1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina explained

See main article: 1980 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina
Country:	South Carolina
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1976 United States presidential election in South Carolina
Previous Year:	1976
Next Election:	1984 United States presidential election in South Carolina
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:	8
Popular Vote1:	441,207
Percentage1:	49.57%
Nominee2:	Jimmy Carter
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Georgia
Running Mate2:	Walter Mondale
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	427,560
Percentage2:	48.04%
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 South Carolina took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by a very slim margin of 1 point and a half.^[1] This remains the third-closest presidential election in South Carolina history after the controversial 1876 election and the transformative 1952 election.

Campaign

The state weighed in for this election as 8% more Democratic than the national average, just 3% less than four years earlier., this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Anderson, Cherokee, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Saluda and York.^[2]

64% of white voters supported Reagan while 32% supported Carter.

Carter lost in eight of the ten most populous counties.

Predictions

Source	Rating	As of
The Times and Democrat^[3]		September 23, 1980
Boca Raton News^[4]		October 12, 1980
The Charlotte Observer^[5]		October 22, 1980
Anderson Independent^[6]		October 29, 1980
Fort Worth Star-Telegram^[7]		October 31, 1980
The State^[8]		November 2, 1980
Daily Press^[9]		November 3, 1980

Results

Results by county

County^[10]	Ronald Reagan Republican		Jimmy Carter Democratic		John B. Anderson Independent		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County^[10]		%		%		%		%		%	Total votes cast
	Abbeville		2,361		35.60%		4,049		61.05%		111	1.67%	111	1.67%	-1,688	-25.45%	6,632
	Aiken		18,570		57.37%		13,014		40.21%		601	1.86%	184	0.57%	5,556	17.16%	32,369
	Allendale		1,182		29.62%		2,778		69.62%		17	0.43%	13	0.33%	-1,596	-40.00%	3,990
	Anderson		15,667		44.38%		18,801		53.25%		474	1.34%	363	1.03%	-3,134	-8.87%	35,305
	Bamberg		2,098		38.69%		3,294		60.75%		17	0.31%	13	0.24%	-1,196	-22.06%	5,422
	Barnwell		3,228		48.14%		3,399		50.69%		64	0.95%	14	0.21%	-171	-2.55%	6,705
	Beaufort		8,620		51.62%		7,415		44.40%		513	3.07%	152	0.91%	1,205	7.22%	16,700
	Berkeley		12,830		55.63%		9,850		42.71%		292	1.27%	92	0.40%	2,980	12.92%	23,064
	Calhoun		1,767		45.86%		2,043		53.02%		31	0.80%	12	0.31%	-276	-7.16%	3,853
	Charleston		44,111		55.13%		32,727		40.90%		2,222	2.78%	952	1.19%	11,384	14.23%	80,012
	Cherokee		5,379		43.32%		6,889		55.48%		86	0.69%	64	0.52%	-1,510	-12.16%	12,418
	Chester		3,104		37.12%		5,145		61.52%		87	1.04%	27	0.32%	-2,041	-24.40%	8,363
	Chesterfield		3,478		34.88%		6,393		64.11%		64	0.64%	37	0.37%	-2,915	-29.23%	9,972
	Clarendon		4,158		40.79%		5,979		58.65%		28	0.27%	29	0.28%	-1,821	-17.86%	10,194
	Colleton		4,719		44.76%		5,745		54.49%		58	0.55%	21	0.20%	-1,026	-9.73%	10,543
	Darlington		8,289		48.39%		8,489		49.55%		220	1.28%	133	0.78%	-200	-1.16%	17,131
	Dillon		3,385		42.31%		4,518		56.48%		59	0.74%	38	0.48%	-1,133	-14.17%	8,000
	Dorchester		10,893		59.53%		7,237		39.55%		140	0.77%	28	0.15%	3,656	19.98%	18,298
	Edgefield		2,415		40.68%		3,465		58.36%		29	0.49%	28	0.47%	-1,050	-17.68%	5,937
	Fairfield		2,098		33.18%		4,153		65.68%		37	0.59%	35	0.55%	-2,055	-32.50%	6,323
	Florence		17,069		50.19%		16,391		48.19%		348	1.02%	203	0.60%	678	2.00%	34,011
	Georgetown		5,151		42.78%		6,701		55.65%		148	1.23%	42	0.35%	-1,550	-12.87%	12,042
	Greenville		46,168		57.41%		32,135		39.96%		1,600	1.99%	512	0.64%	14,033	17.45%	80,415
	Greenwood		7,290		43.17%		9,283		54.97%		230	1.36%	85	0.50%	-1,993	-11.80%	16,888
	Hampton		2,217		33.58%		4,329		65.56%		35	0.53%	22	0.33%	-2,112	-31.98%	6,603
	Horry		14,323		49.62%		13,888		48.12%		528	1.83%	125	0.43%	435	1.50%	28,864
	Jasper		1,617		32.54%		3,312		66.65%		32	0.64%	8	0.16%	-1,695	-34.11%	4,969
	Kershaw		6,652		55.55%		5,103		42.62%		145	1.21%	74	0.62%	1,549	12.93%	11,974
	Lancaster		6,410		42.25%		8,283		54.60%		331	2.18%	146	0.96%	-1,873	-12.35%	15,170
	Laurens		6,036		42.83%		7,856		55.74%		125	0.89%	76	0.54%	-1,820	-12.91%	14,093
	Lee		2,952		37.48%		4,818		61.17%		18	0.23%	89	1.13%	-1,866	-23.69%	7,877
	Lexington		28,313		67.60%		12,334		29.45%		762	1.82%	477	1.14%	15,979	38.15%	41,886
	McCormick		797		30.60%		1,774		68.10%		22	0.84%	12	0.46%	-977	-37.50%	2,605
	Marion		3,321		37.73%		5,379		61.12%		75	0.85%	26	0.30%	-2,058	-23.39%	8,801
	Marlboro		2,585		32.15%		5,378		66.89%		52	0.65%	25	0.31%	-2,793	-34.74%	8,040
	Newberry		5,568		52.96%		4,825		45.90%		80	0.76%	40	0.38%	743	7.06%	10,513
	Oconee		5,651		41.58%		7,677		56.49%		189	1.39%	74	0.54%	-2,026	-14.91%	13,591
	Orangeburg		11,313		40.79%		16,178		58.33%		141	0.51%	101	0.36%	-4,865	-17.54%	27,733
	Pickens		9,575		53.42%		7,789		43.46%		402	2.24%	157	0.88%	1,786	9.96%	17,923
	Richland		36,337		49.87%		33,158		45.50%		1,812	2.49%	1,562	2.14%	3,179	4.37%	72,869
	Saluda		2,450		47.40%		2,651		51.29%		38	0.74%	30	0.58%	-201	-3.89%	5,169
	Spartanburg		30,092		51.12%		27,245		46.28%		941	1.60%	591	1.00%	2,847	4.84%	58,869
	Sumter		10,557		52.45%		9,205		45.74%		250	1.24%	114	0.57%	1,352	6.71%	20,126
	Union		4,035		38.59%		6,274		60.00%		93	0.89%	54	0.52%	-2,239	-21.41%	10,456
	Williamsburg		5,110		38.29%		8,135		60.96%		64	0.48%	35	0.26%	-3,025	-22.67%	13,344
	York		11,265		46.85%		12,075		50.22%		539	2.24%	164	0.68%	-810	-3.37%	24,043
Totals	441,207	49.57%	427,560	48.04%	14,150	1.59%	7,166	0.81%	13,647	1.53%	890,083

