Colonel William A. Phillips

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The 1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose seventeen electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.

New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, former actor and Governor Ronald Reagan of California and former CIA Director George H.W. Bush of Texas. Reagan and Bush defeated the Democratic nominees, incumbent President Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate incumbent Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Also in the running was former Republican Congressman John B. Anderson of Illinois, who ran as an Independent with former Ambassador and Governor Patrick Lucey of Wisconsin.

Ronald Reagan giving a speech at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey on September 1, 1980.

Reagan carried New Jersey with 51.97% of the vote to Carter's 38.56%, a margin of 13.42%.[2]

Anderson came in a strong but distant third, with 7.88% of the vote. Reagan won 18 of the state's 21 counties, with Carter only holding onto the 3 most heavily Democratic counties in New Jersey: Essex County, Hudson County, and Mercer County. New Jersey weighed in for this election as almost 4% more Republican than the national average.

New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican tilt; four years earlier, in 1976, the state had narrowly backed Republican Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter by a 50–48 margin, as Carter won nationally over Ford by a similarly narrow 50–48 margin. However, in 1980, with Reagan winning convincingly at the national level, the state easily remained in the Republican column. Carter was also hurt in the state by the candidacy of John Anderson, who had been a liberal Republican Congressman and whose campaign appealed strongly to Northeastern liberals and moderates who viewed Reagan as being too extreme and too far to the right,[3] but who were dissatisfied with the status quo under the Carter Administration.[4] Carter bled a substantial amount of support among such liberals and moderates in New Jersey who would likely have leaned Democratic in 1980 but instead voted for Anderson as a protest vote,[5] pushing Carter below 40% and widening Reagan's margin over Carter.

Results

1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan 1,546,557 51.97% 17
Democratic Jimmy Carter 1,147,364 38.56% 0
Anderson Alternative John B. Anderson 234,632 7.88% 0
Libertarian Ed Clark 20,652 0.69% 0
Citizens Barry Commoner 8,203 0.28% 0
Right to Life Ellen McCormack 3,927 0.13% 0
Middle Class Kurt Lynen 3,694 0.12% 0
Communist Gus Hall 2,555 0.09% 0
Socialist Workers Andrew Pulley 2,198 0.07% 0
Socialist David McReynolds 1,973 0.07% 0
Down with Lawyers Bill Gahres 1,718 0.06% 0
Workers World Deirdre Griswold 1,288 0.04% 0
Independent Martin Wendelken 923 0.03% 0
Totals 2,975,684 100.0% 17
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 55%/79%

Results by county

County Ronald Wilson Reagan[6]
Republican
James Earl Carter[6]
Democratic
John Bayard Anderson[7]
Anderson Alternative
Edward E. Clark[7]
Libertarian
Various candidates[7]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Atlantic 37,973 49.83% 31,286 41.06% 5,582 7.33% 800 1.05% 561 0.74% 6,687 8.78% 76,202
Bergen 232,043 55.89% 139,474 33.60% 38,242 9.21% 2,661 0.64% 2,737 0.66% 92,569 22.30% 415,157
Burlington 68,415 51.94% 50,083 38.03% 11,314 8.59% 1,010 0.77% 887 0.67% 18,332 13.92% 131,709
Camden 87,939 47.07% 80,033 42.84% 16,125 8.63% 1,267 0.68% 1,444 0.77% 7,906 4.23% 186,808
Cape May 22,729 59.08% 12,708 33.03% 2,550 6.63% 312 0.81% 172 0.45% 10,021 26.05% 38,471
Cumberland 23,242 50.09% 19,356 41.71% 3,253 7.01% 324 0.70% 228 0.49% 3,886 8.37% 46,403
Essex 117,222 40.82% 145,281 50.59% 21,271 7.41% 1,192 0.42% 2,200 0.77% -28,059 -9.77% 287,166
Gloucester 40,306 51.08% 29,804 37.77% 7,533 9.55% 851 1.08% 409 0.52% 10,502 13.31% 78,903
Hudson 91,207 45.90% 95,622 48.13% 8,941 4.50% 840 0.42% 2,078 1.05% -4,415 -2.22% 198,688
Hunterdon 21,403 58.75% 10,029 27.53% 3,610 9.91% 404 1.11% 984 2.70% 11,374 31.22% 36,430
Mercer 53,450 41.57% 60,888 47.35% 12,117 9.42% 1,153 0.90% 974 0.76% -7,438 -5.78% 128,582
Middlesex 122,354 50.73% 97,304 40.34% 17,463 7.24% 1,787 0.74% 2,298 0.95% 25,050 10.39% 241,206
Monmouth 120,173 56.69% 71,328 33.65% 17,444 8.23% 1,696 0.80% 1,330 0.63% 48,845 23.04% 211,971
Morris 105,260 60.63% 48,965 28.20% 17,181 9.90% 1,375 0.79% 823 0.47% 56,295 32.43% 173,604
Ocean 98,433 62.47% 46,923 29.78% 10,073 6.39% 1,165 0.74% 974 0.62% 51,510 32.69% 157,568
Passaic 82,531 51.92% 61,486 38.68% 9,385 5.90% 904 0.57% 4,645 2.92% 21,045 13.24% 158,951
Salem 13,000 51.03% 10,209 40.08% 1,800 7.07% 265 1.04% 200 0.79% 2,791 10.96% 25,474
Somerset 52,591 57.21% 29,470 32.06% 8,346 9.08% 599 0.65% 922 1.00% 23,121 25.15% 91,928
Sussex 27,063 63.94% 10,531 24.88% 3,988 9.42% 518 1.22% 227 0.54% 16,532 39.06% 42,327
Union 112,288 51.66% 86,074 39.60% 15,586 7.17% 1,157 0.53% 2,234 1.03% 26,214 12.06% 217,339
Warren 16,935 54.99% 10,510 34.13% 2,828 9.18% 372 1.21% 152 0.49% 6,425 20.86% 30,797
Totals 1,546,557 51.97% 1,147,364 38.56% 234,632 7.88% 20,652 0.69% 26,479 0.89% 399,193 13.42% 2,975,684

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

  1. ^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – New Jersey". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  3. ^ Howison, Geoffrey D.; The 1980 Presidential Election: Ronald Reagan and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement (Critical Moments in American History), p. 108 ISBN 1136174117
  4. ^ McMahon, Kevin J.;Winning the White House, 2008, p. 85 ISBN 0230100422
  5. ^ Lipset, Seymour; Party Coalitions in the 1980s, p. 228 ISBN 1412830494
  6. ^ a b Géoelections; 1980 Presidential Election Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
  7. ^ a b c Géoelections; Popular Vote for John B. Anderson (.xlsx file for €15)

Notes

  1. ^ Anderson’s party was listed on this state’s ballot as “Anderson Alternative”.[1]