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| Turnout | 81.53% (of registered voters) 0.60pp57.32% (of eligible voters) 7.20pp[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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The1976 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
California narrowly voted for theRepublican incumbent,Gerald Ford, over theDemocratic challenger,Jimmy Carter.
Ford won the state with a plurality of 49.35% of the vote to Carter's 47.57%, a victory margin of 1.78%, which made California almost 4% more Republican than the nation-at-large.
As of the2024 presidential election, this is the last time that a Democrat has won the counties ofAmador,El Dorado,Lassen,Madera,Placer,Shasta,Sierra andYuba,[2] Carter is also the last candidate from either party to carry Los Angeles by only a plurality. This also remains the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate won at least 40% of the vote in San Francisco, and the last time that county was not the most Democratic in the state. This is also the last time when a Democrat has won the presidency without California and the last time that the state would vote Republican in a close election. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004.
A presidential debate was held in San Francisco at thePalace of Fine Arts with President Ford and Jimmy Carter in attendance. The debate was sponsored by the League of Women Voters withPauline Frederick from NPR being the moderator of the debate. 63.9 million people watched the debate.[3]
| 1976 United States presidential election in California[4] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Gerald Ford (incumbent) | 3,882,244 | 49.35% | 45 | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Carter | 3,742,284 | 47.57% | 0 | |
| No party | Eugene McCarthy (write-in) | 58,412 | 0.74% | 0 | |
| Independent | Roger MacBride | 56,388 | 0.72% | 0 | |
| American Independent | Lester Maddox | 51,098 | 0.65% | 0 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Margaret Wright | 41,731 | 0.53% | 0 | |
| Independent | Peter Camejo | 17,259 | 0.22% | 0 | |
| Independent | Gus Hall | 12,766 | 0.16% | 0 | |
| No party | Thomas J. Anderson (write-in) | 4,565 | 0.06% | 0 | |
| No party | Jules Levin (write-in) | 222 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| No party | Write-ins | 74 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| No party | Ben Bubar (write-in) | 34 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| No party | Ernest Miller (write-in) | 26 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| No party | Frank Taylor (write-in) | 14 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Invalid or blank votes | — | ||||
| Totals | 7,867,117 | 100.00% | 45 | ||
| Voter turnout | — | ||||
| County | Gerald Ford Republican | Jimmy Carter Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 155,280 | 38.09% | 235,988 | 57.89% | 16,413 | 4.02% | -80,708 | -19.80% | 407,681 |
| Alpine | 225 | 50.34% | 189 | 42.28% | 33 | 7.38% | 36 | 8.06% | 447 |
| Amador | 3,699 | 46.13% | 4,037 | 50.35% | 282 | 3.52% | -338 | -4.22% | 8,018 |
| Butte | 28,400 | 51.77% | 24,203 | 44.12% | 2,251 | 4.11% | 4,197 | 7.65% | 54,854 |
| Calaveras | 3,695 | 49.08% | 3,607 | 47.91% | 226 | 3.01% | 88 | 1.17% | 7,528 |
| Colusa | 2,733 | 52.74% | 2,340 | 45.16% | 109 | 2.10% | 393 | 7.58% | 5,182 |
| Contra Costa | 126,598 | 49.35% | 123,742 | 48.24% | 6,194 | 2.41% | 2,856 | 1.11% | 256,534 |
| Del Norte | 2,481 | 45.29% | 2,789 | 50.91% | 208 | 3.80% | -308 | -5.62% | 5,478 |
| El Dorado | 12,472 | 47.69% | 12,763 | 48.80% | 919 | 3.51% | -291 | -1.11% | 26,154 |
| Fresno | 72,533 | 48.10% | 74,958 | 49.71% | 3,314 | 2.19% | -2,425 | -1.61% | 150,805 |
| Glenn | 4,094 | 52.67% | 3,501 | 45.04% | 178 | 2.29% | 593 | 7.63% | 7,773 |
| Humboldt | 18,034 | 41.58% | 23,500 | 54.18% | 1,838 | 4.24% | -5,466 | -12.60% | 43,372 |
| Imperial | 10,618 | 49.94% | 10,244 | 48.18% | 400 | 1.88% | 374 | 1.76% | 21,262 |
| Inyo | 3,905 | 58.23% | 2,635 | 39.29% | 166 | 2.48% | 1,270 | 18.94% | 6,706 |
