The 1976 United States presidential election in Washington was held on November 2, 1976 as part of the
1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose nine representatives, or 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 ...
.
Incumbent President
Gerald Ford won the state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
with 50% of the vote, which made the state 6% more Republican than the nation-at-large,
but Ford received only eight of the state's nine electoral votes. Former
California Governor
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...
Ronald Reagan lost the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford in 1976 and was not on the ballot in any state. However, he was given one electoral vote by Washington
faithless elector
In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...
Mike Padden
Michael John Padden (born November 13, 1946) is a lawyer and politician from Spokane Valley, Washington. He is a member of the Washington State Senate representing Washington's 4th Legislative District.
Padden is well known as a "faithless elect ...
.
As of 2020, the 1976 election remains the last time that a Democrat would win the presidency without carrying Washington state, or that the state would vote Republican in a close nationwide contest. 1976 was also the last time that Washington state voted more Republican than the nation as a whole, and the last time until
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
that a presidential candidate would lose an electoral vote to a faithless elector in the state. The 1976 election was also the last time that
Clallam County backed the losing national candidate, and the county now has the nation's longest streak of picking the winner of the electoral college in presidential elections by being the only county in the nation, as of 2020, that has backed the winning national candidate every time since 1980. In addition, Clallam County has only twice gone for the losing national candidate since 1920 (in 1968 and 1976).
Results
Results by county
See also
*
United States presidential elections in Washington (state)
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Washington, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1889, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital ...
Notes
References
{{1976 United States elections
1976 Washington (state) elections
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
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 ...