Electoral history of Ronald Reagan

This is the electoral history of Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a Republican, served as the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989) and earlier as the 33rd governor of California (1967–1975). At 69 years, 349 days of age at the time of his first inauguration, Reagan was the oldest person to assume the presidency in the nation's history, until Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 at the age of 70 years, 220 days. In 1984, Reagan won re-election at the age of 73 years, 274 days, and was the oldest person to win a US presidential election until Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election at the age of 77 years, 349 days.

On the campaign trail, President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan wave from limousine while touring Dixon, Illinois. February 1984.

Having been elected twice to the presidency,^[1] Reagan reshaped the Republican Party, led the modern conservative movement, and altered the political dynamic of the United States.^[2] His 1980 presidential campaign stressed some of his fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy,^[3] less government interference in people's lives,^[4] states' rights,^[5] and a strong national defense.^[6]

During his presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the Cold War.^[7] Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale,^[8][9] reinvigorate the American economy and reduce American reliance upon government.^[7]

1966 California gubernatorial election

Main articles: 1966 California gubernatorial election and Governorship of Ronald Reagan

 

Results of the 1966 gubernatorial election

California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for choosing" speech,^[10] he announced in late 1965, his campaign for Governor of California in 1966.^[11][12] He won the Republican primary with nearly 65% of the vote, not including write-in votes, defeating four other candidates, including former San Francisco mayor George Christopher.^[13] Although he did not run in the Democratic primary, Reagan received 27,422 votes as a write-in candidate.^[13]: 2 Not including write-in candidates, 2,570,396 total votes were cast in the Democratic primary,^[13]: 6 so Reagan's votes would have comprised about 1% of the total Democratic primary votes. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bums back to work", and, in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishment student protests at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley".^[14] Ronald Reagan accomplished in 1966 what US Senator William F. Knowland in 1958 and former vice president Richard M. Nixon in 1962 had tried: he was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in as the 33rd governor of California on January 2, 1967.^[10][15]

Republican primary

1966 Republican primary election results^{[13]: 6 [a]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	1,417,623	64.85
	Republican	George Christopher	675,683	30.91
	Republican	William Penn Patrick	40,887	1.87
	Republican	Warren N. Dorn	44,812	2.04
	Republican	Joseph R. Maxwell	7,052	0.32
Total votes			2,186,057	100

General election

1966 California gubernatorial election^[13][16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	3,742,913	57.55
	Democratic	Pat Brown (incumbent)	2,749,174	42.27
	Other	Various candidates	11,358	0.18
Total votes			6,503,445	100.00
Turnout			{{{votes}}}	77.98
	Republican gain from Democratic

1968 presidential election

Main article: 1968 United States presidential election

Shortly after the beginning of his term as California governor, Reagan tested the presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut into Nixon's Southern support^[18] and be a compromise candidate^[19] if neither Nixon nor second-place Nelson Rockefeller received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the Republican convention. However, by the time of the convention Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.^[18]

Republican presidential primaries

 

Gold denotes a state won by Richard Nixon. Blue denotes a state won by Nelson Rockefeller. Green denotes a state won by James A. Rhodes. Purple denotes a state won by Ronald Reagan. Grey denotes a state that did not hold a primary.

1968 Republican Party presidential primaries^[20]^[21]^[22]
Party		Candidate	Aggregate votes	%	CW
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	1,696,632	37.93	10
		Richard Nixon	1,679,443	37.54	10^[b]
		James A. Rhodes	614,492	13.74	10
		Nelson Rockefeller	164,340	3.67	10
		Unpledged	140,639	3.14	00

1968 Republican National Convention

1968 Republican presidential nomination^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes: (Initial) Final^[c]	%
	Republican	Richard Nixon	(692) 1238	92.95
		Nelson Rockefeller	(277)0093	6.98
		Ronald Reagan	(182)0002	0.07
		James Rhodes	(55)0000	—
		George Romney	(50)0000	—
		Clifford Case	(22)0000	—
		Frank Carlson	(20)0000	—
		Others	(35)0000	—

1970 California gubernatorial election

Main articles: 1970 California gubernatorial election and Governorship of Ronald Reagan

 

Results

Despite an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968,^[24] Reagan was unopposed in the Republican primary^[25] and was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse Unruh.^[15] He did not seek a third term in the following election cycle.

