1976 United States presidential election in New York

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Main article: 1976 United States presidential election
1976 United States presidential election in New York
← 1972 November 2, 1976 1980 →
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance Liberal Conservative
Home state Georgia Michigan
Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole
Electoral vote 41 0
Popular vote 3,389,558 3,100,791
Percentage 51.95% 47.52%
County results
President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elections in New York State
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President elect Carter shakes hands with residents of the Bronx, New York City, shortly after being elected.

The 1976 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 2, 1976. All 50 states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Voters chose 41 electors to the Electoral College, which voted for President and Vice President. New York was won by Democratic Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, in a narrow victory against incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford, who failed to gain the presidency through formal election that year. Carter was running with Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, and President Ford had selected Kansas Senator Bob Dole. The presidential election of 1976 was a very partisan election in New York, with more than 99% of the electorate voting for either Carter or Ford.[1]

Carter took 51.95% of the popular vote to Ford's 47.52%, a victory margin of 4.43%. New York weighed in as being slightly more Democratic than the national average, by about 2%. The vast majority of counties in New York state were won by the Republican Ford, but the highly populated regions of New York City, Buffalo and Albany were able to tip the scales for the Democratic Carter.

Despite Ford being a Northern moderate, the Southerner Carter won commanding victories over Ford in four of the five boroughs of New York City. Carter broke 70% of the vote in Manhattan and the Bronx, and received over 60% of the vote in Brooklyn and Queens. Overall Carter took a citywide vote total of 66.37%, up to that point the third highest vote share ever received by a Democratic presidential candidate in New York City, surpassed only by the nationwide landslide victories of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, despite the fact that Carter was only winning a narrow 2-point victory nationwide. The massive raw vote margin in New York City was the vital key to Carter's narrow margin of victory in New York state. One reason for Ford's unusually weak performance in the city was likely his initial refusal to grant the nearly bankrupt city a federal bailout during the city's 1975 fiscal crisis, sparking the infamous New York Daily News headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead."[2] While Ford ultimately would extend federal loans to the city to prevent it from falling into bankruptcy, the damage to Ford's reputation in New York City likely contributed to his poor performance among voters there, and to his narrow loss in both New York state and in the nation overall, as Ford would have won the 1976 election and retained the presidency had he carried New York state.

Results

President Ford’s initial refusal to grant a federal bailout to a nearly bankrupt New York City during the city's 1975 fiscal crisis sparked infamous headlines damaging Ford's reputation in the city, likely contributing to his poor performance in New York City in the 1976 election.
1976 United States presidential election in New York
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Jimmy Carter 3,244,165 49.65%
Liberal Jimmy Carter 145,393 2.23%
Total Jimmy Carter 3,389,558 51.87% 41
Republican Gerald Ford 2,825,913 43.24%
Conservative Gerald Ford 274,878 4.21%
Total Gerald Ford (incumbent) 3,100,791 47.45% 0
Free Libertarian Roger MacBride 12,197 0.19% 0
Communist Gus Hall 10,270 0.16% 0
Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 6,996 0.11% 0
U.S. Labor Lyndon LaRouche 5,413 0.08% 0
Write-ins Various candidates 4,342[a] 0.07% 0
Write-ins Eugene McCarthy 4,303[a] 0.07% 0
Write-ins Thomas J. Anderson 451[a] 0.01% 0
Write-ins Lester Maddox 99[a] 0.00% 0
Totals 6,534,170 100.0% 41

New York City results

1976 Presidential Election in New York City Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Total
Democratic-
Liberal 		Jimmy Carter 337,438 238,786 419,382 379,907 47,867 1,423,380 66.37%
73.22% 70.77% 68.34% 60.54% 45.45%
Republican-
Conservative 		Gerald Ford 117,702 96,842 190,728 244,396 56,995 706,663 32.95%
25.54% 28.70% 31.08% 38.95% 54.11%
Communist Gus Hall 2,075 701 1,432 1,034 90 5,332 0.25%
0.45% 0.21% 0.23% 0.16% 0.09%
Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 1,468 453 870 767 102 3,660 0.17%
0.32% 0.13% 0.14% 0.12% 0.10%
Free Libertarian Roger MacBride 683 276 551 577 115 2,202 0.10%
0.15% 0.08% 0.09% 0.09% 0.11%
U.S. Labor Lyndon LaRouche 592 261 548 615 101 2,117 0.10%
0.13% 0.08% 0.09% 0.10% 0.10%
Write-ins Write-ins
880 72 132 207 56 1,347 0.06%
TOTAL 460,838 337,391 613,643 627,503 105,326 2,144,701 100.00%

