The 1980 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California voted for the Republican nominee, the state's former governor Ronald Reagan, in a landslide over the Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter. As expected, Reagan won his home state by a wide 16.78% point margin and carried all but three counties. Carter carried only three of the state's 58 counties: Alameda, San Francisco and Yolo.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time for a Republican candidate to carry the counties of Marin and Santa Cruz in a presidential election.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 This election was also the most Republican California has voted relative to the whole nation since 1928 and was the last time it was more Republican than the nation as a whole. It was widely believed that Carter lacked understanding of critical Western issues, most importantly water development.Reisner, Marc; Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water; p. 11 This also remains the last time a Republican won the San Francisco Bay Area, and the last one in which San Francisco gave less than 60% of the vote to the Democratic candidate.

Primaries +1980 Democratic PrimaryCandidateVotesDelegatesTed Kennedy1,507,142151Jimmy Carter (incumbent)1,266,216127Jerry Brown135,9620Others71,7790Uncommitted382,75938Totals3,363,858317 +1980 Republican PrimaryCandidateVotesDelegatesRonald Reagan2,057,923146John Anderson349,31525George H.W. Bush125,1130Others31,7070Totals2,564,058171

Results 1980 United States presidential election in CaliforniaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Ronald Reagan 4,524,858 52.69% 45 Democratic Jimmy Carter (incumbent) 3,083,661 35.91% 0 Independent John B. Anderson 739,833 8.62% 0 Libertarian Ed Clark 148,434 1.73% 0 Independent Barry Commoner 61,063 0.71% 0 Peace and Freedom Maureen Smith 18,116 0.21% 0 American Independent John Rarick 9,856 0.11% 0 No party Gus Hall (write-in) 847 0.01% 0 No party Andrew Pulley (write-in) 231 0.00% 0 No party Percy Greaves, Jr. (write-in) 87 0.00% 0 No party Ben Bubar (write-in) 36 0.00% 0 No party Write-ins 26 0.00% 0 No party Deirdre Griswold (write-in) 15 0.00% 0 Invalid or blank votes — Totals 8,587,063 100.00% 45 Voter turnout —

