1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi

The 1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 2, 1976. The Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Carter won the state of Mississippi, as well as the other 9 southern states which once comprised the Confederacy in the general election due to his ties to the south as being the former Governor of Georgia. He won the state with 49% of the vote, and all 7 of the state's electors were pledged to Carter.[1]

1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi

November 2, 1976

Nominee Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Party Democratic Republican Home state Georgia Michigan Running mate Walter Mondale Bob Dole Electoral vote 7 0 Popular vote 381,309 366,846 Percentage 49.56% 47.68%

County Results Carter   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80% Ford   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Gerald Ford Republican Elected President Jimmy Carter Democratic

Gerald Ford campaigning in Gulfport, Mississippi

In the 1972 election, Mississippi had the strongest showing of Richard Nixon in the country, with Nixon carrying 78% of the vote. Carter managed to carry Mississippi in 1976 by a slim margin of 1.88% against incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford. At that time, excluding the wins of Strom Thurmond in 1948, the unpledged electors who voted for Harry F. Byrd in 1960, Barry Goldwater in 1964, George Wallace in 1968, and Nixon in 1972, Carter’s performance in Mississippi was the worst for a post-Reconstruction Democratic presidential candidate, as he failed to win a majority of the vote. While Carter performed well in northern Mississippi and in black majority counties along the Mississippi River, President Ford’s wins in Hinds County (Jackson) and neighboring Rankin County, both of which were won with over sixty percent of the vote, along with a substantial win in Harrison County (Biloxi and Gulfport), kept the race in Mississippi extremely close.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time a Democrat won the state of Mississippi, as well as Hancock County, Neshoba County, DeSoto County, Carroll County, Covington County, Pearl River County, George County, Wayne County, Stone County, Greene County, Perry County, and Webster County.[2] This is also the last time that the state voted Democratic for Senator and President simultaneously.

Results

1976 United States presidential election in Mississippi[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	381,309	49.56%	7
	Republican	Gerald Ford (incumbent)	366,845	47.68%	0
	Mississippi American	Thomas J. Anderson	6,678	0.87%	0
	Independent	Lester Maddox	4,861	0.63%	0
	Independent	Eugene McCarthy	4,074	0.53%	0
	Independent	Peter Camejo	2,805	0.36%	0
	Independent	Roger MacBride	2,787	0.36%	0
Totals			769,363	100.0%	7

