# 1976 United States presidential election in California

Elections in California :
Federal governmentU.S. President
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2026 :
State governmentExecutive Governor
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Judiciary Court of appeals
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Elections by year
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Jun
Nov
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State propositions1910–1919
1911
4
7
8
1960–1969
1964
14
1970–1979
1978
6
8
13
1980–1989
1982
8
1986
64
65
1988
98
99
1990–1999
1994
187
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196
209
215
218
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6
10
227
2000–2009
2000
21
22
36
39
2003
53
54
2004
1A
55
56
57
58
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60
60A
61
62
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71
2005
73
74
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2008
91
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94, 95, 96, and 97
98 and 99
1A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
2009
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1B
1C
1D
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1F
2010–2019
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13
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19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
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29
30
32
34
37
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39
2014
1
2
41
42
45
46
47
48
2016
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
2018
68
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72
6
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2020–2029
2020
13
14
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1
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1
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32
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36
Full list :
Los Angeles CountyLos Angeles County Board of supervisors
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San Diego CountySan Diego County Board of supervisors
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San FranciscoMayor
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San JoseMayor
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Other localities
Bakersfield
Mayoral elections:
2004
2008
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Fresno
Mayoral elections:
1996
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Oakland
Mayoral elections:
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Mayoral elections:
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Mayoral elections:
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Mayoral elections:
2008
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2024 :
vte :
The 1976 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
California narrowly voted for the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford, over the Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.
Ford won the state with a plurality of 49.35% of the vote to Carter's 47.57%, a victory margin of 1.78%, which made California almost 4% more Republican than the nation-at-large.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that a Democrat has won the counties of Amador, El Dorado, Lassen, Madera, Placer, Shasta, Sierra and Yuba, Carter is also the last candidate from either party to carry Los Angeles by only a plurality. This also remains the last election in which a Republican presidential candidate won at least 40% of the vote in San Francisco, and the last time that county was not the most Democratic in the state. This is also the last time when a Democrat has won the presidency without California and the last time that the state would vote Republican in a close election. The state would not vote for a losing candidate again until 2000, and for the loser of the popular vote until 2004.

## Campaign

A presidential debate was held in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts with President Ford and Jimmy Carter in attendance. The debate was sponsored by the League of Women Voters with Pauline Frederick from NPR being the moderator of the debate. 63.9 million people watched the debate.

## Results

1976 United States presidential election in California :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes |
| | Republican | Gerald Ford (incumbent) | 3,882,244 | 49.35% | 45 |
| | Democratic | Jimmy Carter | 3,742,284 | 47.57% | 0 |
| | No party | Eugene McCarthy (write-in) | 58,412 | 0.74% | 0 |
| | Independent | Roger MacBride | 56,388 | 0.72% | 0 |
| | American Independent | Lester Maddox | 51,098 | 0.65% | 0 |
| | Peace and Freedom | Margaret Wright | 41,731 | 0.53% | 0 |
| | Independent | Peter Camejo | 17,259 | 0.22% | 0 |
| | Independent | Gus Hall | 12,766 | 0.16% | 0 |
| | No party | Thomas J. Anderson (write-in) | 4,565 | 0.06% | 0 |
| | No party | Jules Levin (write-in) | 222 | 0.00% | 0 |
| | No party | Write-ins | 74 | 0.00% | 0 |
| | No party | Ben Bubar (write-in) | 34 | 0.00% | 0 |
| | No party | Ernest Miller (write-in) | 26 | 0.00% | 0 |
| | No party | Frank Taylor (write-in) | 14 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Invalid or blank votes | Invalid or blank votes | Invalid or blank votes | | | — |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 7,867,117 | 100.00% | 45 |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | Voter turnout | | | — |

