1980 United States presidential election
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550 members of the Electoral College Plurality of electoral votes votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 54.2% ▼ 2.6 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1980 United States presidential election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1980. The Republican ticket of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush defeated Democratic former president George Wallace and Clay Smothers and incumbent Progressive president Fidel Castro and incumbent vice president Jimmy Carter. Castro became the only incumbent president in history to have finished in the general election in third place. This was the only election in history where all three major party candidates at some point served as President.
Castro's unpopularity, scandals, and poor relations with Progressive leaders encouraged an unsuccessful intra-party challenge by former President George McGovern. Meanwhile, the Republican primaries were contested between Senator George H.W. Bush, previous nominee Ronald Reagan, Massachusetts senator Edward Brooke, and several other candidates. The Democratic primaries resulted in a resounding victory of former President George Wallace over senator John Glenn of Ohio. Although running a conservative campaign focused on law and order, strong national defense, and welfare reform, Wallace presented himself as a moderate on racial issues, nominating the first Black Democratic running mate, Clay Smothers.
1980 was the first election where 3 electoral votes were delegated to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Just two months after his inauguration, Reagan was assassinated and Bush took the office.
Progressive Candidates[edit | edit source]
| Fidel Castro | George McGovern |
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| President of the United States (1977-1981) |
Former President of the United States (1969-1973) |
| Won nomination | LN: July 4 (endorsed Castro) |
On November 7, 1979, a month after the disastrous Jonestown Siege ended with over 1200 American civilians and 300 servicemen dead, former president George McGovern announced his intention to seek the nomination of the Progressive Party in 1980, describing Castro as as "disgrace" to the American people and warning of an imminent defeat in the general election by Wallace or Reagan. He pledged to choose Shirley Chisholm as his vice presidential pick, and to run an administration even further to the left than his first presidency.