Results by county

County	James Earl Carter Democratic		Gerald Rudolph Ford Republican		Thomas J. Anderson[3] Mississippi American		Lester Maddox[3] Independent		Eugene McCarthy[3] Independent		Peter Camejo[3] Independent		Roger L. MacBride[3] Independent		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	6,619	47.75%	6,431	46.40%	80	0.58%	153	1.10%	56	0.40%	227	1.64%	295	2.13%	13,861
Alcorn	6,995	64.95%	3,430	31.85%	96	0.89%	121	1.12%	59	0.55%	36	0.33%	33	0.31%	10,770
Amite	2,574	51.49%	2,256	45.13%	61	1.22%	45	0.90%	20	0.40%	24	0.48%	19	0.38%	4,999
Attala	4,068	54.80%	3,146	42.38%	64	0.86%	64	0.86%	35	0.47%	23	0.31%	23	0.31%	7,423
Benton	2,375	74.01%	790	24.62%	25	0.78%	19	0.59%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	3,209
Bolivar	7,561	58.73%	5,136	39.89%	102	0.79%	20	0.16%	31	0.24%	12	0.09%	13	0.10%	12,875
Calhoun	2,724	56.89%	1,892	39.52%	70	1.46%	34	0.71%	24	0.50%	26	0.54%	18	0.38%	4,788
Carroll	1,566	49.45%	1,561	49.29%	15	0.47%	13	0.41%	5	0.16%	3	0.09%	4	0.13%	3,167
Chickasaw	2,891	50.52%	2,581	45.10%	66	1.15%	54	0.94%	47	0.82%	45	0.79%	39	0.68%	5,723
Choctaw	1,520	47.93%	1,561	49.23%	36	1.14%	18	0.57%	17	0.54%	7	0.22%	12	0.38%	3,171
Claiborne	2,657	68.98%	1,078	27.99%	36	0.93%	11	0.29%	23	0.60%	13	0.34%	34	0.88%	3,852
Clarke	2,816	46.97%	2,935	48.96%	45	0.75%	66	1.10%	51	0.85%	41	0.68%	41	0.68%	5,995
Clay	3,514	51.40%	3,017	44.13%	64	0.94%	79	1.16%	61	0.89%	55	0.80%	47	0.69%	6,837
Coahoma	6,412	57.70%	4,269	38.41%	104	0.94%	109	0.98%	106	0.95%	63	0.57%	50	0.45%	11,113
Copiah	4,267	49.35%	4,108	47.51%	68	0.79%	64	0.74%	43	0.50%	51	0.59%	45	0.52%	8,646
Covington	2,862	51.40%	2,591	46.53%	33	0.59%	21	0.38%	23	0.41%	19	0.34%	19	0.34%	5,568
DeSoto	7,756	54.19%	6,240	43.60%	78	0.54%	69	0.48%	88	0.61%	46	0.32%	35	0.24%	14,312
Forrest	7,914	41.39%	10,770	56.33%	167	0.87%	93	0.49%	95	0.50%	42	0.22%	39	0.20%	19,120
Franklin	1,578	46.48%	1,719	50.63%	29	0.85%	31	0.91%	17	0.50%	12	0.35%	9	0.27%	3,395
George	3,072	58.75%	1,957	37.43%	56	1.07%	39	0.75%	44	0.84%	34	0.65%	27	0.52%	5,229
Greene	2,127	56.42%	1,538	40.80%	16	0.42%	34	0.90%	17	0.45%	15	0.40%	23	0.61%	3,770
Grenada	3,263	46.48%	3,569	50.84%	72	1.03%	25	0.36%	45	0.64%	29	0.41%	17	0.24%	7,020
Hancock	3,855	49.16%	3,765	48.01%	47	0.60%	68	0.87%	44	0.56%	35	0.45%	28	0.36%	7,842
Harrison	16,569	44.61%	19,207	51.72%	361	0.97%	328	0.88%	301	0.81%	207	0.56%	166	0.45%	37,139
Hinds	28,748	37.95%	45,803	60.46%	415	0.55%	261	0.34%	270	0.36%	114	0.15%	145	0.19%	75,756
Holmes	4,616	64.08%	2,438	33.85%	54	0.75%	37	0.51%	23	0.32%	15	0.21%	20	0.28%	7,203
