1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota
← 1976 November 4, 1980 1984 →
Turnout72.14%[1] Decrease
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan John B. Anderson
Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Anderson Coalition [a]
Home state Georgia California Illinois
Running mate Walter Mondale George H. W. Bush Patrick Lucey
Electoral vote 10 0 0
Popular vote 954,174 873,241 174,990
Percentage 46.50% 42.56% 8.53%
County Results
President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

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The 1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 1980 as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-President.

After having leaned strongly Republican until the 1930s, Minnesota had become one of the most Democratic states in the country during the 1970s: in 1972 it was George McGovern’s second-best state in his disastrous landslide loss and more than one-seventh of the 130 counties he won nationally lay within the state. In 1974, Governor Wendell Anderson won every county in the state in a landslide gubernatorial triumph during the aftermath of Watergate.

Late in February, Carter won the state’s Democratic Party caucus over Ted Kennedy,[3] and defeated 1976 challenger Reagan did the same for the Republicans.[4] At the beginning of the campaign in July, Reagan aimed to focus on the problem of Carter and his lack of leadership in the industrial strongholds of the Midwest like Minnesota,[5] although by August polls were suggesting Carter was strong in the state despite John Anderson’s third-party candidacy.[6] However, by the middle of October Minnesota was once again rated as a “tossup”.[7]

Minnesota was won by the Democratic Party candidate, incumbent President Jimmy Carter, won the state over former California Governor Ronald Reagan by 80,933 votes, giving him one of just seven victories in the election (other than Minnesota, Carter also carried Maryland, West Virginia, Hawaii, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and his home state of Georgia). Carter became the first Democrat to win Minnesota consecutively since Franklin D. Roosevelt who won the state every year from 1932 to 1944. Despite Carter’s win in Minnesota, Reagan became the first Republican to carry Mahnomen County since Warren G. Harding in 1920.[8]

Nationally, Reagan won the election with 489 electoral votes and 50.75% of the popular vote. Minnesota was the only state not to back Reagan in either of his presidential campaigns, casting its electoral votes in favor of Walter Mondale (a Minnesota native) in 1984.

Results

1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota[9]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic (DFL) Jimmy Carter (incumbent) 954,174 46.50% 10
Republican Ronald Reagan 873,241 42.56% 0
Anderson Coalition John B. Anderson 174,990 8.53% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 31,592 1.54% 0
Citizens Barry Commoner 8,407 0.41% 0
American No Candidate 6,139 0.30% 0
Communist Gus Hall 1,184 0.03% 0
Socialist Workers Clifton DeBerry 711 0.03% 0
Workers World Deirdre Griswold 698 0.03% 0
Socialist David McReynolds 536 0.03% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 281 0.01% 0
Invalid or blank votes —
Totals 2,079,451 100.00% 10
Voter turnout 75% —

