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1976 United States presidential election in Vermont

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1976 United States presidential election in Vermont

← 1972 November 2, 1976 1980 →
 
Nominee Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Party Republican Democratic
Alliance Independent Vermonters[a]
Home state Michigan Georgia
Running mate Bob Dole Walter Mondale
Electoral vote 3 0
Popular vote 102,085 81,044
Percentage 54.34% 43.14%


President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

The 1976 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Vermont voted for incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford of Michigan and his running mate Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, defeating Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Vermont was the only state in the nation in 1976 in which every county or county-equivalent voted for Ford, despite Vermont only being Ford's 8th strongest state in the nation in terms of percentage of the vote.

Ford took 54.34% of the vote to Carter's 43.14%, a victory margin of 11.20%. Anti-war former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, running as an Independent presidential candidate, came in a distant third, with 2.13%. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which a Democrat has won the presidency without carrying Vermont.

To date, this is the last time that the towns of Norwich, Ripton, Roxbury, and Warren voted Republican.

Primaries

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Presidential primaries were held in the state on March 2, 1976, for the Democratic, Republican and Liberty Union parties.

Democratic primary

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Jimmy Carter won the state's non-binding primary against three other candidates. Delegates were later pledged at the party's state convention on May 22.[2]

Results of the 1976 Vermont Democratic presidential primary[3]
Candidate Vote
# %
Jimmy Carter 16,335 46.34%
Sargent Shriver 10,699 30.35%
Fred R. Harris 4,893 13.88%
Ellen McCormack 3,324 9.43%
Total valid votes 35,251 100%

Republican primary

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Gerald Ford won the primary by a large margin and earned a majority of the state's delegates.

Results of the 1976 Vermont Republican presidential primary[4]
Candidate Vote Pledged

delegates

# %
Gerald Ford (incumbent) 27,014 84.67% 17
Ronald Reagan 4,892 15.33% 3
Total valid votes 31,906 100% 20

Liberty Union primary

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Results of the 1976 Liberty Union presidential primary[5]
Candidate Vote
# %
Margaret Wright 965 100%
Total valid votes 965 100%

Results

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1976 United States presidential election in Vermont[6]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Gerald Ford (incumbent) 102,085 54.34% 3
Democratic/Independent Vermonters Jimmy Carter 81,044 43.14% 0
McCarthy '76 Eugene McCarthy 4,001 2.13% 0
Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 430 0.23% 0
U.S. Labor Lyndon LaRouche 196 0.10% 0
No party Write-ins 99 0.05% 0
Totals 187,855 100.00% 3
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 56%/66%

Results by county

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County Gerald Ford[7]
Republican
Jimmy Carter[7]
Democratic
Eugene McCarthy[7]
“McCarthy ‘76”
Peter Camejo[7]
Socialist Workers
Various candidates[7]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Addison 5,726 56.52% 4,164 41.10% 195 1.92% 33 0.33% 13 0.13% 1,562 15.42% 10,131
Bennington 6,712 54.19% 5,443 43.94% 195 1.57% 16 0.13% 21 0.17% 1,269 10.25% 12,387
Caledonia 5,488 59.63% 3,511 38.15% 171 1.86% 15 0.16% 18 0.20% 1,977 21.48% 9,203
Chittenden 22,013 53.23% 17,992 43.51% 1,154 2.79% 144 0.35% 53 0.13% 4,021 9.72% 41,356
Essex 1,161 53.04% 1,002 45.77% 19 0.87% 4 0.18% 3 0.14% 159 7.27% 2,189
Franklin 6,190 51.64% 5,610 46.80% 150 1.25% 17 0.14% 19 0.16% 580 4.84% 11,986
Grand Isle 1,004 52.59% 866 45.36% 34 1.78% 3 0.16% 2 0.10% 138 7.23% 1,909
Lamoille 3,535 61.56% 2,016 35.11% 173 3.01% 9 0.16% 9 0.16% 1,519 26.45% 5,742
Orange 4,768 58.61% 3,171 38.98% 168 2.07% 19 0.23% 9 0.11% 1,597 19.63% 8,135
Orleans 4,075 52.30% 3,561 45.71% 124 1.59% 7 0.09% 24 0.31% 514 6.59% 7,791
Rutland 11,565 53.00% 9,868 45.23% 324 1.48% 28 0.13% 34 0.16% 1,697 7.77% 21,819
Washington 10,919 53.90% 8,764 43.26% 460 2.27% 80 0.39% 36 0.18% 2,155 10.64% 20,259
Windham 7,928 52.05% 6,794 44.60% 456 2.99% 36 0.24% 18 0.12% 1,134 7.45% 15,232
Windsor 11,001 55.80% 8,282 42.01% 378 1.92% 19 0.10% 36 0.18% 2,719 13.79% 19,716
Totals 102,085 54.34% 81,044 43.14% 4,001 2.13% 430 0.23% 295 0.16% 21,041 11.20% 187,855

Analysis

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Vermont historically was a bastion of liberal Northeastern Republicanism, and by 1976 it had gone Republican in every presidential election since the founding of the Republican Party, except in the Democratic landslide of 1964, when the GOP had nominated staunch conservative Barry Goldwater. Gerald Ford, a moderate Northern Republican from Michigan, was easily able to continue the Republican tradition in Vermont, carrying the state comfortably and sweeping every county in the state against Southerner Jimmy Carter. This was the first election since 1892 when Grand Isle County had backed a losing candidate.[8] In addition, this was also the most recent presidential election until 2020 when sparsely populated Essex County did not vote for/back the overall winning candidate.

As the Republican Party would lurch to the right with Ronald Reagan four years later in 1980, Vermont would prove to be the only state in the nation where the moderate Ford would outperform the conservative Reagan. Ford won the state by a larger margin and won more counties than Reagan, reflecting the process of realignment going on at the time both within the party and within the state.

1976 was the last time that a losing Republican candidate would carry the state of Vermont, and the last time that the state would vote Republican in a close election. It was also the last election in which Vermont was more Republican than the nation as a whole, with Ford winning the state by over 11 points despite losing the national race by 2, making Vermont 13% more Republican than the national average in the 1976 election. Vermont would vote more Democratic than the nation in every election that has followed beginning in 1980.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1976 Presidential Election Results – Vermont". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "Vermont Democratic Delegation Is Split". The New York Times. May 23, 1976. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  3. ^ "VT Elections Database » 1976 President Democratic Primary". VT Elections Database. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  4. ^ "VT Elections Database » 1976 President Republican Primary". VT Elections Database. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  5. ^ "VT Elections Database » 1976 President Liberty Union Primary". VT Elections Database. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  6. ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results - Vermont". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e Our Campaigns; VT US President Race, November 02, 1976
  8. ^ The Political Graveyard; Grand Isle County, Vermont

Notes

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  1. ^ Carter was a fusion ticket of the Democrats and Independent Vermonters.[1]