1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina

The 1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

South Carolina was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by a very slim margin of 1 point and a half. This remains the third-closest presidential election in South Carolina history after the controversial 1876 election and the transformative 1952 election.

Campaign The state weighed in for this election as 8% more Democratic than the national average, just 3% less than four years earlier. , this is the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Anderson, Cherokee, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Saluda and York.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Among white voters, 64% supported Reagan while 32% supported Carter.

Carter lost in eight of the ten most populous counties.

Predictions SourceRatingAs ofThe Times and DemocratSeptember 23, 1980Boca Raton NewsOctober 12, 1980The Charlotte ObserverOctober 22, 1980Anderson IndependentOctober 29, 1980Fort Worth Star-TelegramOctober 31, 1980The StateNovember 2, 1980Daily PressNovember 3, 1980

Results

Results by county CountyRonald ReaganRepublicanJimmy CarterDemocraticJohn B. AndersonIndependentVarious candidatesOther parties MarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Abbeville 2,361 35.60% 4,049 61.05% 111 1.67% 111 1.67% -1,688 -25.45% 6,632 Aiken 18,570 57.37% 13,014 40.21% 601 1.86% 184 0.57% 5,556 17.16% 32,369 Allendale 1,182 29.62% 2,778 69.62% 17 0.43% 13 0.33% -1,596 -40.00% 3,990 Anderson 15,667 44.38% 18,801 53.25% 474 1.34% 363 1.03% -3,134 -8.87% 35,305 Bamberg 2,098 38.69% 3,294 60.75% 17 0.31% 13 0.24% -1,196 -22.06% 5,422 Barnwell 3,228 48.14% 3,399 50.69% 64 0.95% 14 0.21% -171 -2.55% 6,705 Beaufort 8,620 51.62% 7,415 44.40% 513 3.07% 152 0.91% 1,205 7.22% 16,700 Berkeley 12,830 55.63% 9,850 42.71% 292 1.27% 92 0.40% 2,980 12.92% 23,064 Calhoun 1,767 45.86% 2,043 53.02% 31 0.80% 12 0.31% -276 -7.16% 3,853 Charleston 44,111 55.13% 32,727 40.90% 2,222 2.78% 952 1.19% 11,384 14.23% 80,012 Cherokee 5,379 43.32% 6,889 55.48% 86 0.69% 64 0.52% -1,510 -12.16% 12,418 Chester 3,104 37.12% 5,145 61.52% 87 1.04% 27 0.32% -2,041 -24.40% 8,363 Chesterfield 3,478 34.88% 6,393 64.11% 64 0.64% 37 0.37% -2,915 -29.23% 9,972 Clarendon 4,158 40.79% 5,979 58.65% 28 0.27% 29 0.28% -1,821 -17.86% 10,194 Colleton 4,719 44.76% 5,745 54.49% 58 0.55% 21 0.20% -1,026 -9.73% 10,543 Darlington 8,289 48.39% 8,489 49.55% 220 1.28% 133 0.78% -200 -1.16% 17,131 Dillon 3,385 42.31% 4,518 56.48% 59 0.74% 38 0.48% -1,133 -14.17% 8,000 Dorchester 10,893 59.53% 7,237 39.55% 140 0.77% 28 0.15% 3,656 19.98% 18,298 Edgefield 2,415 40.68% 3,465 58.36% 29 0.49% 28 0.47% -1,050 -17.68% 5,937 Fairfield 2,098 33.18% 4,153 65.68% 37 0.59% 35 0.55% -2,055 -32.50% 6,323 Florence 17,069 50.19% 16,391 48.19% 348 1.02% 203 0.60% 678 2.00% 34,011 Georgetown 5,151 42.78% 6,701 55.65% 148 1.23% 42 0.35% -1,550 -12.87% 12,042 Greenville 46,168 57.41% 32,135 39.96% 1,600 1.99% 512 0.64% 14,033 17.45% 80,415 Greenwood 7,290 43.17% 9,283 54.97% 230 1.36% 85 0.50% -1,993 -11.80% 16,888 Hampton 2,217 33.58% 4,329 65.56% 35 0.53% 22 0.33% -2,112 -31.98% 6,603 Horry 14,323 49.62% 13,888 48.12% 528 1.83% 125 0.43% 435 1.50% 28,864 Jasper 1,617 32.54% 3,312 66.65% 32 0.64% 8 0.16% -1,695 -34.11% 4,969 Kershaw 6,652 55.55% 5,103 42.62% 145 1.21% 74 0.62% 1,549 12.93% 11,974 Lancaster 6,410 42.25% 8,283 54.60% 331 2.18% 146 0.96% -1,873 -12.35% 15,170 Laurens 6,036 42.83% 7,856 55.74% 125 0.89% 76 0.54% -1,820 -12.91% 14,093 Lee 2,952 37.48% 4,818 61.17% 18 0.23% 89 1.13% -1,866 -23.69% 7,877 Lexington 28,313 67.60% 12,334 29.45% 762 1.82% 477 1.14% 15,979 38.15% 41,886 McCormick 797 30.60% 1,774 68.10% 22 0.84% 12 0.46% -977 -37.50% 2,605 Marion 3,321 37.73% 5,379 61.12% 75 0.85% 26 0.30% -2,058 -23.39% 8,801 Marlboro 2,585 32.15% 5,378 66.89% 52 0.65% 25 0.31% -2,793 -34.74% 8,040 Newberry 5,568 52.96% 4,825 45.90% 80 0.76% 40 0.38% 743 7.06% 10,513 Oconee 5,651 41.58% 7,677 56.49% 189 1.39% 74 0.54% -2,026 -14.91% 13,591 Orangeburg 11,313 40.79% 16,178 58.33% 141 0.51% 101 0.36% -4,865 -17.54% 27,733 Pickens 9,575 53.42% 7,789 43.46% 402 2.24% 157 0.88% 1,786 9.96% 17,923 Richland 36,337 49.87% 33,158 45.50% 1,812 2.49% 1,562 2.14% 3,179 4.37% 72,869 Saluda 2,450 47.40% 2,651 51.29% 38 0.74% 30 0.58% -201 -3.89% 5,169 Spartanburg 30,092 51.12% 27,245 46.28% 941 1.60% 591 1.00% 2,847 4.84% 58,869 Sumter 10,557 52.45% 9,205 45.74% 250 1.24% 114 0.57% 1,352 6.71% 20,126 Union 4,035 38.59% 6,274 60.00% 93 0.89% 54 0.52% -2,239 -21.41% 10,456 Williamsburg 5,110 38.29% 8,135 60.96% 64 0.48% 35 0.26% -3,025 -22.67% 13,344 York 11,265 46.85% 12,075 50.22% 539 2.24% 164 0.68% -810 -3.37% 24,043Totals441,20749.57%427,56048.04%14,1501.59%7,1660.81%13,6471.53%890,083

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Beaufort Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Florence Horry Kershaw Newberry Pickens Richland Spartanburg Sumter

Results by congressional district Reagan and Carter both won three congressional districts. Carter won a district that elected a Republican.

District Reagan Carter Representative53.7%44.4%Mendel Jackson DavisThomas F. Hartnett 52.3% 45.9%Floyd Spence 48.2% 50.3%Butler Derrick 54.7% 43.5%Carroll A. Campbell Jr. 44.7% 54.0%Kenneth Lamar Holland44.8%54.2% John JenretteJohn Light Napier References

Works cited