### 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 |
| Alameda | 155,280 | 38.09% | 235,988 | 57.89% | 16,413 | 4.02% | -80,708 | -19.80% | 407,681 |
| Alpine | 225 | 50.34% | 189 | 42.28% | 33 | 7.38% | 36 | 8.06% | 447 |
| Amador | 3,699 | 46.13% | 4,037 | 50.35% | 282 | 3.52% | -338 | -4.22% | 8,018 |
| Butte | 28,400 | 51.77% | 24,203 | 44.12% | 2,251 | 4.11% | 4,197 | 7.65% | 54,854 |
| Calaveras | 3,695 | 49.08% | 3,607 | 47.91% | 226 | 3.01% | 88 | 1.17% | 7,528 |
| Colusa | 2,733 | 52.74% | 2,340 | 45.16% | 109 | 2.10% | 393 | 7.58% | 5,182 |
| Contra Costa | 126,598 | 49.35% | 123,742 | 48.24% | 6,194 | 2.41% | 2,856 | 1.11% | 256,534 |
| Del Norte | 2,481 | 45.29% | 2,789 | 50.91% | 208 | 3.80% | -308 | -5.62% | 5,478 |
| El Dorado | 12,472 | 47.69% | 12,763 | 48.80% | 919 | 3.51% | -291 | -1.11% | 26,154 |
| Fresno | 72,533 | 48.10% | 74,958 | 49.71% | 3,314 | 2.19% | -2,425 | -1.61% | 150,805 |
| Glenn | 4,094 | 52.67% | 3,501 | 45.04% | 178 | 2.29% | 593 | 7.63% | 7,773 |
| Humboldt | 18,034 | 41.58% | 23,500 | 54.18% | 1,838 | 4.24% | -5,466 | -12.60% | 43,372 |
| Imperial | 10,618 | 49.94% | 10,244 | 48.18% | 400 | 1.88% | 374 | 1.76% | 21,262 |
| Inyo | 3,905 | 58.23% | 2,635 | 39.29% | 166 | 2.48% | 1,270 | 18.94% | 6,706 |
| Kern | 58,023 | 52.29% | 50,567 | 45.57% | 2,371 | 2.14% | 7,456 | 6.72% | 110,961 |
| Kings | 8,263 | 49.65% | 8,061 | 48.44% | 318 | 1.91% | 202 | 1.21% | 16,642 |
| Lake | 5,462 | 44.46% | 6,374 | 51.88% | 449 | 3.64% | -912 | -7.42% | 12,285 |
| Lassen | 3,007 | 42.97% | 3,801 | 54.32% | 190 | 2.71% | -794 | -11.35% | 6,998 |
| Los Angeles | 1,174,926 | 47.78% | 1,221,893 | 49.69% | 62,258 | 2.53% | -46,967 | -1.91% | 2,459,077 |
| Madera | 6,844 | 45.96% | 7,625 | 51.20% | 423 | 2.84% | -781 | -5.24% | 14,892 |
| Marin | 53,425 | 52.52% | 43,590 | 42.86% | 4,700 | 4.62% | 9,835 | 9.66% | 101,715 |
| Mariposa | 2,012 | 46.61% | 2,093 | 48.48% | 212 | 4.91% | -81 | -1.87% | 4,317 |
| Mendocino | 9,784 | 45.49% | 10,653 | 49.53% | 1,072 | 4.98% | -869 | -4.04% | 21,509 |
| Merced | 14,842 | 46.08% | 16,637 | 51.65% | 729 | 2.27% | -1,795 | -5.57% | 32,208 |
| Modoc | 1,917 | 51.20% | 1,733 | 46.29% | 94 | 2.51% | 184 | 4.91% | 3,744 |
| Mono | 1,600 | 58.80% | 1,025 | 37.67% | 96 | 3.53% | 575 | 21.13% | 2,721 |
| Monterey | 40,896 | 51.02% | 36,849 | 45.97% | 2,408 | 3.01% | 4,047 | 5.05% | 80,153 |
| Napa | 20,839 | 51.83% | 18,048 | 44.89% | 1,318 | 3.28% | 2,791 | 6.94% | 40,205 |
| Nevada | 8,170 | 48.40% | 7,926 | 46.95% | 785 | 4.65% | 244 | 1.45% | 16,881 |
| Orange | 408,632 | 62.16% | 232,246 | 35.33% | 16,555 | 2.51% | 176,386 | 26.83% | 657,433 |
| Placer | 18,154 | 45.03% | 21,026 | 52.16% | 1,131 | 2.81% | -2,872 | -7.13% | 40,311 |
| Plumas | 2,884 | 43.94% | 3,429 | 52.25% | 250 | 3.81% | -545 | -8.31% | 6,563 |
