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1,990 delegates to theRepublican National Convention 996 (majority) votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 First place by first-instance vote First place by delegate allocation First place by convention roll call Reagan Bush Uncommitted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From January 21 to June 28, 1980, voters of theRepublican Party chose its nominee forpresident in the1980 United States presidential election. Retired Hollywood actor and two-termCalifornia governorRonald Reagan was selected as the nominee through a series ofprimary elections andcaucuses culminating in theRepublican National Convention held from July 14 to 17, 1980, inDetroit, Michigan. This was the last Republican primary which featured the nominee choosing a fellow candidate as his running mate.
As the 1980 presidential election approached,incumbent Democratic presidentJimmy Carter appeared vulnerable. High gas prices, economicstagflation, a renewedCold War with theSoviet Union following theinvasion of Afghanistan, and theIran hostage crisis that developed when Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran all contributed to a general dissatisfaction with Carter's presidency; his job approval rating sank to below 20 percent in late-1979 as a result. Consequently, the president faced stiffDemocratic primary challenges fromMassachusettsSenatorTed Kennedy andCaliforniaGovernorJerry Brown. A large field of Republican challengers also emerged.
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | Campaign Withdrawal date | Popular vote | Contests won | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Reagan |  | Governor of California (1967–1975) |  |  (Campaign •Positions) Secured nomination: May 24, 1980 | 7,709,793 (59.79%) | 42 | George Bush |  | |
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | Campaign Withdrawal date | Popular vote | Contests won | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George H. W. Bush |  | Director of Central Intelligence Agency (1976–1977) |  |  Campaign Withdrew: May 26 (endorsed Ronald Reagan, who laterchose Bush as hisvice presidential running-mate) | 3,070,033 (23.81%) | 9 CT, DC, DE, IA, ME, MA, MI, PA, PR | |
| John Anderson | .jpg) | U.S. Representative fromIllinois (1961–1981) |  |  Withdrew: April 24 (ran as independent) | 1,572,174 (12.19%) | None | |
| Phil Crane |  | U.S. Representative fromIllinois (1969–2005) | |  Withdrew: April 17[1] (endorsed Ronald Reagan) | 97,793 (0.76%) | None | |
| Ben Fernandez |  | Special Envoy toParaguay (1973) | | Withdrew: March 30 (endorsed Ronald Reagan) | 25,520 (0.20%) | None | |
| Bob Dole |  | U.S. Senator fromKansas (1969–1996) |  |  Withdrew: March 15 (endorsed Ronald Reagan) | 7,204 (0.06%) | None | |
| John Connally | .jpg) | Secretary of the Treasury (1971–1972) | |  Withdrew: March 9 (endorsed Ronald Reagan) | 82,625 (0.64%) | None | |
| Howard Baker |  | U.S. Senator fromTennessee (1967–1985) |  | .png) Withdrew: March 5 (endorsed Ronald Reagan) | 181,153 (1.41%) | None | |
| Harold Stassen |  | Director of theForeign Operations Administration (1953–1955) |  | Withdrew: February 26 | 25,425 (0.20%) | None | |
| Candidate | Most recent office | Home state | Campaign Withdrawal date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Pressler |  | U.S. Senator fromSouth Dakota (1979–1997) |  | January 8, 1980 | |
| Lowell Weicker |  | U.S. Senator fromConnecticut (1971–1989) |  | May 16, 1979 | |
| Jesse Helms | Richard Schweiker | Jim Thompson | Bill Simon | Jack Kemp | Anne L. Armstrong | Elliot Richardson | Alexander Haig | Gerald Ford |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | .jpg) |  |  |  |  |  | .jpg) |
| U.S. Senator fromNorth Carolina (1973–2003) | U.S. Senator fromPennsylvania (1969–1981) | Governor of Illinois (1977–1991) | United States Secretary of the Treasury (1974–1977) | U.S. Representative fromNew York (1971–1989) | U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1976–1977) | United States Secretary of Commerce (1976–1977) | Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1974–1979) | U.S. President fromMichigan (1974–1977) |
| November 8, 1978[2] | January 5, 1979 (Endorsed Ronald Reagan)[3] | January 23, 1979[4] | March 6, 1979 (Endorsed Ronald Reagan)[5] | September 28, 1979[6] | Post-September 30, 1979[a][7] | October 16, 1979[8] | December 22, 1979[9] | March 15, 1980[10] |