Results by county

County James Earl Carter
Democratic 		Gerald Rudolph Ford
Republican 		Roger L. MacBride[3]
Free Libertarian 		Gus Hall[3]
Communist 		Peter Camejo[3]
Socialist Workers 		Lyndon H. LaRouche[3]
U.S. Labor 		Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Albany 71,616 50.29% 69,592 48.87% 519 0.36% 148 0.10% 195 0.14% 138 0.10% 2,024 1.42% 142,409
Allegany 6,134 34.06% 11,769 65.35% 36 0.20% 14 0.08% 16 0.09% 9 0.05% -5,635 -31.29% 18,010
Bronx 238,786 70.77% 96,842 28.70% 276 0.08% 701 0.21% 453 0.13% 261 0.08% 141,944 42.07% 337,391
Broome 39,827 43.93% 50,340 55.53% 174 0.19% 79 0.09% 85 0.09% 44 0.05% -10,513 -11.60% 90,658
Cattaraugus 13,768 41.19% 19,469 58.25% 71 0.21% 23 0.07% 21 0.06% 41 0.12% -5,701 -17.06% 33,422
Cayuga 13,348 40.03% 19,775 59.31% 44 0.13% 30 0.09% 16 0.05% 42 0.13% -6,427 -19.28% 33,343
Chautauqua 27,447 44.68% 33,730 54.90% 137 0.22% 40 0.07% 42 0.07% 40 0.07% -6,283 -10.23% 61,436
Chemung 17,207 45.25% 20,640 54.28% 55 0.14% 28 0.07% 22 0.06% 45 0.12% -3,433 -9.03% 38,026
Chenango 7,356 37.08% 12,384 62.43% 47 0.24% 16 0.08% 8 0.04% 19 0.10% -5,028 -25.35% 19,837
Clinton 11,555 42.63% 15,433 56.94% 44 0.16% 20 0.07% 25 0.09% 22 0.08% -3,878 -14.31% 27,103
Columbia 10,514 39.56% 15,871 59.72% 82 0.31% 38 0.14% 27 0.10% 42 0.16% -5,357 -20.16% 26,574
Cortland 6,947 37.96% 11,222 61.32% 67 0.37% 12 0.07% 16 0.09% 13 0.07% -4,275 -23.36% 18,300
Delaware 7,254 36.59% 12,443 62.76% 40 0.20% 17 0.09% 11 0.06% 14 0.07% -5,189 -26.17% 19,827
Dutchess 37,531 41.65% 51,312 56.94% 264 0.30% 76 0.09% 88 0.10% 62 0.07% -13,781 -15.29% 90,111
Erie 229,397 50.66% 220,310 48.65% 1,346 0.30% 540 0.12% 252 0.06% 508 0.11% 9,087 2.01% 452,843
Essex 6,556 38.97% 10,194 60.59% 34 0.20% 23 0.14% 8 0.05% 9 0.05% -3,638 -21.62% 16,824
Franklin 7,248 44.87% 8,846 54.77% 23 0.14% 9 0.06% 6 0.04% 9 0.06% -1,598 -9.89% 16,152
Fulton 9,323 43.10% 12,161 56.23% 71 0.33% 15 0.07% 5 0.02% 17 0.08% -2,838 -13.12% 21,629
Genesee 10,803 42.30% 14,567 57.04% 61 0.24% 26 0.10% 8 0.03% 22 0.09% -3,764 -14.74% 25,536
Greene 7,740 40.18% 11,370 59.02% 56 0.29% 16 0.08% 26 0.14% 26 0.14% -3,630 -18.84% 19,264
Hamilton 1,052 31.22% 2,306 68.43% 8 0.24% 3 0.09% 1 0.03% 0 0.00% -1,254 -37.21% 3,370
Herkimer 12,875 45.37% 15,362 54.14% 58 0.20% 24 0.08% 19 0.07% 23 0.08% -2,487 -8.76% 28,377
Jefferson 13,503 39.68% 20,401 59.95% 32 0.09% 29 0.09% 14 0.04% 27 0.08% -6,898 -20.27% 34,028
Kings 419,382 68.34% 190,728 31.08% 551 0.09% 1,432 0.23% 870 0.14% 548 0.09% 228,654 37.26% 613,643
Lewis 3,764 39.07% 5,840 60.62% 15 0.16% 6 0.06% 4 0.04% 4 0.04% -2,076 -21.55% 9,633
Livingston 9,629 40.43% 14,044 58.96% 78 0.33% 28 0.12% 10 0.04% 21 0.09% -4,415 -18.54% 23,819
Madison 8,822 35.87% 15,674 63.74% 39 0.16% 15 0.06% 16 0.07% 25 0.10% -6,852 -27.86% 24,591
Monroe 134,739 44.40% 167,303 55.14% 781 0.26% 243 0.08% 177 0.06% 191 0.06% -32,564 -10.73% 303,434
Montgomery 11,271 45.57% 13,281 53.70% 59 0.24% 27 0.11% 17 0.07% 30 0.12% -2,010 -8.13% 24,734
Nassau 302,869 47.64% 329,176 51.78% 955 0.15% 734 0.12% 515 0.08% 334 0.05% -26,307 -4.14% 635,756