| Kern | 58,023 | 52.29% | 50,567 | 45.57% | 2,371 | 2.14% | 7,456 | 6.72% | 110,961 |
| Kings | 8,263 | 49.65% | 8,061 | 48.44% | 318 | 1.91% | 202 | 1.21% | 16,642 |
| Lake | 5,462 | 44.46% | 6,374 | 51.88% | 449 | 3.64% | -912 | -7.42% | 12,285 |
| Lassen | 3,007 | 42.97% | 3,801 | 54.32% | 190 | 2.71% | -794 | -11.35% | 6,998 |
| Los Angeles | 1,174,926 | 47.78% | 1,221,893 | 49.69% | 62,258 | 2.53% | -46,967 | -1.91% | 2,459,077 |
| Madera | 6,844 | 45.96% | 7,625 | 51.20% | 423 | 2.84% | -781 | -5.24% | 14,892 |
| Marin | 53,425 | 52.52% | 43,590 | 42.86% | 4,700 | 4.62% | 9,835 | 9.66% | 101,715 |
| Mariposa | 2,012 | 46.61% | 2,093 | 48.48% | 212 | 4.91% | -81 | -1.87% | 4,317 |
| Mendocino | 9,784 | 45.49% | 10,653 | 49.53% | 1,072 | 4.98% | -869 | -4.04% | 21,509 |
| Merced | 14,842 | 46.08% | 16,637 | 51.65% | 729 | 2.27% | -1,795 | -5.57% | 32,208 |
| Modoc | 1,917 | 51.20% | 1,733 | 46.29% | 94 | 2.51% | 184 | 4.91% | 3,744 |
| Mono | 1,600 | 58.80% | 1,025 | 37.67% | 96 | 3.53% | 575 | 21.13% | 2,721 |
| Monterey | 40,896 | 51.02% | 36,849 | 45.97% | 2,408 | 3.01% | 4,047 | 5.05% | 80,153 |
| Napa | 20,839 | 51.83% | 18,048 | 44.89% | 1,318 | 3.28% | 2,791 | 6.94% | 40,205 |
| Nevada | 8,170 | 48.40% | 7,926 | 46.95% | 785 | 4.65% | 244 | 1.45% | 16,881 |
| Orange | 408,632 | 62.16% | 232,246 | 35.33% | 16,555 | 2.51% | 176,386 | 26.83% | 657,433 |
| Placer | 18,154 | 45.03% | 21,026 | 52.16% | 1,131 | 2.81% | -2,872 | -7.13% | 40,311 |
| Plumas | 2,884 | 43.94% | 3,429 | 52.25% | 250 | 3.81% | -545 | -8.31% | 6,563 |
| Riverside | 97,774 | 49.24% | 96,228 | 48.46% | 4,556 | 2.30% | 1,546 | 0.78% | 198,558 |
| Sacramento | 123,110 | 44.63% | 144,203 | 52.27% | 8,563 | 3.10% | -21,093 | -7.64% | 275,876 |
| San Benito | 3,398 | 50.87% | 3,122 | 46.74% | 160 | 2.40% | 276 | 4.13% | 6,680 |
| San Bernardino | 113,265 | 49.49% | 109,636 | 47.90% | 5,984 | 2.61% | 3,629 | 1.59% | 228,885 |
| San Diego | 353,302 | 55.74% | 263,654 | 41.60% | 16,839 | 2.66% | 89,648 | 14.14% | 633,795 |
| San Francisco | 103,561 | 40.31% | 133,733 | 52.06% | 19,594 | 7.63% | -30,172 | -11.75% | 256,888 |
| San Joaquin | 50,277 | 49.60% | 48,733 | 48.08% | 2,351 | 2.32% | 1,544 | 1.52% | 101,361 |
| San Luis Obispo | 27,785 | 51.17% | 24,926 | 45.91% | 1,587 | 2.92% | 2,859 | 5.26% | 54,298 |
| San Mateo | 117,338 | 50.63% | 102,896 | 44.40% | 11,507 | 4.97% | 14,442 | 6.23% | 231,741 |
| Santa Barbara | 60,922 | 50.83% | 55,018 | 45.91% | 3,904 | 3.26% | 5,904 | 4.92% | 119,844 |
| Santa Clara | 219,188 | 49.46% | 208,023 | 46.94% | 15,927 | 3.60% | 11,165 | 2.52% | 443,138 |
| Santa Cruz | 31,872 | 43.09% | 37,772 | 51.06% | 4,325 | 5.85% | -5,900 | -7.97% | 73,969 |
| Shasta | 17,273 | 45.63% | 19,200 | 50.72% | 1,381 | 3.65% | -1,927 | -5.09% | 37,854 |
| Sierra | 680 | 43.15% | 841 | 53.36% | 55 | 3.49% | -161 | -10.21% | 1,576 |
| Siskiyou | 7,070 | 48.37% | 7,060 | 48.31% | 485 | 3.32% | 10 | 0.06% | 14,615 |
| Solano | 26,136 | 42.40% | 33,682 | 54.64% | 1,826 | 2.96% | -7,546 | -12.24% | 61,644 |
| Sonoma | 50,555 | 47.72% | 50,353 | 47.52% | 5,044 | 4.76% | 202 | 0.20% | 105,952 |
| Stanislaus | 32,937 | 44.83% | 38,448 | 52.34% | 2,080 | 2.83% | -5,511 | -7.51% | 73,465 |
| Sutter | 8,745 | 54.21% | 6,966 | 43.18% | 420 | 2.61% | 1,779 | 11.03% | 16,131 |
| Tehama | 6,110 | 44.81% | 6,990 | 51.27% | 535 | 3.92% | -880 | -6.46% | 13,635 |
| Trinity | 1,989 | 45.66% | 2,172 | 49.86% | 195 | 4.48% | -183 | -4.20% | 4,356 |
| Tulare | 31,864 | 54.52% | 25,551 | 43.72% | 1,027 | 1.76% | 6,313 | 10.80% | 58,442 |
| Tuolumne | 6,104 | 46.94% | 6,492 | 49.93% | 407 | 3.13% | -388 | -2.99% | 13,003 |
| Ventura | 82,670 | 53.20% | 68,529 | 44.10% | 4,201 | 2.70% | 14,141 | 9.10% | 155,400 |
| Yolo | 18,376 | 42.42% | 23,533 | 54.33% | 1,408 | 3.25% | -5,157 | -11.91% | 43,317 |
| Yuba | 5,496 | 44.74% | 6,451 | 52.51% | 338 | 2.75% | -955 | -7.77% | 12,285 |
| Total | 3,882,244 | 49.35% | 3,742,284 | 47.57% | 242,589 | 3.08% | 139,960 | 1.78% | 7,867,117 |
State and district results of the1976 United States presidential election | ||
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