1980 United States presidential election in Florida
In the 1980 United States presidential election, Florida was won comfortably by the Republican candidate, former California governor Ronald Reagan, over Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. Reagan won by a wide 17.02% margin, a particularly strong performance in this conservative leaning state.[1] John B. Anderson, a liberal Republican congressman from Illinois who ran as an independent candidate, had Florida give him his strongest performance in a southern state by winning 5.14% of the popular vote. Florida, along with Virginia, were one of only two southern states to give Anderson over 5% of the vote. Although Carter lost Florida, he is the last Democrat to win a majority of counties in the state's northern region. Baker County, Bradford County, Columbia County, Liberty County, Lafayette County, Jackson County, Suwannee County, and Union County would never support a Democrat for president after this election.[2]
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Elections in Florida | ||||||||||||||
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North Miami
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Results
Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote | Electoral vote |
Running mate | |||
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Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
Ronald Reagan | Republican | California | 2,046,951 | 55.52% | 17 | George Bush | Texas | 17 |
Jimmy Carter | Democrat | Georgia | 1,419,475 | 38.50% | 0 | Walter Mondale | Minnesota | 0 |
John B. Anderson | Independent | Illinois | 189,692 | 5.14% | 0 | None | — | 0 |
Ed Clark | Libertarian | California | 30,524 | 0.83% | 0 | David Koch | New York | 0 |
David McReynolds | Socialist | New York | 212 | 0.01% | 0 | Diane Drufenbrock | Wisconsin | 0 |
Gus Hall | Communist | New York | 123 | 0.00% | 0 | Angela Davis | California | 0 |
Clifton DeBerry | Socialist Workers | California | 41 | 0.00% | 0 | Matilde Zimmermann | — | 0 |
Deirdre Griswold | Workers World | New York | 8 | 0.00% | 0 | Larry Holmes | Illinois | 0 |
Total | 3,687,026 | 100% | 17 | 17 | ||||
Needed to win | 270 | 270 |
Results by county
Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican |
James Earl Carter Democratic |
John Bayard Anderson Independent |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
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County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # |
Alachua | 19,804 | 38.56% | 26,849 | 52.27% | 4,178 | 8.13% | 533 | 1.04% | -7,045 | -13.72% | 51,364 |
Baker | 2,283 | 45.88% | 2,611 | 52.47% | 56 | 1.13% | 26 | 0.52% | -328 | -6.59% | 4,976 |
Bay | 20,948 | 60.61% | 12,389 | 35.85% | 740 | 2.14% | 484 | 1.40% | 8,559 | 24.76% | 34,561 |
Bradford | 2,778 | 44.50% | 3,347 | 53.61% | 90 | 1.44% | 28 | 0.45% | -569 | -9.11% | 6,243 |
Brevard | 69,460 | 60.07% | 39,007 | 33.73% | 5,866 | 5.07% | 1,303 | 1.13% | 30,453 | 26.34% | 115,636 |
Broward | 229,693 | 55.95% | 146,323 | 35.64% | 31,554 | 7.69% | 2,991 | 0.73% | 83,370 | 20.31% | 410,561 |
