1980 United States presidential election in Ohio explained

See main article: 1980 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1980 United States presidential election in Ohio
Country:	Ohio
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1976 United States presidential election in Ohio
Previous Year:	1976
Next Election:	1984 United States presidential election in Ohio
Next Year:	1984
Election Date:	November 4, 1980
Map Size:	250px
Map Alt:	Map of election results by county
Image1:	Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981-cropped.jpg
Nominee1:	Ronald Reagan
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:	California
Running Mate1:	George H. W. Bush
Electoral Vote1:	25
Popular Vote1:	2,206,545
Percentage1:	51.51%
Nominee2:	Jimmy Carter
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Georgia
Running Mate2:	Walter Mondale
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	1,752,414
Percentage2:	40.91%
Image3:	John B. Anderson in New Jersey (cropped).jpg
Nominee3:	John B. Anderson
Color3:	DDDDBB
Party3:	Independent
Home State3:	Illinois
Running Mate3:	Patrick Lucey
Electoral Vote3:	0
Popular Vote3:	254,472
Percentage3:	5.94%
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 Ohio took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 25 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Because of Ohio's long-time bellwether status, Carter and Reagan campaigned heavily in the state from the start of the presidential primaries.^[1] At the beginning of the campaign, it was clear that inflation and the Iranian hostage crisis were cutting heavily into Carter's popularity in the industrial areas of the state,^[2] although Reagan was not viewed warmly by the state's electorate either.^[3]

Despite the coldness with which the incumbent President was received on his first visit to Columbus, Carter did gain a critical victory over challenger Ted Kennedy in Ohio's presidential primary on June 4, owing to his dominance of Ohio's heavily Appalachian rural counties^[4] plus the endorsement of both Buckeye State Senator John Glenn^[5] and Cleveland's Plain Dealer newspaper.^[6]

In the earliest polls after the nominations were settled, Reagan was slightly ahead of Carter,^[7] and from midsummer the GOP nominee targeted Ohio as part of his strategy of appealing to industrial workers in the Northeast and Great Lakes region.^[8] Ohio gained further attention from a court case that allowed independent candidate and former Republican rival to Reagan John B. Anderson to be on the state's ballot,^[9] but Reagan continued his strategy of seeking the support of Ohio's industrial workers during the remainder of the summer.^[10] However, after the challenger being ahead for the first half of the fall – although never by an irreversible margin – by mid-October Ohio was seen as close because Reagan was not gaining so much support from industrial workers as he had hoped in August,^[11] with voters simply debating “which candidate they liked least”.^[12] However, by the beginning of November, Ohio was viewed as the most problematic of the three “key” Midwestern states for Carter's re-election battle, as he was only seventy-five thousand votes ahead in Cuyahoga County, which he had won by over 93,000 votes in his 11,000-vote statewide triumph four years previously.^[13] The Equal Rights Amendment and abortion were also seen as severely handicapping Carter in the Southern-leaning Appalachian counties where he had done well in 1976.^[13]

Ohio was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by 11%.^[14] Ohio voted very close to the nation for both Carter and Reagan, although Anderson was 0.7% below his national percentage. Reagan was the first Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to carry heavily populated Lucas County.^[15]

Results

1980 United States presidential election in Ohio
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	2,206,545	51.51%	25
	Democrat	Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	1,752,414	40.91%	0
	Not Designated	John Anderson	254,472	5.94%	0
	Not Designated	Ed Clark	49,033	1.14%	0
	Not Designated	Barry Commoner	8,564	0.20%	0
	Not Designated	Gus Hall	4,729	0.11%	0
	Not Designated	Richard Congress	4,029	0.09%	0
	Not Designated	Deirdre Griswold	3,790	0.09%	0
	Write-in	Benjamin Bubar	27	0.00%	0
Totals			4,283,603	100.00%	25