Results by county

County James Earl Carter[10]
DFL 		Ronald Wilson Reagan[10]
Republican 		John Bayard Anderson[11]
Anderson Coalition 		Edward E. Clark[11]
Libertarian 		Various candidates[11]
Other parties 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Aitkin 3,677 47.94% 3,396 44.28% 380 4.95% 163 2.13% 54 0.70% 281 3.66% 7,670
Anoka 45,532 51.83% 33,100 37.68% 6,828 7.77% 1,631 1.86% 752 0.86% 12,432 14.15% 87,843
Becker 5,221 39.75% 6,848 52.14% 866 6.59% 151 1.15% 48 0.37% -1,627 -12.39% 13,134
Beltrami 7,432 47.83% 6,481 41.71% 1,254 8.07% 253 1.63% 117 0.75% 951 6.12% 15,537
Benton 5,272 44.75% 5,513 46.79% 646 5.48% 213 1.81% 138 1.17% -241 -2.05% 11,782
Big Stone 1,814 44.34% 1,950 47.67% 249 6.09% 56 1.37% 22 0.54% -136 -3.32% 4,091
Blue Earth 10,930 41.82% 11,966 45.78% 2,698 10.32% 327 1.25% 217 0.83% -1,036 -3.96% 26,138
Brown 4,915 34.80% 8,051 57.01% 842 5.96% 256 1.81% 58 0.41% -3,136 -22.21% 14,122
Carlton 8,822 59.48% 4,760 32.09% 883 5.95% 279 1.88% 89 0.60% 4,062 27.38% 14,833
Carver 6,621 35.83% 9,909 53.62% 1,496 8.09% 333 1.80% 122 0.66% -3,288 -17.79% 18,481
Cass 4,717 41.07% 6,119 53.28% 434 3.78% 178 1.55% 37 0.32% -1,402 -12.21% 11,485
Chippewa 3,164 39.08% 4,252 52.51% 532 6.57% 117 1.44% 32 0.40% -1,088 -13.44% 8,097
Chisago 6,240 49.83% 5,017 40.06% 939 7.50% 264 2.11% 63 0.50% 1,223 9.77% 12,523
Clay 8,940 39.72% 10,447 46.41% 2,773 12.32% 221 0.98% 127 0.56% -1,507 -6.70% 22,508
Clearwater 1,955 47.26% 1,919 46.39% 185 4.47% 60 1.45% 18 0.44% 36 0.87% 4,137
Cook 871 38.44% 1,147 50.62% 182 8.03% 48 2.12% 18 0.79% -276 -12.18% 2,266
Cottonwood 2,958 37.70% 4,258 54.26% 535 6.82% 77 0.98% 19 0.24% -1,300 -16.57% 7,847
Crow Wing 9,323 43.01% 10,844 50.03% 1,046 4.83% 367 1.69% 97 0.45% -1,521 -7.02% 21,677
Dakota 43,433 45.84% 40,708 42.96% 8,588 9.06% 1,526 1.61% 500 0.53% 2,725 2.88% 94,755
Dodge 2,698 38.00% 3,900 54.93% 367 5.17% 92 1.30% 43 0.61% -1,202 -16.93% 7,100
Douglas 5,530 38.28% 7,778 53.85% 844 5.84% 226 1.56% 67 0.46% -2,248 -15.56% 14,445
Faribault 3,620 34.54% 6,206 59.21% 525 5.01% 105 1.00% 25 0.24% -2,586 -24.67% 10,481
Fillmore 4,010 35.45% 6,452 57.04% 650 5.75% 157 1.39% 43 0.38% -2,442 -21.59% 11,312
Freeborn 8,212 46.17% 8,475 47.65% 808 4.54% 225 1.27% 65 0.37% -263 -1.48% 17,785
Goodhue 8,566 42.31% 9,329 46.07% 1,964 9.70% 288 1.42% 101 0.50% -763 -3.77% 20,248
Grant 1,822 42.65% 2,054 48.08% 333 7.79% 54 1.26% 9 0.21% -232 -5.43% 4,272
Hennepin 239,592 47.41% 194,898 38.57% 56,390 11.16% 6,647 1.32% 7,845 1.55% 44,694 8.84% 505,372
Houston 3,218 33.94% 5,582 58.88% 477 5.03% 149 1.57% 55 0.58% -2,364 -24.93% 9,481
Hubbard 2,840 37.80% 4,172 55.53% 365 4.86% 105 1.40% 31 0.41% -1,332 -17.73% 7,513
Isanti 5,457 50.49% 4,480 41.45% 641 5.93% 179 1.66% 52 0.48% 977 9.04% 10,809
Itasca 12,134 54.59% 8,368 37.65% 1,080 4.86% 487 2.19% 159 0.72% 3,766 16.94% 22,228
Jackson 3,062 43.35% 3,391 48.00% 463 6.55% 123 1.74% 25 0.35% -329 -4.66% 7,064
Kanabec 2,654 48.18% 2,500 45.39% 269 4.88% 68 1.23% 17 0.31% 154 2.80% 5,508
Kandiyohi 8,038 44.42% 8,480 46.86% 1,244 6.87% 276 1.53% 57 0.32% -442 -2.44% 18,095
Kittson 1,407 39.33% 1,875 52.42% 243 6.79% 36 1.01% 16 0.45% -468 -13.08% 3,577
Koochiching 4,181 50.68% 3,433 41.61% 496 6.01% 110 1.33% 30 0.36% 748 9.07% 8,250
Lac qui Parle 2,457 41.62% 2,981 50.50% 334 5.66% 112 1.90% 19 0.32% -524 -8.88% 5,903
Lake 3,864 55.75% 2,414 34.83% 443 6.39% 160 2.31% 50 0.72% 1,450 20.92% 6,931
Lake of the Woods 763 38.15% 1,052 52.60% 128 6.40% 44 2.20% 13 0.65% -289 -14.45% 2,000
Le Sueur 5,161 44.40% 5,478 47.12% 731 6.29% 187 1.61% 68 0.58% -317 -2.73% 11,625
Lincoln 1,640 39.80% 2,122 51.49% 295 7.16% 48 1.16% 16 0.39% -482 -11.70% 4,121
Lyon 5,626 43.58% 5,852 45.33% 1,129 8.74% 237 1.84% 67 0.52% -226 -1.75% 12,911
