United States presidential election, 1976 Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
United States presidential election, 1976

← 1972

November 2, 1976

1980 →


Nominee	Jimmy Carter	Gerald Ford
Party	Democrat	Republican
Home state	Georgia	Michigan
Running mate	Walter Mondale	Bob Dole
Electoral vote	297	240
States carried	23 + DC	27
Popular vote	40,831,881	39,148,634
Percentage	50.1%	48.0%

Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Carter/Mondale, Red denotes states won by Ford/Dole. Pink denotes won by Ronald Reagan by a Washington faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democrat

The 1976 United States presidential election was a big event. It was held on November 2, 1976. The main candidates were Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

Jimmy Carter was a former Governor of Georgia. Gerald Ford was the current President. He had become president after Richard Nixon resigned in 1974. This happened because of the Watergate scandal.

Carter won the election with 297 electoral votes. President Ford received 240 votes. One elector from Washington voted for Ronald Reagan. Reagan would later win the 1980 election.

This election was the last time a Democratic candidate won many votes in the American South. Today, the South is mostly known for voting Republican. It is also the last election where one of the two main candidates is still alive. Jimmy Carter is currently 92 years old.

Who Ran for President?
- Democratic Candidates
  - Democratic Candidates Gallery
- Republican Candidates
  - Republican Candidates Gallery
Images for kids
See also

Who Ran for President?

This election featured candidates from two major parties. They were the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Democratic Candidates

Many people wanted to be the Democratic candidate. The person who won the most votes in the primary elections became the party's choice.

Here are some of the candidates who ran for the Democratic Party:

Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia
Jerry Brown, governor of California
George Wallace, governor of Alabama
Morris Udall, U.S. representative from Arizona
Henry M. Jackson, U.S. senator from Washington
Frank Church, U.S. senator from Idaho
Robert Byrd, U.S. senator from West Virginia
Sargent Shriver, former U.S. ambassador to France, from Maryland
Fred R. Harris, former U.S. senator from Oklahoma
Birch Bayh, U.S. senator from Indiana
Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. senator from Texas
Terry Sanford, former governor of North Carolina
Milton Shapp, governor of Pennsylvania
Walter Fauntroy, U.S. representative from Washington, D.C.
Ellen McCormack, housewife

Democratic Candidates Gallery

Former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia
Governor Jerry Brown of California
Governor George Wallace of Alabama
Representative Morris Udall of Arizona
Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington
Senator Frank Church of Idaho
Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia
Former Ambassador to France Sargent Shriver of Maryland
Former Senator Fred Harris of Oklahoma
Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana
Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas
Former Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina
Delegate Walter Fauntroy of Washington, D.C.

Republican Candidates

The Republican Party also had several people running. The main candidates were the current president and a former governor.

Here are the Republican candidates:

Gerald Ford, President of the United States from Michigan
Ronald Reagan, former governor of California

Republican Candidates Gallery

President Gerald Ford
Former Governor Ronald Reagan of California

Images for kids

The 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Vice Presidential nominee Bob Dole is on the far left, then Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan is at the center shaking hands with President Gerald Ford, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller is just to the right of Ford, followed by Susan Ford and First Lady Betty Ford.
Carter and Ford in debate
Carter campaign headquarters
1976 Presidential Election in the United States, Results by Congressional District
Gerald Ford (right) watching election returns with Joe Garagiola on election night in 1976. Garagiola is reacting to television reports that Ford had just lost Texas to Carter.
A campaign button from election night where Carter and Mondale spent the evening in Flint Michigan at a rally It is notable as only a handful of counties in Michigan went to Carter in 1976, and no surrounding counties where Carter held the rally went to him.
A Ford-Dole campaign button.