1980 United States presidential election in Maryland

The 1980 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose 10 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1980 United States presidential election in Maryland

← 1976 November 4, 1980 1984 →
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan John B. Anderson
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Home state Georgia California Illinois
Running mate Walter Mondale George H. W. Bush Patrick Lucey
Electoral vote 10 0 0
Popular vote 726,161 680,606 119,537
Percentage 47.12% 44.18% 7.76%

County Results

President before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Maryland was won by incumbent President Jimmy Carter (D-Georgia), with 47.12% of the popular vote, over former Governor Ronald Reagan (R-California) with 44.18% of the popular vote and Republican US Representative John B. Anderson running as an independent candidate (I-Illinois) with 7.76% of the popular vote.[1] Reagan ultimately won the national vote, defeating Carter; Maryland was one of only six states, along with the District of Columbia, to back the embattled incumbent.[2]

On election night, several news outlets incorrectly called the state for Reagan. In a similar vein, many of the same news outlets also called Massachusetts for President Carter, despite the fact that Reagan would ultimately end up narrowly winning Massachusetts.

In this election, Maryland voted 12.7% to the left of the nation at-large, or an 8.69 percent bigger differential than in 1976.[3] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election where the Democratic candidate won Maryland without carrying suburban Baltimore County, Howard County, or Montgomery County. This election marked the first time since 1908 in which Prince George’s County did not vote for the winner of the presidential election.[4] This is one of three elections between 1888 and 2000, that the state voted for the national loser (along with 1948 and 1968).

Results

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1980 United States presidential election in Maryland[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Jimmy Carter (Incumbent) 726,161 47.12% 10
Republican Ronald Reagan 680,606 44.18% 0
Independent John B. Anderson 119,537 7.76% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 14,192 0.92% 0
Totals 1,540,496 100.0% 10

Results by county

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County Jimmy Carter
Democratic
Ronald Reagan
Republican
John B. Anderson
Independent
Ed Clark
Libertarian
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Allegany 12,167 38.65% 17,512 55.62% 1,486 4.72% 319 1.01% -5,345 -16.97% 31,484
Anne Arundel 50,780 38.58% 69,443 52.76% 10,020 7.61% 1,389 1.06% -18,663 -14.18% 131,632
Baltimore 121,280 43.33% 132,490 47.33% 23,096 8.25% 3,051 1.09% -11,210 -4.00% 279,917
Baltimore City 191,911 72.48% 57,902 21.87% 13,112 4.95% 1,850 0.70% 134,009 50.61% 264,775
Calvert 4,745 43.65% 5,440 50.05% 590 5.43% 95 0.87% -695 -6.40% 10,870
Caroline 2,833 41.88% 3,582 52.95% 291 4.30% 59 0.87% -749 -11.07% 6,765
Carroll 10,393 31.55% 19,859 60.29% 2,243 6.81% 445 1.35% -9,466 -28.74% 32,940
Cecil 7,937 42.12% 9,673 51.33% 1,037 5.50% 199 1.06% -1,736 -9.21% 18,846
Charles 8,887 40.36% 11,807 53.62% 1,153 5.24% 173 0.79% -2,920 -13.26% 22,020
Dorchester 4,908 46.52% 5,160 48.91% 360 3.41% 122 1.16% -252 -2.39% 10,550
Frederick 13,629 34.83% 22,033 56.31% 2,891 7.39% 577 1.47% -8,404 -21.48% 39,130
Garrett 2,708 31.69% 5,475 64.07% 270 3.16% 92 1.08% -2,767 -32.38% 8,545
Harford 20,042 39.34% 26,713 52.44% 3,761 7.38% 425 0.83% -6,671 -13.10% 50,941
Howard 20,702 40.12% 24,272 47.04% 6,028 11.68% 597 1.16% -3,570 -6.92% 51,599
Kent 2,986 47.37% 2,889 45.83% 371 5.89% 58 0.92% 97 1.54% 6,304
Montgomery 105,822 39.76% 125,515 47.16% 32,730 12.30% 2,084 0.78% -19,693 -7.40% 266,151
Prince George's 98,757 50.91% 78,977 40.71% 14,574 7.51% 1,679 0.87% 19,780 10.20% 193,987
Queen Anne's 3,820 41.92% 4,749 52.12% 480 5.27% 63 0.69% -929 -10.20% 9,112
Somerset 3,342 48.18% 3,312 47.74% 215 3.10% 68 0.98% 30 0.44% 6,937
St. Mary's 6,773 42.18% 8,267 51.49% 892 5.56% 124 0.77% -1,494 -9.31% 16,056
Talbot 3,995 37.30% 6,044 56.43% 570 5.32% 102 0.95% -2,049 -19.13% 10,711
Washington 14,118 36.12% 22,901 58.60% 1,689 4.32% 375 0.96% -8,783 -22.48% 39,083
Wicomico 9,431 43.05% 11,229 51.26% 1,092 4.99% 153 0.70% -1,798 -8.21% 21,905
Worcester 4,195 40.98% 5,362 52.38% 586 5.72% 93 0.91% -1,167 -11.40% 10,236
Totals 726,161 47.14% 680,606 44.18% 119,537 7.76% 14,192 0.92% 45,555 2.96% 1,540,496

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Maryland Manual 1981–1982. The Hall of Records Commission of the State of Maryland. p. 585. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  4. ^ "Maryland - Google Drive". docs.google.com. Retrieved August 13, 2022.