1976 United States presidential election in Arkansas

The 1976 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the wider United States presidential election of 1976. Voters chose six electors to represent them in the Electoral College.

1976 United States presidential election in Arkansas

November 2, 1976
 
Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Georgia Michigan
Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole
Electoral vote 6 0
Popular vote 499,614 268,753
Percentage 64.94% 34.93%

County Results

President before election

Gerald Ford
Republican

Elected President

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Arkansas overwhelmingly voted for the Democratic Party, former governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter and his running mate Minnesota U.S. Senator Walter Mondale with 64.94% of the vote. The Carter/Mondale ticket defeated Republican incumbent president Gerald Ford of Michigan and his running mate Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole in the state by a margin of 30.01%. Arkansas weighed in as more than thirty percent more Democratic than the national average.[1]

Analysis

Politics in Arkansas during this time period were dominated by the Democratic Party. In the last few elections, the party’s influence began to decline due to Southern Democrats having opposed the national party’s support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, resulting in George Wallace and Richard Nixon carrying the state in 1968 and 1972 respectively. In the aftermath of Watergate and Nixon’s resignation, the nation, including Arkansas’ overall mood towards the Republican Party dropped.

Jimmy Carter, a native Southern and former governor of Georgia, appealed to many Southern Democrats and Arkansas voters who saw him as a Washington outsider. Carter carried Arkansas in a landslide, winning 72 of the state’s 75 counties, the vast majority of which gave him over sixty percent of the vote. Carter’s weakest performance was in the state’s northwestern region, historically the strongest region in the state for Republicans. The following three counties were carried by President Ford: Baxter (Mountain Home), Benton (Bentonville, Rogers), and Sebastian (Fort Smith).

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election that the Democratic candidate won over sixty percent of the vote in Arkansas. The state would become friendlier towards the Republican Party after 1980, the only exceptions to this being 1992 and 1996, when Arkansas native Bill Clinton won the state in both of his presidential runs. This is also the last election in which Searcy County and Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate.[2]

Results

United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1976[1]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Jimmy Carter 499,614 64.94% 6
Republican Gerald Ford 268,753 34.93% 0
Write-ins Eugene McCarthy 647 0.08% 0
Write-ins Thomas J. Anderson 382 0.05% 0
Totals 769,396 100.00% 6
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered voters) 51%/75%