Mahnomen 1,175 44.59% 1,275 48.39% 153 5.81% 23 0.87% 9 0.34% -100 -3.80% 2,635
Marshall 2,636 38.91% 3,638 53.70% 397 5.86% 80 1.18% 24 0.35% -1,002 -14.79% 6,775
Martin 4,301 34.98% 7,057 57.40% 751 6.11% 148 1.20% 37 0.30% -2,756 -22.42% 12,294
McLeod 4,987 35.53% 7,819 55.71% 852 6.07% 308 2.19% 69 0.49% -2,832 -20.18% 14,035
Meeker 4,238 41.98% 5,032 49.85% 668 6.62% 124 1.23% 33 0.33% -794 -7.87% 10,095
Mille Lacs 4,443 49.30% 3,860 42.83% 550 6.10% 126 1.40% 34 0.38% 583 6.47% 9,013
Morrison 6,930 49.44% 6,296 44.91% 559 3.99% 174 1.24% 59 0.42% 634 4.52% 14,018
Mower 10,538 51.85% 7,908 38.91% 1,465 7.21% 281 1.38% 133 0.65% 2,630 12.94% 20,325
Murray 2,714 43.87% 3,004 48.56% 359 5.80% 88 1.42% 21 0.34% -290 -4.69% 6,186
Nicollet 5,400 39.64% 6,436 47.25% 1,519 11.15% 201 1.48% 66 0.48% -1,036 -7.61% 13,622
Nobles 4,703 45.37% 4,706 45.40% 657 6.34% 178 1.72% 121 1.17% -3 -0.03% 10,365
Norman 2,253 46.17% 2,192 44.92% 369 7.56% 46 0.94% 20 0.41% 61 1.25% 4,880
Olmsted 13,983 34.18% 22,704 55.50% 3,638 8.89% 438 1.07% 148 0.36% -8,721 -21.32% 40,911
Otter Tail 9,108 34.85% 15,091 57.74% 1,538 5.88% 331 1.27% 70 0.27% -5,983 -22.89% 26,138
Pennington 3,101 41.81% 3,715 50.09% 465 6.27% 69 0.93% 66 0.89% -614 -8.28% 7,416
Pine 5,121 52.86% 3,899 40.25% 467 4.82% 152 1.57% 48 0.50% 1,222 12.61% 9,687
Pipestone 2,392 38.31% 3,207 51.37% 561 8.99% 72 1.15% 11 0.18% -815 -13.05% 6,243
Polk 7,151 40.53% 9,036 51.21% 1,207 6.84% 163 0.92% 87 0.49% -1,885 -10.68% 17,644
Pope 2,527 41.07% 3,159 51.34% 354 5.75% 75 1.22% 38 0.62% -632 -10.27% 6,153
Ramsey 124,774 53.61% 78,860 33.88% 23,222 9.98% 3,650 1.57% 2,238 0.96% 45,914 19.73% 232,744
Red Lake 1,318 48.69% 1,223 45.18% 116 4.29% 31 1.15% 19 0.70% 95 3.51% 2,707
Redwood 2,952 30.44% 5,993 61.79% 548 5.65% 151 1.56% 55 0.57% -3,041 -31.35% 9,699
Renville 4,058 38.85% 5,544 53.08% 653 6.25% 155 1.48% 34 0.33% -1,486 -14.23% 10,444
Rice 9,531 46.10% 8,168 39.51% 2,414 11.68% 350 1.69% 210 1.02% 1,363 6.59% 20,673
Rock 2,089 36.57% 3,164 55.38% 397 6.95% 54 0.95% 9 0.16% -1,075 -18.82% 5,713
Roseau 2,616 41.41% 3,358 53.16% 259 4.10% 55 0.87% 29 0.46% -742 -11.75% 6,317
Saint Louis 69,403 60.52% 33,407 29.13% 8,719 7.60% 2,202 1.92% 943 0.82% 35,996 31.39% 114,674
Scott 9,115 45.49% 9,018 45.00% 1,475 7.36% 356 1.78% 74 0.37% 97 0.48% 20,038
Sherburne 6,229 45.73% 6,035 44.31% 985 7.23% 300 2.20% 71 0.52% 194 1.42% 13,620
Sibley 2,521 32.99% 4,460 58.36% 509 6.66% 121 1.58% 31 0.41% -1,939 -25.37% 7,642
Stearns 21,862 42.43% 24,888 48.31% 3,555 6.90% 861 1.67% 356 0.69% -3,026 -5.87% 51,522
Steele 5,095 35.68% 7,805 54.66% 1,087 7.61% 240 1.68% 52 0.36% -2,710 -18.98% 14,279
Stevens 2,559 39.52% 3,283 50.69% 524 8.09% 74 1.14% 36 0.56% -724 -11.18% 6,476
Swift 3,245 47.56% 2,943 43.13% 511 7.49% 102 1.49% 22 0.32% 302 4.43% 6,823
Todd 4,975 41.08% 6,451 53.27% 451 3.72% 194 1.60% 40 0.33% -1,476 -12.19% 12,111
Traverse 1,258 41.52% 1,574 51.95% 159 5.25% 28 0.92% 11 0.36% -316 -10.43% 3,030
Wabasha 3,712 39.27% 4,986 52.75% 549 5.81% 165 1.75% 41 0.43% -1,274 -13.48% 9,453
Wadena 2,635 37.10% 4,089 57.57% 265 3.73% 97 1.37% 17 0.24% -1,454 -20.47% 7,103
Waseca 3,535 38.01% 4,801 51.62% 777 8.35% 163 1.75% 25 0.27% -1,266 -13.61% 9,301
Washington 25,634 46.69% 22,718 41.38% 5,050 9.20% 1,183 2.15% 317 0.58% 2,916 5.31% 54,902
Watonwan 2,442 37.07% 3,629 55.09% 415 6.30% 80 1.21% 21 0.32% -1,187 -18.02% 6,587
Wilkin 1,496 36.43% 2,224 54.15% 318 7.74% 58 1.41% 11 0.27% -728 -17.73% 4,107
Winona 9,814 42.85% 10,332 45.11% 1,780 7.77% 573 2.50% 404 1.76% -518 -2.26% 22,903
Wright 12,383 45.88% 12,293 45.54% 1,692 6.27% 526 1.95% 97 0.36% 90 0.33% 26,991
Yellow Medicine 2,833 38.18% 4,004 53.95% 456 6.14% 111 1.50% 17 0.23% -1,171 -15.78% 7,421
Totals 954,174 46.51% 873,241 42.56% 174,990 8.53% 31,592 1.54% 17,675 0.86% 80,933 3.94% 2,051,672

