Editing 1976 United States presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{for|related races|1976 United States elections}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1976 United States presidential election
| country = United States
| flag_year = 1960
| type = presidential
| previous_election = 1972 United States presidential election
| previous_year = 1972
| election_date = November 2, 1976
| next_election = 1980 United States presidential election
| next_year = 1980
| votes_for_election = 538 members of the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]
| needed_votes = 270 electoral
| turnout = 54.8%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]|access-date=February 21, 2023|archive-date=November 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114143528/http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|url-status=live}}</ref> {{decrease}} 1.4 [[percentage point|pp]]
| image_size = x200px

<!-- Jimmy Carter -->| image1 = Jimmy Carter 1977 cropped.jpg
| nominee1 = '''[[Jimmy Carter]]'''
| party1 = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| home_state1 = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| running_mate1 = '''[[Walter Mondale]]'''
| electoral_vote1 = '''297'''
| states_carried1 = 23 + [[Washington, D.C.|DC]]
| popular_vote1 = '''40,831,881'''
| percentage1 = '''{{percent|<!-- CARTER: --> 40,831,881|<!-- TOTAL: --> 81,540,780|1|pad=yes}}'''

<!-- Gerald Ford -->| image2 = Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg
| nominee2 = [[Gerald Ford]]
| party2 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state2 = [[Michigan]]
| running_mate2 = [[Bob Dole]]
| electoral_vote2 = 240{{efn|A faithless Republican elector, [[Mike Padden]] in Washington, voted for Ronald Reagan to be president. Padden voted for Bob Dole to be vice president as pledged. As a result, Ford had 240 electoral votes instead of the pledged 241.}}
| states_carried2 = '''27'''
| popular_vote2 = 39,148,634
| percentage2 = {{percent|<!-- FORD: --> 39,148,634|<!-- TOTAL: --> 81,540,780|1|pad=yes}}
| map_size = 350px
| map = {{1976 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Carter/Mondale and <span style="color:red;">red</span> denotes those won by Ford/Dole. <span style="color:pink;">Pink</span> is the electoral vote for [[Ronald Reagan]] by a [[Washington (state)|Washington]] [[faithless elector]]. Numbers indicate [[electoral votes]] cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
| title = President
| before_election = [[Gerald Ford]]
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = [[Jimmy Carter]]
| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| ongoing = 
}}
[[United States presidential election|Presidential elections]] were held in the United States on November 2, 1976. The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] ticket of former [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] [[Governor of Georgia|governor]] [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Minnesota]] [[United States Senate|senator]] [[Walter Mondale]] narrowly defeated the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ticket of incumbent president [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Kansas]] [[United States Senate|senator]] [[Bob Dole]]. This was the first presidential election since [[1932 United States presidential election|1932]] in which the incumbent was defeated, as well as the only one of the six presidential elections from [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]] to [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]] to have the Democratic Party ticket win.

Ford ascended to the presidency when [[Richard Nixon]] resigned in 1974 in the wake of the [[Watergate scandal]], which badly damaged the Republican Party and its electoral prospects. Ford previously served as Nixon's second vice president after his first vice president, [[Spiro Agnew]], resigned in 1973 for taking [[bribe]]s while he was the [[Governor of Maryland|governor]] of [[Maryland]] prior to becoming vice president.

Ford promised to continue Nixon's political agenda and govern as a moderate Republican, causing considerable backlash from the conservative wing of his party. This spurred former California governor [[Ronald Reagan]] to mount a significant [[Ronald Reagan 1976 presidential campaign|challenge]] against him in the [[1976 Republican Party presidential primaries|Republican primaries]], in which Ford narrowly prevailed.<ref>{{cite web |title=1976 Ford Presidential Campaign – Republican Convention |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/1976election/convention.html |access-date=July 23, 2024 |publisher=Ford Library Museum |archive-date=August 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813225514/https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/1976election/convention.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter was unknown outside of his home state of Georgia at the start of the [[1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries|Democratic primaries]], but he emerged as the front-runner after his victories in the first set of primaries. Campaigning as a political moderate within his own party and as a Washington outsider, Carter defeated numerous opponents to clinch the Democratic nomination.<ref>{{cite web |last= Strong|first=Robert A. |date=October 4, 2026 |title=Jimmy Carter: Campaigns and Elections |publisher= Miller Center |url=https://millercenter.org/president/carter/campaigns-and-elections |access-date=July 23, 2024 }}</ref>

Ford pursued a "[[Rose Garden strategy]]" in which he sought to portray himself as an experienced leader focused on fulfilling his role as chief executive.<ref>{{cite web |title=1976 Ford Presidential Campaign – General Election |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/1976election/election.html |access-date=January 27, 2024 |publisher=Ford Library Museum |archive-date=May 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515211912/https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/1976election/election.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On the other hand, Carter emphasized his status as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=Harold |date=November 20, 2023 |title=Rosalynn Carter obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/20/rosalynn-carter-obituary |access-date=January 27, 2014 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Saddled with a poor economy, the [[Fall of Saigon|fall]] of [[South Vietnam]], and the political fallout from the Watergate scandal, including his unpopular [[pardon of Richard Nixon]], Ford trailed by a wide margin in polls taken after Carter's formal nomination in July 1976. Ford's polling rebounded after a strong performance in the first presidential debate, and the race was close on election day.

Carter won the election with 297 [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] votes and took 50.1% of the popular vote. He carried several Midwestern and Northeastern states along with every state in the [[Deep South]], becoming the first Democrat to accomplish this feat since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]]. Additionally, Carter's narrow victories in [[1976 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]] and [[1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]], which carried a combined 36 electoral votes, were especially crucial to his win.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-galion-inquirer-ohio-vote-recount-po/164017388/ Ohio Vote Recount Possible]. ''[[Galion Inquirer]]''. [[United Press International]]. November 15, 1976. Retrieved January 26, 2025.</ref> Meanwhile, Ford swept the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and [[Mountain states]] and took 48.0% of the popular vote. Ford became the first president ever to fail to win a national election as president or vice president. His loss to Carter was due in part to the backlash against Republican candidates nationwide in the wake of the Watergate scandal, a trend that became apparent in the [[1974 United States elections|1974 elections]]. 

Carter became the first non-incumbent president representing a [[Southern United States|Southern state]] to be elected since [[Zachary Taylor]] in [[1848 United States presidential election|1848]]. As of 2024, this is the last election in which the Democratic ticket won the majority of states in the South or the states of [[1976 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]], [[1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]], [[1976 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]], and [[1976 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]] (mainly due to Carter's southern roots), as well as the most recent election in which the losing candidate carried more states than the winning candidate.

== Nominations ==
=== Democratic Party ===
{{Main|1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}
{{Jimmy Carter series}}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Democratic Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party (United States)]]<big>'''1976 Democratic Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Jimmy Carter|{{color|white|Jimmy Carter}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Walter Mondale|{{color|white|Walter Mondale}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#c8ebff;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-