New York 337,438 73.22% 117,702 25.54% 683 0.15% 2,075 0.45% 1,468 0.32% 592 0.13% 219,736 47.68% 460,838
Niagara 43,667 48.39% 46,101 51.09% 232 0.26% 52 0.06% 46 0.05% 79 0.09% -2,434 -2.70% 90,239
Oneida 47,779 45.08% 57,655 54.40% 251 0.24% 85 0.08% 47 0.04% 89 0.08% -9,876 -9.32% 105,988
Onondaga 76,097 39.51% 115,474 59.96% 312 0.16% 214 0.11% 103 0.05% 126 0.07% -39,377 -20.45% 192,578
Ontario 14,044 39.63% 21,118 59.59% 100 0.28% 35 0.10% 13 0.04% 31 0.09% -7,074 -19.96% 35,441
Orange 40,362 44.51% 49,685 54.80% 183 0.20% 113 0.12% 61 0.07% 60 0.07% -9,323 -10.28% 90,673
Orleans 5,927 39.45% 8,994 59.87% 48 0.32% 11 0.07% 10 0.07% 7 0.05% -3,067 -20.42% 15,023
Oswego 16,332 40.36% 23,949 59.19% 83 0.21% 42 0.10% 18 0.04% 27 0.07% -7,617 -18.82% 40,463
Otsego 9,787 39.54% 14,796 59.77% 51 0.21% 25 0.10% 10 0.04% 29 0.12% -5,009 -20.24% 24,754
Putnam 11,963 38.95% 18,523 60.31% 65 0.21% 38 0.12% 34 0.11% 25 0.08% -6,560 -21.36% 30,711
Queens 379,907 60.54% 244,396 38.95% 577 0.09% 1,034 0.16% 767 0.12% 615 0.10% 135,511 21.60% 627,503
Rensselaer 28,979 41.60% 40,229 57.76% 213 0.31% 64 0.09% 42 0.06% 59 0.08% -11,250 -16.15% 69,653
Richmond 47,867 45.45% 56,995 54.11% 115 0.11% 90 0.09% 102 0.10% 101 0.10% -9,128 -8.67% 105,326
Rockland 48,673 47.93% 52,087 51.30% 208 0.21% 166 0.16% 110 0.11% 46 0.05% -3,414 -3.36% 101,540
Saratoga 23,768 38.04% 38,296 61.29% 220 0.35% 76 0.12% 26 0.04% 51 0.08% -14,528 -23.25% 62,486
Schenectady 31,838 42.60% 40,789 54.58% 242 0.33% 117 0.16% 69 0.09% 88 0.12% -8,951 -11.98% 74,732
Schoharie 5,250 41.95% 7,154 57.16% 39 0.31% 20 0.16% 16 0.13% 18 0.14% -1,904 -15.21% 12,515
Schuyler 2,885 40.13% 4,267 59.35% 17 0.24% 6 0.08% 6 0.08% 5 0.07% -1,382 -19.22% 7,189
Seneca 5,745 42.53% 7,659 56.70% 44 0.33% 10 0.07% 5 0.04% 9 0.07% -1,914 -14.17% 13,508
St. Lawrence 17,503 43.83% 22,249 55.71% 55 0.14% 43 0.11% 22 0.06% 15 0.04% -4,746 -11.88% 39,934
Steuben 14,685 38.63% 23,164 60.93% 80 0.21% 40 0.11% 28 0.07% 18 0.05% -8,479 -22.30% 38,015
Suffolk 208,263 45.27% 248,908 54.10% 1,035 0.23% 486 0.11% 391 0.09% 328 0.07% -40,645 -8.83% 460,048
Sullivan 14,189 50.50% 13,709 48.79% 70 0.25% 46 0.16% 30 0.11% 34 0.12% 480 1.71% 28,096
Tioga 6,969 36.89% 11,824 62.58% 32 0.17% 17 0.09% 15 0.08% 11 0.06% -4,855 -25.70% 18,893
Tompkins 12,808 44.67% 15,463 53.93% 58 0.20% 38 0.13% 73 0.26% 19 0.07% -2,655 -9.26% 28,671
Ulster 30,190 45.64% 35,353 53.44% 207 0.31% 130 0.20% 89 0.13% 57 0.09% -5,163 -7.80% 66,153
Warren 7,264 33.15% 14,548 66.39% 41 0.19% 17 0.08% 12 0.05% 13 0.06% -7,284 -33.24% 21,912
Washington 7,262 34.06% 13,946 65.40% 56 0.26% 25 0.12% 13 0.06% 12 0.06% -6,684 -31.34% 21,324
Wayne 12,061 38.22% 19,324 61.24% 81 0.26% 16 0.05% 7 0.02% 14 0.04% -7,263 -23.02% 31,557
Westchester 173,153 45.06% 208,527 54.26% 706 0.18% 705 0.18% 383 0.10% 229 0.06% -35,374 -9.20% 384,296
Wyoming 5,737 36.92% 9,726 62.59% 45 0.29% 15 0.10% 4 0.03% 12 0.08% -3,989 -25.67% 15,539
Yates 2,903 33.21% 5,796 66.30% 25 0.29% 7 0.08% 4 0.05% 7 0.08% -2,893 -33.09% 8,742
Totals 3,389,558 51.87% 3,100,791 47.45% 12,197 0.19% 10,270 0.16% 6,996 0.11% 5,413 0.08% 288,767 4.42% 6,534,170