Republican primary

1970 Republican gubernatorial primary^[25]: 7
* denotes incumbent

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan*	1,906,568	100
Total votes			1,906,568	100.00

General election

1970 California gubernatorial election^[25][26][27]
* denotes incumbent

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan (incumbent)	3,439,664	52.83
	Democratic	Jesse M. Unruh	2,938,607	45.14
	Peace and Freedom	Ricardo Romo	65,954	1.01
	American Independent	William K. Shearer	65,847	1.01
Total votes			6,510,072	100.00
Turnout			{{{votes}}}	74.78
	Republican hold

1976 presidential election

Main article: 1976 United States presidential election

 

Republican presidential primary results:
Red indicates a win by Reagan, blue a win by Ford.

 

Roll call vote for the presidential nomination by state delegations

 

1976 electoral college vote.

In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union which became key components of his political base, while President Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.^[28] Though Reagan lost the Republican nomination, he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a faithless elector in the November election from the state of Washington,^[29] which Ford had won over Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. Ford ultimately lost the general election to Carter.

Republican primaries

1976 Republican Party presidential primaries^[30] * denotes incumbent
Party		Candidate	Aggregate votes	%	CW
	Republican	Gerald Ford*	5,529,899	53.29	27^[d]
		Ronald Reagan	4,760,222	45.88	240
		Others	44,626	0.43	00
		Unpledged	34,717	0.34	00

Republican National Convention

1976 Republican presidential nomination^[31] * denotes incumbent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford*	1,187	52.57
		Ronald Reagan	1,070	47.39
		Elliot Richardson	1	0.04

1976 Republican vice presidential nomination^[32]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Dole	1,921	85.04
		Abstentions	103	4.56
		Jesse Helms	103	4.56
		Ronald Reagan	27	1.20
		Phil Crane	23	1.02
		John Grady	19	0.84
		Louis Frey	9	0.40
		Anne Armstrong	6	0.27
		Howard Baker	6	0.27
		William F. Buckley	4	0.18
		John Connally	4	0.18
		David C. Treen	4	0.18
		Others	30	1.30

Electoral College vote

1976 United States presidential election results Electoral College vote^[33] * denotes incumbent
Party		Presidential candidate	Vice presidential Candidate	EV
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	Walter Mondale	2970
	Republican	Gerald Ford*	Bob Dole	2400
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	Bob Dole	1^[e]
Total votes:				538
Votes necessary:				270

1980 presidential election

Main article: 1980 United States presidential election

 

1980 electoral college vote

Reagan ran against Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter and independent candidate John B. Anderson.^[1][34] He was praised by supporters for running a campaign of upbeat optimism.^[35] Aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation, Reagan won the election in a massive landslide.^[36][37] The 1980 presidential election marked the beginning of the Reagan Era, and signified a conservative realignment in national politics.^[38][39] At 69 years old, Reagan was the oldest person ever to become president of the U.S. until 2017, when President Donald Trump was sworn in at the age of 70.^[36]

Republican presidential primaries

 

Republican presidential primary results: Red indicates a win by Reagan, blue a win by Bush.

1980 Republican Party presidential primaries^[40]
Party		Candidate	Aggregate votes	%	CW
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	7,709,793	59.79	440
		George H. W. Bush	3,070,033	23.81	7^[f]
		John B. Anderson	1,572,174	12.19	00
		Howard Baker	181,153	1.41	00
		Phil Crane	97,793	0.76	00
		John Connally	82,625	0.64	00
		Unpledged	68,155	0.53	00

Republican National Convention

1980 Republican presidential nomination^[41]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	1,939	97.44
		John B. Anderson	37	1.86
		George H. W. Bush	13	0.65
		Anne Armstrong	1	0.05

Presidential election

1980 United States presidential election^[34]^[42] * denotes incumbent
Party		Presidential candidate	Vice presidential Candidate	PV  (%)	EV  (%)
	Republican	Ronald Reagan	George H. W. Bush	43,903,230  (50.75)	489  (90.9)
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter*	Walter Mondale*	35,480,115  (41.01)	49   (9.1)
	Independent	John B. Anderson	Patrick Lucey	5,719,850   (6.61)	0
	Libertarian	Ed Clark	David Koch	921,128   (1.06)	0
	Citizens	Barry Commoner	LaDonna Harris	233,052   (0.21)	0
	Others			252,303   (0.29)	0
Total votes:				86,509,678	538
Votes necessary:					270

1984 presidential election

Main article: 1984 United States presidential election

 

1984 electoral college vote

Reagan ran for reelection as president in 1984, running against Democrat Walter Mondale. Reagan was re-elected, receiving 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%, and winning 49 of 50 states.^[43] Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes (97.6 percent of the 538 votes in the Electoral College), the most by any candidate in American history.^[44] This was the second-most lopsided presidential election in modern U.S. history after Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 victory over Alfred M. Landon, in which he won 98.5 percent or 523 of the (then-total) 531 electoral votes.^[45][46] At 73 years old, Reagan again became the oldest person elected to the presidency, breaking his own record in 1980.^[47]

