1980 United States presidential election in Arkansas

1980 United States presidential election in Arkansas
Reagan 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%	Carter 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
President before election; Jimmy Carter; Democratic	Elected President ; Ronald Reagan; Republican

The 1980 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 4, 1980. All fifty states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose six electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The election was very close in Arkansas, with the state being won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan by only 0.6 points.^[1]

Despite incumbent Jimmy Carter having won the state four years earlier by 30 percent, Carter's perceived failures in office, including economic downturn in an election year, the Iran hostage crisis, and a riot by Cuban refugees who were temporarily placed in Fort Chaffee in western Arkansas, contributed to his defeat. While insignificant in the overall context of Reagan winning the Electoral College by a significant amount, some analysts have said the combined Democratic ticket in Arkansas in both the presidential and gubernatorial races would have won, if the riot had not occurred.

This is also the last time any candidate won the state with only a plurality as in 1992 it would be the only state in the nation besides the District of Columbia to give native son Bill Clinton a majority of the vote.^[2] This is the closest election in the state's history. This was the first time since 1868 that the state backed a non-incumbent Republican.

53% of white voters supported Reagan while 42% supported Carter.^[3]^[4]

Results

Electoral results
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Count	Percentage	Electoral vote	Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Ronald Reagan	Republican	California	403,164	48.13%	6	George H. W. Bush	Texas	6
Jimmy Carter (incumbent)	Democrat	Georgia	398,041	47.52%	0	Walter Mondale (incumbent)	Minnesota	0
John B. Anderson	Anderson Coalition ^[a]	Illinois	22,468	2.68%	0	Patrick Lucey	Wisconsin	0
Ed Clark	Libertarian	California	8,970	1.07%	0	David Koch	New York	0
Barry Commoner	Citizens	New York	2,345	0.28%	0	LaDonna Harris	Oklahoma	0
Benjamin Bubar	Prohibition	Maine	1,350	0.16%	0	Earl Dodge	Colorado	0
Gus Hall	People Before Profits	New York	1,244	0.15%	0	Angela Davis	California	0
Total			837,582	100%	6			6
Needed to win					270			270

