1976 United States presidential election — 48th quadrennial U.S. presidential election
Jimmy Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976, ending Republican control of the White House in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
Key Facts
- Winner
- Jimmy Carter (Democrat)
- Electoral votes (Carter)
- 297 electoral votes
- Popular vote (Carter)
- 50.1 %
- Popular vote (Ford)
- 48.0 %
- Last incumbent defeated
- First since 1932
- Key swing states
- Ohio and Wisconsin (36 combined electoral votes)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Gerald Ford inherited the presidency after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974. Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon, combined with a weak economy and the fall of South Vietnam, severely damaged Republican electoral prospects and left Ford trailing Carter by wide margins in early polling.
On November 2, 1976, Democratic nominees Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale narrowly defeated Republican incumbents Gerald Ford and Bob Dole. Carter secured 297 Electoral College votes and 50.1% of the popular vote, carrying the Deep South, key Midwestern states, and several Northeastern states.
Carter became the first Democrat to win the presidency since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and the first to carry the Deep South since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. Ford became the first president to lose a national election as both vice president and president, marking a decisive electoral rebuke of post-Watergate Republicanism.
Political Outcome
Democratic ticket of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale won with 297 Electoral College votes and 50.1% of the popular vote, defeating incumbent President Gerald Ford.
Republican Party (Gerald Ford, President)
Democratic Party (Jimmy Carter, President-elect)