1980 United States presidential election in Maine

Summary

The 1980 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 1980. All fifty states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Maine was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by a slim margin of 3%,[1] carrying fourteen out of sixteen counties. In recent years, however, the state has grown much more liberal, and no Republican presidential nominee has carried it since 1988.[2]

1980 United States presidential election in Maine

← 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 238,522 220,974 53,327
Percentage 45.61% 42.25% 10.20%


President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

The already embattled incumbent Democratic president Carter was hurt in the state by the strong third party candidacy of John B. 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. New England overall would prove to be Anderson's strongest region in the nation, with all six New England states giving double-digit percentages to Anderson. However, Maine would prove to be Anderson's weakest state in New England with only 10.20% of the popular vote, whereas all five of the other states in New England gave Anderson over 12% of the popular vote, peaking at 15.15% in Massachusetts.

Along with Michigan, New York, Mississippi and Vermont, Maine was one of the few states in which President Carter won counties that had gone to Ford in the previous presidential election, as Carter flipped Cumberland County. As a result, Reagan was the first Republican to ever win a presidential election without this county. This was the last presidential election in which Hancock County was the most Republican county in Maine.

Primaries edit

1980 Democratic Caucus (02/10/80)
Candidate CDE Delegates
Jimmy Carter 13,660 10
Ted Kennedy 12,041 10
Jerry Brown 4,494 3
Totals 30,195 23

Results edit

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote
Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Ronald Reagan Republican California 238,522 45.61% 4 George H. W. Bush Texas 4
Jimmy Carter Democrat Georgia 220,974 42.25% 0 Walter Mondale Minnesota 0
John B. Anderson Independent Illinois 53,327 10.20% 0 Patrick Lucey Wisconsin 0
Ed Clark Libertarian California 5,119 0.98% 0 David Koch New York 0
Barry Commoner Citizens New York 4,394 0.84% 0 LaDonna Harris Oklahoma 0
Gus Hall Communist New York 591 0.11% 0 Angela Davis California 0
Write-in candidates 84 0.02% 0 0
Total 523,011 100% 4 4
Needed to win 270 270

Results by congressional district edit

Reagan won both of Maine's congressional districts.[3]

District Reagan # Reagan % Carter # Carter % Anderson # Anderson % Clark # Clark % Commoner # Commoner % Representative
1st 126,274 45.02% 117,613 41.93% 30,889 11.01% 2,646 0.94% 2,756 0.98% David F. Emery
2nd 112,248 46.29% 103,361 42.62% 22,438 9.25% 2,473 1.02% 1,638 0.68% Olympia Snowe

Results by county edit

County Ronald Wilson Reagan[4]
Republican
James Earl Carter[4]
Democratic
John B. Anderson[4]
Independent
Edward E. Clark[4]
Libertarian
Barry Commoner[4]
Citizens
Various candidates[4]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Androscoggin 18,399 39.93% 22,715 49.29% 4,300 9.33% 414 0.90% 218 0.47% 34 0.07% -4,316 -9.37% 46,080
Aroostook 16,343 48.29% 14,492 42.82% 2,528 7.47% 275 0.81% 107 0.32% 101 0.30% 1,851 5.47% 33,846
Cumberland 45,820 42.64% 47,337 44.05% 12,214 11.37% 870 0.81% 1,088 1.01% 132 0.12% -1,517 -1.41% 107,461
Franklin 5,680 46.83% 4,979 41.05% 1,205 9.94% 108 0.89% 145 1.20% 11 0.09% 701 5.78% 12,128
Hancock 11,435 53.60% 7,027 32.94% 2,300 10.78% 270 1.27% 259 1.21% 43 0.20% 4,408 20.66% 21,334
Kennebec 21,517 43.84% 20,943 42.67% 5,553 11.31% 505 1.03% 500 1.02% 59 0.12% 574 1.17% 49,077
Knox 7,631 48.98% 5,732 36.79% 1,842 11.82% 165 1.06% 194 1.25% 17 0.11% 1,899 12.19% 15,581
Lincoln 7,434 52.14% 4,776 33.49% 1,556 10.91% 237 1.66% 240 1.68% 16 0.11% 2,658 18.64% 14,259
Oxford 11,041 47.04% 9,914 42.23% 2,063 8.79% 237 1.01% 186 0.79% 33 0.14% 1,127 4.80% 23,474
Penobscot 28,869 45.97% 26,519 42.23% 6,287 10.01% 642 1.02% 393 0.63% 83 0.13% 2,350 3.74% 62,793
Piscataquis 4,015 46.93% 3,550 41.50% 781 9.13% 147 1.72% 56 0.65% 6 0.07% 465 5.44% 8,555
Sagadahoc 5,946 45.23% 5,663 43.08% 1,252 9.52% 124 0.94% 151 1.15% 9 0.07% 283 2.15% 13,145
Somerset 9,286 47.59% 8,115 41.59% 1,673 8.57% 250 1.28% 166 0.85% 23 0.12% 1,171 6.00% 19,513
Waldo 6,514 49.57% 4,883 37.16% 1,304 9.92% 203 1.54% 212 1.61% 24 0.18% 1,631 12.41% 13,140
Washington 7,180 48.55% 6,050 40.91% 1,301 8.80% 130 0.88% 108 0.73% 19 0.13% 1,130 7.64% 14,788
York 31,412 46.31% 28,279 41.69% 7,168 10.57% 542 0.80% 371 0.55% 65 0.10% 3,133 4.62% 67,837
Totals 238,522 45.61% 220,974 42.25% 53,327 10.20% 5,119 0.98% 4,394 0.84% 675 0.13% 17,548 3.36% 523,011

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic edit

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Maine". uselectionatlas.org.
  2. ^ Brownstein, Ronald (May 10, 2012). "Playing Their Hand". National Journal. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. ^ 1980 General Election: Presidential (Report). Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions. 1980.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Our Campaigns; ME US President Race, November 04, 1980