| [[File:Jimmy Carter (cropped).jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Walter Mondale 1977 vice presidential portrait.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[List of governors of Georgia|76th]]<br />[[Governor of Georgia]]<br /><small>(1971–1975)</small>
| [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]<br>from [[Minnesota]]<br /><small>(1964–1976)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |'''[[Jimmy Carter 1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]'''
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:Carter Mondale 1976 campaign logo 2.svg|center|200x200px]]
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="16" style="text-align:center; width:600px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};"|''Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the nomination race''
|-
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Jerry Brown]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[George Wallace]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Mo Udall]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Ellen McCormack]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Frank Church]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Henry M. Jackson]]
|-
|[[File:Jerry Brown 1975.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:George Wallace official portrait (3x4).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Morris King Udall (cropped).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Ellen McCormack.jpg|center|120x120px]]<!-- Do not use placeholder images per WP:IPH -->
|[[File:FrankChurch.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson - NARA - 177133.tif|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|Governor of<br>[[California]]<br /><small>(1975–1983)</small>
|Governor of<br>[[Alabama]]<br /><small>(1963–1967; 1971–1979)</small>
|[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]]'''<br>'''for [[Arizona's 2nd congressional district]]<br /><small>(1961–1991)</small>
|Chair of the [[New York Right to Life Party]]<br /><small>(1970–1976)</small>
|U.S. Senator from<br>[[Idaho]]<br /><small>(1957–1981)</small>
|U.S. Senator from<br />[[Washington state|Washington]]<br /><small>(1953–1983)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[File:2012AlsoRans8-1x37.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Wallace 1976 campaign logo.svg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Mo Udall presidential campaign bumper sticker.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Ellen McCormack presidential campaign, 1976.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Frankchurch1976.gif|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Jackson1976Logo.png|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[Jerry Brown#1976 presidential election|Campaign]]
|[[George Wallace#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Mo Udall#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Ellen McCormack#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Frank Church#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Henry M. Jackson#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|''{{abbr|LN|Lost Nomination}}: July 15, 1976''<br /><small>'''2,449,374''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|LN|Lost Nomination}}: July 15, 1976''<br /><small>'''1,955,388''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|LN|Lost Nomination}}: July 15, 1976''<br /><small>'''1,611,754''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|LN|Lost Nomination}}: July 15, 1976''<br /><small>'''238,027''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: June 14, 1976''<br /><small>'''830,818''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: May 1, 1976''<br /><small>'''1,134,375''' votes</small>
|-
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Lloyd Bentsen]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Milton Shapp]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Fred R. Harris|Fred Harris]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Sargent Shriver]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Birch Bayh]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Terry Sanford]]
|-
|[[File:Lloyd Bentsen crop.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Milton Shapp (1976).png|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:FredRoyHarris.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Sargent Shriver - 037 490-D-17-001.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Birch bayh.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Terry Sanford.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|U.S. Senator from<br />[[Texas]]<br /><small>(1971–1993)</small>
|Governor<br />of [[Pennsylvania]]<br /><small>(1971–1979)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Oklahoma]]<br /><small>(1964–1973)</small>
|[[List of ambassadors of the United States to France|U.S. Ambassador to France]] from [[Maryland]] <small>(1968–1970)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Indiana]]<br /><small>(1963–1981)</small>
|Governor<br />of [[North Carolina]]<br /><small>(1961–1965)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[File:Bentsen for President 1976.png|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Shapp for President 76 logo.svg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Fred Harris 1976 bumper sticker.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Shriver1976.gif|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Bayh1976CampaignLogo.png|120x120px]]
|[[File:Terrysanford1976.gif|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[Lloyd Bentsen#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Milton Shapp#1976 presidential election|Campaign]]
|[[Fred R. Harris#Presidential campaigns|Campaign]]
|[[Sargent Shriver#1976 presidential election|Campaign]]
|[[Birch Bayh#1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|[[Terry Sanford#1976 presidential election|Campaign]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: May 1, 1976''<br /><small>'''346,714''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: April 27, 1976''<br /><small>'''88,254''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: April 2, 1976''<br /><small>'''234,568''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: March 16, 1976''<br /><small>'''304,399''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: March 4, 1976''<br /><small>'''86,438''' votes</small>
|''{{abbr|W|Withdrew}}: January 25, 1976''<br /><small>'''404''' votes</small>
|}

The surprise winner of the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination was Jimmy Carter, a former [[Georgia State Senate|state senator]] and governor of Georgia. When the primaries began, Carter was little-known at the national level, and many political pundits regarded a number of better-known candidates, such as Senator [[Henry M. Jackson]] from Washington, Representative [[Morris Udall]] from Arizona, Governor [[George Wallace]] of Alabama, and California Governor [[Jerry Brown]], as the favorites for the nomination. However, in the wake of the [[Watergate scandal]], Carter realized that his status as a Washington outsider, political centrist, and moderate reformer could give him an advantage over his better-known establishment rivals. Carter also took advantage of the record number of state primaries and caucuses in 1976 to eliminate his better-known rivals one-by-one.

Henry M. Jackson made a fateful decision not to compete in the early Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, which Jimmy Carter won after liberals split their votes among four other candidates. Though Jackson went on to win the Massachusetts and New York primaries, he was forced to quit the race on May 1, after losing the critical Pennsylvania primary to Carter by twelve percentage points. Carter then defeated Governor Wallace, his main conservative challenger, by a wide margin in the North Carolina primary, forcing Wallace to end his campaign. Representative Udall, a liberal, then became Carter's main challenger. He finished second to Carter in the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, South Dakota, and Ohio primaries, and won the caucuses in his home state of Arizona, while running even with Carter in the New Mexico caucuses. However, the fact that Udall finished second to Carter in most of these races meant that Carter steadily accumulated more delegates for the nomination than Udall did.

As Carter closed in on the nomination, an "ABC" ("Anybody But Carter") movement started among Northern and Western liberal Democrats who worried that Carter's Southern upbringing would make him too conservative for the Democratic Party. The leaders of the "ABC" movement, Idaho Senator [[Frank Church]] and California Governor Jerry Brown, both announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination, and defeated Carter in several late primaries. However, their campaigns started too late to prevent Carter from gathering the remaining delegates he needed to capture the nomination.

By June 1976, Carter had captured more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. At the [[1976 Democratic National Convention]], Carter easily won the nomination on the first ballot; Udall finished in second place. Carter then chose Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, a liberal, as his running mate.

=== Republican Party ===
{{main|1976 Republican Party presidential primaries}}
{{Gerald Ford series}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Republican Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party (United States)]]<big>'''1976 Republican Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Gerald Ford|{{color|white|Gerald Ford}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Bob Dole|{{color|white|Bob Dole}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ffd0d7;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 3).jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Ks 1996 dole.jpg|center|188x188px]]
|-
|[[List of presidents of the United States|38th]]<br />[[President of the United States]]<br /><small>(1974–1977)</small>
|[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]<br>from [[Kansas]]<br /><small>(1969–1996)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Gerald Ford 1976 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:Ford Dole 1976 campaign logo.svg|center|200x200px]]
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:415px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}};"|''Candidates in this section are sorted by date of withdrawal from the nomination race''
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:120%;"|[[Ronald Reagan]]
|-
|[[File:Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M edit.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|Governor of [[California]]<br /><small>(1967–1975)</small>
|-
|[[File:Ronald Reagan presidential campaign, 1976 2.png|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[Ronald Reagan 1976 presidential campaign|Campaign]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|''{{abbr|LN|Lost Nomination}}: August 19, 1976''<br /><small>'''4,760,222''' votes</small>
|}

The contest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1976 was between two serious candidates: incumbent president Gerald Ford, a member of the party's moderate wing, and former governor of California [[Ronald Reagan]], a member of the party's conservative wing. The presidential primary campaign between the two men was hard-fought and relatively even; by the start of the Republican Convention in August 1976, the race for the nomination was still too close to call. Ford defeated Reagan by a narrow margin on the first ballot at the [[1976 Republican National Convention]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], and chose Senator [[Bob Dole]] from Kansas as his running mate in the place of incumbent vice president [[Nelson Rockefeller]], who had announced the previous year that he was not interested in being considered for the vice presidential nomination.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/campaign/005601360-001.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/campaign/005601360-001.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The President and the Vice President have a complete understanding between them regarding the Vice President's decision. The letter speaks for itself. The initiative was the Vice President's |website=Fordlibrarymuseum.gov |access-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> The 1976 Republican Convention was the last political convention to open with the presidential nomination still being undecided until the actual balloting at the convention.

=== Others ===
* [[Roger MacBride]], who had gained fame in the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 election]] as a [[faithless elector]], ran as the nominee of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]].
* [[Eugene McCarthy]], a former Democratic Senator from Minnesota, ran as an independent candidate.
* [[Benjamin Bubar Jr.|Ben Bubar]], [[Prohibition Party]] nominee.
* [[Frank Zeidler]], former mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ran as the nominee of [[Socialist Party USA]], which was founded in 1973 in a split with [[Socialist Party of America]].
* [[Gus Hall#Presidential candidate and later years|Gus Hall]], four-time Communist Party candidate<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1976&minper=0&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1976 Presidential General Election Results|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=July 24, 2018|archive-date=July 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715210741/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1976&minper=0&f=0&off=0&elect=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Lester Maddox]], the former Democratic Governor of Georgia (and Lieutenant Governor under Carter), ran as the nominee of the [[American Independent Party]]

== General election ==
=== Polling aggregation ===
The following graph depicts the standing of each candidate in the poll aggregators from January 1976 to Election Day.

