See main article: 1980 United States presidential election.
| Election Name: | 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1980 |
| Country: | New Jersey |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey |
| Previous Year: | 1976 |
| Next Election: | 1984 United States presidential election in New Jersey |
| Next Year: | 1984 |
| 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: | 17 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,546,557 |
| Percentage1: | 51.97% |
| Nominee2: | Jimmy Carter |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | Georgia |
| Running Mate2: | Walter Mondale |
| Electoral Vote2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,147,364 |
| Percentage2: | 38.56% |
| Image3: | John B. Anderson in New Jersey (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee3: | John B. Anderson |
| Colour3: | DDDDBB |
| Home State3: | Illinois |
| Running Mate3: | Patrick Lucey |
| Electoral Vote3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 234,632 |
| Percentage3: | 7.88% |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| 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 New Jersey took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose seventeen electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, former actor and Governor Ronald Reagan of California and former CIA Director George H.W. Bush of Texas. Reagan and Bush defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate incumbent Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Also in the running was former Republican Congressman John B. Anderson of Illinois, who ran as an Independent with former Ambassador and Governor Patrick Lucey of Wisconsin.Reagan carried New Jersey with 51.97% of the vote to Carter's 38.56%, a margin of 13.42%.[1]
Anderson came in a strong but distant third, with 7.88% of the vote. Reagan won 18 of the state's 21 counties, with Carter only holding onto the 3 most heavily Democratic counties in New Jersey: Essex County, Hudson County, and Mercer County. New Jersey weighed in for this election as almost 4% more Republican than the national average.
New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican tilt; four years earlier, in 1976, the state had narrowly backed Republican Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter by a 50–48 margin, as Carter won nationally over Ford by a similarly narrow 50–48 margin. However, in 1980, with Reagan winning convincingly at the national level, the state easily remained in the Republican column. Carter was also hurt in the state by the candidacy of John Anderson, who had been a liberal Republican Congressman and whose campaign appealed strongly to Northeastern liberals and moderates who viewed Reagan as being too extreme and too far to the right,[2] but who were dissatisfied with the status quo under the Carter Administration.[3] Carter bled a substantial amount of support among such liberals and moderates in New Jersey who would likely have leaned Democratic in 1980 but instead voted for Anderson as a protest vote,[4] pushing Carter below 40% and widening Reagan's margin over Carter.
| 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | ||
| Republican | Ronald Reagan | 1,546,557 | 51.97% | 17 | ||
| Democratic | Jimmy Carter (incumbent) | 1,147,364 | 38.56% | 0 | ||
| Anderson Alternative | John B. Anderson | 234,632 | 7.88% | 0 | ||
| Libertarian | Ed Clark | 20,652 | 0.69% | 0 | ||
| Citizens | Barry Commoner | 8,203 | 0.28% | 0 | ||
| Right to Life | Ellen McCormack | 3,927 | 0.13% | 0 | ||
| Middle Class | Kurt Lynen | 3,694 | 0.12% | 0 | ||
| Communist | Gus Hall | 2,555 | 0.09% | 0 | ||
