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In Washington, One Ford Elector cast his vote for Ronald Reagan (President) and Robert Dole (Vice President). Carter decisively defeated both of them in Pennsylvania, forcing Jackson out of the race and causing Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, who had been waiting in the wings in the hope that the active candidates would eliminate each other, to decide against an active candidacy for himself. The Democratic Party won the presidential election and retained control of Congress.[1]. The Democratic nominee himself predicted that the lead would not hold, and he was correct. The harmony that prevailed at the Democratic convention had its effect on popular opinion. Note: The advertisement links below may advocate political positions that this site does not endorse. Suddenly the Republican Party, which generally prided itself on its decorum, had a civil war on its hands, while the normally fractious Democrats were headed for their most peaceful convention in at least 12 years. Most delegates appeared to be impressed with Carter’s basically liberal acceptance speech, which he would later describe as "populist" in tone. Carter planned to enter all of the 31 presidential primaries held in 1976 (actually, he entered 30, having failed to qualify a slate of delegates in West Virginia). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.
Gerald R. Ford (Republican) v. Jimmy Carter (Democrat) The 1976 presidential election was the first held in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had consumed the Nixon presidency and resulted in Gerald R. Ford becoming president. George Wallace, an “Old Southerner” making what many felt was his last try for national office, in Florida and North Carolina and in every other Southern primary except in Wallace’s home state. Ford countered with victories in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Carter defeated a slew of competitors in the 1976 Democratic primaries, including California Governor Jerry Brown, Alabama Governor George Wallace, Arizona Congressman Mo Udall, Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson, and Idaho Senator Frank Church. The 1976 Presidential Election. It was thought that Carter, a “New Southerner,” could appeal to both whites and African Americans and possibly bring the South back into the Democratic fold. Reagan went on to beat Ford in North Carolina and to trounce him in Texas, Indiana, and California, as well as in Georgia and several other Southern states. But Carter had been planning his campaign carefully for two years prior to his announcement. Electoral Vote Map Note: there is no implied geographical significance as to the location of the shaded areas for Washington's split electoral votes.
[2] Carter won the popular vote by two points and finished with 297 electoral votes, taking a mix of Southern and Northern states. Results of the American presidential election, 1976. President Gerald R. Ford. By the time the convention adjourned, Carter had a massive lead of more than 30 percentage points over Ford in the Gallup and Harris polls. They approved a platform in keeping with his generally moderate-to-liberal views and cheered his choice of a bona fide liberal, Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota, as his vice presidential running mate.
Carter’s drive for the nomination was certainly not without setbacks. Gerald R. Ford. Carter announced his candidacy on Dec. 12, 1974, in Washington, D.C. With a political career that included only four years as an unheralded state senator and a single term as Georgia’s governor (he was prohibited by state law from seeking a second term), Carter was not given much of a chance early on. His background as a naval officer, peanut farmer, agribusinessman, and late-blooming state politician, as well as his extraordinary ability to campaign on such issues as “love” and “trust,” were ideally suited to the mood of a public that, thanks to Watergate and the Vietnam War, had grown weary and cynical toward officials in Washington and politics in general. By the time of the April 27 Pennsylvania primary, only two other serious candidates remained in the race, Udall and Sen. Henry M. Jackson of Washington.