Results by county

County	Ronald Reagan Republican		Jimmy Carter Democratic		John B. Anderson Not Designated		Edward E. Clark Not Designated		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		5,336		53.75%		4,161		41.91%		303		3.05%		99		1.00%		29		0.29%		1,175		11.84%		9,928
	Allen		29,070		65.84%		13,140		29.76%		1,439		3.26%		419		0.95%		86		0.19%		15,930		36.08%		44,154
	Ashland		11,691		62.56%		5,142		27.51%		1,128		6.04%		427		2.28%		301		1.61%		6,549		35.05%		18,689
	Ashtabula		19,847		49.04%		17,363		42.91%		2,481		6.13%		600		1.48%		176		0.43%		2,484		6.13%		40,467
	Athens		8,170		41.26%		9,514		48.05%		1,544		7.80%		378		1.91%		195		0.98%		-1,344		-6.79%		19,801
	Auglaize		11,537		65.34%		5,022		28.44%		785		4.45%		212		1.20%		101		0.57%		6,515		36.90%		17,657
	Belmont		13,601		42.47%		16,653		52.00%		1,432		4.47%		251		0.78%		87		0.27%		-3,052		-9.53%		32,024
	Brown		6,065		53.50%		4,706		41.51%		339		2.99%		151		1.33%		76		0.67%		1,359		11.99%		11,337
	Butler		61,231		61.91%		31,796		32.15%		4,717		4.77%		826		0.84%		331		0.33%		29,435		29.76%		98,901
	Carroll		5,806		58.94%		3,476		35.29%		406		4.12%		137		1.39%		26		0.26%		2,330		23.65%		9,851
	Champaign		7,356		60.17%		4,109		33.61%		596		4.88%		132		1.08%		32		0.26%		3,247		26.56%		12,225
	Clark		27,237		50.42%		22,630		41.90%		3,414		6.32%		569		1.05%		165		0.31%		4,607		8.52%		54,015
	Clermont		26,674		63.37%		13,199		31.36%		1,697		4.03%		448		1.06%		73		0.17%		13,475		32.01%		42,091
	Clinton		7,675		61.90%		3,967		31.99%		608		4.90%		116		0.94%		34		0.27%		3,708		29.91%		12,400
	Columbiana		20,798		50.55%		17,459		42.43%		2,320		5.64%		464		1.13%		102		0.25%		3,339		8.12%		41,143
	Coshocton		8,359		60.33%		4,725		34.10%		525		3.79%		161		1.16%		86		0.62%		3,634		26.23%		13,856
	Crawford		12,424		62.89%		6,058		30.67%		915		4.63%		307		1.55%		51		0.26%		6,366		32.22%		19,755
	Cuyahoga		254,883		41.47%		307,448		50.02%		40,750		6.63%		6,915		1.12%		4,686		0.76%		-52,565		-8.55%		614,682
	Darke		12,773		58.17%		7,635		34.77%		1,198		5.46%		288		1.31%		64		0.29%		5,138		23.40%		21,958
	Defiance		9,358		59.84%		5,096		32.59%		896		5.73%		240		1.53%		49		0.31%		4,262		27.25%		15,639
	Delaware		14,740		64.48%		6,417		28.07%		1,278		5.59%		336		1.47%		90		0.39%		8,323		36.41%		22,861
	Erie		15,628		51.29%		12,343		40.51%		1,908		6.26%		348		1.14%		243		0.80%		3,285		10.78%		30,470
	Fairfield		24,096		60.98%		13,144		33.26%		1,689		4.27%		498		1.26%		88		0.22%		10,952		27.72%		39,515
	Fayette		5,827		64.26%		2,810		30.99%		327		3.61%		86		0.95%		18		0.20%		3,017		33.27%		9,068
	Franklin		200,948		53.87%		143,932		38.58%		21,269		5.70%		4,429		1.19%		2,467		0.66%		57,016		15.29%		373,045
	Fulton		9,519		64.72%		3,972		27.01%		1,026		6.98%		152		1.03%		38		0.26%		5,547		37.71%		14,707
	Gallia		6,469		56.73%		4,406		38.64%		401		3.52%		93		0.82%		35		0.31%		2,063		18.09%		11,404
	Geauga		17,762		58.81%		9,542		31.59%		2,359		7.81%		421		1.39%		120		0.40%		8,220		27.22%		30,204