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

  1. ^ "Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "1980 Presidential Election Results – Minnesota". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  3. ^ ‘Carter Beats Kennedy In Minnesota Voting; Reagan Takes a Lead: Carter Runaway Was Expected’; The New York Times, February 27, 1980, p. A18
  4. ^ ‘Carter and Reagan Win in Minnesota’; The Boston Globe, February 27, 1980, p. 1
  5. ^ ‘Reagan to Attack “Failed Presidency”: Reagan to Make Carter the Issue in Democratic Strongholds’; The Washington Post, 19 July 1980, p. A1
  6. ^ Cattani, richard J.; ‘Carter, Reagan hustle to bolster bids in key states’; The Christian Science Monitor; September 22, 1980
  7. ^ ‘Campaign Report: Associated Press-NBC Poll Says Reagan Leads Carter’; The New York Times, October 14, 1980, p. D22
  8. ^ Menendez, Albert J. The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 228-232 ISBN 0786422173
  9. ^ "1980 Presidential Election Results – Minnesota". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  10. ^ a b Géoelections; 1980 Presidential Election Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
  11. ^ a b c Géoelections; Popular Vote for John B. Anderson (.xlsx file for €15)

Notes

  1. ^ Anderson’s party was listed on this state’s ballot as “Anderson Coalition”.[2]
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