Who won Georgia in the 1980 presidential election?

Carter (Democratic) carried Georgia in 1980, winning its 12 electoral votes.

How many electoral votes did Georgia have in 1980?

Georgia cast 12 electoral votes in the 1980 presidential election.

Did Georgia vote for the national winner in 1980?

No. Georgia backed Carter, while Ronald Reagan won the presidency nationally.

Cold War RealignmentGA · 12 EV

1980

Georgia: Carter carries 12 EV.

Georgia cast its 12 electoral votes for Carter (Democratic). National winner: Ronald Reagan (Republican) — Georgia voted against the national winner this cycle.

Georgia in 1980

The 1980 contest saw Georgia line up behind Carter, delivering 12 electoral votes to the Democratic ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Ronald Reagan (Republican) won the presidency, leaving Georgia among the states he did not carry.

It marked the 2nd consecutive election in which Georgia backed the Democratic party, a streak reaching back to 1976. It stood apart from its neighbors: Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina went the other way that year. Across the 59 presidential elections Georgia has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (34 times). The vote fell within the Cold War Realignment — Nixon, Reagan, and the Republican South.

In the national count, Ronald Reagan took 489 of the 538 electoral votes, against Jimmy Carter's 49. Ronald Reagan led the national popular vote with 50.75% of the ballots cast.

The 1980 national map

Georgia full history →