The following potential candidates were considered possible candidates to run for the Republican nomination in 1980 by the media, but never stated a preference for or against running.[11][12]
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| Poll source | Publication date | John Anderson | Howard Baker | George Bush | John Connally | Bob Dole | Gerald Ford | Ronald Reagan | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup[13] | Aug. 1977 | – | 8% | – | – | – | 20% | 33% | 3% |
| Gallup[13] | Apr. 1978 | – | 11% | – | 4% | 4% | 40% | 30% | 4% |
| Gallup[13] | July 1978 | – | 9% | 1% | 5% | 4% | 37% | 31% | 5% |
| Gallup[13] | Dec. 1978 | 1% | 9% | 1% | 6% | 1% | 24% | 40% | 11%[b] |
| Gallup[13] | Apr. 1979 | 2% | 8% | 1% | 12% | 1% | 26% | 31% | 11%[c] |
| Gallup[13] | May 1979 | – | 10% | – | 8% | 3% | 27% | 28% | – |
| Gallup[13] | June 1979 | 0% | 11% | 0% | 5% | 0% | 29% | 37% | 5% |
| Gallup[13] | July 1979 | 3% | 11% | 1% | 9% | 2% | 27% | 32% | 15%[d] |
| Gallup[13] | Aug. 1979 | 1% | 10% | 3% | 8% | 1% | 21% | 29% | 16%[e] |
| Gallup[13] | Nov. 1979 | 1% | 14% | 2% | 10% | 3% | 22% | 33% | 15%[f] |
| Gallup[13] | Nov. 1979 | 0% | 11% | 5% | 8% | 3% | 24% | 40% | — |
| Gallup[13] | Dec. 1979 | 1% | 9% | 7% | 10% | 4% | 18% | 40% | 10%[g] |
| Gallup[13] | Jan. 1980 | 3% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 0% | 27% | 33% | — |
| Gallup[13] | Jan. 1980 | 0% | 6% | 28% | 7% | 0% | 18% | 29% | — |
| Gallup[13] | Feb. 1980 | 2% | 6% | 17% | 4% | 1% | 32% | 34% | 3%[h] |
| Gallup[13] | Feb. 1980 | 3% | 7% | 16% | – | – | 25% | 44% | — |
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| Active campaign | Exploratory committee | Withdrawn candidate | Republican National Convention | ||||
| Midterm elections | Debates | Primaries |
Ronald Reagan, who had narrowly lost the1976 Republican nomination to PresidentGerald Ford, was the early odds-on favorite to win the nomination in 1980. He was so far ahead in the polls that campaign directorJohn Sears decided on an "above the fray" strategy. He did not attend many of the multi-candidate forums andstraw polls in the summer and fall of 1979.George H. W. Bush, the former director of theCentral Intelligence Agency and chairman of theRepublican National Committee, did go to all the "cattle calls", and began to come in first at a number of these events. Along with the top two, a number of other Republican politicians entered the race. In January 1980, the Iowa Republicans decided to have astraw poll as a part of their caucuses for that year. Bush defeated Reagan by a small margin. Bush declared he had "the Big Mo", and with Reagan boycotting thePuerto Rico primary in deference to New Hampshire, Bush won the territory easily, giving him an early lead going into New Hampshire.
With the other candidates in single digits, theNashua Telegraph offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting the other candidates to participate at short notice. The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage. As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, Jon Breen, the editor of theNashua Telegraph and debate moderator, ordered a technician to mute Reagan's microphone. When the technician refused, Breen repeated his order. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green [sic]!"[14][15][16] Eventually the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate proceeded between Reagan and Bush. Reagan's quote was often repeated as "I paid for this microphone!" and dominated news coverage of the event; Reagan sailed to an easy win in New Hampshire.[17]
Lee Bandy, a writer for the South Carolina newspaperThe State stated that heading into the South Carolina primary, political operativeLee Atwater worked to engineer a victory for Reagan: "Lee Atwater figured that Connally was their biggest threat here in South Carolina. So Lee leaked a story to me thatJohn Connally was trying to buy the black vote. Well, that story got out, thanks to me, and it probably killed Connally. He spent $10 million for one delegate. Lee saved Ronald Reagan's candidacy."[18]
Reagan swept the South, and although he lost five more primaries to Bush—including the Massachusetts primary in which he came in third place behindJohn B. Anderson—the former governor had a lock on the nomination very early in the season. Reagan said he would always be grateful to the people of Iowa for giving him "the kick in the pants" he needed.