[[File:OpinionPolling1976UnitedStatesPresidentialElection.svg|thumb|800px|center| {{columns-list|colwidth=18em|
 {{Legend-line|#3333ff solid 5px|[[Jimmy Carter]]}}
 {{Legend-line|#e81b23 solid 5px|[[Gerald Ford]]}}
 {{Legend-line|#FFD700 solid 5px|[[Eugene McCarthy]]}}
}}]]

=== Polling ===
{{See also|Nationwide opinion polling for the 1976 United States presidential election}}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:17px"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom"
! Poll source
! Date(s)<br />administered
! class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"| Jimmy<br>Carter (D)
! class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"| Gerald<br>Ford (R)
! class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"| Eugene<br>McCarthy (I)
! class="unsortable" | Other
! class="unsortable" | Undecided
! class="unsortable" | Margin
|-
! | '''Election Results'''
|November 2, 1976
|style="text-align:center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''50.08%'''
|style="text-align:center" | 48.02%
|style="text-align:center" | 0.91%
|style="text-align:center" | 0.99%
|style="text-align:center" | —
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''2.06'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Survey: Carter Clings To One-Point Lead">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/204975333 | title=Survey: Carter Clings To One-Point Lead | work=Iowa City Press-Citizen | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525035224/https://www.newspapers.com/image/204975333 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |October 29–31, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''46%'''
| 45%
| 3%
| 1%
| 5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''1'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=878}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |October 28–30, 1976
| 46%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 2%
| 1%
| 4%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''1'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Harris Survey: Carter's Lead Shrinks To 45-44%">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/90065413 | title=Harris Survey: Carter's Lead Shrinks To 45-44% | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |October 23–26, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''45%'''
| 44%
| 4%
| —
| 7%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''1'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=893}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |October 22–25, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''49%'''
| 44%
| 2%
| 1%
| 4%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''5'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Carter's Leading Ford, But...">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/255801961 | title=Carter's Leading Ford, But... | work=The Ithaca Journal | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525034418/https://www.newspapers.com/image/255801961 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |October 19–22, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''45%'''
| 42%
| 5%
| 1%
| 7%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''3'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref name="auto"/>
| rowspan=1 |October 15–18, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 41%
| 2%
| 2%
| 8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''6'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref name="auto"/>
| rowspan=1 |October 8–11, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''48%'''
| 42%
| 2%
| 2%
| 6%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''6'''
|-
| rowspan=2 | Harris<ref name="Ford, But Not Reagan, Moving Up On Carter"/>
| rowspan=2 |October 7–11, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''44%'''
| 40%
| 6%
| 1%
| 9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''4'''
|-
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 42%
| —
| —
| 11%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''5'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=877}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |Sep. 27-Oct. 4, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 45%
| 1%
| 1%
| 6%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''2'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=864}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |September 24–27, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''51%'''
| 40%
| 4%
| 1%
| 4%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''11'''
|-
| rowspan=2 | Harris<ref name="Carter Ahead, But Ford Gaining">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/687128933 | title=Carter Ahead, But Ford Gaining | work=Lexington Herald-Leader | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525031037/https://www.newspapers.com/image/687128933 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=2 |September 24–25, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''46%'''
| 39%
| 5%
| 1%
| 9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''7'''
|-
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''50%'''
| 41%
| —
| —
| 9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''9'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=851}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |August 27–30, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''54%'''
| 36%
| —
| 2%
| 8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''18'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=850}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |August 20–23, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''50%'''
| 37%
| —
| —
| 13%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''13'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="McCarthy Cuts Into Carter's Lead">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/383986096 | title=McCarthy Cuts Into Carter's Lead | work=Asbury Park Press | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525031024/https://www.newspapers.com/image/383986096 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |August 18–20, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''53%'''
| 39%
| 6%
| —
| 2%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''14'''
|-
| colspan="10"  style="text-align:center" | '''August 16–19: Republican National Convention'''
|-
| rowspan=2 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=815}}</ref>
| rowspan=2 |August 6–9, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''54%'''
| 32%
| 6%
| 1%
| 8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''22'''
|-
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''57%'''
| 32%
| —
| 3%
| 8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''25'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Ford, But Not Reagan, Moving Up On Carter">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/383925511 | title=Ford, But Not Reagan, Moving Up On Carter | work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |Jul. 31-Aug. 4, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''61%'''
| 32%
| —
| —
| 7%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''29'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Carter Lead Over Ford Isn't Really That Huge">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/145739361 | title=Carter Lead Over Ford Isn't Really That Huge | work=Asbury Park Press | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525022103/https://www.newspapers.com/image/145739361 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |July 16–19, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''62%'''
| 27%
| 5%
| —
| 6%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''35'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=801}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |July 16–19, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''62%'''
| 29%
| —
| —
| 9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''33'''
|-
| colspan="10"  style="text-align:center" | '''July 12–15: Democratic National Convention'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=795}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |June 25–28, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''53%'''
| 36%
| —
| —
| 11%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''17'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=774}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |June 11–14, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''55%'''
| 37%
| —
| 3%
| 5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''18'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Carter's Well Ahead Of Both GOP Foes">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/254077712 | title=Carter's Well Ahead Of Both GOP Foes | work=Muncie Evening Press | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525020457/https://www.newspapers.com/image/254077712 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |June 9–14, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''53%'''
| 40%
| —
| —
| 7%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''13'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=758}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |Apr. 30-May 3, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''52%'''
| 43%
| —
| —
| 5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''9'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Two Democrats Ahead Of Ford" />
| rowspan=1 |April 9–15, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 43%
| —
| —
| 10%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''4'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=745}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |April 9–12, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''49%'''
| 43%
| —
| 2%
| 6%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''6'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=677}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |March 26–29, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''47%'''
| 46%
| —
| 2%
| 5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''1'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Gallup<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallup |first=George |author-link=George Gallup |date=1978 |title=The 1972-1977 Gallup Poll Public Opinion, Volume II |page=674}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |March 19–22, 1976
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''48%'''
| 46%
| —
| —
| 6%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align="center" | '''2'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Two Democrats Ahead Of Ford">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/398874539 | title=Two Democrats Ahead Of Ford | work=The Atlanta Constitution | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525012652/https://www.newspapers.com/image/398874539 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |March 13–22, 1976
| 42%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''49%'''
| —
| —
| 9%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''7'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Key Groups Giving Slip To Reagan">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/382391624 | title=Key Groups Giving Slip To Reagan | work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |Late January, 1976
| 37%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''48%'''
| —
| —
| 15%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''11'''
|-
| rowspan=1 | Harris<ref name="Democrats Edge Ford, Reagan">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/382129499 | title=Democrats Edge Ford, Reagan | work=Chicago Tribune | access-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-date=May 25, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525000752/https://www.newspapers.com/image/382129499 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| rowspan=1 |January 5–14, 1976
| 36%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''49%'''
| —
| —
| 15%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align="center" | '''13'''
|-
|}

=== Fall campaign ===
[[File:Carter and Ford in a debate, September 23, 1976.jpg|thumb|Former Governor [[Jimmy Carter]] (left) and President [[Gerald Ford]] (right) at the presidential debate at [[Walnut Street Theatre]] in [[Philadelphia]] on September 23, 1976]]
One of the advantages Ford held over Carter as the general election campaign began was his presidential privilege to preside over events celebrating the [[United States Bicentennial]]; this often resulted in favorable publicity for Ford. These included the Washington, D. C., fireworks display on the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]], which was televised nationally.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.c-span.org/classroom/govt/1976.asp |title=Election of 1976: A Political Outsider Prevails. |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030802173440/http://www.c-span.org/classroom/govt/1976.asp |archive-date=August 2, 2003 |access-date=August 2, 2003}} C-SPAN. Retrieved on June 20, 2012.</ref> On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a White House state dinner for [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] of the United Kingdom, which was televised on the [[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]] (PBS) network. These events were part of Ford's "Rose Garden" strategy to win the election, meaning that instead of appearing as a typical politician, Ford presented himself as a "tested leader" who was busily fulfilling the role of national leader and chief executive. Not until October did Ford leave the White House to actively campaign across the nation.{{citation needed|date = September 2023}}

