1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota explained

See main article: 1980 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Country:	Minnesota
Flag Year:	1957
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1976 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Previous Year:	1976
Next Election:	1984 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Next Year:	1984
Turnout:	72.14%^[1]
Election Date:	November 4, 1980
Image1:	Carter cropped.jpg
Nominee1:	Jimmy Carter
Party1:	Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
Home State1:	Georgia
Running Mate1:	Walter Mondale
Electoral Vote1:	10
Popular Vote1:	954,174
Percentage1:	46.50%
Nominee2:	Ronald Reagan
Party2:	Republican Party of Minnesota
Home State2:	California
Running Mate2:	George H. W. Bush
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	873,241
Percentage2:	42.56%
Image3:	John B. Anderson in New Jersey (cropped).jpg
Nominee3:	John B. Anderson
Color3:	DDDDBB
Party3:	Anderson Coalition
Home State3:	Illinois
Running Mate3:	Patrick Lucey
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	174,990
Percentage3:	8.53%
Map Size:	320px
President
Before Election:	Jimmy Carter
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Ronald Reagan
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-president.

After having leaned strongly Republican until the 1930s, Minnesota had become one of the most Democratic states in the country during the 1970s: in 1972 it was George McGovern’s second-best state in his disastrous landslide loss and more than one-seventh of the 130 counties he won nationally lay within the state. In 1974, Governor Wendell Anderson won every county in the state in a landslide gubernatorial triumph during the aftermath of Watergate.

Late in February, Carter won the state’s Democratic Party caucus over Ted Kennedy,^[2] and defeated 1976 challenger Reagan did the same for the Republicans.^[3] At the beginning of the campaign in July, Reagan aimed to focus on the problem of Carter and his lack of leadership in the industrial strongholds of the Midwest like Minnesota,^[4] although by August polls were suggesting Carter was strong in the state despite John Anderson’s third-party candidacy.^[5] However, by the middle of October Minnesota was once again rated as a “tossup”.^[6]

Incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter carried the state by 80,933 votes over former California Governor Ronald Reagan. This gave him one of just seven victories in the election (the others being Maryland, West Virginia, Hawaii, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and his home state of Georgia). Carter became the first Democrat to win Minnesota consecutively since Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won the state every year from 1932 to 1944. Despite Carter's win in Minnesota, Reagan became the first Republican to carry Mahnomen County since Warren G. Harding in 1920.^[7]

Nationally, Reagan won the election with 489 electoral votes and 50.75% of the popular vote. Minnesota was the only state not to back Reagan in either of his presidential campaigns, casting its electoral votes in favor of Walter Mondale (a Minnesota native) in 1984.

Results

1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic (DFL)	Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	954,174	46.50%	10
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	873,241	42.56%	0
	Anderson Coalition	John B. Anderson	174,990	8.53%	0
	Libertarian	Ed Clark	31,592	1.54%	0
	Citizens	Barry Commoner	8,407	0.41%	0
	American	No Candidate	6,139	0.30%	0
	Communist	Gus Hall	1,184	0.03%	0
	Socialist Workers	Clifton DeBerry	711	0.03%	0
	Workers World	Deirdre Griswold	698	0.03%	0
	Socialist	David McReynolds	536	0.03%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins	281	0.01%	0
Invalid or blank votes					—
Totals			2,079,451	100.00%	10
Voter turnout			75%		—