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Works cited

Book: Black . Earl . Earl Black (political scientist) . Black . Merle . Merle Black . The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected . . 1992 . 0674941306.
Book: Moreland . Laurence . Steed . Robert . Baker . Tod . The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics . . 1991 . 0275931455.

Notes and References

Web site: 1980 Presidential General Election Results – South Carolina. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas.
Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
News: September 23, 1980. Visit Might Put Reagan "Over the Top" in S.C.. 9b. The Times and Democrat. The Associated Press. Orangeburg, South Carolina.
News: Tyson. Remer. October 12, 1980. Long Shot Strategy: Reagan’s Efforts in South Paying Off. 12A. Boca Raton News.
News: Walser. Jim. October 22, 1980. Carter, Reagan Battle for S.C.. 1. The Charlotte Observer. Observer Columbia Bureau. Charlotte, North Carolina.
News: Ragan. October 29, 1980. Riley Leads Carter Vote Drive. 1. Anderson Independent-Mail.
News: Pettys. Dick. October 31, 1980. Reagan Quietly Undermining Carter’s ‘76 Support. 8A. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Associated Press.
News: Stucker. Jan. November 2, 1980. Carter in the Carolinas — A Tale of Two States . B1 . The State. Columbia, South Carolina.
News: Down by the Wire: State by State, It’s Just too Close to Call. Daily Press. Victorville, California. November 3, 1980. B-1.
Web site: Our Campaigns. SC US President — November 04, 1980.