# 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey

Elections in New Jersey :
Federal government
U.S. President
1788-89
1792
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
Dem
2008
Rep
Dem
2012
2016
Dem
2020
Dem
2024
Dem
Rep
U.S. Senate
1788
1790
1790 (sp)
1792
1796
1796 (sp)
1798
1799 (sp)
1801 (sp)
1803 (sp)
1804
1808
1809
1809 (sp)
1810
1815
1816 (sp)
1817
1820
1823
1823 (sp)
1826
1826 (sp)
1829
1829 (sp)
1833
1835
1839
1840
1845
1846
1851
1853 (sp)
1857
1858
1863 (sp)
1864
1866 (sp)
1867 (sp)
1869
1875
1877
1881
1883
1886
1889
1893
1895
1899
1901
1902 (sp)
1905
1907
1911
1913
1916
1918
1918 (sp)
1922
1924
1928
1930
1930 (sp)
1932 (sp)
1934
1936
1938 (sp)
1940
1942
1944 (sp)
1948
1954
1958
1960
1964
1966
1970
1972
1976
1978
1982
1984
1988
1990
1994
1996
2000
2002
2006
2008
2012
2013 (sp)
2014
2018
2020
2024
2026
U.S. House of Representatives
1789
1791
1792
1794
1795 (sp AL)
1797
1798
1800
1803
1804
1806
1808 (sp AL)
1808
1810 (sp AL)
1810
1814 (sp 3rd)
1813
1814
1816
1818
1820
1821 (sp AL)
1822
1824
1826
1828
1828 (sp AL)
1830
1832
1834
1836
1836
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1850
1852
1854
1856
1858
1860
1862
1864
1866
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1913 (sp 6th)
1914
1916
1920
1924
1926
1928
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1948
1950
1951 (sp 9th)
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1968
1972
1980
1984
1988
1988 (sp 3rd)
1990
1990 (sp 1st)
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2006
2006 (5th)
2006 (12th)
2008
2010
2012
2012 (sp 10th)
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2024 (sp 10th)
2026 :
State government
General elections
2009
2010
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
2025
Gubernatorial elections
1843
1844
1847
1850
1853
1856
1859
1862
1865
1868
1871
1874
1877
1880
1883
1886
1889
1892
1895
1898
1901
1904
1907
1910
1913
1916
1919
1922
1925
1928
1931
1934
1937
1940
1943
1946
1949
1953
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025
Senate elections
1873
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1971
1973
1977
1981
1983
1987
1991
1993
1997
2001
2003
2007
2011
2013
2017
2021
2023
General Assembly elections
1985
1987
1989
1991
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
2025 :
Newark
Mayoral elections
1970
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Jersey City
Mayoral elections
2001
2004
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025 :
Hoboken
Mayoral elections
2005
2017
2021 :
Atlantic City
Mayoral elections
2017
2021 :
vte :
The 1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 2, 1976. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Voters chose 17 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
New Jersey was won by the Republican nominees, incumbent President Gerald Ford of Michigan and his running mate Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. Ford and Dole defeated the Democratic nominees, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia and his running mate Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota.
Ford narrowly carried New Jersey with 50.08% of the vote to Carter's 47.92%, a victory margin of 2.16%. Anti-war former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, running as an Independent presidential candidate, came in a distant third, with 1.09%.
New Jersey weighed in for this election as about 4% more Republican than the national average. New Jersey in this era was a swing state with a slight Republican lean, and Gerald Ford, a moderate Republican, held enough appeal among New Jersey's many moderate suburban voters to carry the state 50–48 even as Jimmy Carter narrowly won nationally by a 50–48 margin. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time a Democrat won the presidency without carrying New Jersey. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004.

## Results

1976 United States presidential election in New Jersey :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes |
| | Republican | Gerald Ford (incumbent) | 1,509,688 | 50.08% | 17 |
| | Democratic | Jimmy Carter | 1,444,653 | 47.92% | 0 |
| | Independent | Eugene McCarthy | 32,717 | 1.09% | 0 |
| | Libertarian | Roger MacBride | 9,449 | 0.31% | 0 |
| | American Independent | Lester Maddox | 7,716 | 0.26% | 0 |
| | Socialist Labor | Julius Levin | 3,686 | 0.12% | 0 |
| | Communist | Gus Hall | 1,662 | 0.06% | 0 |
| | U.S. Labor | Lyndon LaRouche | 1,650 | 0.05% | 0 |
| | Socialist Workers | Peter Camejo | 1,184 | 0.04% | 0 |
| | People's | Margaret Wright | 1,044 | 0.03% | 0 |
| | Prohibition | Ben Bubar | 554 | 0.02% | 0 |
| | Socialist | Frank Zeidler | 469 | 0.02% | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 3,014,472 | 100.0% | 17 |
| Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) | 58%/80% |

