 506 73.98% 178 26.02% 328 47.96% 684
Chattooga 4,686 81.17% 1,087 18.83% 3,599 62.34% 5,773
Cherokee 6,539 71.48% 2,609 28.52% 3,930 42.96% 9,148
Clarke 11,342 63.18% 6,610 36.82% 4,732 26.36% 17,952
Clay 947 76.25% 295 23.75% 652 52.50% 1,242
Clayton 21,432 62.42% 12,905 37.58% 8,527 24.84% 34,337
Clinch 1,414 78.69% 383 21.31% 1,031 57.38% 1,797
Cobb 45,002 56.73% 34,324 43.27% 10,678 12.46% 79,326
Coffee 4,601 76.45% 1,417 23.55% 3,184 52.90% 6,018
Colquitt 6,928 76.06% 2,181 23.94% 4,747 52.12% 9,109
Columbia 4,674 57.73% 3,423 42.27% 1,251 15.46% 8,097
Cook 2,882 81.14% 670 18.86% 2,212 62.28% 3,552
Coweta 6,195 67.05% 3,044 32.95% 3,151 34.10% 9,239
Crawford 1,842 82.97% 378 17.03% 1,464 65.94% 2,220
Crisp 3,747 73.83% 1,328 26.17% 2,419 47.66% 5,075
Dade 2,263 61.98% 1,388 38.02% 875 23.96% 3,651
Dawson 1,384 78.91% 370 21.09% 1,014 57.82% 1,754
Decatur 3,736 59.91% 2,500 40.09% 1,236 19.82% 6,236
DeKalb 86,872 56.40% 67,160 43.60% 19,712 12.80% 154,032
Dodge 5,267 86.13% 848 13.87% 4,419 72.26% 6,115
Dooly 2,441 78.84% 655 21.16% 1,786 57.68% 3,096
Dougherty 11,461 55.11% 9,337 44.89% 2,124 10.22% 20,798
Douglas 7,805 66.35% 3,959 33.65% 3,846 32.70% 11,764
Early 2,405 67.52% 1,157 32.48% 1,248 35.04% 3,562
Echols 585 84.05% 111 15.95% 474 68.10% 696
Effingham 2,906 63.73% 1,654 36.27% 1,252 27.46% 4,560
Elbert 4,730 83.11% 961 16.89% 3,769 66.22% 5,691
Emanuel 4,603 75.51% 1,493 24.49% 3,110 51.02% 6,096
Evans 1,631 68.62% 746 31.38% 885 37.24% 2,377
Fannin 3,402 56.25% 2,646 43.75% 756 12.50% 6,048
Fayette 3,718 56.72% 2,837 43.28% 881 13.44% 6,555
Floyd 15,151 66.27% 7,713 33.73% 7,438 32.54% 22,864
Forsyth 4,693 76.48% 1,443 23.52% 3,250 52.96% 6,136
Franklin 4,192 85.92% 687 14.08% 3,505 71.84% 4,879
Fulton 129,849 67.84% 61,552 32.16% 68,297 35.68% 191,401
Gilmer 2,499 66.46% 1,261 33.54% 1,238 32.92% 3,760
Glascock 704 65.49% 371 34.51% 333 30.98% 1,075
Glynn 9,459 63.65% 5,403 36.35% 4,056 27.30% 14,862
Gordon 6,052 78.09% 1,698 21.91% 4,354 56.18% 7,750
Grady 3,758 75.66% 1,209 24.34% 2,549 51.32% 4,967
Greene 2,534 79.54% 652 20.46% 1,882 59.08% 3,186
Gwinnett 20,838 59.97% 13,912 40.03% 6,926 19.94% 34,750
Habersham 5,120 79.56% 1,315 20.44% 3,805 59.12% 6,435
Hall 12,804 71.54% 5,093 28.46% 7,711 43.08% 17,897
Hancock 2,117 76.48% 651 23.52% 1,466 52.96% 2,768
Haralson 4,550 77.76% 1,301 22.24% 3,249 55.52% 5,851
Harris 2,861 64.95% 1,544 35.05% 1,317 29.90% 4,405
Hart 4,605 84.26% 860 15.74% 3,745 68.52% 5,465
Heard 1,593 78.63% 433 21.37% 1,160 57.26% 2,026
Henry 5,717 68.56% 2,622 31.44% 3,095 37.12% 8,339
Houston 13,164 70.90% 5,404 29.10% 7,760 41.80% 18,568
Irwin 2,012 78.20% 561 21.80% 1,461 56.40% 2,573
