| Year: | 1976 |
| Type: | Presidential election year |
| Election Day: | November 2 |
| Incumbent President: | Gerald Ford (Republican) |
| Next Congress: | 95th |
| President Control: | Democratic gain |
| President Pv Margin: | Democratic +2.1% |
| President Candidate1: | Jimmy Carter (D) |
| Electoral Vote1: | 297 |
| President Candidate2: | Gerald Ford (R) |
| Electoral Vote2: | 240 |
| President Map Caption: | 1976 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Ford, blue denotes states won by Carter. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate. |
| Senate Seats Contested: | 34 of 100 seats |
| Senate Control: | Democratic hold |
| Senate Net Change: | Republican +1 |
| Senate Map Caption: | 1976 Senate results |
| House Seats Contested: | All 435 voting members |
| House Control: | Democratic hold |
| House Pv Margin: | Democratic +13.6% |
| House Net Change: | Democratic +1 |
| House Map Caption: | 1976 House of Representatives results |
| Governor Seats Contested: | 15 (14 states, 1 territories) |
| Governor Net Change: | Democratic +1 |
| Governor Map Caption: | 1976 gubernatorial election results Territorial races not shown |
The 1976 United States elections were held on November 2, and elected the members of the 95th United States Congress. The Democratic Party won the presidential election and retained control of Congress.[1]
Former Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia defeated Republican incumbent President Gerald Ford.[2] Carter won the popular vote by two points and finished with 297 electoral votes, taking a mix of Southern and Northern states. Ford, who had taken office after the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of Republican President Richard Nixon in 1974, defeated former California Governor Ronald Reagan to take the Republican nomination. The convention nominated Kansas Senator Bob Dole as Ford's running mate, instead of sitting Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. Carter defeated a slew of competitors in the 1976 Democratic primaries, including California Governor Jerry Brown, Alabama Governor George Wallace, Arizona Congressman Mo Udall, Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson, and Idaho Senator Frank Church. Neither the House nor Senate saw major changes in partisan composition, so the Democrats retained control of Congress. Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 13.6 percentage points.[3]
In the gubernatorial elections, the Democratic Party picked up one seat.