1980 United States presidential election
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 Donald Rumsfeld defeated Democratic former president George Wallace and Clay Smothers 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.
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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% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 Bob Dole, former California governor Ronald Reagan, Massachusetts senator Edward Brooke, and several other candidates. The Democratic primaries resulted in a resounding victory of former President George Wallace over 1976's vice presidential nominee Jerry Brown.
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 Rumsfeld took the office.
Progressive Candidates
Fidel Castro | George McGovern |
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President of the U.S. (1977-1981) |
Former President of the U.S. (1969-1973) |
Won nomination | LN: July 4 (endorsed Castro) |