Results by county

County^[6]	Ronald Reagan Republican		Jimmy Carter Democratic		John B. Anderson Anderson Coalition		Ed Clark Libertarian		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
County^[6]	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes cast
Arkansas	3,409	42.69%	4,303	53.89%	193	2.42%	16	0.20%	64	0.80%	-894	-11.20%	7,985
Ashley	3,960	45.27%	4,552	52.03%	130	1.49%	45	0.51%	61	0.70%	-592	-6.76%	8,748
Baxter	9,684	63.93%	4,789	31.62%	494	3.26%	132	0.87%	48	0.32%	4,895	32.31%	15,147
Benton	18,830	63.96%	9,231	31.36%	1,018	3.46%	303	1.03%	58	0.20%	9,599	32.60%	29,440
Boone	6,778	56.07%	4,576	37.86%	429	3.55%	159	1.32%	146	1.21%	2,202	18.21%	12,088
Bradley	1,650	33.74%	3,139	64.19%	66	1.35%	24	0.49%	11	0.22%	-1,489	-30.45%	4,890
Calhoun	896	37.40%	1,438	60.02%	52	2.17%	9	0.38%	1	0.04%	-542	-22.62%	2,396
Carroll	4,273	55.29%	2,977	38.52%	298	3.86%	135	1.75%	45	0.58%	1,296	16.77%	7,728
Chicot	2,239	38.76%	3,445	59.64%	26	0.45%	64	1.11%	2	0.03%	-1,206	-20.88%	5,776
Clark	2,743	29.97%	6,122	66.89%	215	2.35%	59	0.64%	14	0.15%	-3,379	-36.92%	9,153
Clay	3,091	42.17%	3,985	54.37%	121	1.65%	126	1.72%	7	0.10%	-894	-12.20%	7,330
Cleburne	4,042	48.38%	4,021	48.13%	204	2.44%	82	0.98%	6	0.07%	21	0.25%	8,355
Cleveland	1,124	36.76%	1,856	60.69%	36	1.18%	33	1.08%	9	0.29%	-732	-23.93%	3,058
Columbia	5,259	52.76%	4,445	44.60%	107	1.07%	131	1.31%	25	0.25%	814	8.16%	9,967
Conway	4,145	45.11%	4,698	51.13%	232	2.52%	102	1.11%	12	0.13%	-553	-6.02%	9,189
Craighead	11,010	51.31%	9,231	43.02%	708	3.30%	283	1.32%	224	1.04%	1,779	8.29%	21,456
Crawford	8,542	66.22%	3,948	30.61%	245	1.90%	131	1.02%	33	0.26%	4,594	35.61%	12,899
Crittenden	6,248	45.20%	7,022	50.80%	185	1.34%	224	1.62%	144	1.04%	-774	-5.60%	13,823
Cross	2,895	44.59%	3,471	53.47%	89	1.37%	35	0.54%	2	0.03%	-576	-8.88%	6,492
Dallas	1,596	35.16%	2,838	62.52%	74	1.63%	25	0.55%	6	0.13%	-1,242	-27.36%	4,539
Desha	2,057	34.07%	3,748	62.08%	77	1.28%	47	0.78%	108	1.79%	-1,691	-28.01%	6,037
Drew	2,272	36.74%	3,757	60.75%	117	1.89%	32	0.52%	6	0.10%	-1,485	-24.01%	6,184
Faulkner	7,544	44.19%	8,528	49.95%	769	4.50%	181	1.06%	51	0.30%	-984	-5.76%	17,073
Franklin	3,448	53.66%	2,716	42.27%	197	3.07%	61	0.95%	4	0.06%	732	11.39%	6,426
Fulton	2,101	49.35%	2,037	47.85%	83	1.95%	30	0.70%	6	0.14%	64	1.50%	4,257
Garland	15,739	52.96%	12,515	42.11%	1,042	3.51%	250	0.84%	171	0.58%	3,224	10.85%	29,717
Grant	2,007	38.04%	3,078	58.34%	102	1.93%	55	1.04%	34	0.64%	-1,071	-20.30%	5,276
Greene	4,514	41.64%	5,996	55.31%	219	2.02%	106	0.98%	6	0.06%	-1,482	-13.67%	10,841
Hempstead	3,852	44.65%	4,671	54.14%	72	0.83%	31	0.36%	2	0.02%	-819	-9.49%	8,628
Hot Spring	3,561	32.92%	6,897	63.76%	244	2.26%	87	0.80%	28	0.26%	-3,336	-30.84%	10,817
Howard	2,386	47.12%	2,564	50.63%	63	1.24%	28	0.55%	23	0.45%	-178	-3.51%	5,064
Independence	5,076	45.63%	5,683	51.08%	276	2.48%	69	0.62%	21	0.19%	-607	-5.45%	11,125
Izard	2,266	43.13%	2,750	52.34%	160	3.05%	54	1.03%	24	0.46%	-484	-9.21%	5,254
Jackson	3,191	39.49%	4,651	57.55%	174	2.15%	51	0.63%	14	0.17%	-1,460	-18.06%	8,081
Jefferson	10,697	35.60%	17,292	57.55%	802	2.67%	625	2.08%	630	2.10%	-6,595	-21.95%	30,046
Johnson	3,619	47.39%	3,709	48.57%	187	2.45%	93	1.22%	28	0.37%	-90	-1.18%	7,636
Lafayette	1,756	46.50%	1,947	51.56%	47	1.24%	21	0.56%	5	0.13%	-191	-5.06%	3,776
Lawrence	3,245	46.60%	3,547	50.94%	117	1.68%	51	0.73%	3	0.04%	-302	-4.34%	6,963
Lee	1,711	35.09%	3,103	63.64%	47	0.96%	12	0.25%	3	0.06%	-1,392	-28.55%	4,876
Lincoln	1,243	32.29%	2,517	65.39%	56	1.45%	30	0.78%	3	0.08%	-1,274	-33.10%	3,849
Little River	2,272	45.22%	2,631	52.37%	41	0.82%	43	0.86%	37	0.74%	-359	-7.15%	5,024
Logan	4,511	50.61%	4,098	45.98%	166	1.86%	117	1.31%	21	0.24%	413	4.63%	8,913
Lonoke	5,619	48.50%	5,605	48.38%	246	2.12%	84	0.73%	31	0.27%	14	0.12%	11,585
Madison	3,180	54.50%	2,434	41.71%	126	2.16%	75	1.29%	20	0.34%	746	12.79%	5,835
Marion	3,059	57.11%	2,046	38.20%	160	2.99%	84	1.57%	7	0.13%	1,013	18.91%	5,356
Miller	6,770	52.40%	5,996	46.41%	105	0.81%	40	0.31%	10	0.08%	774	5.99%	12,921
Mississippi	7,170	43.67%	8,908	54.26%	234	1.43%	88	0.54%	17	0.10%	-1,738	-10.59%	16,417
Monroe	2,027	41.98%	2,686	55.62%	82	1.70%	28	0.58%	6	0.12%	-659	-13.64%	4,829
Montgomery	1,585	43.88%	1,878	51.99%	86	2.38%	38	1.05%	25	0.69%	-293	-8.11%	3,612
Nevada	1,697	38.22%	2,631	59.26%	50	1.13%	46	1.04%	16	0.36%	-934	-21.04%	4,440
Newton	2,423	60.08%	1,436	35.61%	100	2.48%	57	1.41%	17	0.42%	987	24.47%	4,033
Ouachita	4,329	35.46%	7,152	58.58%	248	2.03%	110	0.90%	369	3.02%	-2,823	-23.12%	12,208
Perry	1,459	45.79%	1,606	50.41%	73	2.29%	43	1.35%	5	0.16%	-147	-4.62%	3,186
Phillips	4,270	38.31%	6,642	59.59%	163	1.46%	44	0.39%	27	0.24%	-2,372	-21.28%	11,146
Pike	1,916	46.77%	2,094	51.11%	58	1.42%	23	0.56%	6	0.15%	-178	-4.34%	4,097
Poinsett	4,040	44.01%	4,894	53.31%	153	1.67%	83	0.90%	10	0.11%	-854	-9.30%	9,180
Polk	3,993	58.51%	2,617	38.35%	139	2.04%	69	1.01%	6	0.09%	1,376	20.16%	6,824
Pope	7,217	50.72%	6,364	44.72%	471	3.31%	153	1.08%	25	0.18%	853	6.00%	14,230
Prairie	1,855	47.63%	1,928	49.50%	64	1.64%	35	0.90%	13	0.33%	-73	-1.87%	3,895
Pulaski	52,125	46.15%	54,839	48.56%	4,657	4.12%	1,003	0.89%	313	0.28%	-2,714	-2.41%	112,937
Randolph	2,579	43.50%	3,070	51.78%	125	2.11%	144	2.43%	11	0.19%	-491	-8.28%	5,929
St. Francis	4,485	42.77%	5,816	55.46%	132	1.26%	51	0.49%	3	0.03%	-1,331	-12.69%	10,487
Saline	8,330	42.60%	10,368	53.02%	643	3.29%	191	0.98%	23	0.12%	-2,038	-10.42%	19,555
Scott	2,228	48.16%	2,236	48.34%	92	1.99%	60	1.30%	10	0.22%	-8	-0.18%	4,626
Searcy	2,459	58.79%	1,536	36.72%	101	2.41%	70	1.67%	17	0.41%	923	22.07%	4,183
Sebastian	23,403	63.46%	10,141	27.50%	1,023	2.77%	902	2.45%	1,410	3.82%	13,262	35.96%	36,879
Sevier	2,502	45.52%	2,854	51.92%	97	1.76%	39	0.71%	5	0.09%	-352	-6.40%	5,497
Sharp	3,420	53.30%	2,774	43.24%	160	2.49%	56	0.87%	6	0.09%	646	10.06%	6,416
Stone	1,793	45.11%	1,968	49.51%	133	3.35%	66	1.66%	15	0.38%	-175	-4.40%	3,975
Union	9,401	55.10%	6,852	40.16%	313	1.83%	337	1.98%	160	0.94%	2,549	14.94%	17,063
Van Buren	3,090	49.11%	2,968	47.17%	153	2.43%	67	1.06%	14	0.22%	122	1.94%	6,292
Washington	20,788	58.69%	12,276	34.66%	1,737	4.90%	485	1.37%	135	0.38%	8,512	24.03%	35,421
White	8,079	46.66%	8,750	50.54%	309	1.78%	125	0.72%	50	0.29%	-671	-3.88%	17,313
Woodruff	1,204	32.06%	2,452	65.28%	74	1.97%	21	0.56%	5	0.13%	-1,248	-33.22%	3,756
Yell	3,187	44.65%	3,702	51.87%	181	2.54%	61	0.85%	6	0.08%	-515	-7.22%	7,137
Totals	403,164	48.13%	398,041	47.52%	22,468	2.68%	8,970	1.07%	4,939	0.59%	5,123	0.61%	837,582