Results by county

County James Earl Carter

Democratic

Gerald Rudolph Ford

Republican

Write-ins Total votes cast
# % # % # %
Arkansas 5,640 69.46% 2,480 30.54% 8,120
Ashley 5,253 62.88% 3,092 37.01% 9 0.11% 8,354
Baxter 5,766 49.49% 5,885 50.51% 11,651
Benton 11,289 47.00% 12,670 52.75% 61 0.25% 24,020
Boone 5,388 57.64% 3,959 42.36% 9,347
Bradley 3,567 75.88% 1,134 24.12% 4,701
Calhoun 2,014 80.11% 495 19.69% 5 0.20% 2,514
Carroll 3,791 57.01% 2,804 42.17% 55 0.83% 6,650
Chicot 3,868 70.39% 1,621 29.50% 6 0.11% 5,495
Clark 6,641 78.32% 1,816 21.42% 22 0.26% 8,479
Clay 5,664 74.95% 1,893 25.05% 7,557
Cleburne 5,726 74.07% 1,992 25.77% 13 0.17% 7,731
Cleveland 2,320 78.22% 646 21.78% 2,966
Columbia 4,708 52.31% 4,287 47.63% 6 0.07% 9,001
Conway 6,443 74.67% 2,177 25.23% 9 0.10% 8,629
Craighead 13,840 69.02% 6,213 30.98% 20,053
Crawford 5,946 55.52% 4,764 44.48% 10,710
Crittenden 8,249 61.26% 5,202 38.63% 14 0.10% 13,465
Cross 4,198 68.40% 1,909 31.11% 30 0.49% 6,137
Dallas 3,266 76.20% 1,012 23.61% 8 0.19% 4,286
Desha 4,228 75.50% 1,372 24.50% 5,600
Drew 3,750 68.43% 1,730 31.57% 5,480
Faulkner 11,423 74.45% 3,904 25.44% 16 0.10% 15,343
Franklin 3,703 65.24% 1,973 34.76% 5,676
Fulton 2,670 71.87% 1,038 27.94% 7 0.19% 3,715
Garland 15,707 60.02% 10,394 39.72% 69 0.26% 26,170
Grant 3,797 78.39% 1,047 21.61% 4,844
Greene 7,495 73.54% 2,690 26.39% 7 0.07% 10,192
Hempstead 5,397 65.37% 2,859 34.63% 8,256
Hot Spring 7,809 78.12% 2,187 21.88% 9,996
Howard 3,207 67.06% 1,575 32.94% 4,782
Independence 7,116 71.17% 2,878 28.79% 4 0.04% 9,998
Izard 3,328 70.48% 1,394 29.52% 4,722
Jackson 6,456 78.36% 1,783 21.64% 8,239
Jefferson 21,001 72.33% 8,034 27.67% 29,035
Johnson 5,044 69.89% 2,173 30.11% 7,217
Lafayette 2,342 61.49% 1,467 38.51% 3,809
Lawrence 5,167 75.08% 1,708 24.82% 7 0.10% 6,882
Lee 3,463 68.74% 1,574 31.24% 1 0.02% 5,038
Lincoln 3,045 81.33% 699 18.67% 3,744
Little River 3,142 68.71% 1,431 31.29% 4,573
Logan 5,313 64.06% 2,909 35.07% 72 0.87% 8,294
Lonoke 7,761 75.36% 2,522 24.49% 16 0.16% 10,299
Madison 2,926 53.91% 2,502 46.09% 5,428
Marion 2,979 59.30% 2,045 40.70% 5,024
Miller 6,648 58.58% 4,679 41.23% 22 0.19% 11,349
Mississippi 10,292 63.03% 6,009 36.80% 27 0.17% 16,328
Monroe 3,556 73.35% 1,285 26.51% 7 0.14% 4,848
Montgomery 2,420 72.37% 924 27.63% 3,344
Nevada 3,101 72.64% 1,163 27.24% 5 0.12% 4,269
Newton 1,840 53.32% 1,611 46.68% 3,451
Ouachita 8,946 76.47% 2,753 23.53% 11,699
Perry 2,310 73.52% 832 26.48% 3,142
Phillips 7,774 69.93% 3,342 30.06% 1 0.01% 11,117
Pike 2,822 69.40% 1,234 30.35% 10 0.25% 4,066
Poinsett 6,835 71.45% 2,726 28.50% 5 0.05% 9,566
Polk 3,505 58.75% 2,432 40.76% 29 0.49% 5,966
Pope 8,355 65.62% 4,348 34.15% 29 0.23% 12,732
Prairie 2,836 77.72% 813 22.28% 3,649
Pulaski 63,541 62.62% 37,690 37.14% 244 0.24% 101,475
Randolph 4,551 74.34% 1,571 25.66% 6,122
St. Francis 6,851 65.12% 3,639 34.59% 30 0.29% 10,520
Saline 12,008 74.41% 4,123 25.55% 7 0.04% 16,138
Scott 2,880 66.79% 1,427 33.09% 5 0.12% 4,312
Searcy 3,180 54.09% 2,699 45.91% 5,879
Sebastian 15,768 47.11% 17,671 52.79% 34 0.10% 33,473
Sevier 3,391 69.53% 1,468 30.10% 18 0.37% 4,877
Sharp 3,532 62.15% 2,151 37.85% 5,683
Stone 2,718 72.54% 1,014 27.06% 15 0.40% 3,747
Union 8,257 51.03% 7,918 48.93% 7 0.04% 16,182
Van Buren 4,004 71.14% 1,624 28.86% 5,628
Washington 15,610 52.32% 14,132 47.37% 92 0.31% 29,834
White 11,412 70.58% 4,756 29.42% 16,168
Woodruff 3,040 78.09% 848 21.78% 5 0.13% 3,893
Yell 5,785 74.96% 1,932 25.04% 7,717
Totals499,61464.94%268,75334.93%1,0290.13%769,396

References

  1. Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1976 Presidential General Election Results – Arkansas
  2. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
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