Reagan was an adherent to a policy known assupply-side economics, which argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services, such as adjusting income tax and capital gains tax rates. Accordingly, Reagan promised an economic revival that would benefit all sectors of the population. He said that cutting tax rates would actually increase tax revenues because the lower rates would cause people to work harder as they would be able to keep more of their money. Reagan also called for a drastic cut in "big government" and pledged to deliver a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the primaries, Bush called Reagan's economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increase revenues at the same time.
| Date(daily totals) | Contest | Total pledged delegates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delegates won and popular vote[a] | |||||||||||
| Ronald Reagan | George Bush | John Anderson | Phil Crane | Bob Dole | John Connally | Howard Baker | Others | Uncommitted | |||
| January 21 | Iowa caucus[19] 106,608 | 0 (of 38) | 31,348 (29.40%) | 33,530 (31.45%) | 4,585 (4.30%) | 7,135 (6.69%) | 1,576 (1.48%) | 9,861 (9.25%) | 16,773 (15.73%) | – | 1,800 (1.69%) |
| February 2 | Arkansas[20] district conventions | 12 (of 19) | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | 1 |
| February 16 | Arkansas[21] convention | 7 (of 19) | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 |
| February 17 | Puerto Rico[22] 187,946 | 14 (of 20) | – | 14 112,901 (60.07%) | – | – | 457 (0.24%) | 2,039 (1.08%) | 70,025 (37.26%) | 2,524[b] (1.34%) | – |
| February 26 | New Hampshire[23] 146,782 | 23 | 15 72,734 (49.55%) | 5 33,304 (22.69%) | 14,622 (9.96%) | 2,633 (1.79%) | 608 (0.41%) | 2,215 (1.51%) | 2 18,760 (12.78%) | 1,906WI[c] (1.30%) | – |
| March 1 | Iowa[24] county conventions | 2,902CDs | 925CDs (31.87%) | 1,150CDs (39.63%) | 64CDs (2.21%) | 91CDs (3.14%) | 2CDs (0.07%) | 127CDs (4.38%) | 322CDs (11.10%) | – | 221CDs (7.62%) |
| March 4 | Massachusetts[25] 400,826 | 42 | 13 115,334 (28.77%) | 14 124,365 (31.03%) | 13 122,987 (30.68%) | 4,669 (1.16%) | 577 (0.14%) | 4,714 (1.18%) | 2 19,366 (4.82%) | 6,571WI[d] (1.64%) | 2,243 (0.56%) |
| Vermont[26] 65,611 | 0 (of 19) | 19,720 (30.06%) | 14,226 (21.68%) | 19,030 (29.00%) | 1,238 (1.89%) | – | 884WI (1.35%) | 8,055 (12.28%) | 2,458WI (3.75%) | – | |
| March 8 | South Carolina[27] 145,501 | 25 | 25 79,549 (54.67%) | 21,569 (14.82%) | – | – | 117 (0.08%) | 43,113 (29.63%) | 773 (0.53%) | 380[e] (0.26%) | – |
| March 11 (126) | Alabama[28] 211,353 | 27 | 18 147,352 (69.72%) | 9 54,730 (25.90%) | – | 5,099 (2.41%) | 447 (0.21%) | 1,077 (0.51%) | 1,963 (0.93%) | 685[f] (0.32%) | – |
| Florida[29] 614,995 | 51 | 51 345,699 (56.21%) | 185,996 (30.24%) | 56,636 (9.21%) | 12,000 (1.95%) | 1,086 (0.18%) | 4,958 (0.81%) | 6,345 (1.03%) | 2,275[g] (0.37%) | – | |
| Georgia[30] 200,171 | 36 | 36 146,500 (73.18%) | 25,293 (12.64%) | 16,853 (8.42%) | 6,308 (3.15%) | 249 (0.12%) | 2,388 (1.19%) | 1,571 (0.78%) | 1,009[h] (0.50%) | – | |
| March 18 | Illinois[31][32][i] 1,130,081 | 92 | 46 547,355 (48.44%) | 2 124,057 (10.98%) | 26 415,193 (36.74%) | 4 24,865 (2.20%) | 1,843 (0.16%) | 4,548 (0.40%) | 7,051 (0.62%) | 5,169[j] (0.46%) | – |
