1980 Electoral Map
Click or tap a state to change it. Maine award 2 electoral votes to the statewide winner and 1 to the winner of each congressional district — the district boxes are separate.
1980 Election Results
Ronald Reagan defeated President Jimmy Carter, winning 489 electoral votes to 49 and carrying 44 states. Reagan took just over half the popular vote, while Carter received 41% and independent John Anderson nearly 7%.
Carter’s 1976 coalition collapsed across both of its main regions. Reagan flipped Texas, Florida and nearly all the rest of Carter’s Southern base, leaving Georgia as the only former Confederate state in the Democratic column. He also took New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin, turning Carter’s narrow industrial-state victories into Republican gains.
The electoral landslide concealed some close contests. Reagan won Massachusetts by fewer than 4,000 votes and Arkansas by fewer than 6,000. But Carter’s losses were too widespread for either state to have changed the outcome. He held just six states and the District of Columbia.
High inflation, the Iran hostage crisis and a bruising primary challenge from Ted Kennedy weakened Carter. Reagan’s optimistic campaign and reassuring debate performance made him an acceptable alternative to voters dissatisfied with the incumbent. Republicans also won control of the Senate, giving the conservative victory consequences well beyond the presidential map.