Carter ran as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington political scandals,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976 |title=Commercials - 1976 - Essence |date=1974-08-09 |publisher=[[The Living Room Candidate]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102042/http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#1976 |archive-date=August 25, 2012 |access-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> which many voters found attractive in the wake of the [[Watergate scandal]] that had led to President [[Richard Nixon]]'s resignation. Ford, although personally unconnected with Watergate, was seen by many as too close to the discredited Nixon administration, especially after he granted Nixon a presidential pardon for any crimes he might have committed during his term of office. Ford's pardon of Nixon caused his popularity, as measured by public opinion polls, to plummet. Ford's refusal to explain his reasons for pardoning Nixon publicly (he would do so in his memoirs several years later), also hurt his image.{{citation needed|date = September 2023}}

Ford unsuccessfully asked Congress to end the 1950s-era price controls on natural gas, which had caused a dwindling of American natural gas reserves after the [[1973 oil crisis]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/321 |title=How We Got Here: The '70s |last=Frum |first=David |publisher=Basic Books |year=2000 |isbn=0-465-04195-7 |location=New York, New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/321 321–322] |author-link=David Frum |url-access=registration }}</ref> Carter stated during his campaign that he opposed the ending of the price controls and thought such a move would be "disastrous".<ref name="'70s 321">{{cite book |title=How We Got Here: The '70s |last=Frum |first=David |author-link=David Frum |year=2000 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-465-04195-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/321 321–322] |url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/321 |url-access=registration }}</ref>

After the Democratic National Convention, Carter held a 33-point lead over Ford in the polls.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/23995/Gerald-Ford-Retrospective.aspx |title=Gerald Ford Retrospective |date=2006-12-29 |website=Gallup |language=en-us |access-date=2019-10-06 |archive-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521142231/https://news.gallup.com/poll/23995/Gerald-Ford-Retrospective.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> However, as the campaign continued, the race greatly tightened. During the campaign ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine published a controversial interview with Carter; in the interview, Carter admitted to having "lusted in my heart" for women other than his wife and used the word "screw," which cut into his support among women and evangelical Christians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467115414|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502220212/https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467115414|url-status=dead|title=Jimmy Carter in Plains|archivedate=May 2, 2017|website=Arcadia Publishing}}</ref> On September 23, Ford performed well in what was the first televised [[United States presidential election debates|presidential debate]] since [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]]. Polls taken after the debate showed that most viewers felt that Ford was the winner. Carter was also hurt by Ford's charges that he lacked the necessary experience to be an effective national leader and that he was vague on many issues.{{citation needed|date = September 2023}}

[[File:CarterHQ.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Carter campaign headquarters]]
However, Ford also committed a costly blunder in the campaign that halted his momentum. During the second presidential debate on October 6, Ford stumbled when he asserted that "there is no [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration". He added that he did not "believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union", and made the same claim with regard to Yugoslavia and Romania (Yugoslavia was not a [[Warsaw Pact]] member).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/debatingourdestiny/1976.html |title=Debating Our Destiny: The Second 1976 Presidential Debate – October 6, 1976 |date=October 6, 1976 |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=January 30, 2016 |archive-date=December 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227014437/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/debatingourdestiny/1976.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ford refused to retract his statement for almost a week after the debate, causing his surge in the polls to stall and allowing Carter to maintain a slight lead in the polls.{{citation needed|date = September 2023}}

A vice-presidential debate, the first formal one of its kind,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.janda.org/politxts/Presidential%20debates/debates.76/vp-76.html |title=The First VP Debate: Dole-Mondale, 10-15-76 |date=1976-10-15 |website=Janda.org |access-date=2016-03-04 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230815/http://janda.org/politxts/Presidential%20debates/debates.76/vp-76.html |url-status=live }}</ref> between Bob Dole and Walter Mondale also hurt the Republican ticket when Dole asserted that military unpreparedness on the part of Democratic presidents was responsible for all of the wars the U.S. had fought in the 20th century. Dole, a World War II veteran, noted that in every 20th-century war, from World War I to the Vietnam War, a Democrat had been president. Dole then pointed out that the number of U.S. casualties in "Democrat wars" was roughly equal to the population of Detroit. Many voters felt that Dole's criticism was unfairly harsh, and that his dispassionate delivery made him seem cold. Years later, Dole would remark that he regretted the comment, believing that it had hurt the Republican ticket.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130211010115/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/interviews/dole.html Bob Dole interview], November 10, 1999. [[PBS]].org.</ref> One factor that did help Ford in the closing days of the campaign was a series of popular television appearances he did with [[Joe Garagiola]], a retired baseball player for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] and a well-known announcer for [[NBC Sports]]. Garagiola and Ford appeared in a number of shows in several large cities. During the show, Garagiola would ask Ford questions about his life and beliefs; the shows were so informal, relaxed, and laid-back that some television critics labelled them the "Joe and Jerry Show". Ford and Garagiola obviously enjoyed one another's company, and they remained friends after the election was over.{{citation needed|date = September 2023}}

=== Presidential debates ===
{{Main|1976 United States presidential debates}}
There were three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate during the 1976 general election.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.debates.org/index.php?page=1976-debates|title=CPD: 1976 Debates|website=debates.org|access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref><ref name="CNN">{{cite web | url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/debates/history/1976/index.shtml | title=1976 Debates Overview | publisher=[[CNN]] | work=AllPolitics | date=1996 | access-date=April 24, 2019 | archive-date=August 17, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817072829/http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/debates/history/1976/index.shtml | url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="white-space: nowrap; text-align: center;"
|+Debates among candidates for the 1976 U.S. presidential election
!No.
!Date
!Host
!City
!Moderator
!Panelists
!Participants
!Viewership<br>(Millions)
|-
! style="background:#F7E7CE;" |P1
|Thursday, September 23
|[[Walnut Street Theatre]]
|[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania
|[[Edwin Newman]]
|[[Elizabeth Drew]]<br>[[James P. Gannon]]<br>[[Frank Reynolds]]
|[[Jimmy Carter|Gov. Jimmy Carter]]<br>[[Gerald Ford|Pres. Gerald Ford]]
|69.7<ref name=":0" />
|-
! style="background:#F7E7CE;" |P2
|Wednesday, October 6
|[[Palace of Fine Arts]]
|[[San Francisco]], California
|[[Pauline Frederick (journalist)|Pauline Frederick]]
|[[Max Frankel]]<br>[[Henry Trewhitt]]<br>[[Richard Valeriani]]
|[[Jimmy Carter|Gov. Jimmy Carter]]<br>[[Gerald Ford|Pres. Gerald Ford]]
|63.9<ref name=":0" />
|-
! style="background:#F7E7CE;" |VP
|Friday, October 15
|[[Alley Theatre]]
|[[Houston]], Texas
|[[James Hoge]]
|[[Marilyn Berger]]<br>[[Hal Bruno]]<br>[[Walter Mears]]
|[[Bob Dole|Sen. Bob Dole]]<br>[[Walter Mondale|Sen. Walter Mondale]]
|43.2<ref name=":0" />
|-
! style="background:#F7E7CE;" |P3
|Friday, October 22
|[[Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall|Phi Beta Kappa <br>Memorial Hall]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/diary/pdd761022.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/diary/pdd761022.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live | title=The Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford - October 22, 1976 | publisher=[[Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum]] | access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref>
|[[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
|[[Barbara Walters]]
|[[Joseph Kraft]]<br>[[Robert C. Maynard|Robert Maynard]]<br>[[Jack Nelson (journalist)|Jack Nelson]]
|[[Jimmy Carter|Gov. Jimmy Carter]]<br>[[Gerald Ford|Pres. Gerald Ford]]
|62.7<ref name=":0" />
|}

== Results ==
Despite his campaign's blunders, Ford managed to close the remaining gap in the polls, and by election day, the race was judged to be even. It took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner. It was not until 3:30 am EST that [[NBC]] was able to declare that Carter had carried Mississippi and had thus accumulated more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Seconds later, [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] also declared Carter the winner, based on projections for Carter in Wisconsin and Hawaii, while [[CBS News]] announced Carter's victory at 3:45 am.<ref>[[Jules Witcover]]. ''Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972–1976'' (New York: Viking), p. 11.</ref> Carter defeated Ford by two percentage points in the national popular vote.

