1976 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

The 1976 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 1976, and was part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Voters chose 27 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic nominee, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, over the Republican nominee, President Gerald Ford. Carter won Pennsylvania by a margin of 2.67%, which made Pennsylvania roughly 0.6% more Democratic than the nation at large.

While Ford won more counties by running up victories in the central region of the state and the Philadelphia suburbs, Carter swept Southwestern Pennsylvania where Pittsburgh is located, Erie County (Erie), Lackawanna County (Scranton), and Philadelphia.

, this is the last presidential election where the Democratic candidate won Pennsylvania without carrying any of Philadelphia's suburban counties. This is also the final occasion of only four where Pennsylvania and Michigan voted for different presidential candidates ever since the Democrats and Republicans became the two major parties in U.S. politics.

Campaign The first presidential debate for the general election was held in Philadelphia at the Walnut Street Theatre on September 23 with President Ford and Jimmy Carter attending the debate. The debate was moderated by Edwin Newman of NBC News and sponsored by the League of Women Voters with 69.7 million people watching

Results 1976 United States presidential election in PennsylvaniaPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Jimmy Carter 2,328,677 50.40% 27 Republican Gerald Ford (incumbent) 2,205,604 47.73% 0 McCarthy '76 Eugene McCarthy 50,584 1.09% 0 Constitutional Lester Maddox 25,344 0.55% 0 Socialist Workers Peter Camejo 3,009 0.07% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 2,934 0.06% 0 Labor Lyndon LaRouche 2,744 0.06% 0 Communist Gus Hall 1,891 0.04% 0 Totals 4,620,787 100.00% 27