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Analysis

Even though Ford won in 55 of New York state's 62 counties, Carter's landslide in heavily populated New York City provided Carter with a citywide vote advantage over Ford of 716,717 votes, which was more than twice Carter's statewide victory margin of 288,767 votes. Without Carter winning the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, Ford would have won New York state by 437,078 votes and a 9.7% margin. There was a significant difference between the results of Upstate New York and Downstate New York in this election. Ford won Upstate by 11% and Carter won Downstate by 16%,[citation needed].

Ford won 50 of the 53 counties in Upstate New York. Carter only won the following three upstate counties: Albany (Albany), Erie (Buffalo), and Sullivan (Monticello). Although Carter won only four of the nine counties in densely populated Downstate New York, he won all four of them by between 21 and 47 percentage points, whereas the five counties in Downstate New York that Ford won all went to him by much smaller margins of between 3 and 9 percentage points.

Carter’s victory in New York was a key to his winning this election. Had Ford carried the state instead, along with all the other states he won, he would have been elected instead with an Electoral College victory of 281 to 256.

The 1976 Democratic National Convention was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, in August 1976. At the convention, electors and delegates met for 3 days in New York City before formally nominating Carter to run for the presidency.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Although McCarthy, Anderson and Maddox were separated from other write-in candidates, none of the write-in votes were separated by county; they were given only as a state-wide total.[3]

References

  1. ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results — New York". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  2. ^ Van Riper, Frank (October 30, 1975). "Ford to New York: Drop Dead". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "NY US President Race, November 02, 1976". Our Campaigns.
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