	Greene		24,922		51.03%		20,068		41.09%		3,160		6.47%		469		0.96%		223		0.46%		4,854		9.94%		48,842
	Guernsey		8,180		58.08%		5,121		36.36%		604		4.29%		129		0.92%		50		0.36%		3,059		21.72%		14,084
	Hamilton		206,979		57.73%		129,114		36.01%		17,898		4.99%		3,155		0.88%		1,395		0.39%		77,865		21.72%		358,541
	Hancock		18,264		67.62%		6,843		25.34%		1,467		5.43%		283		1.05%		153		0.57%		11,421		42.28%		27,010
	Hardin		7,457		61.51%		3,863		31.87%		528		4.36%		201		1.66%		74		0.61%		3,594		29.64%		12,123
	Harrison		3,639		52.62%		2,848		41.18%		331		4.79%		74		1.07%		24		0.35%		791		11.44%		6,916
	Henry		7,584		66.01%		3,059		26.63%		691		6.01%		116		1.01%		39		0.34%		4,525		39.38%		11,489
	Highland		7,359		59.35%		4,363		35.19%		454		3.66%		107		0.86%		117		0.94%		2,996		24.16%		12,400
	Hocking		4,588		52.02%		3,765		42.69%		312		3.54%		122		1.38%		32		0.36%		823		9.33%		8,819
	Holmes		3,860		60.37%		2,094		32.75%		329		5.15%		90		1.41%		21		0.33%		1,766		27.62%		6,394
	Huron		11,173		58.32%		6,537		34.12%		1,110		5.79%		279		1.46%		60		0.31%		4,636		24.20%		19,159
	Jackson		5,902		55.06%		4,409		41.13%		274		2.56%		85		0.79%		49		0.46%		1,493		13.93%		10,719
	Jefferson		15,777		40.99%		20,382		52.95%		1,797		4.67%		395		1.03%		140		0.36%		-4,605		-11.96%		38,491
	Knox		10,384		57.07%		6,586		36.20%		987		5.42%		190		1.04%		48		0.26%		3,798		20.87%		18,195
	Lake		43,485		50.31%		35,246		40.78%		5,925		6.86%		1,381		1.60%		391		0.45%		8,239		9.53%		86,428
	Lawrence		13,799		52.68%		11,366		43.39%		813		3.10%		157		0.60%		59		0.23%		2,433		9.29%		26,194
	Licking		28,425		58.28%		17,208		35.28%		2,419		4.96%		544		1.12%		173		0.35%		11,217		23.00%		48,769
	Logan		9,727		64.87%		4,319		28.80%		718		4.79%		197		1.31%		33		0.22%		5,408		36.07%		14,994
	Lorain		51,034		49.51%		40,919		39.69%		7,324		7.10%		2,909		2.82%		898		0.87%		10,115		9.82%		103,084
	Lucas		86,653		45.30%		85,341		44.61%		16,636		8.70%		1,538		0.80%		1,130		0.59%		1,312		0.69%		191,298
	Madison		7,166		63.14%		3,565		31.41%		438		3.86%		119		1.05%		62		0.55%		3,601		31.73%		11,350
	Mahoning		50,153		40.07%		63,677		50.88%		9,490		7.58%		1,009		0.81%		832		0.66%		-13,524		-10.81%		125,161
	Marion		14,605		56.98%		9,419		36.75%		1,255		4.90%		294		1.15%		58		0.23%		5,186		20.23%		25,631
	Medina		24,723		58.79%		13,573		32.28%		2,965		7.05%		654		1.56%		135		0.32%		11,150		26.51%		42,050
	Meigs		4,911		53.56%		3,827		41.73%		294		3.21%		112		1.22%		26		0.28%		1,084		11.83%		9,170
	Mercer		8,673		56.54%		5,506		35.90%		941		6.13%		174		1.13%		45		0.29%		3,167		20.64%		15,339
	Miami		19,928		55.65%		12,893		36.01%		2,429		6.78%		463		1.29%		95		0.27%		7,035		19.64%		35,808
	Monroe		2,870		45.03%		3,166		49.68%		266		4.17%		47		0.74%		24		0.38%		-296		-4.65%		6,373
	Montgomery		101,443		45.49%		105,110		47.13%		13,817		6.20%		1,797		0.81%		842		0.38%		-3,667		-1.64%		223,009
	Morgan		3,236		60.31%		1,875		34.94%		156		2.91%		80		1.49%		19		0.35%		1,361		25.37%		5,366
	Morrow		6,179		61.96%		3,239		32.48%		383		3.84%		142		1.42%		29		0.29%		2,940		29.48%		9,972
