1976 United States presidential election in Georgia

The 1976 United States presidential election in Georgia was held on November 2, 1976. The Democratic candidate, former Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter, overwhelmingly won his home state with 66.74% of the vote ahead of the Republican Party candidate, incumbent President Gerald Ford, giving him the state’s 12 electoral votes. Carter carried all of Georgia’s 159 counties and 10 congressional districts by wide margins.[1]

1976 United States presidential election in Georgia

November 2, 1976

Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Party Democratic Republican Home state Georgia Michigan Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole Electoral vote 12 0 Popular vote 979,409 483,743 Percentage 66.74% 32.96%

County Results Carter   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%

President before election Gerald Ford Republican Elected President Jimmy Carter Democratic

This is the only presidential election in Georgia history where the Democratic candidate carried all of Georgia’s counties, despite the state's long Democratic streak, as Republicans never carried the state until 1964, compared to this beginning of just a 2-election streak.[2] This represented a complete flip from four years earlier when President Richard Nixon also carried every county in Georgia. Carter’s percentage total in the popular vote, however, was less than that of previous Democratic victors in the state like Woodrow Wilson, James M. Cox, John W. Davis, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Nevertheless, none of these candidates carried every county in the state, as Carter remains the solitary Democrat to carry historically pro-Union, East Tennessee-oriented[3] Fannin County since 1912, and indeed the only Democrat to obtain a majority of the vote there since William Jennings Bryan in 1900.[4] The following counties have also never voted for a Democrat since: Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Fayette, Columbia, Lee and Lowndes.[5] The two suburban Atlanta counties of Cobb and Gwinnett would not vote for a Democrat again until Hillary Clinton won them in 2016.

Results

United States presidential election in Georgia, 1976
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democrat	James Carter	979,409	66.74%	12
	Republican	Gerald Ford (incumbent)	483,743	32.96%	0
	Write-in	Thomas J. Anderson	1,168	0.08%	0
	Write-in	Lester Maddox	1,071	0.07%	0
	Write-in	Eugene McCarthy	991	0.07%	0
	Write-in	Write-ins (scattered)	847	0.06%	0
	Write-in	Roger MacBride	175	0.01%	0
	Write-in	Peter Camejo	43	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Gus Hall	3	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Ernest Miller	3	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Julius Levin	2	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Frank Zeidler	2	0.00%	0
	Write-in	Lyndon LaRouche	1	0.00%	0
Totals			1,467,458	100.00%	12
Voter turnout			42%		—