Republican presidential primaries

1984 Republican Party presidential primaries^[45]^[48] * denotes incumbent
Party		Candidate	Aggregate votes	%	CW
	Republican	Ronald Reagan*	6,484,987	98.78	50
		Unpledged	55,458	0.85	0
		Harold Stassen	12,749	0.19	0

Republican National Convention

1984 Republican presidential nomination^[49] * denotes incumbent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Reagan*	2,233	99.91
		Abstentions	2	0.09

Presidential election

1984 United States presidential election^[43]^[50] * denotes incumbent
Party		Presidential candidate	Vice presidential Candidate	PV  (%)	EV
	Republican	Ronald Reagan*	George H. W. Bush*	54,455,472  (58.77)	525  (97.6)
	Democratic	Walter Mondale	Geraldine Ferraro	37,577,352  (40.56)	13  (2.4)
	Libertarian	David Bergland	James Lewis	228,111  (0.25)	0
	Others			393,298  (0.42)	0
Total votes:				92,653,233	538
Votes necessary:					270

See also

• Reagan coalition, the combination of voters who supported Reagan and his election campaigns.
• Reagan Democrat, a traditionally Democratic voter who defected from their party to support Reagan in 1980 and 1984.
• Reagan's coattails, the influence of Reagan's popularity on elections other than his own, after the American political expression to "ride in on another's coattails."

Notes

1. Vote totals do not include write-in votes, including Sam Yorty who received 3,993 votes, and Pat Brown who received 1,700 votes.^[13]: 2
2. Richard Nixon won primaries in 9 states plus the District of Columbia primary.
3. First ballot switches following roll call vote.
4. Gerald Ford won primaries in 26 states plus the District of Columbia primary.
5. One faithless elector in the state of Washington cast his electoral vote for Ronald Reagan (president) and Bob Dole (vice president).
6. George H. W. Bush won primaries in 6 states plus the District of Columbia primary.

References

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3. Uchitelle, Louis (September 22, 1988). "Bush, Like Reagan in 1980, Seeks Tax Cuts to Stimulate the Economy". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
4. Hakim, Danny (March 14, 2006). "Challengers to Clinton Discuss Plans and Answer Questions". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2008.
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7. Freidel, Frank; Sidey, Hugh (1995). The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-912308-57-9.
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9. Cannon (1991, 2000), p. 746.
10. "The Governors' Gallery – Ronald Reagan". California State Library. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
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12. Totton J. Anderson and Eugene C. Lee, "The 1966 Election in California," Western Political Quarterly (1967) 20#2 pp. 535–554 in JSTOR
13. California Statement of the Vote | 1966–1968. California Secretary of State. 1962. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
14. Kahn, Jeffery (June 8, 2004). "Ronald Reagan launched political career using the Berkeley campus as a target". UC Berkeley News. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
15. . Pbs.org. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
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18. Fischer, Klaus (2006). America in White, Black, and Gray: The Stormy 1960s. Continuum. pp. 241–243. ISBN 978-0-8264-1816-6.
19. . Time. March 8, 1968. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
20. "Results of the 15 Presidential Primaries in 1968." CQ Almanac 1968], 24th ed., 19-971-19-973. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1969.
21. "Chronology of Political Events: Nov. 1967—Nov. 1968." CQ Almanac 1968, 24th ed., 19-974-19-978. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1969.
22. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1319.
23. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, pp. 1318–1319.
24. Recall Idea Got Its Start in L.A. in 1898, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2003.
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28. "Biography of Gerald R. Ford". whitehouse.gov. from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2007 – via National Archives. Ford considered himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs".
29. "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". U.S. National Archives and Records Admin. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
30. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1386.
31. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1385.
32. "1976 Republican Convention Divided Republicans Nominate Ford and Dole". Congressional Quarterly (In CQ Almanac 1976, 32nd ed., 892-99. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1977.). Retrieved March 17, 2017.
33. "1976 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
34. "1980 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
35. Skinner, Kudelia; Mesquita, Rice (2007). The Strategy of Campaigning. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11627-0. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
36. Hedrick Smith (November 5, 1980). "Reagan Easily Beats Carter; Republicans Gain in Congress". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
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41. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, pp. 1477–1418.
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47. Raines, Howell (November 7, 1984). "Reagan Wins By a Landslide, Sweeping at Least 48 States - G.O.P. Gains Strength in House". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
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49. Troy, Schlesinger & Israel 2012, p. 1447.
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Bibliography

• Troy, Gil; Schlesinger, Arthur M.; Israel, Fred L. (2012). History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008. Vol. 3 (4 ed.). New York City: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-8220-9.