| Riverside | 97,774 | 49.24% | 96,228 | 48.46% | 4,556 | 2.30% | 1,546 | 0.78% | 198,558 |
| Sacramento | 123,110 | 44.63% | 144,203 | 52.27% | 8,563 | 3.10% | -21,093 | -7.64% | 275,876 |
| San Benito | 3,398 | 50.87% | 3,122 | 46.74% | 160 | 2.40% | 276 | 4.13% | 6,680 |
| San Bernardino | 113,265 | 49.49% | 109,636 | 47.90% | 5,984 | 2.61% | 3,629 | 1.59% | 228,885 |
| San Diego | 353,302 | 55.74% | 263,654 | 41.60% | 16,839 | 2.66% | 89,648 | 14.14% | 633,795 |
| San Francisco | 103,561 | 40.31% | 133,733 | 52.06% | 19,594 | 7.63% | -30,172 | -11.75% | 256,888 |
| San Joaquin | 50,277 | 49.60% | 48,733 | 48.08% | 2,351 | 2.32% | 1,544 | 1.52% | 101,361 |
| San Luis Obispo | 27,785 | 51.17% | 24,926 | 45.91% | 1,587 | 2.92% | 2,859 | 5.26% | 54,298 |
| San Mateo | 117,338 | 50.63% | 102,896 | 44.40% | 11,507 | 4.97% | 14,442 | 6.23% | 231,741 |
| Santa Barbara | 60,922 | 50.83% | 55,018 | 45.91% | 3,904 | 3.26% | 5,904 | 4.92% | 119,844 |
| Santa Clara | 219,188 | 49.46% | 208,023 | 46.94% | 15,927 | 3.60% | 11,165 | 2.52% | 443,138 |
| Santa Cruz | 31,872 | 43.09% | 37,772 | 51.06% | 4,325 | 5.85% | -5,900 | -7.97% | 73,969 |
| Shasta | 17,273 | 45.63% | 19,200 | 50.72% | 1,381 | 3.65% | -1,927 | -5.09% | 37,854 |
| Sierra | 680 | 43.15% | 841 | 53.36% | 55 | 3.49% | -161 | -10.21% | 1,576 |
| Siskiyou | 7,070 | 48.37% | 7,060 | 48.31% | 485 | 3.32% | 10 | 0.06% | 14,615 |
| Solano | 26,136 | 42.40% | 33,682 | 54.64% | 1,826 | 2.96% | -7,546 | -12.24% | 61,644 |
| Sonoma | 50,555 | 47.72% | 50,353 | 47.52% | 5,044 | 4.76% | 202 | 0.20% | 105,952 |
| Stanislaus | 32,937 | 44.83% | 38,448 | 52.34% | 2,080 | 2.83% | -5,511 | -7.51% | 73,465 |
| Sutter | 8,745 | 54.21% | 6,966 | 43.18% | 420 | 2.61% | 1,779 | 11.03% | 16,131 |
| Tehama | 6,110 | 44.81% | 6,990 | 51.27% | 535 | 3.92% | -880 | -6.46% | 13,635 |
| Trinity | 1,989 | 45.66% | 2,172 | 49.86% | 195 | 4.48% | -183 | -4.20% | 4,356 |
| Tulare | 31,864 | 54.52% | 25,551 | 43.72% | 1,027 | 1.76% | 6,313 | 10.80% | 58,442 |
| Tuolumne | 6,104 | 46.94% | 6,492 | 49.93% | 407 | 3.13% | -388 | -2.99% | 13,003 |
| Ventura | 82,670 | 53.20% | 68,529 | 44.10% | 4,201 | 2.70% | 14,141 | 9.10% | 155,400 |
| Yolo | 18,376 | 42.42% | 23,533 | 54.33% | 1,408 | 3.25% | -5,157 | -11.91% | 43,317 |
| Yuba | 5,496 | 44.74% | 6,451 | 52.51% | 338 | 2.75% | -955 | -7.77% | 12,285 |
| Total | 3,882,244 | 49.35% | 3,742,284 | 47.57% | 242,589 | 3.08% | 139,960 | 1.78% | 7,867,117 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* El Dorado
* Fresno
* Mariposa
* Los Angeles
* Tuolumne
* Mendocino
* Trinity
* Amador
* Shasta
* Madera
* Merced
* Del Norte
* Tehama
* Placer
* Plumas
* Shasta
* Sierra
* Lake
* Stanislaus
* Sacramento
* Yuba
* Santa Cruz
* Plumas
* Sierra
* Lassen
* Solano
* Humboldt