Calhoun | 1,504 | 38.72% | 2,300 | 59.22% | 52 | 1.34% | 28 | 0.72% | -796 | -20.49% | 3,884 |
Charlotte | 20,486 | 64.62% | 9,769 | 30.82% | 1,210 | 3.82% | 235 | 0.74% | 10,717 | 33.81% | 31,700 |
Citrus | 14,286 | 58.48% | 9,162 | 37.50% | 787 | 3.22% | 195 | 0.80% | 5,124 | 20.97% | 24,430 |
Clay | 15,643 | 64.85% | 7,630 | 31.63% | 692 | 2.87% | 157 | 0.65% | 8,013 | 33.22% | 24,122 |
Collier | 23,900 | 71.10% | 7,739 | 23.02% | 1,678 | 4.99% | 296 | 0.88% | 16,161 | 48.08% | 33,613 |
Columbia | 5,643 | 48.45% | 5,680 | 48.76% | 248 | 2.13% | 77 | 0.66% | -37 | -0.32% | 11,648 |
Dade | 265,888 | 50.65% | 210,868 | 40.17% | 44,799 | 8.53% | 3,350 | 0.64% | 55,020 | 10.48% | 524,905 |
Desoto | 3,356 | 53.40% | 2,713 | 43.17% | 155 | 2.47% | 61 | 0.97% | 643 | 10.23% | 6,285 |
Dixie | 1,101 | 34.70% | 2,010 | 63.35% | 45 | 1.42% | 17 | 0.54% | -909 | -28.65% | 3,173 |
Duval | 98,664 | 50.45% | 90,466 | 46.26% | 5,184 | 2.65% | 1,240 | 0.63% | 8,198 | 4.19% | 195,554 |
Escambia | 51,794 | 58.49% | 33,513 | 37.84% | 2,634 | 2.97% | 618 | 0.70% | 18,281 | 20.64% | 88,559 |
Flagler | 2,895 | 51.70% | 2,503 | 44.70% | 154 | 2.75% | 48 | 0.86% | 392 | 7.00% | 5,600 |
Franklin | 1,508 | 44.59% | 1,775 | 52.48% | 54 | 1.60% | 45 | 1.33% | -267 | -7.89% | 3,382 |
Gadsden | 3,718 | 30.41% | 8,222 | 67.26% | 201 | 1.64% | 84 | 0.69% | -4,504 | -36.84% | 12,225 |
Gilchrist | 1,093 | 39.13% | 1,627 | 58.25% | 56 | 2.01% | 17 | 0.61% | -534 | -19.12% | 2,793 |
Glades | 1,098 | 45.96% | 1,203 | 50.36% | 61 | 2.55% | 27 | 1.13% | -105 | -4.40% | 2,389 |
Gulf | 2,127 | 43.18% | 2,700 | 54.81% | 61 | 1.24% | 38 | 0.77% | -573 | -11.63% | 4,926 |
Hamilton | 1,301 | 39.66% | 1,923 | 58.63% | 40 | 1.22% | 16 | 0.49% | -622 | -18.96% | 3,280 |
Hardee | 2,603 | 48.82% | 2,599 | 48.74% | 83 | 1.56% | 47 | 0.88% | 4 | 0.08% | 5,332 |
Hendry | 2,703 | 49.93% | 2,543 | 46.97% | 131 | 2.42% | 37 | 0.68% | 160 | 2.96% | 5,414 |
Hernando | 12,115 | 54.99% | 8,858 | 40.21% | 852 | 3.87% | 207 | 0.94% | 3,257 | 14.78% | 22,032 |
Highlands | 11,925 | 61.95% | 6,688 | 34.74% | 531 | 2.76% | 105 | 0.55% | 5,237 | 27.21% | 19,249 |
Hillsborough | 106,160 | 51.71% | 88,271 | 42.99% | 8,965 | 4.37% | 1,918 | 0.93% | 17,889 | 8.71% | 205,314 |
Holmes | 3,221 | 52.41% | 2,767 | 45.02% | 69 | 1.12% | 89 | 1.45% | 454 | 7.39% | 6,146 |
Indian River | 15,568 | 62.98% | 7,759 | 31.39% | 1,185 | 4.79% | 205 | 0.83% | 7,809 | 31.59% | 24,717 |
Jackson | 6,348 | 44.76% | 7,567 | 53.36% | 159 | 1.12% | 107 | 0.75% | -1,219 | -8.60% | 14,181 |
Jefferson | 1,623 | 39.19% | 2,367 | 57.16% | 96 | 2.32% | 55 | 1.33% | -744 | -17.97% | 4,141 |
Lafayette | 795 | 42.67% | 1,034 | 55.50% | 22 | 1.18% | 12 | 0.64% | -239 | -12.83% | 1,863 |
Lake | 26,798 | 64.53% | 13,128 | 31.61% | 1,244 | 3.00% | 358 | 0.86% | 13,670 | 32.92% | 41,528 |
Lee | 61,033 | 64.51% | 28,125 | 29.73% | 4,229 | 4.47% | 1,226 | 1.30% | 32,908 | 34.78% | 94,613 |
Leon | 24,919 | 43.47% | 28,450 | 49.63% | 3,193 | 5.57% | 764 | 1.33% | -3,531 | -6.16% | 57,326 |
Levy | 3,210 | 42.26% | 4,170 | 54.90% | 175 | 2.30% | 41 | 0.54% | -960 | -12.64% | 7,596 |
