1976 Presidential Election

The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic candidate. Ford was saddled with a slow economy and paid a political price for his pardon of Nixon. Carter ran as a Washington outsider and reformer and won a narrow victory. He was the first president elected from the Deep South since Zachary Taylor in 1848.

Source: Wikipedia

1976 Election Results

Candidate Party Electoral Votes Popular Votes
Jimmy Carter Democratic 297 40,825,839
Gerald R. Ford (I) Republican 240 39,147,770
Other: See Election Facts Below 1

1976 Election Facts

  • Ford won Washington; however one elector cast a vote for Ronald Reagan
  • Issues of the Day: Watergate (Impeachment, pardon of Nixon)

Margin of Victory Map