Results by county

County	James Earl Carter Democratic		Gerald Rudolph Ford Republican		Total votes cast[lower-alpha 1]
	#	%	#	%
Appling	3,585	78.86%	961	21.14%	4,546
Atkinson	1,560	81.80%	347	18.20%	1,907
Bacon	2,395	80.13%	594	19.87%	2,989
Baker	1,162	79.21%	305	20.79%	1,467
Baldwin	4,674	56.41%	3,612	43.59%	8,286
Banks	2,387	87.85%	330	12.15%	2,717
Barrow	4,756	77.71%	1,364	22.29%	6,120
Bartow	8,166	81.32%	1,876	18.68%	10,042
Ben Hill	2,449	75.05%	814	24.95%	3,263
Berrien	3,394	85.95%	555	14.05%	3,949
Bibb	31,902	71.34%	12,819	28.66%	44,721
Bleckley	2,605	72.83%	972	27.17%	3,577
Brantley	2,294	86.50%	358	13.50%	2,652
Brooks	2,653	70.65%	1,102	29.35%	3,755
Bryan	2,045	72.88%	761	27.12%	2,806
Bulloch	5,199	62.23%	3,156	37.77%	8,355
Burke	3,014	65.82%	1,565	34.18%	4,579
Butts	2,898	77.97%	819	22.03%	3,717
Calhoun	1,394	76.17%	436	23.83%	1,830
Camden	2,962	74.85%	995	25.15%	3,957
Candler	1,388	68.24%	646	31.76%	2,034
Carroll	10,050	73.41%	3,640	26.59%	13,690
Catoosa	6,020	61.31%	3,799	38.69%	9,819
Charlton	1,750	79.47%	452	20.53%	2,202
Chatham	32,075	57.04%	24,160	42.96%	56,235
Chattahoochee	506	73.98%	178	26.02%	684
Chattooga	4,686	81.17%	1,087	18.83%	5,773
Cherokee	6,539	71.48%	2,609	28.52%	9,148
Clarke	11,342	63.18%	6,610	36.82%	17,952
Clay	947	76.25%	295	23.75%	1,242
Clayton	21,432	62.42%	12,905	37.58%	34,337
Clinch	1,414	78.69%	383	21.31%	1,797
Cobb	45,002	56.73%	34,324	43.27%	79,326
Coffee	4,601	76.45%	1,417	23.55%	6,018
Colquitt	6,928	76.06%	2,181	23.94%	9,109
Columbia	4,674	57.73%	3,423	42.27%	8,097
Cook	2,882	81.14%	670	18.86%	3,552
Coweta	6,195	67.05%	3,044	32.95%	9,239
Crawford	1,842	82.97%	378	17.03%	2,220
Crisp	3,747	73.83%	1,328	26.17%	5,075
Dade	2,263	61.98%	1,388	38.02%	3,651
Dawson	1,384	78.91%	370	21.09%	1,754
Decatur	3,736	59.91%	2,500	40.09%	6,236
DeKalb	86,872	56.40%	67,160	43.60%	154,032
Dodge	5,267	86.13%	848	13.87%	6,115
Dooly	2,441	78.84%	655	21.16%	3,096
Dougherty	11,461	55.11%	9,337	44.89%	20,798
Douglas	7,805	66.35%	3,959	33.65%	11,764
Early	2,405	67.52%	1,157	32.48%	3,562
Echols	585	84.05%	111	15.95%	696
Effingham	2,906	63.73%	1,654	36.27%	4,560
Elbert	4,730	83.11%	961	16.89%	5,691
Emanuel	4,603	75.51%	1,493	24.49%	6,096
Evans	1,631	68.62%	746	31.38%	2,377
Fannin	3,402	56.25%	2,646	43.75%	6,048
Fayette	3,718	56.72%	2,837	43.28%	6,555
Floyd	15,151	66.27%	7,713	33.73%	22,864
Forsyth	4,693	76.48%	1,443	23.52%	6,136
Franklin	4,192	85.92%	687	14.08%	4,879
Fulton	129,849	67.84%	61,552	32.16%	191,401
Gilmer	2,499	66.46%	1,261	33.54%	3,760
Glascock	704	65.49%	371	34.51%	1,075
Glynn	9,459	63.65%	5,403	36.35%	14,862
Gordon	6,052	78.09%	1,698	21.91%	7,750
Grady	3,758	75.66%	1,209	24.34%	4,967
Greene	2,534	79.54%	652	20.46%	3,186
Gwinnett	20,838	59.97%	13,912	40.03%	34,750
Habersham	5,120	79.56%	1,315	20.44%	6,435
Hall	12,804	71.54%	5,093	28.46%	17,897
Hancock	2,117	76.48%	651	23.52%	2,768
Haralson	4,550	77.76%	1,301	22.24%	5,851
Harris	2,861	64.95%	1,544	35.05%	4,405
Hart	4,605	84.26%	860	15.74%	5,465
Heard	1,593	78.63%	433	21.37%	2,026
Henry	5,717	68.56%	2,622	31.44%	8,339
Houston	13,164	70.90%	5,404	29.10%	18,568
Irwin	2,012	78.20%	561	21.80%	2,573
Jackson	5,931	82.72%	1,239	17.28%	7,170
Jasper	1,852	72.88%	689	27.12%	2,541
Jeff Davis	2,405	79.45%	622	20.55%	3,027
Jefferson	3,115	70.41%	1,309	29.59%	4,424
Jenkins	1,820	76.37%	563	23.63%	2,383
Johnson	2,210	76.00%	698	24.00%	2,908
Jones	3,471	72.49%	1,317	27.51%	4,788
Lamar	2,785	76.68%	847	23.32%	3,632
Lanier	1,269	85.98%	207	14.02%	1,476