Liberty | 899 | 43.81% | 1,114 | 54.29% | 25 | 1.22% | 14 | 0.68% | -215 | -10.48% | 2,052 |
Madison | 2,280 | 41.39% | 3,134 | 56.89% | 65 | 1.18% | 30 | 0.54% | -854 | -15.50% | 5,509 |
Manatee | 40,535 | 61.81% | 21,679 | 33.06% | 2,928 | 4.47% | 434 | 0.66% | 18,856 | 28.75% | 65,576 |
Marion | 23,743 | 58.49% | 15,400 | 37.94% | 1,187 | 2.92% | 262 | 0.65% | 8,343 | 20.55% | 40,592 |
Martin | 20,521 | 68.05% | 8,087 | 26.82% | 1,321 | 4.38% | 225 | 0.75% | 12,434 | 41.23% | 30,154 |
Monroe | 11,644 | 53.40% | 7,920 | 36.32% | 1,932 | 8.86% | 310 | 1.42% | 3,724 | 17.08% | 21,806 |
Nassau | 5,440 | 50.60% | 5,074 | 47.20% | 183 | 1.70% | 54 | 0.50% | 366 | 3.40% | 10,751 |
Okaloosa | 28,072 | 69.62% | 10,845 | 26.90% | 1,116 | 2.77% | 290 | 0.72% | 17,227 | 42.72% | 40,323 |
Okeechobee | 2,783 | 44.81% | 3,228 | 51.98% | 156 | 2.51% | 43 | 0.69% | -445 | -7.17% | 6,210 |
Orange | 87,454 | 61.06% | 48,767 | 34.05% | 5,403 | 3.77% | 1,595 | 1.11% | 38,687 | 27.01% | 143,219 |
Osceola | 10,863 | 59.67% | 6,603 | 36.27% | 564 | 3.10% | 175 | 0.96% | 4,260 | 23.40% | 18,205 |
Palm Beach | 143,639 | 56.79% | 91,991 | 36.37% | 15,193 | 6.01% | 2,107 | 0.83% | 51,648 | 20.42% | 252,930 |
Pasco | 50,120 | 56.67% | 34,054 | 38.50% | 3,569 | 4.04% | 699 | 0.79% | 16,066 | 18.17% | 88,442 |
Pinellas | 185,728 | 53.83% | 138,428 | 40.12% | 17,839 | 5.17% | 3,008 | 0.87% | 47,300 | 13.71% | 345,003 |
Polk | 59,651 | 56.11% | 43,327 | 40.75% | 2,627 | 2.47% | 710 | 0.67% | 16,324 | 15.35% | 106,315 |
Putnam | 8,273 | 46.67% | 8,906 | 50.24% | 414 | 2.34% | 134 | 0.76% | -633 | -3.57% | 17,727 |
St. Johns | 11,234 | 59.67% | 6,898 | 36.64% | 554 | 2.94% | 140 | 0.74% | 4,336 | 23.03% | 18,826 |
St. Lucie | 18,126 | 60.76% | 10,347 | 34.69% | 1,113 | 3.73% | 244 | 0.82% | 7,779 | 26.08% | 29,830 |
Santa Rosa | 13,802 | 63.93% | 6,964 | 32.26% | 606 | 2.81% | 218 | 1.01% | 6,838 | 31.67% | 21,590 |
Sarasota | 68,065 | 68.57% | 25,621 | 25.81% | 4,796 | 4.83% | 783 | 0.79% | 42,444 | 42.76% | 99,265 |
Seminole | 39,989 | 66.16% | 17,443 | 28.86% | 2,459 | 4.07% | 548 | 0.91% | 22,546 | 37.30% | 60,439 |
Sumter | 3,671 | 44.41% | 4,380 | 52.98% | 141 | 1.71% | 75 | 0.91% | -709 | -8.58% | 8,267 |
Suwannee | 3,899 | 46.22% | 4,345 | 51.51% | 135 | 1.60% | 57 | 0.68% | -446 | -5.29% | 8,436 |
Taylor | 2,776 | 47.31% | 2,963 | 50.49% | 78 | 1.33% | 51 | 0.87% | -187 | -3.19% | 5,868 |
Union | 1,123 | 46.35% | 1,237 | 51.05% | 45 | 1.86% | 18 | 0.74% | -114 | -4.70% | 2,423 |
Volusia | 52,663 | 51.69% | 44,513 | 43.69% | 3,310 | 3.25% | 1,396 | 1.37% | 8,150 | 8.00% | 101,882 |
Wakulla | 2,021 | 47.26% | 2,082 | 48.69% | 112 | 2.62% | 61 | 1.43% | -61 | -1.43% | 4,276 |
Walton | 4,694 | 50.28% | 4,360 | 46.70% | 199 | 2.13% | 83 | 0.89% | 334 | 3.58% | 9,336 |
Washington | 3,251 | 49.92% | 3,110 | 47.75% | 93 | 1.43% | 59 | 0.91% | 141 | 2.16% | 6,513 |
Totals | 2,046,951 | 55.52% | 1,419,475 | 38.50% | 189,692 | 5.14% | 30,908 | 0.84% | 627,476 | 17.02% | 3,687,026 |
References
- Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1980 Presidential General Election Results - Florida
- Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016