1980 United States presidential election in Oregon explained

See main article: 1980 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1980 United States presidential election in Oregon
Country:Oregon
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1976 United States presidential election in Oregon
Previous Year:1976
Next Election:1984 United States presidential election in Oregon
Next Year:1984
Election Date:November 4, 1980
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 Vote1:6
Popular Vote1:571,044
Percentage1:48.33%
Nominee2:Jimmy Carter
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Georgia
Running Mate2:Walter Mondale
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:456,890
Percentage2:38.67%
Image3:John B. Anderson in New Jersey (cropped).jpg
Nominee3:John B. Anderson
Party3:Independent (United States)
Home State3:Illinois
Running Mate3:Patrick Lucey
Electoral Vote3:0
Popular Vote3:112,389
Percentage3:9.51%
Map Size:300px
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 Oregon 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 six electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Oregon had voted in 1976 for incumbent President Gerald Ford over challenger Carter in the previous election by an extremely narrow margin of just 1,713 votes, but had been George McGovern’s sixth-strongest state during his 1972 2,900-plus-county landslide loss.

Both Carter and Reagan won the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries held during the third week of May 1980.[1] In August early in Carter's campaign, he targeted Oregon as a state he might win despite having supported only one Democrat since 1944,[2] on the basis that independent candidate and Reagan primary rival John B. Anderson would split the GOP vote.[3]

The last week of September saw all three leading candidates visit Oregon,[4] and at the end of the month Reagan was shown as ahead by around five percentage points,[4] after having been in the lead in Oregon ever since the first polls were taken in mid-September.[5]

October saw Vice-President Walter Mondale doing extensive campaigning in the state,[6] and with polls showing Anderson winning over fifteen percent of the state's ballots and strong support for the Equal Rights Amendment opposed by Reagan,[6] the Democrats possessed substantial hope in the state. By the last week of October, Carter's spokesmen were confident they could crack a state whose loss four years previously they attributed to the presence of Eugene McCarthy on the ballot,[7] but in the days before the poll sample votes swung towards Reagan again.[8]

Oregon was ultimately won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by 9.66%.[9] Reagan dominated in the conservative, populist eastern interior and Rogue Valley, where he won a majority in every county, and Carter, despite carrying four counties, did not win a majority in any due to a strong vote west of the Cascades for Anderson, who reached double figures in all Willamette Valley counties except Columbia and Linn. This was the first time the Republicans had carried Coos County since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.[10], this is the last election in which Lane County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[11]

Primaries

1980 Democratic Primary!Candidate!Votes!Delegates
Jimmy Carter (incumbent)208,69326
Ted Kennedy114,65114
Jerry Brown34,4090
Others10,5690
Totals368,32240
1980 Republican Primary!Candidate!Votes!Delegates
Ronald Reagan170,44917
George H.W. Bush109,21011
John Anderson32,1180
Others2,3240
Totals314,10131

