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 County Results
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The1976 United States presidential election in Nevada took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the1976 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Nevada was coming off a landslide win by incumbentMike O'Callaghan inthe 1974 gubernatorial election over a severely divided opposition[1] and anger overthe Watergate scandal.[2][3] However, veteran Democratic SenatorAlan Bible, who had survivedRichard Nixon’s1968 victory, retired and was replaced by Republican Paul Laxalt who won a narrow victory at the same time the GOP were suffering landslide losses in other races.
This presidential election saw Nevada hold its first ever presidential primary, won byCalifornia GovernorJerry Brown,[4] who had only entered the primaries two weeks beforehand after most were already conducted.[5]
SenatorPaul Laxalt, who had supported Ford's rivalRonald Reagan in the Republican primaries earlier in 1976, nonetheless campaigned vigorously for Ford once he won the GOP nomination.[6] Consequently, despite the state having not voted against a winning Democratic nominee since1892 and not for a losing Republican nominee sinceJames G. Blaine in1884, early October polls gave the state provisionally to Ford, with the lack of familiarity with Southern Evangelical Carter being viewed as a critical factor.[7] Two days before Nevada's voters were to enter the polls Ford remained a slight favorite.[6]
Nevada was won byincumbent PresidentGerald Ford (R–Michigan), with 50.17% of the popular vote, againstJimmy Carter (D–Georgia), with 45.81% of the popular vote. None of the third-party candidates amounted to a significant portion of the vote, as 2.53% of the voters either wrote-in another candidate or selected "None of These Candidates", the latter of which appeared on Nevada's ballot for the first time in 1976.
Nevada has generally been abellwether state since the early 20th century, and this election marked the first time since1908 whereby Nevada was carried by the losing presidential candidate. It was the only time between1912 and2012. Nevada would vote for the winning candidate in each election afterward except2016. It was also the first time since 1908 that Nevada did not back the national popular-vote winner and this feat would occur again in2000. As of the 2024 presidential election[update], this is the last time in which a Democrat has won the White House without carrying Nevada, as well as the last time thatNye County,Storey County,[a] andEsmeralda County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[8] This also marks the last time that Nevada voted for a candidate that lost both the electoral college and the popular vote. For the first time, Clark County, home to Las Vegas, cast over 50% of the statewide vote, which it would do in every presidential election since.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Gerald Ford (inc.) | 101,273 | 50.17% | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Carter | 92,479 | 45.81% | |
| None of These Candidates | 5,108 | 2.53% | ||
| Libertarian | Roger MacBride | 1,519 | 0.75% | |
| American Independent | Lester Maddox | 1,497 | 0.74% | |
| Total votes | 201,876 | 100% | ||
| County | Gerald Ford Republican | Jimmy Carter Democratic | None of These Candidates | Roger MacBride Libertarian | Lester Maddox American Independent | Margin | Total votes cast[9] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Carson City | 5,282 | 54.11% | 3,874 | 39.69% | 367 | 3.76% | 155 | 1.59% | 83 | 0.85% | 1,408 | 14.42% | 9,761 |
| Churchill | 2,358 | 53.04% | 1,800 | 40.49% | 178 | 4.00% | 33 | 0.74% | 77 | 1.73% | 558 | 12.55% | 4,446 |
| Clark | 48,236 | 46.92% | 51,178 | 49.78% | 2,015 | 1.96% | 731 | 0.71% | 652 | 0.63% | -2,942 | -2.86% | 102,812 |
| Douglas | 3,095 | 58.60% | 1,934 | 36.61% | 162 | 3.07% | 46 | 0.87% | 45 | 0.85% | 1,161 | 21.99% | 5,282 |
| Elko | 3,293 | 60.32% | 1,955 | 35.81% | 103 | 1.89% | 40 | 0.73% | 68 | 1.25% | 1,338 | 24.51% | 5,459 |
| Esmeralda | 181 | 43.51% | 214 | 51.44% | 9 | 2.16% | 3 | 0.72% | 9 | 2.16% | -33 | -7.93% | 416 |
| Eureka | 272 | 58.24% | 163 | 34.90% | 21 | 4.50% | 5 | 1.07% | 6 | 1.28% | 109 | 23.34% | 467 |
| Humboldt | 1,380 | 53.38% | 1,074 | 41.55% | 88 | 3.40% | 14 | 0.54% | 29 | 1.12% | 306 | 11.83% | 2,585 |
| Lander | 561 | 49.96% | 518 | 46.13% | 21 | 1.87% | 8 | 0.71% | 15 | 1.34% | 43 | 3.83% | 1,123 |
| Lincoln | 700 | 50.04% | 642 | 45.89% | 34 | 2.43% | 10 | 0.71% | 13 | 0.93% | 58 | 4.15% | 1,399 |
| Lyon | 2,068 | 49.69% | 1,866 | 44.83% | 155 | 3.72% | 27 | 0.65% | 46 | 1.11% | 202 | 4.86% | 4,162 |
| Mineral | 1,104 | 42.56% | 1,361 | 52.47% | 92 | 3.55% | 8 | 0.31% | 29 | 1.12% | -257 | -9.91% | 2,594 |
| Nye | 1,027 | 42.53% | 1,261 | 52.22% | 84 | 3.48% | 18 | 0.75% | 25 | 1.04% | -234 | -9.69% | 2,415 |
| Pershing | 635 | 46.93% | 633 | 46.78% | 59 | 4.36% | 13 | 0.96% | 13 | 0.96% | 2 | 0.15% | 1,353 |
| Storey | 274 | 43.08% | 310 | 48.74% | 30 | 4.72% | 17 | 2.67% | 5 | 0.79% | -36 | -5.66% | 636 |
| Washoe | 29,264 | 54.98% | 21,687 | 40.74% | 1,599 | 3.00% | 374 | 0.70% | 303 | 0.57% | 7,577 | 14.24% | 53,227 |
| White Pine | 1,543 | 41.27% | 2,009 | 53.73% | 91 | 2.43% | 17 | 0.45% | 79 | 2.11% | -466 | -12.46% | 3,739 |
| Totals | 101,273 | 50.17% | 92,479 | 45.81% | 5,108 | 2.53% | 1,519 | 0.75% | 1,497 | 0.74% | 8,794 | 4.36% | 201,876 |
As Nevada was represented by one at-large congressional district, the district results are identical to the statewide results.[10]
| District | Ford | Carter | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 50.17% | 45.81% | James David Santini |
State and district results of the1976 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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