Laurens	8,617	72.42%	3,281	27.58%	11,898
Lee	1,727	60.87%	1,110	39.13%	2,837
Liberty	3,328	77.27%	979	22.73%	4,307
Lincoln	1,583	73.32%	576	26.68%	2,159
Long	1,243	84.85%	222	15.15%	1,465
Lowndes	8,830	66.18%	4,512	33.82%	13,342
Lumpkin	2,301	80.79%	547	19.21%	2,848
McDuffie	3,024	64.09%	1,694	35.91%	4,718
McIntosh	1,978	78.71%	535	21.29%	2,513
Macon	3,013	82.53%	638	17.47%	3,651
Madison	3,367	75.12%	1,115	24.88%	4,482
Marion	1,314	81.87%	291	18.13%	1,605
Meriwether	4,830	76.91%	1,450	23.09%	6,280
Miller	1,536	76.34%	476	23.66%	2,012
Mitchell	4,495	74.09%	1,572	25.91%	6,067
Monroe	2,962	73.32%	1,078	26.68%	4,040
Montgomery	1,610	72.00%	626	28.00%	2,236
Morgan	2,274	71.55%	904	28.45%	3,178
Murray	3,511	79.80%	889	20.20%	4,400
Muscogee	24,092	64.09%	13,496	35.91%	37,588
Newton	6,294	74.65%	2,137	25.35%	8,431
Oconee	2,228	65.30%	1,184	34.70%	3,412
Oglethorpe	1,854	69.57%	811	30.43%	2,665
Paulding	5,420	79.10%	1,432	20.90%	6,852
Peach	3,989	77.43%	1,163	22.57%	5,152
Pickens	2,571	72.55%	973	27.45%	3,544
Pierce	2,628	82.85%	544	17.15%	3,172
Pike	1,903	71.03%	776	28.97%	2,679
Polk	6,115	75.88%	1,944	24.12%	8,059
Pulaski	2,318	82.70%	485	17.30%	2,803
Putnam	2,040	70.96%	835	29.04%	2,875
Quitman	677	68.38%	313	31.62%	990
Rabun	2,398	80.23%	591	19.77%	2,989
Randolph	2,186	74.53%	747	25.47%	2,933
Richmond	24,042	57.33%	17,893	42.67%	41,935
Rockdale	4,640	60.94%	2,974	39.06%	7,614
Schley	783	74.50%	268	25.50%	1,051
Screven	2,168	64.83%	1,176	35.17%	3,344
Seminole	2,074	75.28%	681	24.72%	2,755
Spalding	7,593	67.00%	3,739	33.00%	11,332
Stephens	5,560	80.58%	1,340	19.42%	6,900
Stewart	1,632	79.03%	433	20.97%	2,065
Sumter	5,328	72.19%	2,053	27.81%	7,381
Talbot	1,634	78.07%	459	21.93%	2,093
Taliaferro	748	76.02%	236	23.98%	984
Tattnall	3,556	72.84%	1,326	27.16%	4,882
Taylor	1,962	79.56%	504	20.44%	2,466
Telfair	3,534	84.73%	637	15.27%	4,171
Terrell	2,348	66.78%	1,168	33.22%	3,516
Thomas	6,147	65.32%	3,263	34.68%	9,410
Tift	5,185	70.57%	2,162	29.43%	7,347
Toombs	4,047	65.56%	2,126	34.44%	6,173
Towns	1,786	60.32%	1,175	39.68%	2,961
Treutlen	1,567	77.12%	465	22.88%	2,032
Troup	7,699	63.52%	4,422	36.48%	12,121
Turner	2,265	84.48%	416	15.52%	2,681
Twiggs	2,515	83.06%	513	16.94%	3,028
Union	2,795	70.78%	1,154	29.22%	3,949
Upson	4,219	59.29%	2,897	40.71%	7,116
Walker	8,007	62.49%	4,807	37.51%	12,814
Walton	5,402	76.20%	1,687	23.80%	7,089
Ware	7,719	74.36%	2,661	25.64%	10,380
Warren	1,335	64.96%	720	35.04%	2,055
Washington	3,865	69.99%	1,657	30.01%	5,522
Wayne	4,489	74.97%	1,499	25.03%	5,988
Webster	622	79.03%	165	20.97%	787
Wheeler	1,378	80.02%	344	19.98%	1,722
White	2,125	77.27%	625	22.73%	2,750
Whitfield	10,475	69.96%	4,498	30.04%	14,973
Wilcox	2,153	86.15%	346	13.85%	2,499
Wilkes	2,461	69.76%	1,067	30.24%	3,528
Wilkinson	2,652	76.01%	837	23.99%	3,489
Worth	2,790	70.70%	1,156	29.30%	3,946
Totals	979,409	66.94%	483,743	33.06%	1,463,152

References

1. "1976 Presidential General Election Results - Georgia". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
2. Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, p. 425 ISBN 0313257957
3. Mosher, John; ‘Weber, Jennifer L.: Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North’ (book review); History, 35(3) (2007), pp. 303-304
4. Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, p. 165
5. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Notes

1. County counts exclude a total of 4,306 write-in votes as these were not tabulated by county.