Humphreys	2,172	57.55%	1,445	38.29%	39	1.03%	37	0.98%	40	1.06%	20	0.53%	21	0.56%	3,774
Issaquena	567	59.43%	325	34.07%	19	1.99%	17	1.78%	16	1.68%	8	0.84%	2	0.21%	954
Itawamba	4,480	66.82%	2,153	32.11%	25	0.37%	10	0.15%	23	0.34%	6	0.09%	8	0.12%	6,705
Jackson	12,533	40.32%	17,177	55.26%	332	1.07%	394	1.27%	248	0.80%	201	0.65%	197	0.63%	31,082
Jasper	3,109	56.39%	2,356	42.74%	28	0.51%	12	0.22%	4	0.07%	2	0.04%	2	0.04%	5,513
Jefferson	2,562	74.78%	782	22.83%	21	0.61%	18	0.53%	19	0.55%	11	0.32%	13	0.38%	3,426
Jefferson Davis	2,747	58.47%	1,868	39.76%	25	0.53%	13	0.28%	13	0.28%	15	0.32%	17	0.36%	4,698
Jones	10,139	47.04%	11,098	51.49%	102	0.47%	81	0.38%	63	0.29%	28	0.13%	41	0.19%	21,552
Kemper	2,436	58.56%	1,680	40.38%	23	0.55%	14	0.34%	4	0.10%	3	0.07%	0	0.00%	4,160
Lafayette	4,375	52.39%	3,735	44.73%	57	0.68%	58	0.69%	64	0.77%	40	0.48%	22	0.26%	8,351
Lamar	3,109	41.93%	4,056	54.71%	97	1.31%	89	1.20%	35	0.47%	7	0.09%	21	0.28%	7,414
Lauderdale	9,813	40.14%	14,273	58.39%	131	0.54%	134	0.55%	45	0.18%	17	0.07%	33	0.13%	24,446
Lawrence	2,242	50.54%	2,109	47.54%	33	0.74%	19	0.43%	16	0.36%	7	0.16%	10	0.23%	4,436
Leake	3,415	52.47%	2,952	45.36%	39	0.60%	33	0.51%	27	0.41%	29	0.45%	13	0.20%	6,508
Lee	8,504	52.07%	7,366	45.10%	229	1.40%	49	0.30%	109	0.67%	52	0.32%	24	0.15%	16,333
Leflore	6,135	48.73%	5,872	46.64%	255	2.03%	74	0.59%	129	1.02%	85	0.68%	39	0.31%	12,589
Lincoln	4,043	38.90%	6,084	58.55%	72	0.69%	85	0.82%	47	0.45%	37	0.36%	24	0.23%	10,392
Lowndes	6,181	42.05%	8,003	54.44%	275	1.87%	68	0.46%	63	0.43%	55	0.37%	55	0.37%	14,700
Madison	6,240	55.14%	4,838	42.75%	120	1.06%	50	0.44%	31	0.27%	9	0.08%	28	0.25%	11,316
Marion	5,283	49.20%	5,300	49.36%	66	0.61%	28	0.26%	23	0.21%	17	0.16%	20	0.19%	10,737
Marshall	6,769	73.37%	2,242	24.30%	49	0.53%	47	0.51%	50	0.54%	31	0.34%	38	0.41%	9,226
Monroe	6,097	54.27%	4,737	42.17%	100	0.89%	75	0.67%	91	0.81%	68	0.61%	66	0.59%	11,234
Montgomery	2,410	49.93%	2,278	47.19%	42	0.87%	32	0.66%	33	0.68%	17	0.35%	15	0.31%	4,827
Neshoba	3,891	49.76%	3,859	49.35%	25	0.32%	23	0.29%	8	0.10%	5	0.06%	8	0.10%	7,819
Newton	2,741	40.97%	3,813	57.00%	114	1.70%	8	0.12%	8	0.12%	3	0.04%	3	0.04%	6,690
Noxubee	2,121	51.28%	1,860	44.97%	45	1.09%	39	0.94%	36	0.87%	26	0.63%	9	0.22%	4,136
Oktibbeha	4,339	44.62%	5,194	53.41%	61	0.63%	27	0.28%	46	0.47%	20	0.21%	38	0.39%	9,725
Panola	5,517	60.85%	3,341	36.85%	70	0.77%	35	0.39%	45	0.50%	31	0.34%	28	0.31%	9,067
Pearl River	5,024	51.98%	4,332	44.82%	56	0.58%	105	1.09%	74	0.77%	32	0.33%	42	0.43%	9,665