### Results by county

| County | Gerald Ford Republican | Gerald Ford Republican | Jimmy Carter Democratic | Jimmy Carter Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Atlantic | 36,733 | 45.56% | 41,965 | 52.05% | 1,932 | 2.40% | -5,232 | -6.49% | 80,630 |
| Bergen | 237,331 | 55.86% | 180,738 | 42.54% | 6,784 | 1.60% | 56,593 | 13.32% | 424,853 |
| Burlington | 60,960 | 48.07% | 63,309 | 49.92% | 2,551 | 2.01% | -2,349 | -1.85% | 126,820 |
| Camden | 82,801 | 42.33% | 108,854 | 55.65% | 3,956 | 2.02% | -26,053 | -13.32% | 195,611 |
| Cape May | 19,498 | 53.18% | 16,489 | 44.97% | 680 | 1.85% | 3,009 | 8.21% | 36,667 |
| Cumberland | 20,535 | 40.84% | 29,165 | 58.00% | 587 | 1.17% | -8,630 | -17.16% | 50,287 |
| Essex | 133,911 | 42.40% | 174,434 | 55.23% | 7,467 | 2.36% | -40,523 | -12.83% | 315,812 |
| Gloucester | 34,888 | 46.33% | 38,726 | 51.43% | 1,688 | 2.24% | -3,838 | -5.10% | 75,302 |
| Hudson | 92,636 | 43.55% | 116,241 | 54.64% | 3,853 | 1.81% | -23,605 | -11.09% | 212,730 |
| Hunterdon | 19,616 | 59.50% | 12,592 | 38.20% | 758 | 2.30% | 7,024 | 21.30% | 32,966 |
| Mercer | 58,453 | 44.67% | 69,621 | 53.20% | 2,782 | 2.13% | -11,168 | -8.53% | 130,856 |
| Middlesex | 113,539 | 47.14% | 122,859 | 51.01% | 4,466 | 1.85% | -9,320 | -3.87% | 240,864 |
| Monmouth | 110,104 | 54.29% | 88,956 | 43.87% | 3,730 | 1.84% | 21,148 | 10.42% | 202,790 |
| Morris | 105,921 | 61.45% | 63,749 | 36.98% | 2,703 | 1.57% | 42,172 | 24.47% | 172,373 |
| Ocean | 77,875 | 56.93% | 56,413 | 41.24% | 2,493 | 1.82% | 21,462 | 15.69% | 136,781 |
| Passaic | 85,102 | 51.20% | 76,194 | 45.84% | 4,930 | 2.97% | 8,908 | 5.36% | 166,226 |
| Salem | 11,639 | 46.60% | 12,826 | 51.35% | 512 | 2.05% | -1,187 | -4.75% | 24,977 |
| Somerset | 51,260 | 57.15% | 36,258 | 40.43% | 2,173 | 2.42% | 15,002 | 16.72% | 89,691 |
| Sussex | 23,613 | 60.19% | 14,759 | 37.62% | 857 | 2.18% | 8,854 | 22.57% | 39,229 |
| Union | 118,019 | 51.56% | 106,267 | 46.42% | 4,616 | 2.02% | 11,752 | 5.14% | 228,902 |
| Warren | 15,254 | 50.67% | 14,238 | 47.29% | 613 | 2.04% | 1,016 | 3.38% | 30,105 |
| Totals | 1,509,688 | 50.08% | 1,444,653 | 47.92% | 60,131 | 2.00% | 65,035 | 2.16% | 3,014,472 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Essex
* Hudson
* Mercer
* Middlesex
* Burlington
* Camden
* Salem
* Gloucester
* Atlantic
* Cumberland

## Analysis

Reflecting the closeness of the statewide result, Ford and Carter virtually split New Jersey's 21 counties: Ford won 11 counties to Carter's 10. The native Southerner Jimmy Carter performed unusually well among rural voters in South Jersey, winning 6 out of 7 of the southernmost counties in the state. Carter's strongest county by vote share was rural Cumberland County in the far south of the state by the Delaware border, where he won 58–41. However his comfortable victories in more populous traditional Democratic base counties are what made him competitive statewide: in Essex County, he won 55–42, in Hudson County, he won 55–44, and in Mercer County, he won 53–45. He also won heavily populated Middlesex County, but by a narrow 51–47 margin.
The Northern moderate Ford, however, edged out Carter statewide with comfortable victories in heavily populated suburban counties which were dominated by moderate Republicans. In most presidential elections in this era, the most Republican county in the state would usually be rural, sparsely populated Sussex County. While Ford did win Sussex County decisively by a 60–38 margin, Ford's strongest county by vote share was actually suburban Morris County, where he beat Carter 61–37. In suburban Monmouth County, Ford won 54–44. Other important victories for Ford were in fairly populated Ocean County, which he won 57–41, and Passaic County, which he won 51–46. However Ford's biggest prize was very heavily populated Bergen County, which went decisively to Ford by a 56–43 margin. This was the first time since 1916 that a Democrat won the presidency without Passaic County.