The 1976 United States presidential election in Illinois was held on November 2, 1976. All 50 states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1976 United States presidential election. 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 ...

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 ...

. In the last two presidential elections,

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

had voted Republican. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, the state had, like the rest of the nation outside

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and the

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, voted strongly for

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

who carried every county except college-dominated

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, although Democrat George McGovern ran 3% above his national vote percentage in the state. This is the last time Illinois voted for a losing Republican. By the second week of September polls were showing Carter ahead of incumbent President Gerald Ford by 14%, but running much weaker in the emerging “

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...

” industrial states – his lead in Illinois would be estimated at four percentage points. A few days later another poll had Ford already ahead in the “Land of Lincoln”, but another poll had the incumbent President narrowly behind. Defeated Republican primary candidate and future President Ronald Reagan helped Ford in his fall campaign in Illinois, although Carter preceded him in visiting the state – doing so for the first time on September 24. Ford’s running mate Bob Dole followed Carter to the state and said that Carter had “3 positions on every issue” during a tour through Rock Island, Quincy and Decatur. At this time it was also thought that Ford was helped by the strong GOP gubernatorial campaign of

James R. Thompson James Robert Thompson Jr. (May 8, 1936 – August 14, 2020), also known as Big Jim Thompson, was an American attorney and politician who served as the 37th governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991. A moderate Republican who sometimes took more ...

. At the beginning of October, Illinois was viewed as “too close to call”, before Carter paid a second visit to the state – with the support of

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Richard Daley viewed essential to his chances of carrying the state’s electoral votes due to the coolness of the northern and central parts of the state toward a Southern Evangelical Democrat. Carter would subsequently move ahead, but the state remained very close as election day neared, with South Side black voters considered a critical aspect of Carter’s hopes.Kaiser, Robert; ‘Black Vote Could Carry Carter to Victory’; ''The Boston Globe'', October 28, 1976, p. 2 Gerald Ford won Illinois with 50.10 percent of the vote, but lost the general election to

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, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

of Georgia. Illinois’ result was 4% more Republican than the nation at large. Ford’s win was due to his large majorities in the traditionally Republican

collar counties Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and comp ...

, chiefly DuPage, which he won by a margin ten thousand votes greater than his statewide total margin. Carter did well in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

and

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 state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

, but his majorities there were much smaller than New Deal era Democrats had won. This is the last election where a Democrat won the White House without carrying Illinois (one of only three such elections, the others being

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's '' Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price at ...

and

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

), and also the most recent presidential election when Illinois would vote more Republican than the nation. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004.

Primaries

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and those for state offices.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 36.29%, with a total of 2,087,807 votes cast. Turnout in the general election was 75.47%, with a total of 4,719,304 votes cast. State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on March 16.

Democratic

The 1976 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 16, 1976 in the U.S. state of

as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1976 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. The popular vote of the "beauty contest" saw a plurality won by Jimmy Carter. While he was not a candidate for the popular vote, in the vote for delegates, a plurality of the state's delegates were awarded to

favorite son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

Adlai Stevenson III, with

Georgia Governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

Jimmy Carter placing second.Kraft, Joseph; ‘Can Carter Unify the Democrats’; ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', June 11, 1976, p. 15 Stevenson was used as a stand-in by

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

to get otherwise uncommitted delegates elected.

Republican

The 1976 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 16, 1976 in the U.S. state of

as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1976 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.

Results

Results by county

References

{{United States elections

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

1976 Illinois elections