| March 25 | Connecticut[33] 182,284 | 35 | 14 61,735 (33.87%) | 15 70,367 (38.60%) | 6 40,354 (22.14%) | 1,887 (1.04%) | 333 (0.18%) | 598 (0.33%) | 2,446 (1.34%) | 308[k] (0.17%) | 4,256 (2.33%) |
| New York[34][35] | 117 (of 123) | 72 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 38 | |
| April 1 | Kansas[36] 285,398 | 35 | 20 179,739 (62.98%) | 4 35,838 (12.56%) | 5 51,924 (18.19%) | 1,367 (0.48%) | – | 2,067 (0.72%) | 3,603 (1.26%) | 4,134[l] (1.45%) | 6,726 (2.36%) |
| Wisconsin[37] 907,853 | 34 | 28 364,898 (40.19%) | 276,164 (30.42%) | 6 248,623 (27.39%) | 2,951 (0.33%) | – | 2,312 (0.26%) | 3,298 (0.36%) | 7,012WI[m] (0.77%) | 4,951 (0.29%) | |
| April 5 | Louisiana[38] 42,397 | 29 | 29 31,256 (73.72%) | 8,066 (19.02%) | – | – | – | – | – | 820[n] (1.93%) | 2,255 (5.32%) |
| April 17 | North Dakota[39] convention | 28 | 12 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| April 19 | Maine[40] convention | 21 | – | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| Minnesota[o][41] district conventions | 6 (of 34) | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| April 20 | Alaska[42] convention | 19 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| April 22 | Pennsylvania[43][i] 1,241,411 | 76 (of 83) | 527,916 (42.53%) | 626,759 (50.49%) | 26,890WI (2.17%) | – | – | 10,656 (0.86%) | 30,846 (2.49%) | 76[p] 18,344[q] (1.48%) | – |
| Vermont[44] caucuses | 979SDs[r] | 318SDs (32.48%) | 67SDs (6.84%) | 13SDs (1.33%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| April 26 | Minnesota[s][45] district conventions | 3 (of 34) | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Missouri[t][46][47] district conventions | 15 (of 37) | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| May 3 | Arizona[48] convention | 28 | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Minnesota[u][49] district conventions | 12 (of 34) | 4 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Missouri[v][47] district conventions | 15 (of 37) | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Oklahoma[48] convention | 28 | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Texas[50] 526,769 | 80 | 65 268,798 (50.49%) | 15 249,819 (47.43%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8,152 (1.55%) | |
| May 6 | Washington, D.C.[51][i] 7,529 | 14 | – | 14 4,973 (66.05%) | 2,025 (26.90%) | – | – | – | – | 261[w] (3.47%) | – |
| Indiana[50] 568,313 | 56 | 56 419,016 (73.73%) | 92,955 (16.36%) | 56,342 (9.91%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| North Carolina[52] 168,391 | 40 | 30 113,854 (67.61%) | 10 36,631 (21.75%) | 8,542 (5.07%) | 547 (0.33%) | 629 (0.37%) | 1,107 (0.66%) | 2,543 (1.51%) | – | 4,538 (2.70%) | |
| Tennessee[52] 195,210 | 32 | 24 144,625 (74.09%) | 8 35,274 (18.07%) | 8,722 (4.47%) | 1,574 (0.81%) | 629 (0.37%) | 1WI (0.00%) | 16WI (0.01%) | 22WI[x] (0.01%) | 4,976 (2.55%) | |
| May 10 | Wyoming[53] convention | 19 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| May 13 | Maryland[54] 167,303 | 30 | 15 80,557 (48.15%) | 15 68,389 (40.88%) | 16,244 (9.71%) | 2,113 (1.26%) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nebraska[54] 205,203 | 25 | 25 155,995 (76.02%) | 31,380 (15.29%) | 11,879 (5.79%) | 1,062 (0.52%) | 1,420 (0.69%) | – | – | 3,467[y] (1.69%) | – | |
| May 17 | Hawaii[55] convention | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 |