The electoral vote was the closest since [[1916 United States Presidential Election|1916]]; Carter carried 23 states, with 297 electoral votes, while Ford won 27 states, with 240 electoral votes (one elector, future state Senator [[Mike Padden]] from Washington state, pledged to Ford, voted for Reagan<ref name="faithlesspadden">{{cite news |last1=Camden |first1=Jim |title=Electoral College wasn't done deal in 1976. Will it be in 2016? |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/dec/17/electoral-college-wasnt-done-deal-in-1976-will-it-/ |access-date=14 November 2021 |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524100133/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/dec/17/electoral-college-wasnt-done-deal-in-1976-will-it-/ |url-status=live }}</ref>). Carter's victory came primarily from his near-sweep of the South (he lost only Virginia and Oklahoma), and his narrow victories in large Northern states such as New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Ford did well in the West, carrying every state in that region, except for Hawaii. The most tightly contested state in the election was Oregon, which Ford won by under 2,000 votes.

By percentage of the vote, the states that secured Carter's victory were Wisconsin (1.68% margin) and Ohio (.27% margin). Had Ford won these states and all other states he carried, he would have won the presidency. The 27 states he won were, and still are, the most states ever carried by a losing candidate for president. Had Ford won the election, the provisions of the [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|22nd Amendment]] would have disqualified him from running in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]], as he served more than two years of Nixon's second term.

=== Records ===
Carter was the first Democratic presidential nominee since [[John F. Kennedy]] in [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]] to carry states in the Deep South ([[Bill Clinton]] was the only Democrat since 1976 to carry more than one state from the Deep South, doing so in [[1992 United States presidential election|1992]]), and the only one since [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]] to carry a majority of all [[U.S. Southern states|southern states]]. Carter performed very strongly in his home state of Georgia, carrying 66.7% of the vote and every county in the state. His winning of 23 states was only the second time in history that the winner of the election won fewer than half the states (after 1960). His 50.1% of the vote was the only time since 1964 that a Democrat managed to obtain an absolute majority of the popular vote in a presidential election until [[Barack Obama]] won 52.9% of the vote in [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]]. Carter is one of six Democrats since the [[American Civil War]] to obtain an [[absolute majority]] of the popular vote, the others being [[Samuel J. Tilden]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Lyndon B. Johnson, Barack Obama, and [[Joe Biden]].

This election represents the last time to date that [[Texas]], [[Mississippi]], [[Alabama]], and [[South Carolina]] would vote Democratic, and the last time [[North Carolina]] would vote Democratic until [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], as well as the last time [[Florida]] voted Democratic until [[1996 United States presidential election|1996]], and the last time [[Arkansas]], [[Delaware]], [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[Missouri]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Tennessee]] voted Democratic until [[1992 United States presidential election|1992]].<ref>Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116163625/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century |date=November 16, 2016 }}; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref>

This election was the last time that a Democrat won the presidency without winning a number of modern blue states and swing states, specifically California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. This is the only time a Democrat has won without New Mexico, as well as one of only two times it voted for a candidate who lost the popular vote, in addition to [[2024 United States presidential election in New Mexico|2024]]. Similarly, it is one of only three instances in which a Democrat won without Nevada (the others being the two elections of [[Grover Cleveland]] in [[1884 United States presidential election in Nevada|1884]] and [[1892 United States presidential election in Nevada|1892]]). The Democrats did not win without [[Iowa]] again until [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]].

It was the first time in exactly 100 years when Florida and Virginia supported different candidates, and the first time since Oklahoma statehood in 1907 when Oklahoma and [[United States presidential elections in Tennessee|Tennessee]] did so. It was also the most recent election in which a losing Republican candidate carried any states in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]]. As Carter won 319 more counties than Ford, this election would mark the last time a Democrat won a majority of counties. This was the first election since [[1916 United States presidential election|1916]] in which the winning candidate won less than 300 electoral votes; this would not happen again until [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]]. Carter also remains the last Democrat to win a presidential election while winning less than 300 electoral votes. 

This election was the last time until [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]] in which the popular vote margin in all 50 states and D.C. swung in the same direction from the previous election.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skelley |first=Geoffrey |date=December 10, 2024 |title=America's swing to the right in 2024 was wide, if not always deep |url=https://abcnews.go.com/538/americas-swing-2024-wide-deep/story?id=116639076 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref>

This is the last election in which an incumbent president ran with a running mate who was not the incumbent vice president. This is the only election in which all four major presidential and vice presidential candidates would at some point be their party's nominee for president and lose. In addition to Ford losing this election, Carter would lose reelection to Reagan in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]], Mondale would lose to President Reagan in [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]], and Dole would lose to President [[Bill Clinton]] in [[1996 United States presidential election|1996]]. 

=== National ===
{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Jimmy Carter]]| party=[[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]]| state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]| pv=40,831,881| pv_pct=50.08%| ev=297| vp_name=[[Walter Mondale]]| vp_state=[[Minnesota]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box vp rowspan| name=[[Gerald Ford]] (incumbent)| party=[[United States Republican Party|Republican]]| state=[[Michigan]]| pres_count=2| pv=39,148,634| pv_pct=48.02%| ev=240| vp_name=[[Bob Dole]]| vp_state=[[Kansas]]| vp_ev=241}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box subrow| name=[[Ronald Reagan]]| party=[[United States Republican Party|Republican]]| state=[[California]]| vp_name=[[Nelson Rockefeller]]| vp_state=New York| pv=—{{efn|name="Mike"|[[Mike Padden]], a Republican [[faithless elector]] from [[Washington (state)|Washington]], gave [[Ronald Reagan]] one electoral vote.}}| pv_pct=—{{efn|name="Mike"}}| ev=1}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Eugene McCarthy]]| party=[[Independent politician|None]]| state=[[Minnesota]]| pv=744,763| pv_pct=0.91%| ev=0| vp_name={{efn|name="Running"|The running mate of McCarthy varied from state to state.}}| vp_state={{efn|name="Running"}}}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Roger MacBride]]| party=[[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian]]| state=[[Virginia]]| pv=172,557| pv_pct=0.21%| ev=0| vp_name=[[David Bergland]]| vp_state=[[California]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Lester Maddox]]| party=[[American Independent Party|American Independent]]| state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]| pv=170,373| pv_pct=0.21%| ev=0| vp_name=[[William Dyke]]| vp_state=[[Wisconsin]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Thomas J. Anderson (author)|Thomas J. Anderson]]| party=[[American Party (1969)|American]]| state={{efn|Research has not yet determined whether Anderson's home state was [[United States presidential elections in Tennessee|Tennessee]] or [[United States presidential elections in Texas|Texas]] at the time of the 1976 election.}}| pv=158,724| pv_pct=0.19%| ev=0| vp_name=Rufus Shackelford| vp_state=[[Florida]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Peter Camejo]]| party=[[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers]]| state=[[California]]| pv=90,986| pv_pct=0.11%| ev=0|vp_name=[[Willie Mae Reid]]| vp_state=[[Illinois]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Gus Hall]]| party=[[Communist Party USA|Communist]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=58,709| pv_pct=0.07%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Jarvis Tyner]]| vp_state=[[New York (state)|New York]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Margaret Wright (American politician)|Margaret Wright]]| party=[[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's]]| state=[[California]]| pv=49,016| pv_pct=0.06%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Benjamin Spock]]| vp_state=[[Connecticut]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Lyndon LaRouche]]| party=[[U.S. Labor Party|U.S. Labor]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=40,018| pv_pct=0.05%| ev=0| vp_name=R. Wayne Evans| vp_state=[[Michigan]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv=75,119| pv_pct=0.09%}}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=81,540,780| ev=538| to_win=270}}

'''Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source 2| year=1976| as of=August 7, 2005}}

'''Source (Electoral Vote):''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1976| as of=August 7, 2005}}

{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Carter'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|50.08}}
{{bar percent|Ford|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|48.02}}
{{bar percent|McCarthy|{{party color|Independent (US)}}|0.91}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.57}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Carter'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|55.20}}
{{bar percent|Ford|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|44.61}}
{{bar percent|Reagan|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|0.19}}
}}
<gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px">
1976 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
1976 US Presidential election by congressional district.svg|Results by congressional district, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
</gallery>

=== States ===
Source:<ref name="1976 Presidential Election Data">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1976&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1976 Presidential General Election Data - National|access-date=March 18, 2013|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814021625/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1976&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

