The 1980 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and

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, were part of the

1980 United States presidential election The 1980 United States presidential election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 1980. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory. ...

. State voters chose 26 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

. This would be the last time a Democrat failed to win more than three counties as well as the last time

Rock Island County Rock Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois, bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 147,546. Its county seat is Rock Island; its largest city is neighboring ...

voted Republican, with the county turning sharply to the Democratic party beginning with Reagan's reelection bid and continuing through to the present day.

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

had voted Republican in the previous three Presidential elections, and early analysis suggested Reagan as a good candidate against Carter in

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

. Nonetheless, at the beginning of the campaign trail an opinion poll suggested Reagan would lose to Carter by 26%, but the Republican campaign knew carrying a state which

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

had won four years ago to be essential and the state was heavily targeted by GOP campaigners.Sperling, Godfrey jr; 'How Reagan plans to beat Carter in November; "Northeast strategy" targets Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, banks on big "blue collar" vote'; ''Christian Science Monitor''; July 16, 1980 By mid-September, polls were showing the "Land of Lincoln" as very close, and Carter was hit by political conflicts in Chicago between mayor Jane F. Byrne and State Senator Richard Daley. Carter strategists did target the state in September and hoped that prospective Republican nominee John Anderson – who had run against Reagan in the GOP presidential primaries before launching his own independent presidential campaign – would take enough votes from Reagan to give Carter the state with a smaller proportion of the votes than he won in 1976. Polls in mid-October suggested Illinois was "too close to call", and as election day neared, opinions fluctuated especially in the critical southern part of the state. Ultimately Illinois – the state where Republican candidate, former California Governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

was born in the town of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

and raised there– was won by him with a 7.93% margin of victory over Democratic candidate, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. Reagan won all but three counties, but Carter's 268 thousand-vote margin in massively populated Cook County meant Illinois voted roughly 1.77% more Democratic than the nation at-large. Despite being the home state of Congressman John B. Anderson, he only won 7.30% of the popular vote, 346,754 votes, and failed to carry any counties.

Primaries

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices (

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

), as well as those for state offices.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary elections was 40.41%, with a total of 2,331,148 ballots cast. The primaries saw a cumulative increase in turnout over the previous 1976 primaries. Turnout during the general election was 76.24%, with 4,749,721 ballots cast. State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on March 18. The Illinois primaries were viewed as significant in 1980, being viewed as the first large contest in a northern industrial state.

Democratic

The 1980 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 18, 1980, in the U.S. state of

as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1980 presidential election. The popular vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional districts on delegate candidates, who had either pledged to support a candidate or been uncommitted. 138 delegates pledged Jimmy Carter won, while only 14 delegates pledged to Kennedy won. Additionally, 13 uncommitted delegates won. At the state convention in April, Carter was awarded an additional 25 delegates out of the 28 delegates selected at the convention.

Republican

The 1980 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 18, 1980, in the U.S. state of

as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1980 presidential election. The primary was a so-called "blind primary" or "loophole primary". Under this format, the presidential preference vote was a “beauty contest”. Delegates were not selected based upon the preference vote for president, but rather directly voted upon by voters in each congressional district. Additionally, the presidential preferences of each delegate candidate was not listed on the ballot. This primary saw a larger-than-usual turnout for an Illinois Republican primary, with more than a 400,000 vote increase over the 1976 Republican primary. This was attributed to both the appeal of Anderson and Reagan to independents as well

crossover voting In primary elections in the United States, crossover voting refers to a behavior in which voters cast ballots for a party with which they are not traditionally affiliated. Even in the instance of closed primary elections, in which voters are req ...

by Democrats who opted against voting in the Democratic primary due to it lacking a close race. In both the state's popular vote and delegate count, Ronald Reagan placed first, respectively followed by John B. Anderson, George Bush, and Phil Crane. Three of the candidates had Illinois connections. Ronald Reagan was born in the state, while John B. Anderson and Phil Crane were both incumbent congressmen from the state. While John B. Anderson failed to win his home state, he performed strongly in certain areas of the state, particularly in the suburbs of

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. Phil Crane's securing of three delegates came despite him having already dropped-out of the race before the Illinois primary.

Results

Results by county

References

{{1980 United States elections

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...