Results by county

County^[9]	Jimmy Carter DFL		Ronald Reagan Republican		John B. Anderson Anderson Coalition		Ed Clark Libertarian		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Aitkin		3,677		47.94%		3,396		44.28%		380		4.95%		163		2.13%		54		0.70%		281		3.66%		7,670
	Anoka		45,532		51.83%		33,100		37.68%		6,828		7.77%		1,631		1.86%		752		0.86%		12,432		14.15%		87,843
	Becker		5,221		39.75%		6,848		52.14%		866		6.59%		151		1.15%		48		0.37%		-1,627		-12.39%		13,134
	Beltrami		7,432		47.83%		6,481		41.71%		1,254		8.07%		253		1.63%		117		0.75%		951		6.12%		15,537
	Benton		5,272		44.75%		5,513		46.79%		646		5.48%		213		1.81%		138		1.17%		-241		-2.04%		11,782
	Big Stone		1,814		44.34%		1,950		47.67%		249		6.09%		56		1.37%		22		0.54%		-136		-3.33%		4,091
	Blue Earth		10,930		41.82%		11,966		45.78%		2,698		10.32%		327		1.25%		217		0.83%		-1,036		-3.96%		26,138
	Brown		4,915		34.80%		8,051		57.01%		842		5.96%		256		1.81%		58		0.41%		-3,136		-22.21%		14,122
	Carlton		8,822		59.48%		4,760		32.09%		883		5.95%		279		1.88%		89		0.60%		4,062		27.39%		14,833
	Carver		6,621		35.83%		9,909		53.62%		1,496		8.09%		333		1.80%		122		0.66%		-3,288		-17.79%		18,481
	Cass		4,717		41.07%		6,119		53.28%		434		3.78%		178		1.55%		37		0.32%		-1,402		-12.21%		11,485
	Chippewa		3,164		39.08%		4,252		52.51%		532		6.57%		117		1.44%		32		0.40%		-1,088		-13.43%		8,097
	Chisago		6,240		49.83%		5,017		40.06%		939		7.50%		264		2.11%		63		0.50%		1,223		9.77%		12,523
	Clay		8,940		39.72%		10,447		46.41%		2,773		12.32%		221		0.98%		127		0.56%		-1,507		-6.69%		22,508
	Clearwater		1,955		47.26%		1,919		46.39%		185		4.47%		60		1.45%		18		0.44%		36		0.87%		4,137
	Cook		871		38.44%		1,147		50.62%		182		8.03%		48		2.12%		18		0.79%		-276		-12.18%		2,266
	Cottonwood		2,958		37.70%		4,258		54.26%		535		6.82%		77		0.98%		19		0.24%		-1,300		-16.56%		7,847
	Crow Wing		9,323		43.01%		10,844		50.03%		1,046		4.83%		367		1.69%		97		0.45%		-1,521		-7.02%		21,677
	Dakota		43,433		45.84%		40,708		42.96%		8,588		9.06%		1,526		1.61%		500		0.53%		2,725		2.88%		94,755
	Dodge		2,698		38.00%		3,900		54.93%		367		5.17%		92		1.30%		43		0.61%		-1,202		-16.93%		7,100
	Douglas		5,530		38.28%		7,778		53.85%		844		5.84%		226		1.56%		67		0.46%		-2,248		-15.57%		14,445
	Faribault		3,620		34.54%		6,206		59.21%		525		5.01%		105		1.00%		25		0.24%		-2,586		-24.67%		10,481
	Fillmore		4,010		35.45%		6,452		57.04%		650		5.75%		157		1.39%		43		0.38%		-2,442		-21.59%		11,312
	Freeborn		8,212		46.17%		8,475		47.65%		808		4.54%		225		1.27%		65		0.37%		-263		-1.48%		17,785
	Goodhue		8,566		42.31%		9,329		46.07%		1,964		9.70%		288		1.42%		101		0.50%		-763		-3.76%		20,248
	Grant		1,822		42.65%		2,054		48.08%		333		7.79%		54		1.26%		9		0.21%		-232		-5.43%		4,272
	Hennepin		239,592		47.41%		194,898		38.57%		56,390		11.16%		6,647		1.32%		7,845		1.55%		44,694		8.84%		505,372
	Houston		3,218		33.94%		5,582		58.88%		477		5.03%		149		1.57%		55		0.58%		-2,364		-24.94%		9,481
	Hubbard		2,840		37.80%		4,172		55.53%		365		4.86%		105		1.40%		31		0.41%		-1,332		-17.73%		7,513
	Isanti		5,457		50.49%		4,480		41.45%		641		5.93%		179		1.66%		52		0.48%		977		9.04%		10,809
	Itasca		12,134		54.59%		8,368		37.65%		1,080		4.86%		487		2.19%		159		0.72%		3,766		16.94%		22,228
	Jackson		3,062		43.35%		3,391		48.00%		463		6.55%		123		1.74%		25		0.35%		-329		-4.65%		7,064
	Kanabec		2,654		48.18%		2,500		45.39%		269		4.88%		68		1.23%		17		0.31%		154		2.79%		5,508
	Kandiyohi		8,038		44.42%		8,480		46.86%		1,244		6.87%		276		1.53%		57		0.32%		-442		-2.44%		18,095
	Kittson		1,407		39.33%		1,875		52.42%		243		6.79%		36		1.01%		16		0.45%		-468		-13.09%		3,577
	Koochiching		4,181		50.68%		3,433		41.61%		496		6.01%		110		1.33%		30		0.36%		748		9.07%		8,250
	Lac qui Parle		2,457		41.62%		2,981		50.50%		334		5.66%		112		1.90%		19		0.32%		-524		-8.88%		5,903
	Lake		3,864		55.75%		2,414		34.83%		443		6.39%		160		2.31%		50		0.72%		1,450		20.92%		6,931
	Lake of the Woods		763		38.15%		1,052		52.60%		128		6.40%		44		2.20%		13		0.65%		-289		-14.45%		2,000
	Le Sueur		5,161		44.40%		5,478		47.12%		731		6.29%		187		1.61%		68		0.58%		-317		-2.72%		11,625
	Lincoln		1,640		39.80%		2,122		51.49%		295		7.16%		48		1.16%		16		0.39%		-482		-11.69%		4,121
	Lyon		5,626		43.58%		5,852		45.33%		1,129		8.74%		237		1.84%		67		0.52%		-226		-1.75%		12,911
	Mahnomen		1,175		44.59%		1,275		48.39%		153		5.81%		23		0.87%		9		0.34%		-100		-3.80%		2,635