	Muskingum		17,921		54.82%		12,584		38.50%		1,329		4.07%		456		1.40%		398		1.22%		5,337		16.32%		32,688
	Noble		3,025		57.38%		1,944		36.87%		208		3.95%		66		1.25%		29		0.55%		1,081		20.51%		5,272
	Ottawa		8,641		51.18%		6,753		40.00%		1,281		7.59%		176		1.04%		32		0.19%		1,888		11.18%		16,883
	Paulding		4,971		58.52%		2,778		32.71%		550		6.48%		159		1.87%		36		0.42%		2,193		25.81%		8,494
	Perry		5,725		53.77%		4,383		41.16%		369		3.47%		136		1.28%		35		0.33%		1,342		12.61%		10,648
	Pickaway		9,289		61.23%		5,052		33.30%		515		3.39%		229		1.51%		85		0.56%		4,237		27.93%		15,170
	Pike		4,426		45.08%		4,938		50.30%		257		2.62%		59		0.60%		138		1.41%		-512		-5.22%		9,818
	Portage		22,829		47.37%		20,570		42.69%		3,798		7.88%		769		1.60%		224		0.46%		2,259		4.68%		48,190
	Preble		8,376		56.89%		5,416		36.79%		687		4.67%		185		1.26%		59		0.40%		2,960		20.10%		14,723
	Putnam		9,752		68.71%		3,742		26.37%		533		3.76%		140		0.99%		26		0.18%		6,010		42.34%		14,193
	Richland		29,213		57.48%		18,253		35.91%		2,586		5.09%		596		1.17%		176		0.35%		10,960		21.57%		50,824
	Ross		13,251		55.54%		9,355		39.21%		812		3.40%		293		1.23%		148		0.62%		3,896		16.33%		23,859
	Sandusky		13,420		55.53%		8,482		35.10%		1,851		7.66%		299		1.24%		114		0.47%		4,938		20.43%		24,166
	Scioto		15,881		48.76%		15,552		47.75%		816		2.51%		243		0.75%		76		0.23%		329		1.01%		32,568
	Seneca		14,172		60.93%		7,303		31.40%		1,415		6.08%		294		1.26%		75		0.32%		6,869		29.53%		23,259
	Shelby		8,988		54.33%		6,425		38.84%		895		5.41%		192		1.16%		44		0.27%		2,563		15.49%		16,544
	Stark		87,769		55.87%		59,005		37.56%		8,030		5.11%		1,875		1.19%		427		0.27%		28,764		18.31%		157,106
	Summit		92,299		43.35%		102,459		48.12%		15,002		7.05%		2,449		1.15%		710		0.33%		-10,160		-4.77%		212,919
	Trumbull		41,056		44.15%		44,366		47.70%		6,281		6.75%		877		0.94%		422		0.45%		-3,310		-3.55%		93,002
	Tuscarawas		15,708		52.21%		12,117		40.27%		1,779		5.91%		417		1.39%		65		0.22%		3,591		11.94%		30,086
	Union		7,576		67.73%		3,038		27.16%		421		3.76%		131		1.17%		20		0.18%		4,538		40.57%		11,186
	Van Wert		7,866		61.11%		4,070		31.62%		741		5.76%		160		1.24%		35		0.27%		3,796		29.49%		12,872
	Vinton		2,484		49.05%		2,381		47.02%		138		2.73%		44		0.87%		17		0.34%		103		2.03%		5,064
	Warren		22,430		63.14%		11,306		31.83%		1,348		3.79%		332		0.93%		106		0.30%		11,124		31.31%		35,522
	Washington		14,310		59.70%		7,936		33.11%		1,121		4.68%		504		2.10%		100		0.42%		6,374		26.59%		23,971
	Wayne		18,962		55.87%		12,129		35.73%		2,313		6.81%		419		1.23%		119		0.35%		6,833		20.14%		33,942
	Williams		9,146		64.31%		4,015		28.23%		872		6.13%		151		1.06%		37		0.26%		5,131		36.08%		14,221
	Wood		23,315		55.23%		14,139		33.49%		4,156		9.85%		416		0.99%		187		0.44%		9,176		21.74%		42,213
	Wyandot		5,786		63.06%		2,757		30.05%		407		4.44%		151		1.65%		74		0.81%		3,029		33.01%		9,175
Totals	2,206,545	51.51%	1,752,414	40.91%	254,472	5.94%	49,033	1.14%	21,139	0.49%	454,131	10.60%	4,283,603