Results

Results by county

CountyRonald Reagan
Republican
Jimmy Carter
Democratic
John B. Anderson
Independent
Ed Clark
Libertarian
Barry Commoner[12]
Independent
Various candidates
Write-ins
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%%%%
Baker4,74759.24%2,51531.39%4876.08%2082.60%560.70%2,23227.85%8,013
Benton14,98243.42%13,15038.11%4,95014.34%7092.05%6481.88%680.20%1,8325.31%34,507
Clackamas54,11149.42%40,46236.96%11,38610.40%2,6762.44%7330.67%1150.11%13,64912.46%109,483
Clatsop6,12440.94%6,48243.33%1,85412.39%3032.02%1821.22%240.16%-358-2.39%14,959
Columbia6,62342.72%7,12445.95%1,1587.47%4863.13%770.50%370.24%-501-3.23%15,505
Coos13,04146.28%11,81741.94%2,4288.62%6362.26%2180.77%360.13%1,2244.34%28,176
Crook3,11353.10%2,16236.88%4357.42%1091.86%300.51%130.22%95116.22%5,862
Curry4,91057.85%2,65631.29%6527.68%1852.18%740.87%110.13%2,25426.56%8,488
Deschutes15,18652.89%9,64133.57%2,90910.13%6912.41%2580.90%300.10%5,54519.32%28,715
Douglas23,10158.46%12,56431.79%2,5296.40%9472.40%3300.84%450.11%10,53726.67%39,516
Gilliam62254.56%39434.56%857.46%282.46%80.70%30.26%22820.00%1,140
Grant2,51960.16%1,27430.43%2736.52%962.29%250.60%1,24529.73%4,187
Harney2,31361.11%1,11029.33%2556.74%852.25%180.48%40.11%1,20331.78%3,785
Hood River3,45048.65%2,92441.23%5307.47%1331.88%530.75%20.03%5267.42%7,092
Jackson32,87955.97%19,90333.88%4,0196.84%1,2192.08%6241.06%960.16%12,97622.09%58,740
Jefferson2,52353.26%1,65434.92%4319.10%952.01%300.63%40.08%86918.34%4,737
Josephine16,82763.89%7,11627.02%1,4015.32%7182.73%2390.91%350.13%9,71136.87%26,336
Klamath16,06062.75%7,37128.80%1,4275.58%5982.34%1140.45%220.09%8,68933.95%25,592
Lake2,23460.56%1,14731.09%2015.45%952.58%120.33%1,08729.47%3,689
Lane54,75043.59%52,24041.59%12,0769.61%2,3111.84%4,0243.20%2030.16%2,5102.00%125,604
Lincoln7,63744.59%7,00940.92%1,6379.56%5593.26%2731.59%120.07%6283.67%17,127
Linn18,94352.19%13,51637.24%2,8237.78%7772.14%1890.52%450.12%5,42714.95%36,293
Malheur7,70567.80%2,93725.84%4724.15%2241.97%200.18%60.05%4,76841.96%11,364
Marion42,19149.38%32,13437.61%8,75510.25%1,6771.96%5920.69%1000.12%10,05711.77%85,449
Morrow1,72855.01%1,07734.29%2397.61%862.74%110.35%65120.72%3,141
Multnomah101,60639.23%120,48746.53%27,57210.65%5,3202.05%3,4281.32%5550.21%-18,881-7.30%258,968
Polk10,00648.74%7,83338.15%2,0269.87%4552.22%1730.84%380.19%2,17310.59%20,531
Sherman67757.86%38933.25%625.30%292.48%100.85%30.26%28824.61%1,170
Tillamook4,12341.63%4,52145.65%9319.40%2122.14%1001.01%160.16%-398-4.02%9,903
Umatilla12,95057.78%7,38232.93%1,5316.83%4502.01%800.36%210.09%5,56824.85%22,414
Union6,51457.79%3,67732.62%7636.77%2392.12%710.63%80.07%2,83725.17%11,272
Wallowa2,48565.53%99526.24%2165.70%681.79%230.61%50.13%1,49039.29%3,792
Wasco4,70345.95%4,33642.36%8198.00%2452.39%1261.23%60.06%3673.59%10,235
Washington57,16551.34%37,91534.05%13,07611.74%2,4982.24%5780.52%1230.11%19,25017.29%111,355
Wheeler44254.70%28234.90%627.67%131.61%70.87%20.25%16019.80%808
Yamhill12,05451.15%8,69436.89%1,9198.14%6582.79%2180.92%250.11%3,36014.26%23,568
Totals571,04448.33%456,89038.67%112,3899.51%25,8382.19%13,6421.15%1,7130.14%114,1549.66%1,181,516

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes and References

  1. ‘Bush Wins Michigan; Regan and Carter Are Oregon Victors – Californian Nears Majority’; The New York Times, May 21, 1980, p. A1
  2. Perry, James M. and Hunt, Albert R.; ‘Negative Accent: Carter Plans to Win By Depicting Reagan As Shallow, Dangerous’; The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 1980, p. 1
  3. Broder, David S.; ‘As Race Begins, Carter Trails in Key States He Must Win’; The Washington Post, August 16, 1980, p. A1
  4. Hunt, Albert R.; ‘Pacific Northwest Just Might Hold Key To White House, Draws All 3 Contenders’; The Wall Street Journal, September 29, 1980, p. 12
  5. Cattani, Richard J.; ‘Reagan outstrides Carter in state-by-state quest for “electoral” support’; The Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 1980
  6. Smith, Terence; ‘Mondale Hunts for Votes’; New York Times Special, October 5, 1980, p. 40
  7. Martin, Lawrence; ‘Carter is leading, but election may hinge on debate, hostages’; The Globe and Mail; October 27, 1980, p. 13
  8. Broder, David S.; ‘Carter has an uphill fight, state-by-state survey shows’; Boston Globe, November 2, 1980, p. 1
  9. Web site: 1980 Presidential General Election Results – Oregon. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
  10. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 285-286
  11. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  12. Our Campaigns; OR US President Race, November 04, 1980