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References

^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
^ Moyer, Justin. "The forgotten story of how refugees almost ended Bill Clinton's career". Washington Post.
^ Black & Black 1992, p. 295.
^ Black & Black 1992, p. 335.
^ "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
^ "AR US President Race, November 04, 1980". Our Campaigns.

Works cited

Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674941306.

Notes

^ Anderson’s party was listed on this state’s ballot as “Anderson Coalition”.^[5]

[1] "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

[2] Moyer, Justin. "The forgotten story of how refugees almost ended Bill Clinton's career". Washington Post.

[FOOTNOTEBlackBlack1992295-3] Black & Black 1992, p. 295.

[FOOTNOTEBlackBlack1992335-4] Black & Black 1992, p. 335.

[5] "1980 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

[Our-7] "AR US President Race, November 04, 1980". Our Campaigns.

[6] Anderson’s party was listed on this state’s ballot as “Anderson Coalition”.^[5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[a]

[6]

[5]

v t e Elections in Arkansas
General	1844 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Governor	1836 1840 1844 1848 1849 S 1852 1856 1860 1862 1864 U 1868 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1913 S 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
U.S. President	1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. Senate	Class 2: 1833 1839–40 1848 S 1853 1859 1868 S 1870 1876 1883 1885 S 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 S 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1937 S 1942 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 2020 Class 3: 1837 1843 1845 S 1849 1855 1861 1867 1873 1879 1881 S 1885 1891 1897 1903 1909 1914 1916 S 1920 1926 1932 S 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 2022
U.S. House	1837 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1851 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 (4th S) 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 (6th S) 1962 1964 1966 (4th S) 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
'S,' denotes special election; 'U,' denotes election under Federal (Union) military occupation See also: Political party strength in Arkansas

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