United States presidential election in Ohio, 1980
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The 1980 United States presidential election in Ohio 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 25 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Because of Ohio's long-time bellwether status, Carter and Reagan campaigned heavily in the state from the start of the presidential primaries. At the beginning of the campaign, it was clear that inflation and the Iranian hostage crisis were cutting heavily into Carter's popularity in the industrial areas of the state, although Reagan was not viewed warmly by the state's electorate either. Despite the coldness with which the incumbent President was received on his first visit to
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
, Carter did gain a critical victory over challenger Ted Kennedy in Ohio's
presidential primary The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various U.S. state, states, the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States preside ...
on June 4, owing to his dominance of Ohio's heavily
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
n rural counties plus the endorsement of both Buckeye State Senator
John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...
and Cleveland's '' Plain Dealer'' newspaper. In the earliest polls after the nominations were settled, Reagan was slightly ahead of Carter, and from midsummer the GOP nominee targeted Ohio as part of his strategy of appealing to industrial workers in the Northeast and Great Lakes region. Ohio gained further attention from a court case that allowed independent candidate and former Republican rival to Reagan
John B. Anderson John Bayard Anderson (February 15, 1922 – December 3, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. A member o ...
to be on the state's ballot, but Reagan continued his strategy of seeking the support of Ohio's industrial workers during the remainder of the summer. However, after the challenger being ahead for the first half of the fall – although never by an irreversible margin – by mid-October Ohio was seen as close because Reagan was not gaining so much support from industrial workers as he had hoped in August, with voters simply debating “which candidate they liked least”. However, by the beginning of November, Ohio was viewed as the most problematic of the three “key” Midwestern states for Carter's re-election battle, as he was only seventy-five thousand votes ahead in
Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...
, which he had won by over 93,000 votes in his 11,000-vote statewide triumph four years previously.Healy, Robert L.; ‘Ohio, Mich, and Illinois may decide the election’; ''The Boston Globe'', November 1, 1980, p. 1 The Equal Rights Amendment and abortion were also seen as severely handicapping Carter in the Southern-leaning Appalachian Ohio, Appalachian counties where he had done well in 1976. Ohio was won by former List of governors of California, California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by 11%. Ohio voted very close to the nation for both Carter and Reagan, although Anderson was 0.7% below his national percentage. Reagan was the first Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to carry heavily populated Lucas County, Ohio, Lucas County.Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004'', pp. 276-280


Results


Results by county


See also

* United States presidential elections in Ohio


Notes


References

{{1980 United States elections 1980 United States presidential election by state, Ohio United States presidential elections in Ohio, 1980 1980 Ohio elections