This election represents the second time that the winning candidate has received a majority of the electoral votes while the second-place candidate carried a majority of the states.  It had previously happened in [[1960 United States presidential election|the 1960 election]]. The "margin" column shows the difference between the two leading candidates, and the "swing" column shows the margin swing from the respective party's nominee from 1972 to 1976.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Legend
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|colspan=2| States/districts won by [[Gerald Ford|Ford]]/[[Bob Dole|Dole]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|colspan=2| States/districts won by [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]]/[[Walter Mondale|Mondale]]
|-
| † || At-large results (Maine used the Congressional District Method)
|}
<div style="overflow:auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Jimmy Carter<br>Democratic
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Gerald Ford<br>Republican
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Eugene McCarthy<br>Independent
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Roger MacBride<br>Libertarian
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Margin
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="1"| Margin<br />Swing{{Efn|Percentage point difference in margin from the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 election]]}}
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| State Total
|-
! style="text-align:center" | State
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | #
!
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 659,170
| 55.73
| 9
| 504,070
| 42.61
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 1,481
| 0.13
| —
| 155,100
| 13.11
| 60.00
| 1,182,850
| style="text-align:center;" | AL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Alaska|Alaska]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 44,058
| 35.65
| —
| 71,555
| 57.90
| 3
| —
| —
| —
| 6,785
| 5.49
| —
| −27,497
| −22.25
| 1.26
| 123,574
| style="text-align:center;" | AK
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Arizona|Arizona]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 295,602
| 39.80
| —
| 418,642
| 56.37
| 6
| 19,229
| 2.59
| —
| 7,647
| 1.03
| —
| −123,040
| −16.57
| 14.69
| 742,719
| style="text-align:center;" | AZ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 499,614
| 64.94
| 6
| 268,753
| 34.93
| —
| 647
| 0.08
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 230,861
| 30.01
| 68.12
| 769,396
| style="text-align:center;" | AR
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in California|California]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 45
| 3,742,284
| 47.57
| —
| 3,882,244
| 49.35
| 45
| 58,412
| 0.74
| —
| 56,388
| 0.72
| —
| −139,960
| −1.78
| 11.68
| 7,867,117
| style="text-align:center;" | CA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 460,353
| 42.58
| —
| 584,367
| 54.05
| 7
| 26,107
| 2.41
| —
| 5,330
| 0.49
| —
| −124,014
| −11.47
| 16.54
| 1,081,135
| style="text-align:center;" | CO
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 647,895
| 46.90
| —
| 719,261
| 52.06
| 8
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| −71,366
| −5.17
| 13.27
| 1,381,526
| style="text-align:center;" | CT
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 122,596
| 51.98
| 3
| 109,831
| 46.57
| —
| 2,437
| 1.03
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 12,765
| 5.41
| 25.82
| 235,834
| style="text-align:center;" | DE
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia|D.C.]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 137,818
| 81.63
| 3
| 27,873
| 16.51
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 274
| 0.16
| —
| 109,945
| 65.12
| 8.58
| 168,830
| style="text-align:center;" | DC
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 17
| 1,636,000
| 51.93
| 17
| 1,469,531
| 46.64
| —
| 23,643
| 0.75
| —
| 103
| 0.00
| —
| 166,469
| 5.28
| 49.40
| 3,150,631
| style="text-align:center;" | FL
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 979,409
| 66.74
| 12
| 483,743
| 32.96
| —
| 991
| 0.07
| —
| 175
| 0.01
| —
| 495,666
| 33.78
| 84.17
| 1,467,458
| style="text-align:center;" | GA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Hawaii|Hawaii]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 147,375
| 50.59
| 4
| 140,003
| 48.06
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 3,923
| 1.35
| —
| 7,372
| 2.53
| 27.49
| 291,301
| style="text-align:center;" | HI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Idaho|Idaho]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 126,549
| 37.12
| —
| 204,151
| 59.88
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| 3,558
| 1.04
| —
| −77,602
| −22.76
| 15.44
| 340,932
| style="text-align:center;" | ID
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 26
| 2,271,295
| 48.13
| —
| 2,364,269
| 50.10
| 26
| 55,939
| 1.19
| —
| 8,057
| 0.17
| —
| −92,974
| −1.97
| 16.55
| 4,718,833
| style="text-align:center;" | IL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 1,014,714
| 45.70
| —
| 1,183,958
| 53.32
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| −169,244
| −7.62
| 25.15
| 2,220,362
| style="text-align:center;" | IN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 619,931
| 48.46
| —
| 632,863
| 49.47
| 8
| 20,051
| 1.57
| —
| 1,452
| 0.11
| —
| −12,932
| −1.01
| 16.12
| 1,279,306
| style="text-align:center;" | IA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 430,421
| 44.94
| —
| 502,752
| 52.49
| 7
| 13,185
| 1.38
| —
| 3,242
| 0.34
| —
| −72,331
| −7.55
| 30.60
| 957,845
| style="text-align:center;" | KS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 615,717
| 52.75
| 9
| 531,852
| 45.57
| —
| 6,837
| 0.59
| —
| 814
| 0.07
| —
| 83,865
| 7.19
| 35.79
| 1,167,142
| style="text-align:center;" | KY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 661,365
| 51.73
| 10
| 587,446
| 45.95
| —
| 6,588
| 0.52
| —
| 3,325
| 0.26
| —
| 73,919
| 5.78
| 42.75
| 1,278,439
| style="text-align:center;" | LA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine †]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
| 232,279
| 48.07
| —
| 236,320
| 48.91
| 2
| 10,874
| 2.25
| —
| 10
| 0.00
| —
| −4,041
| −0.84
| 22.14
| 483,208
| style="text-align:center;" | ME
|- {{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" |[[1976 United States presidential election in Maine|''Maine-1'']]
| style="text-align:center;" | ''1''
| ''123,598''
| ''47.90''
| –
| ''127,019''
| ''49.22''
| ''1''
| ''6,025''
| ''2.33''
| –
| –
| –
| –
| ''−3,421''
| ''−1.32''
| —
| ''250,617''
| style="text-align:center;" | ''ME1''
|- {{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" |[[1976 United States presidential election in Maine|''Maine-2'']]
| style="text-align:center;" | ''1''
| ''108,681''
| ''48.27''
| –
| ''109,301''
| ''48.54''
| ''1''
| ''4,849''
| ''2.15''
| –
| –
| –
| –
| ''−620''
| ''−0.27''
| –
| ''217,982''
| style="text-align:center;" | ''ME2''
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 759,612
| 53.04
| 10
| 672,661
| 46.96
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 86,951
| 6.07
| 29.97
| 1,432,273
| style="text-align:center;" | MD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
| 1,429,475
| 56.11
| 14
| 1,030,276
| 40.44
| —
| 65,637
| 2.58
| —
| 135
| 0.01
| —
| 399,199
| 15.67
| 6.70
| 2,547,557
| style="text-align:center;" | MA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 21
| 1,696,714
| 46.44
| —
| 1,893,742
| 51.83
| 21
| 47,905
| 1.31
| —
| 5,406
| 0.15
| —
| −197,028
| −5.39
| 9.00
| 3,653,749
| style="text-align:center;" | MI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 1,070,440
| 54.90
| 10
| 819,395
| 42.02
| —
| 35,490
| 1.82
| —
| 3,529
| 0.18
| —
| 251,045
| 12.87
| 18.38
| 1,949,931
| style="text-align:center;" | MN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 381,309
| 49.56
| 7
| 366,846
| 47.68
| —
| 4,074
| 0.53
| —
| 2,787
| 0.36
| —
| 14,463
| 1.88
| 60.45
| 769,360
| style="text-align:center;" | MS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 998,387
| 51.10
| 12
| 927,443
| 47.47
| —
| 24,029
| 1.23
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 70,944
| 3.63
| 28.22
| 1,953,600
| style="text-align:center;" | MO
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Montana|Montana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 149,259
| 45.40
| —
| 173,703
| 52.84
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| −24,444
| −7.44
| 12.64
| 328,734
| style="text-align:center;" | MT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 233,692
| 38.46
| —
| 359,705
| 59.19
| 5
| 9,409
| 1.55
| —
| 1,482
| 0.24
| —
| −126,013
| −20.74
| 20.26
| 607,668
| style="text-align:center;" | NE
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 92,479
| 45.81
| —
| 101,273
| 50.17
| 3
| —
| —
| —
| 1,519
| 0.75
| —
| −8,794
| −4.36
| 23.00
| 201,876
| style="text-align:center;" | NV
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 147,635
| 43.47
| —
| 185,935
| 54.75
| 4
| 4,095
| 1.21
| —
| 936
| 0.28
| —
| −38,300
| −11.28
| 17.84
| 339,618
| style="text-align:center;" | NH
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 17
| 1,444,653
| 47.92
| —
| 1,509,688
| 50.08
| 17
| 32,717
| 1.09
| —
| 9,449
| 0.31
| —
| −65,035
| −2.16
| 22.64
| 3,014,472
| style="text-align:center;" | NJ
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in New Mexico|New Mexico]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 201,148
| 48.28
| —
| 211,419
| 50.75
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| 1,110
| 0.27
| —
| −10,271
| −2.47
| 22.02
| 416,590
| style="text-align:center;" | NM
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 41
| 3,389,558
| 51.95
| 41
| 3,100,791
| 47.52
| —
| 4,303
| 0.07
| —
| 12,197
| 0.19
| —
| 288,767
| 4.43
| 21.77
| 6,525,225
| style="text-align:center;" | NY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 927,365
| 55.27
| 13
| 741,960
| 44.22
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 2,219
| 0.13
| —
| 185,405
| 11.05
| 51.63
| 1,677,906
| style="text-align:center;" | NC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in North Dakota|North Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 136,078
| 45.80
| —
| 153,470
| 51.66
| 3
| 2,952
| 0.99
| —
| 256
| 0.09
| —
| −17,392
| −5.85
| 20.43
| 297,094
| style="text-align:center;" | ND
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 25
| 2,011,621
| 48.92
| 25
| 2,000,505
| 48.65
| —
| 58,258
| 1.42
| —
| 8,961
| 0.22
| —
| 11,116
| 0.27
| 21.87
| 4,111,873
| style="text-align:center;" | OH
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 532,442
| 48.75
| —
| 545,708
| 49.96
| 8
| 14,101
| 1.29
| —
| —
| —
| —
| −13,266
| −1.21
| 48.49
| 1,092,251
| style="text-align:center;" | OK
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 490,407
| 47.62
| —
| 492,120
| 47.78
| 6
| 40,207
| 3.90
| —
| —
| —
| —
| −1,713
| −0.17
| 9.95
| 1,029,876
| style="text-align:center;" | OR
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 27
| 2,328,677
| 50.40
| 27
| 2,205,604
| 47.73
| —
| 50,584
| 1.09
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 123,073
| 2.66
| 22.64
| 4,620,787
| style="text-align:center;" | PA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 227,636
| 55.36
| 4
| 181,249
| 44.08
| —
| 479
| 0.12
| —
| 715
| 0.17
| —
| 46,387
| 11.28
| 17.47
| 411,170
| style="text-align:center;" | RI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 450,825
| 56.17
| 8
| 346,140
| 43.13
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 104,685
| 13.04
| 55.70
| 802,594
| style="text-align:center;" | SC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in South Dakota|South Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 147,068
| 48.91
| —
| 151,505
| 50.39
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| 1,619
| 0.54
| —
| −4,437
| −1.48
| 7.15
| 300,678
| style="text-align:center;" | SD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 825,879
| 55.94
| 10
| 633,969
| 42.94
| —
| 5,004
| 0.34
| —
| 1,375
| 0.09
| —
| 191,910
| 13.00
| 50.95
| 1,476,346
| style="text-align:center;" | TN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 26
| 2,082,319
| 51.14
| 26
| 1,953,300
| 47.97
| —
| 20,118
| 0.49
| —
| 263
| 0.01
| —
| 129,019
| 3.17
| 36.13
| 4,071,884
| style="text-align:center;" | TX
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 182,110
| 33.65
| —
| 337,908
| 62.44
| 4
| 3,907
| 0.72
| —
| 2,438
| 0.45
| —
| −155,798
| −28.79
| 12.46
| 541,198
| style="text-align:center;" | UT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 81,044
| 43.14
| —
| 102,085
| 54.34
| 3
| 4,001
| 2.13
| —
| 4
| 0.00
| —
| −21,041
| −11.20
| 15.00
| 187,855
| style="text-align:center;" | VT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 813,896
| 47.96
| —
| 836,554
| 49.29
| 12
| —
| —
| —
| 4,648
| 0.27
| —
| −22,658
| −1.34
| 36.38
| 1,697,094
| style="text-align:center;" | VA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Washington (state)|Washington]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 717,323
| 46.11
| —
| 777,732
| 50.00
| 8
| 36,986
| 2.38
| —
| 5,042
| 0.32
| —
| −60,409
| −3.88
| 14.40
| 1,555,534
| style="text-align:center;" | WA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 435,914
| 58.07
| 6
| 314,760
| 41.93
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 121,154
| 16.14
| 43.36
| 750,674
| style="text-align:center;" | WV
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
| 1,040,232
| 49.50
| 11
| 1,004,987
| 47.83
| —
| 34,943
| 1.66
| —
| 3,814
| 0.18
| —
| 35,245
| 1.68
| 11.35
| 2,101,336
| style="text-align:center;" | WI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1976 United States presidential election in Wyoming|Wyoming]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 62,239
| 39.81
| —
| 92,717
| 59.30
| 3
| 624
| 0.40
| —
| 89
| 0.06
| —
| −30,478
| −19.49
| 19.05
| 156,343
| style="text-align:center;" | WY
|-
! TOTALS:
! 538
! 40,831,881
! 50.08
! 297
! 39,148,634
! 48.02
! 240
! 740,460
! 0.91
! —
! 172,557
! 0.21
! —
! 1,683,247
! 2.06
! 25.21
! 81,531,584
| style="text-align:center;" | US
|}
</div>
Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Ford won all four votes.<ref name="MaineDistrict">{{cite book |last1=Barone |first1=Michael |last2=Matthews |first2=Douglas|last3=Ujifusa |first3=Grant|title=The Almanac of American Politics, 1978 |date=1977 |publisher=[[E. P. Dutton]]}}</ref>