Results by county County Jimmy CarterDemocratic Gerald FordRepublican Eugene McCarthyMcCarthy ‘76 Lester MaddoxConstitutional Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votescast # % # % # % # % # % # % Adams 8,771 41.14% 12,133 56.90% 276 1.29% 73 0.34% 69 0.32% -3,362 -15.76% 21,322 Allegheny 328,343 50.68% 303,127 46.79% 8,625 1.33% 5,205 0.80% 2,557 0.39% 25,216 3.89% 647,857 Armstrong 15,179 52.25% 13,378 46.05% 290 1.00% 190 0.65% 13 0.04% 1,801 6.20% 29,050 Beaver 46,117 56.83% 33,593 41.40% 925 1.14% 291 0.36% 224 0.28% 12,524 15.43% 81,150 Bedford 6,652 41.22% 9,355 57.97% 78 0.48% 42 0.26% 11 0.07% -2,703 -16.75% 16,138 Berks 50,994 47.41% 54,452 50.63% 1,176 1.09% 771 0.72% 160 0.15% -3,458 -3.22% 107,553 Blair 18,397 38.84% 28,290 59.73% 395 0.83% 154 0.33% 130 0.27% -9,893 -20.89% 47,366 Bradford 7,913 37.62% 12,851 61.10% 186 0.88% 71 0.34% 13 0.06% -4,938 -23.48% 21,034 Bucks 79,838 47.26% 85,628 50.69% 2,125 1.26% 1,091 0.65% 241 0.14% -5,790 -3.43% 168,923 Butler 22,611 45.04% 26,366 52.52% 666 1.33% 421 0.84% 134 0.27% -3,755 -7.48% 50,198 Cambria 38,797 53.79% 32,469 45.02% 624 0.87% 133 0.18% 105 0.15% 6,328 8.77% 72,128 Cameron 1,319 44.31% 1,616 54.28% 25 0.84% 5 0.17% 12 0.40% -297 -9.97% 2,977 Carbon 10,791 54.03% 8,883 44.48% 160 0.80% 108 0.54% 31 0.16% 1,908 9.55% 19,973 Centre 17,867 44.18% 21,177 52.37% 1,158 2.86% 137 0.34% 98 0.24% -3,310 -8.19% 40,437 Chester 42,712 38.13% 67,686 60.42% 1,166 1.04% 317 0.28% 145 0.13% -24,974 -22.29% 112,026 Clarion 6,585 43.29% 8,360 54.96% 177 1.16% 53 0.35% 35 0.23% -1,775 -11.67% 15,210 Clearfield 13,714 49.54% 13,626 49.22% 190 0.69% 109 0.39% 46 0.17% 88 0.32% 27,685 Clinton 6,532 51.99% 5,858 46.63% 87 0.69% 69 0.55% 18 0.14% 674 5.36% 12,564 Columbia 12,051 50.37% 11,508 48.10% 196 0.82% 112 0.47% 58 0.24% 543 2.27% 23,925 Crawford 14,712 48.06% 15,301 49.99% 305 1.00% 232 0.76% 60 0.20% -589 -1.93% 30,610 Cumberland 23,008 35.80% 39,950 62.16% 793 1.23% 460 0.72% 59 0.09% -16,942 -26.36% 64,270 Dauphin 34,342 41.32% 46,819 56.33% 1,074 1.29% 785 0.94% 102 0.12% -12,477 -15.01% 83,122 Delaware 117,252 43.28% 148,679 54.88% 2,995 1.11% 1,581 0.58% 387 0.14% -31,427 -11.60% 270,894 Elk 6,713 51.21% 6,159 46.98% 178 1.36% 49 0.37% 10 0.08% 554 4.23% 13,109 Erie 55,385 51.55% 49,641 46.20% 1,303 1.21% 943 0.88% 167 0.16% 5,744 5.35% 107,439 Fayette 32,232 60.54% 20,021 37.60% 410 0.77% 523 0.98% 58 0.11% 12,211 22.94% 53,244 Forest 1,017 46.50% 1,135 51.90% 27 1.23% 5 0.23% 3 0.14% -118 -5.40% 2,187 Franklin 14,643 41.38% 20,009 56.54% 311 0.88% 406 1.15% 20 0.06% -5,366 -15.16% 35,389 Fulton 1,737 42.87% 2,219 54.76% 32 0.79% 36 0.89% 28 0.69% -482 -11.89% 4,052 Greene 8,769 61.67% 5,293 37.22% 118 0.83% 30 0.21% 9 0.06% 3,476 24.45% 14,219 Huntingdon 5,410 40.19% 7,843 58.26% 129 0.96% 70 0.52% 10 0.07% -2,433 -18.07% 13,462 Indiana 14,650 47.34% 15,786 51.01% 345 1.11% 74 0.24% 94 0.30% -1,136 -3.67% 30,949 Jefferson 7,456 43.53% 9,437 55.09% 165 0.96% 56 0.33% 16 0.09% -1,981 -11.56% 17,130 Juniata 3,105 43.09% 3,991 55.38% 55 0.76% 27 0.37% 28 0.39% -886 -12.29% 7,206 Lackawanna 57,685 56.12% 43,354 42.17% 821 0.80% 861 0.84% 76 0.07% 14,331 13.95% 102,797 Lancaster 35,533 32.40% 72,106 65.74% 1,055 0.96% 642 0.59% 340 0.31% -36,573 -33.34% 109,676 Lawrence 23,337 54.73% 18,546 43.49% 453 1.06% 172 0.40% 132 0.31% 4,791 11.24% 42,640 Lebanon 11,785 35.36% 20,880 62.65% 359 1.08% 237 0.71% 69 0.21% -9,095 -27.29% 33,330 Lehigh 46,620 48.92% 46,895 49.20% 1,066 1.12% 581 0.61% 146 0.15% -275 -0.28% 95,308 Luzerne 74,655 54.89% 60,058 44.16% 907 0.67% 251 0.18% 138 0.10% 14,597 10.73% 136,009 Lycoming 18,635 44.28% 22,648 53.82% 358 0.85% 351 0.83% 90 0.21% -4,013 -9.54% 42,082 McKean 6,424 37.95% 10,305 60.88% 110 0.65% 72 0.43% 15 0.09% -3,881 -22.93% 16,926 Mercer 25,041 51.91% 22,469 46.58% 413 0.86% 252 0.52% 60 0.12% 2,572 5.33% 48,235 Mifflin 6,210 44.01% 7,698 54.56% 102 0.72% 75 0.53% 24 0.17% -1,488 -10.55% 14,109 Monroe 9,544 47.33% 10,228 50.72% 221 1.10% 141 0.70% 31 0.15% -684 -3.39% 20,165 Montgomery 112,644 41.24% 155,480 56.92% 3,358 1.23% 1,233 0.45% 454 0.17% -42,836 -15.68% 273,169 Montour 2,727 44.89% 3,259 53.65% 59 0.97% 26 0.43% 4 0.07% -532 -8.76% 6,075 Northampton 42,514 55.24% 32,926 42.78% 751 0.98% 669 0.87% 101 0.13% 9,588 12.46% 76,961 Northumberland 18,939 48.72% 19,283 49.60% 306 0.79% 297 0.76% 51 0.13% -344 -0.88% 38,876 Perry 4,605 37.38% 7,454 60.50% 156 1.27% 90 0.73% 15 0.12% -2,849 -23.12% 12,320 Philadelphia 494,579 66.28% 239,000 32.03% 7,864 1.05% 2,178 0.29% 2,576 0.35% 255,579 34.25% 746,197 Pike 2,775 38.83% 4,241 59.35% 74 1.04% 48 0.67% 8 0.11% -1,466 -20.52% 7,146 Potter 2,983 43.29% 3,828 55.55% 61 0.89% 11 0.16% 8 0.12% -845 -12.26% 6,891 Schuylkill 33,905 50.64% 31,944 47.71% 678 1.01% 319 0.48% 102 0.15% 1,961 2.93% 66,948 Snyder 3,097 31.19% 6,557 66.04% 134 1.35% 67 0.67% 74 0.75% -3,460 -34.85% 9,929 Somerset 13,452 45.32% 15,960 53.76% 180 0.61% 68 0.23% 25 0.08% -2,508 -8.44% 29,685 Sullivan 1,347 45.65% 1,584 53.68% 18 0.61% 2 0.07% 0 0.00% -237 -8.03% 2,951 Susquehanna 6,075 41.38% 8,331 56.74% 116 0.79% 127 0.87% 33 0.22% -2,256 -15.36% 14,682 Tioga 5,795 40.23% 8,417 58.43% 142 0.99% 30 0.21% 21 0.15% -2,622 -18.20% 14,405 Union 3,405 34.39% 6,309 63.71% 136 1.37% 41 0.41% 11 0.11% -2,904 -29.32% 9,902 Venango 8,653 40.60% 12,270 57.58% 238 1.12% 76 0.36% 74 0.35% -3,617 -16.98% 21,311 Warren 7,412 45.84% 8,508 52.62% 157 0.97% 82 0.51% 11 0.07% -1,096 -6.78% 16,170 Washington 49,317 59.24% 32,827 39.43% 780 0.94% 235 0.28% 92 0.11% 16,490 19.81% 83,251 Wayne 4,244 34.48% 7,811 63.45% 121 0.98% 120 0.97% 14 0.11% -3,567 -28.97% 12,310 Westmoreland 74,217 54.52% 59,172 43.47% 1,661 1.22% 743 0.55% 341 0.25% 15,045 11.05% 136,134 Wyoming 3,628 38.37% 5,705 60.34% 83 0.88% 34 0.36% 5 0.05% -2,077 -21.97% 9,455 York 41,281 41.30% 56,912 56.94% 881 0.86% 665 0.65% 205 0.20% -15,631 -15.64% 99,944Totals2,328,67750.40%2,205,60447.73%50,5841.09%25,3440.55%10,5780.23%123,0732.67%4,620,787