	Marshall		2,636		38.91%		3,638		53.70%		397		5.86%		80		1.18%		24		0.35%		-1,002		-14.79%		6,775
	Martin		4,301		34.98%		7,057		57.40%		751		6.11%		148		1.20%		37		0.30%		-2,756		-22.42%		12,294
	McLeod		4,987		35.53%		7,819		55.71%		852		6.07%		308		2.19%		69		0.49%		-2,832		-20.18%		14,035
	Meeker		4,238		41.98%		5,032		49.85%		668		6.62%		124		1.23%		33		0.33%		-794		-7.87%		10,095
	Mille Lacs		4,443		49.30%		3,860		42.83%		550		6.10%		126		1.40%		34		0.38%		583		6.47%		9,013
	Morrison		6,930		49.44%		6,296		44.91%		559		3.99%		174		1.24%		59		0.42%		634		4.53%		14,018
	Mower		10,538		51.85%		7,908		38.91%		1,465		7.21%		281		1.38%		133		0.65%		2,630		12.94%		20,325
	Murray		2,714		43.87%		3,004		48.56%		359		5.80%		88		1.42%		21		0.34%		-290		-4.69%		6,186
	Nicollet		5,400		39.64%		6,436		47.25%		1,519		11.15%		201		1.48%		66		0.48%		-1,036		-7.61%		13,622
	Nobles		4,703		45.37%		4,706		45.40%		657		6.34%		178		1.72%		121		1.17%		-3		-0.03%		10,365
	Norman		2,253		46.17%		2,192		44.92%		369		7.56%		46		0.94%		20		0.41%		61		1.25%		4,880
	Olmsted		13,983		34.18%		22,704		55.50%		3,638		8.89%		438		1.07%		148		0.36%		-8,721		-21.32%		40,911
	Otter Tail		9,108		34.85%		15,091		57.74%		1,538		5.88%		331		1.27%		70		0.27%		-5,983		-22.89%		26,138
	Pennington		3,101		41.81%		3,715		50.09%		465		6.27%		69		0.93%		66		0.89%		-614		-8.28%		7,416
	Pine		5,121		52.86%		3,899		40.25%		467		4.82%		152		1.57%		48		0.50%		1,222		12.61%		9,687
	Pipestone		2,392		38.31%		3,207		51.37%		561		8.99%		72		1.15%		11		0.18%		-815		-13.06%		6,243
	Polk		7,151		40.53%		9,036		51.21%		1,207		6.84%		163		0.92%		87		0.49%		-1,885		-10.68%		17,644
	Pope		2,527		41.07%		3,159		51.34%		354		5.75%		75		1.22%		38		0.62%		-632		-10.27%		6,153
	Ramsey		124,774		53.61%		78,860		33.88%		23,222		9.98%		3,650		1.57%		2,238		0.96%		45,914		19.73%		232,744
	Red Lake		1,318		48.69%		1,223		45.18%		116		4.29%		31		1.15%		19		0.70%		95		3.51%		2,707
	Redwood		2,952		30.44%		5,993		61.79%		548		5.65%		151		1.56%		55		0.57%		-3,041		-31.35%		9,699
	Renville		4,058		38.85%		5,544		53.08%		653		6.25%		155		1.48%		34		0.33%		-1,486		-14.23%		10,444
	Rice		9,531		46.10%		8,168		39.51%		2,414		11.68%		350		1.69%		210		1.02%		1,363		6.59%		20,673
	Rock		2,089		36.57%		3,164		55.38%		397		6.95%		54		0.95%		9		0.16%		-1,075		-18.81%		5,713
	Roseau		2,616		41.41%		3,358		53.16%		259		4.10%		55		0.87%		29		0.46%		-742		-11.75%		6,317
	St. Louis		69,403		60.52%		33,407		29.13%		8,719		7.60%		2,202		1.92%		943		0.82%		35,996		31.39%		114,674
	Scott		9,115		45.49%		9,018		45.00%		1,475		7.36%		356		1.78%		74		0.37%		97		0.49%		20,038
	Sherburne		6,229		45.73%		6,035		44.31%		985		7.23%		300		2.20%		71		0.52%		194		1.42%		13,620
	Sibley		2,521		32.99%		4,460		58.36%		509		6.66%		121		1.58%		31		0.41%		-1,939		-25.37%		7,642
	Stearns		21,862		42.43%		24,888		48.31%		3,555		6.90%		861		1.67%		356		0.69%		-3,026		-5.88%		51,522
	Steele		5,095		35.68%		7,805		54.66%		1,087		7.61%		240		1.68%		52		0.36%		-2,710		-18.98%		14,279
	Stevens		2,559		39.52%		3,283		50.69%		524		8.09%		74		1.14%		36		0.56%		-724		-11.17%		6,476
	Swift		3,245		47.56%		2,943		43.13%		511		7.49%		102		1.49%		22		0.32%		302		4.43%		6,823
	Todd		4,975		41.08%		6,451		53.27%		451		3.72%		194		1.60%		40		0.33%		-1,476		-12.19%		12,111
	Traverse		1,258		41.52%		1,574		51.95%		159		5.25%		28		0.92%		11		0.36%		-316		-10.43%		3,030
	Wabasha		3,712		39.27%		4,986		52.75%		549		5.81%		165		1.75%		41		0.43%		-1,274		-13.48%		9,453
	Wadena		2,635		37.10%		4,089		57.57%		265		3.73%		97		1.37%		17		0.24%		-1,454		-20.47%		7,103
	Waseca		3,535		38.01%		4,801		51.62%		777		8.35%		163		1.75%		25		0.27%		-1,266		-13.61%		9,301
	Washington		25,634		46.69%		22,718		41.38%		5,050		9.20%		1,183		2.15%		317		0.58%		2,916		5.31%		54,902
	Watonwan		2,442		37.07%		3,629		55.09%		415		6.30%		80		1.21%		21		0.32%		-1,187		-18.02%		6,587
	Wilkin		1,496		36.43%		2,224		54.15%		318		7.74%		58		1.41%		11		0.27%		-728		-17.72%		4,107
	Winona		9,814		42.85%		10,332		45.11%		1,780		7.77%		573		2.50%		404		1.76%		-518		-2.26%		22,903
	Wright		12,383		45.88%		12,293		45.54%		1,692		6.27%		526		1.95%		97		0.36%		90		0.34%		26,991
	Yellow Medicine		2,833		38.18%		4,004		53.95%		456		6.14%		111		1.50%		17		0.23%		-1,171		-15.77%		7,421
Totals	954,174	46.50%	873,241	42.56%	174,990	8.53%	31,592	1.54%	17,956	0.88%	80,933	3.94%	2,051,953