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Adams
• Ashtabula
• Brown
• Columbiana
• Harrison
• Hocking
• Jackson
• Lake
• Lawrence
• Lorain
• Lucas
• Meigs
• Ottawa
• Perry
• Portage
• Scioto
• Tuscarawas
• Vinton

See also

• United States presidential elections in Ohio

Works cited

• Book: McGillivray . Alice . Scammon . Richard . America At The Polls: 1960-1992: Kennedy To Clinton: A Handbook of American Presidential Election Statistics . . 1994 . 1568020589 .

Notes and References

1. Weisman, Steven R.; ‘Carter and Reagan 'Debate' in Ohio, Six Blocks Apart: Two Images of the U.S.’; The New York Times Special, May 29, 1980, p. A1
2. Schellhardt, Timothy D.; ‘Midwest Mood: Carter's Support Slides In a Blue-Collar Town That Backed Him in ‘76’; Wall Street Journal, June 2, 1980, p. 1
3. Smith, Terence; ‘Visits by Carter and Reagan to Put Ohio's Capital on the Political Map: Little Enthusiasm for Candidates – “Turned His Back on the State”’; New York Times Special, May 29, 1980. p. B6
4. Nyhan, David and Black, Chris; ‘Carter Is Over Top; Kennedy Will Fight On – Ohio to President; N.J. to Senator; California Close’; The Boston Globe, June 4, 1980, p. 1
5. ‘Campaign Report: Carter Gets Endorsement From Senator Glenn of Ohio’; The New York Times, May 22, 1980, p. B8
6. ‘Campaign Report: Kennedy Warns of Threats Of Unrest in Inner Cities; Carter and Reagan Lead In Poll of Jersey Residents; Cleveland Plain Dealer Endorses Carter and Reagan’; The New York Times, May 26, 1980, p. A13
7. ‘Reagan Leads, Poll Indicates’; The Boston Globe, June 16, 1980, p. 1
8. Sperling, Godfrey, Jr.; ‘How Reagan plans to beat Carter in November; “Northeast strategy” targets Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, banks on big 'blue collar' vote’; The Christian Science Monitor, July 16, 1980
9. ‘Campaign Report: Anderson Wins Court Battle To Be on the Ohio Ballot’; The New York Times, July 18, 1980, p. A7
10. Broder, David S. ‘Reagan, Citing 'the Carter Depression,' Courts Labor: Decrying 'the Carter Depression,' Reagan Courts Support of Labor’; The Washington Post, August 28, 1980, p. A1
11. Clymer, Adam; ‘Ohio Race Expected to Be Close As Labor Mobilizes for President’; New York Times Special, October 16, 1980, p. A1
12. Hunt, Albert R.; ‘Buckeye Ambivalence: In Pivotal Ohio, With Reagan Slightly Ahead, Voters Debate Which Candidate They Like Least’; The Wall Street Journal, October 9, 1098. p. 48
13. Healy, Robert L.; ‘Ohio, Mich, and Illinois may decide the election’; The Boston Globe, November 1, 1980, p. 1
14. Web site: 1980 Presidential General Election Results – Ohio. uselectionatlas.org.
15. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 276-280