====States that flipped from Republican to Democratic====
*[[Alabama]]
*[[Arkansas]]
*[[Delaware]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Georgia (US state)|Georgia]]
*[[Hawaii]]
*[[Kentucky]]
*[[Louisiana]]
*[[Maryland]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Mississippi]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New York (state)|New York]]
*[[North Carolina]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Rhode Island]]
*[[South Carolina]]
*[[Tennessee]]
*[[Texas]]
*[[West Virginia]]
*[[Wisconsin]]

==== Close states ====
[[File:Joe Garagiola-Gerald Ford.jpg|right|thumb|[[Gerald Ford]] (right) watching election returns with [[Joe Garagiola, Sr.|Joe Garagiola]] on election night in 1976. Garagiola is reacting to television reports that Ford had just been projected as having lost Texas to Carter.]]
[[File:Carter Mondale button 1976.jpg|thumb|A campaign button from election eve where Carter and Mondale spent the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102042/http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#1976 evening in Flint Michigan at a rally] It is notable as only a handful of counties in Michigan went to Carter in 1976, and no surrounding counties where Carter held the rally went to him.]]
[[File:1976 campaign button a.JPG|thumb|A Ford-Dole campaign button.]]
States where margin of victory was under 1% (34 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Oregon, 0.16% (1,713 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Ohio, 0.27% (11,116 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Maine's 2nd Congressional District, 0.28% (620 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Maine, 0.84% (4,041 votes)'''</span>

States where margin of victory was 1% to 5% (265 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Iowa, 1.01% (12,932 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Oklahoma, 1.21% (13,266 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Virginia, 1.34% (22,658 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Maine's 1st Congressional District, 1.36% (3,421 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''South Dakota, 1.48% (4,437 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Wisconsin, 1.68% (35,245 votes)''' </span> (tipping point state)
# <span style="color:red;">'''California, 1.78% (139,960 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Mississippi, 1.88% (14,463 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Illinois, 1.97% (92,974 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''New Jersey, 2.16% (65,035 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''New Mexico, 2.47% (10,271 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Hawaii, 2.53% (7,372 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Pennsylvania, 2.66% (123,073 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Texas, 3.17% (129,019 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Missouri, 3.63% (70,944 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Washington, 3.88% (60,409 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Nevada, 4.36% (8,794 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New York, 4.43% (288,767 votes)'''</span>

