The 1980 United States presidential election in Connecticut took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Connecticut was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan by 10 points. President of the United States Jimmy Carter failed to gain reelection against Reagan. Connecticut election results reflect the Republican Party's re-consolidation under what is popularly called the "Reagan Revolution," which sounded overwhelming conservative electoral victories across the United States.
The already embattled incumbent Democratic president Carter was hurt in the state by the strong third party candidacy of John Anderson, a liberal Republican Congressman who ran in 1980 as an independent after failing to win the Republican Party's own presidential nomination. Anderson proved very popular with liberal and moderate voters in New England who normally leaned Democratic but were dissatisfied with the policies of the Carter Administration and viewed Reagan as too far to the right. New England overall would prove to be Anderson's strongest region in the nation, with all 6 New England states giving double-digit percentages to Anderson. In fact, Connecticut would prove to be Anderson's fifth strongest state in the nation after Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. His 12.22% of the vote in the state was nearly double the 6.61% he got nationwide. Connecticut did however, vote approximately 0.1% more Democratic than the national average.
Results
By county County Ronald ReaganRepublican Jimmy CarterDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Fairfield 201,997 54.88% 124,074 33.71% 42,027 11.41% 77,923 21.17% 368,098 Hartford 150,265 40.46% 164,643 44.33% 56,472 15.21% -14,378 -3.87% 371,380 Litchfield 38,725 50.72% 26,705 34.98% 10,924 14.30% 12,020 15.74% 76,354 Middlesex 28,989 45.53% 24,768 38.90% 9,915 15.57% 4,221 6.63% 63,672 New Haven 169,038 50.05% 130,913 38.76% 37,781 11.19% 38,125 11.29% 337,732 New London 47,217 47.96% 36,628 37.21% 14,603 14.83% 10,589 10.75% 98,448 Tolland 22,127 43.95% 18,557 36.86% 9,662 19.19% 3,570 7.09% 50,346 Windham 18,852 47.82% 15,444 39.18% 5,123 13.00% 3,408 8.64% 39,419Totals677,21048.16%541,73238.52%187,34313.32%135,4789.64%1,406,285
Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican Windham
Results by congressional district District Reagan Carter Representative 39.2% 46.2%William R. Cotter 46.9% 38.7%Chris Dodd (96th Congress)Sam Gejdenson (97th Congress) 50.8% 39.2%Robert Giaimo (96th Congress)Lawrence J. DeNardis (97th Congress) 53.1% 36.9%Stewart McKinney 54.6% 34.3%William R. Ratchford 47.7% 38.6%Toby Moffett
See also United States presidential elections in Connecticut Presidency of Ronald Reagan
References
Notes