| Socialist Workers | Andrew Pulley | 2,198 | 0.07% | 0 | ||
| Socialist | David McReynolds | 1,973 | 0.07% | 0 | ||
| Down with Lawyers | Bill Gahres | 1,718 | 0.06% | 0 | ||
| Workers World | Deirdre Griswold | 1,288 | 0.04% | 0 | ||
| Independent | Martin Wendelken | 923 | 0.03% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 2,975,684 | 100.0% | 17 | |||
| Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 55%/79% | |||||
| County | Ronald Reagan Republican | Jimmy Carter Democratic | John B. Anderson Anderson Alternative | Ed Clark Libertarian | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | data-sort-type="number" | data-sort-type="number" | % | ||||||||||
| Atlantic | 37,973 | 49.83% | 31,286 | 41.06% | 5,582 | 7.33% | 800 | 1.05% | 561 | 0.74% | 6,687 | 8.77% | 76,202 | ||||||||||||||
| Bergen | 232,043 | 55.89% | 139,474 | 33.60% | 38,242 | 9.21% | 2,661 | 0.64% | 2,737 | 0.66% | 92,569 | 22.29% | 415,157 | ||||||||||||||
| Burlington | 68,415 | 51.94% | 50,083 | 38.03% | 11,314 | 8.59% | 1,010 | 0.77% | 887 | 0.67% | 18,332 | 13.91% | 131,709 | ||||||||||||||
| Camden | 87,939 | 47.07% | 80,033 | 42.84% | 16,125 | 8.63% | 1,267 | 0.68% | 1,444 | 0.77% | 7,906 | 4.23% | 186,808 | ||||||||||||||
| Cape May | 22,729 | 59.08% | 12,708 | 33.03% | 2,550 | 6.63% | 312 | 0.81% | 172 | 0.45% | 10,021 | 26.05% | 38,471 | ||||||||||||||
| Cumberland | 23,242 | 50.09% | 19,356 | 41.71% | 3,253 | 7.01% | 324 | 0.70% | 228 | 0.49% | 3,886 | 8.38% | 46,403 | ||||||||||||||
| Essex | 117,222 | 40.82% | 145,281 | 50.59% | 21,271 | 7.41% | 1,192 | 0.42% | 2,200 | 0.77% | -28,059 | -9.77% | 287,166 | ||||||||||||||
| Gloucester | 40,306 | 51.08% | 29,804 | 37.77% | 7,533 | 9.55% | 851 | 1.08% | 409 | 0.52% | 10,502 | 13.31% | 78,903 | ||||||||||||||
| Hudson | 91,207 | 45.90% | 95,622 | 48.13% | 8,941 | 4.50% | 840 | 0.42% | 2,078 | 1.05% | -4,415 | -2.23% | 198,688 | ||||||||||||||
| Hunterdon | 21,403 | 58.75% | 10,029 | 27.53% | 3,610 | 9.91% | 404 | 1.11% | 984 | 2.70% | 11,374 | 31.22% | 36,430 | ||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 53,450 | 41.57% | 60,888 | 47.35% | 12,117 | 9.42% | 1,153 | 0.90% | 974 | 0.76% | -7,438 | -5.78% | 128,582 | ||||||||||||||
| Middlesex | 122,354 | 50.73% | 97,304 | 40.34% | 17,463 | 7.24% | 1,787 | 0.74% | 2,298 | 0.95% | 25,050 | 10.39% | 241,206 | ||||||||||||||
| Monmouth | 120,173 | 56.69% | 71,328 | 33.65% | 17,444 | 8.23% | 1,696 | 0.80% | 1,330 | 0.63% | 48,845 | 23.04% | 211,971 | ||||||||||||||
| Morris | 105,260 | 60.63% | 48,965 | 28.20% | 17,181 | 9.90% | 1,375 | 0.79% | 823 | 0.47% | 56,295 | 32.43% | 173,604 | ||||||||||||||
| Ocean | 98,433 | 62.47% | 46,923 | 29.78% | 10,073 | 6.39% | 1,165 | 0.74% | 974 | 0.62% | 51,510 | 32.69% | 157,568 | ||||||||||||||
| Passaic | 82,531 | 51.92% | 61,486 | 38.68% | 9,385 | 5.90% | 904 | 0.57% | 4,645 | 2.92% | 21,045 | 13.24% | 158,951 | ||||||||||||||
| Salem | 13,000 | 51.03% | 10,209 | 40.08% | 1,800 | 7.07% | 265 | 1.04% | 200 | 0.79% | 2,791 | 10.95% | 25,474 | ||||||||||||||
| Somerset | 52,591 | 57.21% | 29,470 | 32.06% | 8,346 | 9.08% | 599 | 0.65% | 922 | 1.00% | 23,121 | 25.15% | 91,928 | ||||||||||||||
| Sussex | 27,063 | 63.94% | 10,531 | 24.88% | 3,988 | 9.42% | 518 | 1.22% | 227 | 0.54% | 16,532 | 39.06% | 42,327 | ||||||||||||||
| Union | 112,288 | 51.66% | 86,074 | 39.60% | 15,586 | 7.17% | 1,157 | 0.53% | 2,234 | 1.03% | 26,214 | 12.06% | 217,339 | ||||||||||||||
| Warren | 16,935 | 54.99% | 10,510 | 34.13% | 2,828 | 9.18% | 372 | 1.21% | 152 | 0.49% | 6,425 | 20.86% | 30,797 | ||||||||||||||
| Totals | 1,546,557 | 51.97% | 1,147,364 | 38.56% | 234,632 | 7.88% | 20,652 | 0.69% | 26,479 | 0.89% | 399,193 | 13.41% | 2,975,684 | ||||||||||||||