The 1980 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1980, as part of the

1980 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 1980. In a landslide victory, the Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of former California governor Ronald Reagan and form ...

. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

, who voted for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

voted for the Republican nominee, the state's former governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, in a landslide over the Democratic incumbent,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. Reagan won his home state by a wide 16.78% point margin and carried all but three counties. Carter carried only three of the state's 58 counties: Alameda,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and Yolo. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time for a Republican candidate to carry the counties of Marin and Santa Cruz in a presidential election.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016 This election was also the most Republican California has voted relative to the whole nation since

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and was the last time it was more Republican than the nation as a whole. It was widely believed that Carter lacked understanding of critical Western issues, most importantly water development.Reisner, Marc; '' Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water''; p. 11 This also remains the last time a Republican won the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, and the last one in which

gave less than 60% of the vote to the Democratic candidate.

Primaries

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Amador * Del Norte * El Dorado * Fresno * Humboldt *

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

* Lassen *

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

* Madera * Merced * Mariposa * Mendocino * Placer * Plumas *

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

* Santa Cruz * Shasta * Sierra * Solano * Stanislaus * Tehama *

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

* Tuolumne * Yuba

Results by congressional district

References

{{California U.S. Presidential elections

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1980 California elections