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 County Results
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The1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states andThe District of Columbia were part of the1980 United States presidential election.South Carolina voters chose eight electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
South Carolina was won by former CaliforniaGovernorRonald Reagan (R) by a very slim margin of 1 point and a half.[1] This remains the third-closest presidential election in South Carolina history after the controversial1876 election and the transformative1952 election.
The state weighed in for this election as 8% more Democratic than the national average, just 3% less than four years earlier. As of the2024 presidential election[update], this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate:Anderson,Cherokee,Greenwood,Laurens,Oconee,Saluda andYork.[2]
Among white voters, 64% supported Reagan while 32% supported Carter.[3][4]
Carter lost in eight of the ten most populous counties.[5]
| Source | Rating | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Times and Democrat[6] | Tossup | September 23, 1980 |
| Boca Raton News[7] | Tossup | October 12, 1980 |
| The Charlotte Observer[8] | Tossup | October 22, 1980 |
| Anderson Independent[9] | Tossup | October 29, 1980 |
| Fort Worth Star-Telegram[10] | Tossup | October 31, 1980 |
| The State[11] | Tossup | November 2, 1980 |
| Daily Press[12] | Lean D | November 3, 1980 |
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| Ronald Reagan | Republican | California | 441,207 | 49.57% | 8 | George H. W. Bush | Texas | 8 |
| Jimmy Carter (incumbent) | Democratic | Georgia | 427,560 | 48.04% | 0 | Walter Mondale (incumbent) | Minnesota | 0 |
| John B. Anderson | Independent | Illinois | 14,150 | 1.59% | 0 | Patrick Lucey | Wisconsin | 0 |
| Ed Clark | Libertarian | California | 4,975 | 0.56% | 0 | David Koch | New York | 0 |
| John Rarick | American Independent | Louisiana | 1,815 | 0.20% | 0 | Eileen Shearer | California | 0 |
| — | Write-ins | — | 37 | 0.04% | 0 | — | — | 0 |
| Total | 890,105 | 100% | 8 | 8 | ||||
| Needed to win | 270 | 270 | ||||||
| County[13] | Ronald Reagan Republican | Jimmy Carter Democratic | John B. Anderson Independent | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Abbeville | 2,361 | 35.60% | 4,049 | 61.05% | 111 | 1.67% | 111 | 1.67% | -1,688 | -25.45% | 6,632 |
| Aiken | 18,570 | 57.37% | 13,014 | 40.21% | 601 | 1.86% | 184 | 0.57% | 5,556 | 17.16% | 32,369 |
| Allendale | 1,182 | 29.62% | 2,778 | 69.62% | 17 | 0.43% | 13 | 0.33% | -1,596 | -40.00% | 3,990 |
| Anderson | 15,667 | 44.38% | 18,801 | 53.25% | 474 | 1.34% | 363 | 1.03% | -3,134 | -8.87% | 35,305 |
| Bamberg | 2,098 | 38.69% | 3,294 | 60.75% | 17 | 0.31% | 13 | 0.24% | -1,196 | -22.06% | 5,422 |
| Barnwell | 3,228 | 48.14% | 3,399 | 50.69% | 64 | 0.95% | 14 | 0.21% | -171 | -2.55% | 6,705 |
| Beaufort | 8,620 | 51.62% | 7,415 | 44.40% | 513 | 3.07% | 152 | 0.91% | 1,205 | 7.22% | 16,700 |
| Berkeley | 12,830 | 55.63% | 9,850 | 42.71% | 292 | 1.27% | 92 | 0.40% | 2,980 | 12.92% | 23,064 |
| Calhoun | 1,767 | 45.86% | 2,043 | 53.02% | 31 | 0.80% | 12 | 0.31% | -276 | -7.16% | 3,853 |
| Charleston | 44,111 | 55.13% | 32,727 | 40.90% | 2,222 | 2.78% | 952 | 1.19% | 11,384 | 14.23% | 80,012 |
| Cherokee | 5,379 | 43.32% | 6,889 | 55.48% | 86 | 0.69% | 64 | 0.52% | -1,510 | -12.16% | 12,418 |
| Chester | 3,104 | 37.12% | 5,145 | 61.52% | 87 | 1.04% | 27 | 0.32% | -2,041 | -24.40% | 8,363 |
| Chesterfield | 3,478 | 34.88% | 6,393 | 64.11% | 64 | 0.64% | 37 | 0.37% | -2,915 | -29.23% | 9,972 |