Results by county County Ronald ReaganRepublican Jimmy CarterDemocratic John B. AndersonIndependent Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Alameda 158,531 37.96% 201,720 48.30% 40,834 9.78% 16,532 3.96% -43,189 -10.34% 417,617 Alpine 254 55.10% 133 28.85% 50 10.85% 24 5.21% 121 26.25% 461 Amador 5,401 55.85% 3,191 33.00% 788 8.15% 290 3.00% 2,210 22.85% 9,670 Butte 38,188 57.85% 19,520 29.57% 6,108 9.25% 2,196 3.33% 18,668 28.28% 66,012 Calaveras 6,054 58.92% 3,076 29.94% 776 7.55% 369 3.59% 2,978 28.98% 10,275 Colusa 2,897 58.00% 1,605 32.13% 325 6.51% 168 3.36% 1,292 25.87% 4,995 Contra Costa 144,112 50.12% 107,398 37.35% 28,209 9.81% 7,826 2.72% 36,714 12.77% 287,545 Del Norte 4,016 57.48% 2,338 33.46% 486 6.96% 147 2.10% 1,678 24.02% 6,987 El Dorado 21,238 58.27% 10,765 29.53% 3,287 9.02% 1,159 3.18% 10,473 28.74% 36,449 Fresno 82,515 51.13% 65,254 40.43% 10,727 6.65% 2,890 1.79% 17,261 10.70% 161,386 Glenn 5,386 64.80% 2,227 26.79% 537 6.46% 162 1.95% 3,159 38.01% 8,312 Humboldt 24,047 49.39% 17,113 35.15% 5,440 11.17% 2,092 4.30% 6,934 14.24% 48,692 Imperial 12,068 55.92% 7,961 36.89% 1,203 5.57% 347 1.61% 4,107 19.03% 21,579 Inyo 5,201 64.79% 2,080 25.91% 515 6.42% 231 2.88% 3,121 38.88% 8,027 Kern 72,842 59.65% 41,097 33.65% 5,799 4.75% 2,383 1.95% 31,745 26.00% 122,121 Kings 10,531 55.37% 7,299 38.37% 901 4.74% 290 1.52% 3,232 17.00% 19,021 Lake 8,934 53.64% 5,978 35.90% 1,157 6.95% 585 3.51% 2,956 17.74% 16,654 Lassen 4,464 54.45% 2,941 35.87% 543 6.62% 250 3.05% 1,523 18.58% 8,198 Los Angeles 1,224,533 50.18% 979,830 40.15% 175,882 7.21% 59,940 2.46% 244,703 10.03% 2,440,185 Madera 10,599 53.58% 7,783 39.35% 1,013 5.12% 385 1.95% 2,816 14.23% 19,780 Marin 49,678 45.78% 39,231 36.16% 13,805 12.72% 5,793 5.34% 10,447 9.62% 108,507 Mariposa 3,082 54.96% 1,889 33.68% 458 8.17% 179 3.19% 1,193 21.28% 5,608 Mendocino 12,432 44.05% 10,784 38.21% 2,747 9.73% 2,261 8.01% 1,648 5.84% 28,224 Merced 18,043 48.77% 15,886 42.94% 2,316 6.26% 751 2.03% 2,157 5.83% 36,996 Modoc 2,579 64.48% 1,046 26.15% 293 7.32% 82 2.05% 1,533 38.33% 4,000 Mono 2,132 62.32% 865 25.29% 302 8.83% 122 3.57% 1,267 37.03% 3,421 Monterey 47,452 54.67% 29,086 33.51% 8,008 9.23% 2,248 2.59% 18,366 21.16% 86,794 Napa 23,632 53.67% 14,898 33.83% 4,218 9.58% 1,287 2.92% 8,734 19.84% 44,035 Nevada 15,207 57.91% 7,605 28.96% 2,235 8.51% 1,214 4.62% 7,602 28.95% 26,261 Orange 529,797 67.90% 176,704 22.65% 55,299 7.09% 18,412 2.36% 353,093 45.25% 780,212 Placer 28,179 54.78% 17,311 33.65% 4,356 8.47% 1,594 3.10% 10,868 21.13% 51,440 Plumas 4,182 51.24% 2,911 35.67% 783 9.59% 285 3.49% 1,271 15.57% 8,161 Riverside 145,642 59.87% 76,650 31.51% 16,362 6.73% 4,624 1.90% 68,992 28.36% 243,278 Sacramento 153,721 47.72% 130,031 40.37% 29,655 9.21% 8,713 2.70% 23,690 7.35% 322,120 San Benito 4,054 53.33% 2,749 36.16% 552 7.26% 247 3.25% 1,305 17.17% 7,602 San Bernardino 172,957 59.68% 91,790 31.67% 19,106 6.59% 5,959 2.06% 81,167 28.01% 289,812 San Diego 435,910 60.81% 195,410 27.26% 67,491 9.41% 18,055 2.52% 240,500 33.55% 716,866 San Francisco 80,967 31.87% 133,184 52.43% 29,365 11.56% 10,512 4.14% -52,217 -20.56% 254,028 San Joaquin 64,718 55.38% 41,551 35.56% 8,416 7.20% 2,178 1.86% 23,167 19.82% 116,863 San Luis Obispo 38,631 55.56% 20,508 29.50% 8,407 12.09% 1,981 2.85% 18,123 26.06% 69,527 San Mateo 116,491 48.82% 87,335 36.60% 27,985 11.73% 6,826 2.86% 29,156 12.22% 238,637 Santa Barbara 69,629 53.98% 40,650 31.51% 14,786 11.46% 3,930 3.05% 28,979 22.47% 128,995 Santa Clara 229,048 48.02% 166,995 35.01% 65,481 13.73% 15,479 3.25% 62,053 13.01% 477,003 Santa Cruz 37,347 43.53% 32,346 37.70% 10,590 12.34% 5,521 6.43% 5,001 5.83% 85,804 Shasta 27,547 58.09% 15,364 32.40% 3,220 6.79% 1,287 2.71% 12,183 25.69% 47,418 Sierra 855 49.77% 651 37.89% 156 9.08% 56 3.26% 204 11.88% 1,718 Siskiyou 9,331 55.75% 5,664 33.84% 1,269 7.58% 474 2.83% 3,667 21.91% 16,738 Solano 40,919 50.72% 30,952 38.37% 6,713 8.32% 2,092 2.59% 9,967 12.35% 80,676 Sonoma 60,722 48.20% 45,596 36.19% 14,068 11.17% 5,599 4.44% 15,126 12.01% 125,985 Stanislaus 41,595 49.41% 33,683 40.01% 7,134 8.47% 1,774 2.11% 7,912 9.40% 84,186 Sutter 11,778 63.47% 5,103 27.50% 1,089 5.87% 587 3.16% 6,675 35.97% 18,557 Tehama 9,140 59.13% 4,832 31.26% 1,014 6.56% 471 3.05% 4,308 27.87% 15,457 Trinity 3,048 54.96% 1,734 31.27% 506 9.12% 258 4.65% 1,314 23.69% 5,546 Tulare 41,317 58.32% 25,155 35.51% 3,244 4.58% 1,130 1.60% 16,162 22.81% 70,846 Tuolumne 8,810 54.85% 5,449 33.92% 1,390 8.65% 414 2.58% 3,361 20.93% 16,063 Ventura 114,930 60.28% 56,311 29.54% 14,887 7.81% 4,522 2.37% 58,619 30.74% 190,650 Yolo 19,603 39.45% 21,527 43.32% 6,669 13.42% 1,891 3.81% -1,924 -3.87% 49,690 Yuba 7,942 56.28% 4,896 34.70% 878 6.22% 395 2.80% 3,046 21.58% 14,111Total4,524,85852.69%3,083,66135.91%739,8338.62%238,7112.78%1,441,19716.78%8,587,063

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Amador Del Norte El Dorado Fresno Humboldt Lake Lassen Los Angeles Madera Merced Mariposa Mendocino Placer Plumas Sacramento Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Solano Stanislaus Tehama Trinity Tuolumne Yuba

Results by city +Official outcome by city and unincorporated areas of counties, of which Reagan won 395 and Carter won 83. City County Ronald ReaganRepublican Jimmy CarterDemocratic John Anderson Independent Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total Votes 1976 to 1980