States where margin of victory was 5% to 10% (105 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Connecticut, 5.16% (71,366 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Florida, 5.29% (166,469 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Michigan, 5.39% (197,028 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Delaware, 5.41% (12,765 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Louisiana, 5.78% (73,919 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''North Dakota, 5.86% (17,392 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Maryland, 6.08% (86,951 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Kentucky, 7.18% (83,865 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Montana, 7.44% (24,444 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Kansas, 7.55% (72,331 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Indiana, 7.62% (169,244 votes)'''</span>

==== Statistics ====
<ref name="1976 Presidential Election Data" />

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Banks County, Georgia]] 87.85%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Starr County, Texas]] 87.25%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Brantley County, Georgia]] 86.50%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Duval County, Texas]] 86.36%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Wilcox County, Georgia]] 86.15%</span>'''

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Jackson County, Kentucky]] 79.80%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Owsley County, Kentucky]] 77.03%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Hooker County, Nebraska]] 76.35%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Ottawa County, Michigan]] 74.12%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Arthur County, Nebraska]] 73.66%</span>'''

== Voter demographics ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! colspan="7" | Social groups and the presidential vote, 1976
|-
!
! {{party shading/Democratic}} |Carter
! {{party shading/Republican}} |Ford
! Size<ref group=A>"Size" = share of 1980 national total.</ref>
|-
! colspan=7|Party
|-
| Democratic
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 77
| style="text-align:right;" | 22
| style="text-align:right;" | 43
|-
| [[Independent (voter)|Independent]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 43
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 54
| style="text-align:right;" | 23
|-
| Republican
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 90
| style="text-align:right;" | 28
|-
! colspan=7|Ideology
|-
| [[Modern liberalism in the United States|Liberal]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 70
| style="text-align:right;" | 26
| style="text-align:right;" | 18
|-
| Moderate
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 51
|-
| [[Conservatism in the United States|Conservative]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 29
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 69
| style="text-align:right;" | 31
|-
! colspan=7|Ethnicity
|-
| [[African American|Black]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 82
| style="text-align:right;" | 16
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 74
| style="text-align:right;" | 24
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
|-
| [[White American|White]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 88
|-
! colspan=7|Gender
|-
| Female
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
|-
| Male
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 52
|-
! colspan=7|Religion
|-
| [[Protestantism|Protestant]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 44
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 55
| style="text-align:right;" | 46
|-
| White Protestant
| style="text-align:right;" | 42
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 57
| style="text-align:right;" | 41
|-
| [[Roman Catholicism in the United States|Catholic]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 54
| style="text-align:right;" | 44
| style="text-align:right;" | 25
|-
| [[American Jews|Jewish]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 64
| style="text-align:right;" | 34
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
|-
! colspan=7|[[Family income]]
|-
| Less than US$10,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 58
| style="text-align:right;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 13
|-
| $10,000–$14,999
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 55
| style="text-align:right;" | 43
| style="text-align:right;" | 15
|-
| $15,000–$24,999
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 29
|-
| $25,000–$50,000
| style="text-align:right;" | 36
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 62
| style="text-align:right;" | 24
|-
| Over $50,000
| style="text-align:right;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
|-
! colspan=7|Occupation
|-
| [[Professional]] or [[management|manager]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 41
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 57
| style="text-align:right;" | 39
|-
| [[Clerk (position)|Clerical]], [[sales]], [[white-collar worker|white-collar]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 46
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 53
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
|-
| [[Blue-collar worker|Blue-collar]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 57
| style="text-align:right;" | 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 17
|-
| [[Agriculture|Farmer]]
| style="text-align:right;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
|-
| [[unemployment|Unemployed]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 65
| style="text-align:right;" | 34
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
|-
! colspan=7|[[Education in the United States|Education]]
|-
| Less than [[secondary education in the United States|high school]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 58
| style="text-align:right;" | 39
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
|-
| High school graduate
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 54
| style="text-align:right;" | 44
| style="text-align:right;" | 28
|-
| Some [[higher education in the United States|college]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 49
| style="text-align:right;" | 28
|-
| College graduate
| style="text-align:right;" | 43
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 55
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
|-
! colspan=7|[[trade union|Union]] membership
|-
| Labor union household
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 59
| style="text-align:right;" | 39
| style="text-align:right;" | 28
|-
| No member of household in union
| style="text-align:right;" | 43
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 55
| style="text-align:right;" | 62
|-
! colspan=7|Age
|-
| 18–21 years old
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 49
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
|-
| 22–29 years old
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 46
| style="text-align:right;" | 17
|-
| 30–44 years old
| style="text-align:right; background:#d0c0d7;" | 49
| style="text-align:right; background:#d0c0d7;" | 49
| style="text-align:right;" | 31
|-
| 45–59 years old
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 23
|-
| 60 years or older
| style="text-align:right;" | 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 52
| style="text-align:right;" | 18
|-
! colspan=7|Region
|-
| [[Eastern United States|East]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 47
| style="text-align:right;" | 25
|-
| [[Southern United States|South]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 54
| style="text-align:right;" | 45
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
|-
| [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
|-
| [[Western United States|West]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 46
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 19
|-
! colspan=7|Community size
|-
| City over 250,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 58
| style="text-align:right;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 18
|-
| Suburb/small city
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 47
| style="text-align:right;" | 53
|-
| Rural/town
| style="text-align:right;" | 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;" | 51
| style="text-align:right;" | 29
|}
'''Source:''' [[CBS News]]/''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' interviews with 12,782 voters as they left the polls, as reported in ''The New York Times'', November 9, 1980, p.&nbsp;28, and in further analysis. The 1976 data are from CBS News interviews.
{{reflist|group=A}}

== See also ==
* [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter]]
* [[History of the United States (1964–1980)]]
* [[1976 United States House of Representatives elections]]
* [[1976 United States Senate elections]]
* [[1976 United States gubernatorial elections]]
* [[Inauguration of Jimmy Carter]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Chester, Edward W  ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977) [https://archive.org/details/guidetopolitical0000ches online]
* Johnstone, Andrew, and Andrew Priest, eds.  ''US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy: Candidates, Campaigns, and Global Politics from FDR to Bill Clinton'' (2017) pp 229–249. [https://muse.jhu.edu/book/50578/ online]
* {{cite book |first=Malcolm D. |last=MacDougall |author-link=Mal MacDougall |year=1977 |title=We Almost Made It |location=New York |publisher=Crown |isbn=0-517-52933-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/wealmostmadeit00macd |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |isbn=978-0807170793|title=Jimmy Carter and the Birth of the Marathon Media Campaign|last1=Roessner|first1=Amber|date=2020|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|location=Baton Rouge, LA}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shirley |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Shirley |title=Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All |year=2005 |publisher=Thomas Nelson |location=Nashville, Tennessee|isbn=0-7852-6049-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/reagansrevolutio0000shir |url-access=registration }}
* Williams, Daniel K. ''The Election of the Evangelical: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and the Presidential Contest of 1976'' (University Press of Kansas, 2020) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55955 online review]

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102042/http://www.mit.edu/~mi22295/elections.html#1976 The Election Wall's 1976 Election Video Page]
* [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1976.htm 1976 popular vote by counties]
* [http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1976&fips=0&f=1&off=0&elect=0 1976 popular vote by states (with bar graphs)]
* [http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1976 Campaign commercials from the 1976 election]
* [http://www.countingthevotes.com/1976/ Election of 1976 in Counting the Votes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102729/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1976/ |date=March 4, 2016 }}

{{1976 United States presidential election}}
{{State results of the 1976 U.S. presidential election}}
{{1976 United States elections}}
{{USPresidentialElections}}
{{Jimmy Carter}}
{{Walter Mondale}}
{{Gerald Ford}}
{{Ronald Reagan}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1976 United States presidential election| ]]
[[Category:Presidency of Jimmy Carter|1976]]
[[Category:Jimmy Carter]]
[[Category:Gerald Ford]]
[[Category:Walter Mondale]]
[[Category:Bob Dole]]
[[Category:November 1976 in the United States]]