| Clarendon | 4,158 | 40.79% | 5,979 | 58.65% | 28 | 0.27% | 29 | 0.28% | -1,821 | -17.86% | 10,194 |
| Colleton | 4,719 | 44.76% | 5,745 | 54.49% | 58 | 0.55% | 21 | 0.20% | -1,026 | -9.73% | 10,543 |
| Darlington | 8,289 | 48.39% | 8,489 | 49.55% | 220 | 1.28% | 133 | 0.78% | -200 | -1.16% | 17,131 |
| Dillon | 3,385 | 42.31% | 4,518 | 56.48% | 59 | 0.74% | 38 | 0.48% | -1,133 | -14.17% | 8,000 |
| Dorchester | 10,893 | 59.53% | 7,237 | 39.55% | 140 | 0.77% | 28 | 0.15% | 3,656 | 19.98% | 18,298 |
| Edgefield | 2,415 | 40.68% | 3,465 | 58.36% | 29 | 0.49% | 28 | 0.47% | -1,050 | -17.68% | 5,937 |
| Fairfield | 2,098 | 33.18% | 4,153 | 65.68% | 37 | 0.59% | 35 | 0.55% | -2,055 | -32.50% | 6,323 |
| Florence | 17,069 | 50.19% | 16,391 | 48.19% | 348 | 1.02% | 203 | 0.60% | 678 | 2.00% | 34,011 |
| Georgetown | 5,151 | 42.78% | 6,701 | 55.65% | 148 | 1.23% | 42 | 0.35% | -1,550 | -12.87% | 12,042 |
| Greenville | 46,168 | 57.41% | 32,135 | 39.96% | 1,600 | 1.99% | 512 | 0.64% | 14,033 | 17.45% | 80,415 |
| Greenwood | 7,290 | 43.17% | 9,283 | 54.97% | 230 | 1.36% | 85 | 0.50% | -1,993 | -11.80% | 16,888 |
| Hampton | 2,217 | 33.58% | 4,329 | 65.56% | 35 | 0.53% | 22 | 0.33% | -2,112 | -31.98% | 6,603 |
| Horry | 14,323 | 49.62% | 13,888 | 48.12% | 528 | 1.83% | 125 | 0.43% | 435 | 1.50% | 28,864 |
| Jasper | 1,617 | 32.54% | 3,312 | 66.65% | 32 | 0.64% | 8 | 0.16% | -1,695 | -34.11% | 4,969 |
| Kershaw | 6,652 | 55.55% | 5,103 | 42.62% | 145 | 1.21% | 74 | 0.62% | 1,549 | 12.93% | 11,974 |
| Lancaster | 6,410 | 42.25% | 8,283 | 54.60% | 331 | 2.18% | 146 | 0.96% | -1,873 | -12.35% | 15,170 |
| Laurens | 6,036 | 42.83% | 7,856 | 55.74% | 125 | 0.89% | 76 | 0.54% | -1,820 | -12.91% | 14,093 |
| Lee | 2,952 | 37.48% | 4,818 | 61.17% | 18 | 0.23% | 89 | 1.13% | -1,866 | -23.69% | 7,877 |
| Lexington | 28,313 | 67.60% | 12,334 | 29.45% | 762 | 1.82% | 477 | 1.14% | 15,979 | 38.15% | 41,886 |
| McCormick | 797 | 30.60% | 1,774 | 68.10% | 22 | 0.84% | 12 | 0.46% | -977 | -37.50% | 2,605 |
| Marion | 3,321 | 37.73% | 5,379 | 61.12% | 75 | 0.85% | 26 | 0.30% | -2,058 | -23.39% | 8,801 |
| Marlboro | 2,585 | 32.15% | 5,378 | 66.89% | 52 | 0.65% | 25 | 0.31% | -2,793 | -34.74% | 8,040 |
| Newberry | 5,568 | 52.96% | 4,825 | 45.90% | 80 | 0.76% | 40 | 0.38% | 743 | 7.06% | 10,513 |
| Oconee | 5,651 | 41.58% | 7,677 | 56.49% | 189 | 1.39% | 74 | 0.54% | -2,026 | -14.91% | 13,591 |
| Orangeburg | 11,313 | 40.79% | 16,178 | 58.33% | 141 | 0.51% | 101 | 0.36% | -4,865 | -17.54% | 27,733 |
| Pickens | 9,575 | 53.42% | 7,789 | 43.46% | 402 | 2.24% | 157 | 0.88% | 1,786 | 9.96% | 17,923 |
| Richland | 36,337 | 49.87% | 33,158 | 45.50% | 1,812 | 2.49% | 1,562 | 2.14% | 3,179 | 4.37% | 72,869 |
| Saluda | 2,450 | 47.40% | 2,651 | 51.29% | 38 | 0.74% | 30 | 0.58% | -201 | -3.89% | 5,169 |
| Spartanburg | 30,092 | 51.12% | 27,245 | 46.28% | 941 | 1.60% | 591 | 1.00% | 2,847 | 4.84% | 58,869 |
| Sumter | 10,557 | 52.45% | 9,205 | 45.74% | 250 | 1.24% | 114 | 0.57% | 1,352 | 6.71% | 20,126 |
| Union | 4,035 | 38.59% | 6,274 | 60.00% | 93 | 0.89% | 54 | 0.52% | -2,239 | -21.41% | 10,456 |
| Williamsburg | 5,110 | 38.29% | 8,135 | 60.96% | 64 | 0.48% | 35 | 0.26% | -3,025 | -22.67% | 13,344 |
| York | 11,265 | 46.85% | 12,075 | 50.22% | 539 | 2.24% | 164 | 0.68% | -810 | -3.37% | 24,043 |
| Totals | 441,207 | 49.57% | 427,560 | 48.04% | 14,150 | 1.59% | 7,166 | 0.81% | 13,647 | 1.53% | 890,083 |
State and district results of the1980 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
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