| May 20 (116) | Michigan[56] 595,176 | 82 | 29 189,184 (31.79%) | 53 341,998 (57.46%) | 48,947 (8.22%) | – | – | – | – | 4,782[z] (0.80%) | 10,265 (1.73%) |
| Oregon[56] 315,366 | 29 | 18 170,449 (54.05%) | 11 109,210 (34.63%) | 32,118 (10.18%) | 2,324 (0.74%) | – | – | – | 1,265WI (0.40%) | – | |
| May 17 | Delaware[57] convention | 12 (of 21) | 4 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| May 25 | Vermont[58] convention | 19 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| May 27 | Idaho[59] 134,879 | 17 (of 21) | 15 111,868 (82.94%) | 5,416 (4.02%) | 2 13,130 (9.74%) | 1,024 (0.76%) | – | – | – | – | 3,441 (2.55%) |
| Kentucky[60] 94,795 | 27 | 27 78,072 (82.36%) | 6,861 (7.24%) | 4,791 (5.05%) | – | – | – | – | 1,987[aa] (2.10%) | 3,084 (3.25%) | |
| Nevada[61] 47,395 | 17 | 14 39,352 (83.03%) | 1 3,078 (6.49%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 4,965 (10.48%) | |
| May 30 | Minnesota[62] convention | 10 (of 34) | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| May 31 | Colorado[ab][63] district conventions | 3 (of 31) | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Missouri[64] convention | 7 (of 37) | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| June 3 (408) | California[65] 2,564,072 | 168 | 168 2,057,923 (80.26%) | 125,113 (4.88%) | 349,315 (13.62%) | 21,465 (0.84%) | – | – | – | 10,256[ac] (0.40%) | – |
| Mississippi[66] 25,751 | 22 | 22 23,028 (89.43%) | 2,105 (8.17%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | 618 (2.40%) | |
| Montana[66] 79,473 | 0 (of 20) | 68,794 (86.56%) | 7,665 (9.65%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| New Jersey[67][i] 277,977 (79,473) | 66 | 63 225,959 (81.29%) | 2 47,447 (17.07%) | – | – | – | – | – | 1 4,571[ad] (1.64%) | – | |
| New Mexico[68] 59,546 | 22 | 22 37,982 (63.79%) | 5,892 (9.90%) | – | – | – | – | 4,412 (7.41%) | 2,742[ae] (4.60%) | 1,347 (2.26%) | |
| Ohio[69] 856,773 | 77 | 77 692,288 (80.80%) | 164,485 (19.20%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Rhode Island[65] 5,335 | 13 | 12 3,839 (71.96%) | 1 993 (18.61%) | – | – | – | – | – | 155[af] (2.91%) | 348 (6.52%) | |
| South Dakota[70] 82,905 | 22 | 22 72,861 (87.89%) | 3,691 (4.45%) | – | – | – | – | – | 987[ag] (1.19%) | 5,366 (6.47%) | |
| West Virginia[65][i] 138,016 | 18 | 15 115,407 (83.62%) | 19,509 (14.14%) | – | – | – | – | – | 3,100[ah] (2.25%) | 3 | |
| June 6 (67) | Iowa[71][72] district conventions | 30 (of 37) | 17 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Washington[73] convention | 37 | 34 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| June 7 | Colorado[ai][74] conventions | 28 (of 31) | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Iowa[72] convention | 7 (of 30) | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| June 8 | Montana[75] convention | 20 | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| June 28 | Idaho[76] convention | 4 (of 21) | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Utah[77] convention | 21 | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Totals | 1,990 12,894,286 | 1,407 7,709,793 (59.79%) | 250 3,070,033 (23.81%) | 59 1,572,174 (12.19%) | 4 97,793 (0.76%) | 0 7,204 (0.06%) | 1 82,625 (0.64%) | 8 181,153 (1.41%) | 0 | 156 112,560 (0.87%) | |
TheRepublican National Convention was held inDetroit, Michigan, from July 14 to 17, 1980.
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