Jackson 5,931 82.72% 1,239 17.28% 4,692 65.44% 7,170
Jasper 1,852 72.88% 689 27.12% 1,163 45.76% 2,541
Jeff Davis 2,405 79.45% 622 20.55% 1,783 58.90% 3,027
Jefferson 3,115 70.41% 1,309 29.59% 1,806 40.82% 4,424
Jenkins 1,820 76.37% 563 23.63% 1,257 52.74% 2,383
Johnson 2,210 76.00% 698 24.00% 1,512 52.00% 2,908
Jones 3,471 72.49% 1,317 27.51% 2,154 44.98% 4,788
Lamar 2,785 76.68% 847 23.32% 1,938 53.36% 3,632
Lanier 1,269 85.98% 207 14.02% 1,062 71.96% 1,476
Laurens 8,617 72.42% 3,281 27.58% 5,336 44.84% 11,898
Lee 1,727 60.87% 1,110 39.13% 617 21.74% 2,837
Liberty 3,328 77.27% 979 22.73% 2,349 54.54% 4,307
Lincoln 1,583 73.32% 576 26.68% 1,007 46.64% 2,159
Long 1,243 84.85% 222 15.15% 1,021 69.70% 1,465
Lowndes 8,830 66.18% 4,512 33.82% 4,318 32.36% 13,342
Lumpkin 2,301 80.79% 547 19.21% 1,754 61.58% 2,848
McDuffie 3,024 64.09% 1,694 35.91% 1,330 28.18% 4,718
McIntosh 1,978 78.71% 535 21.29% 1,443 57.42% 2,513
Macon 3,013 82.53% 638 17.47% 2,625 65.06% 3,651
Madison 3,367 75.12% 1,115 24.88% 2,252 50.24% 4,482
Marion 1,314 81.87% 291 18.13% 1,203 63.74% 1,605
Meriwether 4,830 76.91% 1,450 23.09% 3,380 53.82% 6,280
Miller 1,536 76.34% 476 23.66% 1,060 52.68% 2,012
Mitchell 4,495 74.09% 1,572 25.91% 2,923 48.18% 6,067
Monroe 2,962 73.32% 1,078 26.68% 1,884 46.64% 4,040
Montgomery 1,610 72.00% 626 28.00% 984 42.00% 2,236
Morgan 2,274 71.55% 904 28.45% 1,370 42.90% 3,178
Murray 3,511 79.80% 889 20.20% 2,622 59.60% 4,400
Muscogee 24,092 64.09% 13,496 35.91% 10,596 28.18% 37,588
Newton 6,294 74.65% 2,137 25.35% 4,157 49.30% 8,431
Oconee 2,228 65.30% 1,184 34.70% 1,044 30.60% 3,412
Oglethorpe 1,854 69.57% 811 30.43% 1,040 39.14% 2,665
Paulding 5,420 79.10% 1,432 20.90% 3,988 58.20% 6,852
Peach 3,989 77.43% 1,163 22.57% 2,826 54.86% 5,152
Pickens 2,571 72.55% 973 27.45% 1,598 45.10% 3,544
Pierce 2,628 82.85% 544 17.15% 2,084 65.70% 3,172
Pike 1,903 71.03% 776 28.97% 1,127 42.06% 2,679
Polk 6,115 75.88% 1,944 24.12% 4,171 51.76% 8,059
Pulaski 2,318 82.70% 485 17.30% 1,833 65.40% 2,803
Putnam 2,040 70.96% 835 29.04% 1,205 41.92% 2,875
Quitman 677 68.38% 313 31.62% 364 36.76% 990
Rabun 2,398 80.23% 591 19.77% 1,807 60.46% 2,989
Randolph 2,186 74.53% 747 25.47% 1,439 49.06% 2,933
Richmond 24,042 57.33% 17,893 42.67% 6,149 14.66% 41,935
Rockdale 4,640 60.94% 2,974 39.06% 1,666 21.88% 7,614
Schley 783 74.50% 268 25.50% 515 49.00% 1,051
Screven 2,168 64.83% 1,176 35.17% 992 29.66% 3,344
Seminole 2,074 75.28% 681 24.72% 1,393 50.56% 2,755
Spalding 7,593 67.00% 3,739 33.00% 3,854 34.00% 11,332
Stephens 5,560 80.58% 1,340 19.42% 4,220 61.16% 6,900
Stewart 1,632 79.03% 433 20.97% 1,199 58.06% 2,065
Sumter 5,328 72.19% 2,053 27.81% 3,275 44.38% 7,381
