United States presidential election in Texas, 1976

Main article: United States presidential election, 1976

United States presidential election in Texas, 1976

November 2, 1976

Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Party Democratic Republican Home state Georgia Michigan Running mate Walter Mondale Robert Dole Electoral vote 26 0 Popular vote 2,082,319 1,953,300 Percentage 51.14% 47.97%

President before election Gerald Ford Republican Elected President Jimmy Carter Democratic

The 1976 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 2, 1976.

Texas was won by Jimmy Carter of Georgia with 51.14% of the vote, giving him 26 electoral votes. He also beat the incumbent President Gerald Ford in the general election. This was the last time that a Democrat won Texas.

Carter's southern roots as a former governor of Georgia struck a cord with many voters in Texas, along with strong anti-Republican sentiment following Watergate. Carter carried 191 of the state's 254 counties, though this was by far the weakest performance from a Democratic presidential candidate in election history. Two factors can be explained. One was Carter's underwhelming performance in the more rural counties, and the second being President Ford's strong performances in Dallas and Harris counties, and some of their surrounding suburbs. The rise of the Republican Party in some of these areas would cumulate in Ronald Reagan's win in the state four years later.

Primaries

Democratic primaries

• Jimmy Carter - 47.65%
• Lloyd Bentsen - 22.20%
• George Wallace - 17.53%

Republican primaries

• Ronald Reagan - 66.36%
• Gerald Ford - 33.37%

Results

United States presidential election in Texas, 1976
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	2,082,319	51.14%	26
	Republican	Gerald Ford	1,953,300	47.97%	0
	Independent	Eugene McCarthy	20,118	0.49%	0
	American Independent	Thomas Anderson	11,442	0.28%	0
	-	Other	4,705	0.12%	0
Totals			4,071,884	100.0%	26