The 1980 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 1980. All fifty states and The District of Columbia were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. Voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Maine was won by former California Governor Ronald Reagan (R) by a slim margin of 3%, carrying fourteen out of sixteen counties. In recent years, however, the state has grown much more liberal, and no Republican presidential nominee has carried it since 1988.

The already embattled incumbent Democratic president Carter was hurt in the state by the strong third party candidacy of John B. 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 six New England states giving double-digit percentages to Anderson. However, Maine would prove to be Anderson's weakest state in New England with only 10.20% of the popular vote, whereas all five of the other states in New England gave Anderson over 12% of the popular vote, peaking at 15.15% in Massachusetts.

Along with Michigan, New York, Mississippi and Vermont, Maine was one of the few states in which President Carter won counties that had gone to Ford in the previous presidential election, as Carter flipped Cumberland County. As a result, Reagan was the first Republican to ever win a presidential election without this county. This was the last presidential election in which Hancock County was the most Republican county in Maine.

Primaries +1980 Democratic Caucus (10/02/1980)CandidateCDEDelegatesJimmy Carter (incumbent)13,66010Ted Kennedy12,04110Jerry Brown4,4943Totals30,19523

Results

Results by congressional district Reagan won both of Maine's congressional districts.

District Reagan Carter Representative 45.02% 41.93%David F. Emery 46.29% 42.62%Olympia Snowe

Results by county CountyOur Campaigns; ME US President Race, November 04, 1980 Ronald ReaganRepublican Jimmy CarterDemocratic John B. AndersonIndependent Ed ClarkLibertarian Barry CommonerCitizens Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # % # % Androscoggin 18,399 39.93% 22,715 49.29% 4,300 9.33% 414 0.90% 218 0.47% 34 0.07% -4,316 -9.36% 46,080 Aroostook 16,343 48.29% 14,492 42.82% 2,528 7.47% 275 0.81% 107 0.32% 101 0.30% 1,851 5.47% 33,846 Cumberland 45,820 42.64% 47,337 44.05% 12,214 11.37% 870 0.81% 1,088 1.01% 132 0.12% -1,517 -1.41% 107,461 Franklin 5,680 46.83% 4,979 41.05% 1,205 9.94% 108 0.89% 145 1.20% 11 0.09% 701 5.78% 12,128 Hancock 11,435 53.60% 7,027 32.94% 2,300 10.78% 270 1.27% 259 1.21% 43 0.20% 4,408 20.66% 21,334 Kennebec 21,517 43.84% 20,943 42.67% 5,553 11.31% 505 1.03% 500 1.02% 59 0.12% 574 1.17% 49,077 Knox 7,631 48.98% 5,732 36.79% 1,842 11.82% 165 1.06% 194 1.25% 17 0.11% 1,899 12.19% 15,581 Lincoln 7,434 52.14% 4,776 33.49% 1,556 10.91% 237 1.66% 240 1.68% 16 0.11% 2,658 18.65% 14,259 Oxford 11,041 47.04% 9,914 42.23% 2,063 8.79% 237 1.01% 186 0.79% 33 0.14% 1,127 4.81% 23,474 Penobscot 28,869 45.97% 26,519 42.23% 6,287 10.01% 642 1.02% 393 0.63% 83 0.13% 2,350 3.74% 62,793 Piscataquis 4,015 46.93% 3,550 41.50% 781 9.13% 147 1.72% 56 0.65% 6 0.07% 465 5.43% 8,555 Sagadahoc 5,946 45.23% 5,663 43.08% 1,252 9.52% 124 0.94% 151 1.15% 9 0.07% 283 2.15% 13,145 Somerset 9,286 47.59% 8,115 41.59% 1,673 8.57% 250 1.28% 166 0.85% 23 0.12% 1,171 6.00% 19,513 Waldo 6,514 49.57% 4,883 37.16% 1,304 9.92% 203 1.54% 212 1.61% 24 0.18% 1,631 12.41% 13,140 Washington 7,180 48.55% 6,050 40.91% 1,301 8.80% 130 0.88% 108 0.73% 19 0.13% 1,130 7.64% 14,788 York 31,412 46.31% 28,279 41.69% 7,168 10.57% 542 0.80% 371 0.55% 65 0.10% 3,133 4.62% 67,837Totals238,52245.61%220,97442.25%53,32710.20%5,1190.98%4,3940.84%6750.13%17,5483.36%523,011

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Cumberland

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Kennebec Somerset York

See also United States presidential elections in Maine Presidency of Ronald Reagan

References