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Becker
• Benton
• Big Stone
• Blue Earth
• Chippewa
• Clay
• Cass
• Crow Wing
• Douglas
• Freeborn
• Grant
• Hubbard
• Jackson
• Kandiyohi
• Kittson
• Lac qui Parle
• Lake of the Woods
• Le Sueur
• Lincoln
• Lyon
• Mahnomen
• Marshall
• Meeker
• Murray
• Nobles
• Pennington
• Pipestone
• Red Lake
• Polk
• Pope
• Renville
• Roseau
• Stevens
• Stearns
• Todd
• Traverse
• Wadena
• Winona
• Wilkin
• Yellow Medicine

See also

• United States presidential elections in Minnesota

Notes and References

1. Web site: Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State. www.sos.state.mn.us. en. 2017-07-22.
2. ‘Carter Beats Kennedy In Minnesota Voting; Reagan Takes a Lead: Carter Runaway Was Expected’; The New York Times, February 27, 1980, p. A18
3. ‘Carter and Reagan Win in Minnesota’; The Boston Globe, February 27, 1980, p. 1
4. ‘Reagan to Attack “Failed Presidency”: Reagan to Make Carter the Issue in Democratic Strongholds’; The Washington Post, 19 July 1980, p. A1
5. Cattani, richard J.; ‘Carter, Reagan hustle to bolster bids in key states’; The Christian Science Monitor; September 22, 1980
6. ‘Campaign Report: Associated Press-NBC Poll Says Reagan Leads Carter’; The New York Times, October 14, 1980, p. D22
7. Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 228-232
8. Web site: 1980 Presidential Election Results – Minnesota . 2014-01-23 . Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
9. Web site: Our Campaigns. MN US President Race, November 04, 1980.