Talbot 1,634 78.07% 459 21.93% 1,175 56.14% 2,093
Taliaferro 748 76.02% 236 23.98% 512 52.04% 984
Tattnall 3,556 72.84% 1,326 27.16% 2,230 45.68% 4,882
Taylor 1,962 79.56% 504 20.44% 1,458 59.12% 2,466
Telfair 3,534 84.73% 637 15.27% 2,097 69.46% 4,171
Terrell 2,348 66.78% 1,168 33.22% 1,180 33.56% 3,516
Thomas 6,147 65.32% 3,263 34.68% 2,884 30.64% 9,410
Tift 5,185 70.57% 2,162 29.43% 3,023 41.14% 7,347
Toombs 4,047 65.56% 2,126 34.44% 1,921 31.12% 6,173
Towns 1,786 60.32% 1,175 39.68% 611 20.64% 2,961
Treutlen 1,567 77.12% 465 22.88% 1,102 54.24% 2,032
Troup 7,699 63.52% 4,422 36.48% 3,277 27.04% 12,121
Turner 2,265 84.48% 416 15.52% 1,849 68.96% 2,681
Twiggs 2,515 83.06% 513 16.94% 2,002 66.12% 3,028
Union 2,795 70.78% 1,154 29.22% 1,641 41.56% 3,949
Upson 4,219 59.29% 2,897 40.71% 1,322 18.58% 7,116
Walker 8,007 62.49% 4,807 37.51% 3,200 24.98% 12,814
Walton 5,402 76.20% 1,687 23.80% 3,715 52.40% 7,089
Ware 7,719 74.36% 2,661 25.64% 5,058 48.72% 10,380
Warren 1,335 64.96% 720 35.04% 615 29.92% 2,055
Washington 3,865 69.99% 1,657 30.01% 2,208 39.98% 5,522
Wayne 4,489 74.97% 1,499 25.03% 2,990 49.94% 5,988
Webster 622 79.03% 165 20.97% 457 58.06% 787
Wheeler 1,378 80.02% 344 19.98% 1,034 60.04% 1,722
White 2,125 77.27% 625 22.73% 1,500 54.54% 2,750
Whitfield 10,475 69.96% 4,498 30.04% 5,977 39.92% 14,973
Wilcox 2,153 86.15% 346 13.85% 1,807 72.30% 2,499
Wilkes 2,461 69.76% 1,067 30.24% 1,394 39.52% 3,528
Wilkinson 2,652 76.01% 837 23.99% 1,815 52.02% 3,489
Worth 2,790 70.70% 1,156 29.30% 1,634 41.40% 3,946
Totals 979,409 66.74% 483,743 32.96% 495,666 33.78% 1,467,458

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

[edit]
  • All 159

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ County counts exclude a total of 4,306 write-in votes as these were not tabulated by county.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results - Georgia". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  2. ^ Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, p. 425 ISBN 0313257957
  3. ^ Mosher, John; Weber, Jennifer L.: Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North (book review); History, 35(3) (2007), pp. 303–304.
  4. ^ Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, p. 165.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
  7. ^ Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
  8. ^ Fortson, Jr., Ben W. (1976). Official State of Georgia tabulation by counties for Presidential electors: U.S. Representatives, state officers and constitutional amendments, General Election November 2, 1976 (PDF) (Report). Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved August 12, 2024 – via Digital Library of Georgia.

Works cited

[edit]