1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire

The 1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire

← 1976 November 4, 1980 1984 →
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter John B. Anderson
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Home state California Georgia Illinois
Running mate George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale Patrick Lucey
Electoral vote 4 0 0
Popular vote 221,705 108,864 49,693
Percentage 57.74% 28.35% 12.94%


President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

New Hampshire 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.

Reagan took 57.74% of the vote to Carter's 28.35%, a margin of 29.39%. Anderson finished in a relatively strong third for a third party candidate, receiving 12.94% of the vote.

The already embattled incumbent Democratic president Carter was hurt in the state by the strong third party candidacy of John Anderson, a liberal Republican Congressman who ran in 1980 as an independent after failing to win the Republican Party's own presidential nomination. Anderson proved very popular with liberal and moderate voters in New England who normally leaned Democratic but were dissatisfied with the policies of the Carter Administration and viewed Reagan as too far to the right. The defection of these voters would push Carter below 30% of the vote and greatly widen Reagan's margin of victory over Carter in New Hampshire. New England overall would prove to be Anderson's strongest region in the nation, with all 6 New England states giving double-digit percentages to Anderson. In fact, New Hampshire would prove to be Anderson's fourth strongest state in the nation after Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island, his 12.94% of the vote in the state was nearly double the 6.61% he got nationwide.[1]

New Hampshire in this era normally leaned Republican; in 1976, the state had been won comfortably by moderate Republican Gerald Ford, who took 54.75% of the vote to Carter's 43.47%, a GOP victory margin of 11.28%, even as Carter narrowly won the election nationwide.

However the challenger Reagan would prove to be unusually popular among New Hampshire voters. Reagan won most Northeastern states by single-digit margins and with pluralities of less than 50% of the vote, potentially making Anderson, who took double-digit support, a spoiler that cost Carter victories in many of these normally liberal states. In neighboring Vermont, Reagan won the state with only 44% of the vote and a margin of 5.96%. Reagan won neighboring Maine by an even smaller 3.36% margin. Relative to the nation, Vermont would trend Democratic by 17 points and Maine would trend Democratic by over 9 points in the 1980 election. However, New Hampshire, sandwiched in the middle, had a unique conservative streak to its politics for a Northeastern state. New Hampshire would ultimately be the only state in New England to give Reagan an absolute majority of the vote, with a commanding 57.74%. The state would trend 6 points toward the GOP relative to the nation in the 1980 election.

Primaries

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Democratic primary

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1980 Democratic Primary
Candidate Votes Delegates
Jimmy Carter (incumbent) 52,648 11
Ted Kennedy 41,687 9
Jerry Brown 10,686 0
Others 6,574 0
Totals 111,595 20

Republican primary

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1980 Republican Primary
Candidate Votes Delegates
Ronald Reagan 72,983 14
George Bush 33,443 6
Howard Baker 18,943 3
John Anderson 14,458 0
Others 6,707 0
Totals 146,534 23

Results

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1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire[2]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan 221,705 57.74% 4
Democratic Jimmy Carter (incumbent) 108,864 28.35% 0
Independent John B. Anderson 49,693 12.94% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 2,067 0.54% 0
Citizens Barry Commoner 1,325 0.35% 0
Communist Gus Hall 129 0.03% 0
Workers World Deirdre Griswold 76 0.02% 0
Socialist Workers Clifton DeBerry 72 0.02% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 68 0.02% 0
Totals 383,999 100.00% 4
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 57%/70%

Results by county

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County Ronald Reagan[3]
Republican
Jimmy Carter[3]
Democratic
John B. Anderson[3]
Independent
Ed Clark[3]
Libertarian
Barry Commoner[3]
Citizens
Various candidates[3]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Belknap 12,077 65.12% 4,365 23.54% 1,996 10.76% 71 0.38% 33 0.18% 4 0.02% 7,712 41.58% 18,546
Carroll 9,980 67.25% 3,119 21.02% 1,584 10.67% 86 0.58% 63 0.42% 9 0.06% 6,861 46.23% 14,841
Cheshire 13,242 52.00% 7,835 30.77% 4,090 16.06% 116 0.46% 175 0.69% 9 0.04% 5,407 21.23% 25,467
Coös 8,724 60.08% 4,749 32.71% 941 6.48% 71 0.49% 20 0.14% 15 0.10% 3,975 27.37% 14,520
Grafton 15,273 56.25% 7,282 26.82% 4,279 15.76% 153 0.56% 139 0.51% 25 0.09% 7,991 29.43% 27,151
Hillsborough 68,994 59.84% 31,789 27.57% 13,613 11.81% 581 0.50% 262 0.23% 65 0.06% 37,205 32.27% 115,304
Merrimack 23,584 56.21% 12,083 28.80% 5,894 14.05% 202 0.48% 135 0.32% 62 0.15% 11,501 27.41% 41,960
Rockingham 45,960 57.83% 21,712 27.32% 10,974 13.81% 504 0.63% 269 0.34% 55 0.07% 24,248 30.51% 79,474
Strafford 16,399 50.41% 11,041 33.94% 4,700 14.45% 204 0.63% 160 0.49% 27 0.08% 5,358 16.47% 32,531
Sullivan 7,472 52.85% 4,889 34.58% 1,622 11.47% 79 0.56% 69 0.49% 6 0.04% 2,583 18.27% 14,137
Totals 221,705 57.74% 108,864 28.35% 49,693 12.94% 2,067 0.54% 1,325 0.35% 345 0.09% 112,841 29.39% 383,999

Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Analysis

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On the county map, Reagan swept all 10 of New Hampshire's counties, the only state in the Northeast to have all of its counties give majorities to Reagan. Reagan broke 60% of the vote in 3 counties.

One notable county result in 1980 that reflected both Reagan's unique popularity in New Hampshire as well as Carter's 15-point drop in support in the state relative to 1976, was the result in rural Coos County in the far north of the state. In 1976, Ford had won the state comfortably while winning 9 out of the state's counties, while Carter had scored one county win with a 51–49 victory in Coös County. Carter's sole county win in 1976 would swing so dramatically as to be one of only 3 of the state's 10 counties to give Reagan more than 60% of the vote in 1980, as Reagan received 60.08% of the vote in Coös County.

Reagan's decisive victory in New Hampshire would make the state 7% more Republican than the national average in the 1980 election.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1980 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – New Hampshire". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Our Campaigns; NH US President Race, November 04, 1980