U.S. presidential election, 1980

Presidential Candidate	Electoral Vote	Popular Vote	Pct	Party	Running Mate (Electoral Votes)
Ronald Reagan (W)	489	43,901,812	50.9%	Republican	George H. W. Bush (489)
Jimmy Carter	49	35,483,820	41.1%	Democrat	Walter F. Mondale (49)
John Anderson	0	5,720,437	6.6%	Independent	Patrick Lucey (0)
Ed Clark	0	921,299	1.1%	Libertarian Party	David Koch (0)
Barry Commoner	0	234,294	0.3%	Citizens Party	La Donna Harris (0)
Other
Totals	538	86,515,221	100.0%
Other elections: 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992
Source: U.S. Office of the Federal Register

Table of contents

1 Primaries 1.1 Republican Party 1.2 Democratic Party 2 General election

Primaries

Republican Party

Contenders:

• John Anderson - U.S. Representative from Illinois
• Howard Baker - U.S. Senator from Tennessee
• George H. W. Bush - former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and chairman of the Republican National Committee
• John Connally - former Texas Governor
• Philip Crane - U.S. Representative from Illinois
• Robert Dole - U.S. Senator from Kansas
• Ronald Reagan - former California Governor

Bush won the Iowa caucus, and Reagan won big in the New Hampshire primary, causing most of the other candidates to drop out of the race. Anderson dropped out of the primary, running an independent bid. Reagan went on to win most of the subsequent primaries and caucuses, securing the Republican Party nomination. There was wide speculation that Reagan would ask Gerald Ford to be his running mate, but instead Reagan chose Bush.

Democratic Party

Contenders:

• Jimmy Carter - incumbent President
• Ted Kennedy - Senator from Massachusetts

At the Democratic Convention Carter succeeded in stopping a challenge by Ted Kennedy and secured his party's renomination for re-election.

General election

Reagan ran a campaign of upbeat optimism, "A New Morning in America", together with implications of a more militarily aggressive foreign policy. This contrasted with the "malaise" ridden attitude of the late Carter administration and its apparent impotence in the face of the Iran hostage crisis. Towards the end of the campaign, as Carter's poll numbers continued to slip and Reagan's rose, Carter responded with more militaristic rhetoric and announced plans to bring back the military draft; this succeeded only in alienating some of Carter's supporters.

The election was held on November 4, 1980.

Independent candidate John Anderson received 5,720,437 popular votes for President, appealing to centerist voters who considered Carter too liberal and Reagan too conservative. Libertarian Party candidate Ed Clark received 921,299 popular votes, and in the state of Alaska finished ahead of all candidates other than Reagan.

Citizens Party candidate Barry Commoner received 234,294 popular votes. His running mate, La Donna Harris, was the second known Native American to run for national office, after Charles Curtis in 1928.

See also: President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1980