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Allegheny Armstrong Beaver Cambria Carbon Clearfield Clinton Columbia Elk Erie Fayette Greene Lackawanna Lawrence Luzerne Mercer Northampton Schuylkill Washington Westmoreland

By congressional district Carter won 14 of 25 congressional districts, including 2 which elected Republicans, while Ford won the remaining 11 districts, including 4 which elected Democrats. District Carter Ford Representative70.7%29.3%William A. BarrettOzzie Myers 80.5% 19.5%Robert N.C. Nix Sr.68.2%31.8%William J. Green IIIRaymond Lederer 57.2% 42.8%Joshua Eilberg 38.9% 61.1%Dick Schulze 50.3% 49.7%Gus Yatron 46% 54%Bob Edgar46.9%53.1%Ed BiesterPeter Kostmayer 40.7% 59.3%Bud Shuster 49.2% 50.8%Joseph M. McDade 54.4% 45.6%Dan Flood 50.8% 49.2%John Murtha 42.7% 57.3%Lawrence Coughlin 59.2% 40.8%William S. Moorhead 52.8% 47.2%Fred B. Rooney35.9%64.1%Edwin D. EshlemanBob Walker42.5%57.5%Herman T. SchneebeliAllen E. Ertel45.5%54.5%John HeinzDoug Walgren 40%60%Bill Goodling 55.1% 44.9%Joseph M. Gaydos 53.9% 46.1%John H. Dent57.8%42.2%Thomas E. MorganAustin Murphy45.9%54.1%Albert W. JohnsonJoseph S. Ammerman52.1%47.9%Joseph P. VigoritoMarc L. Marks 53.7% 46.9%Gary A. Myers

See also United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania

Notes

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