Perry	1,965	52.75%	1,527	40.99%	112	3.01%	39	1.05%	38	1.02%	24	0.64%	20	0.54%	3,725
Pike	5,749	48.92%	5,659	48.16%	109	0.93%	103	0.88%	54	0.46%	28	0.24%	49	0.42%	11,751
Pontotoc	4,066	62.64%	2,245	34.59%	77	1.19%	31	0.48%	26	0.40%	18	0.28%	28	0.43%	6,491
Prentiss	4,431	63.51%	2,362	33.85%	44	0.63%	42	0.60%	46	0.66%	29	0.42%	23	0.33%	6,977
Quitman	2,621	64.80%	1,287	31.82%	34	0.84%	25	0.62%	30	0.74%	23	0.57%	25	0.62%	4,045
Rankin	6,937	36.75%	11,507	60.95%	133	0.70%	125	0.66%	83	0.44%	54	0.29%	39	0.21%	18,878
Scott	3,643	48.78%	3,649	48.86%	61	0.82%	59	0.79%	25	0.33%	14	0.19%	17	0.23%	7,468
Sharkey	1,283	52.39%	1,024	41.81%	43	1.76%	23	0.94%	33	1.35%	21	0.86%	22	0.90%	2,449
Simpson	3,600	45.23%	4,291	53.91%	33	0.41%	22	0.28%	11	0.14%	1	0.01%	2	0.03%	7,960
Smith	2,434	42.35%	3,147	54.75%	32	0.56%	53	0.92%	32	0.56%	20	0.35%	30	0.52%	5,748
Stone	1,648	50.27%	1,575	48.05%	26	0.79%	9	0.27%	5	0.15%	1	0.03%	14	0.43%	3,278
Sunflower	4,322	53.86%	3,456	43.07%	69	0.86%	46	0.57%	49	0.61%	47	0.59%	35	0.44%	8,024
Tallahatchie	2,991	56.95%	2,146	40.86%	37	0.70%	29	0.55%	20	0.38%	17	0.32%	12	0.23%	5,252
Tate	3,747	58.22%	2,497	38.80%	51	0.79%	57	0.89%	40	0.62%	20	0.31%	24	0.37%	6,436
Tippah	4,260	67.90%	1,887	30.08%	47	0.75%	26	0.41%	25	0.40%	15	0.24%	14	0.22%	6,274
Tishomingo	3,734	63.95%	1,969	33.72%	53	0.91%	28	0.48%	20	0.34%	20	0.34%	15	0.26%	5,839
Tunica	1,695	61.50%	951	34.51%	23	0.83%	24	0.87%	33	1.20%	17	0.62%	13	0.47%	2,756
Union	5,021	65.56%	2,507	32.73%	52	0.68%	38	0.50%	20	0.26%	9	0.12%	12	0.16%	7,659
Walthall	2,650	53.79%	2,110	42.83%	50	1.01%	40	0.81%	44	0.89%	23	0.47%	10	0.20%	4,927
Warren	6,299	40.11%	8,699	55.39%	231	1.47%	144	0.92%	152	0.97%	100	0.64%	80	0.51%	15,705
Washington	9,650	53.17%	7,474	41.18%	346	1.91%	153	0.84%	222	1.22%	136	0.75%	168	0.93%	18,149
Wayne	3,306	51.48%	3,022	47.06%	14	0.22%	36	0.56%	10	0.16%	13	0.20%	21	0.33%	6,422
Webster	2,218	51.81%	1,943	45.39%	44	1.03%	37	0.86%	15	0.35%	11	0.26%	13	0.30%	4,281
Wilkinson	2,514	65.38%	1,273	33.11%	16	0.42%	13	0.34%	11	0.29%	7	0.18%	11	0.29%	3,845
Winston	3,956	50.77%	3,659	46.96%	60	0.77%	34	0.44%	37	0.47%	28	0.36%	18	0.23%	7,792
Yalobusha	2,603	57.81%	1,808	40.15%	32	0.71%	30	0.67%	7	0.16%	14	0.31%	9	0.20%	4,503
Yazoo	4,053	47.85%	4,255	50.23%	42	0.50%	45	0.53%	31	0.37%	19	0.22%	26	0.31%	8,471
Totals	381,309	49.56%	366,845	47.68%	6,678	0.87%	4,861	0.63%	4,074	0.53%	2,805	0.36%	2,788	0.36%	769,363

References

1. "1976 Presidential General Election Results – Mississippi". Retrieved May 18, 2016.
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
3. "MS US President Race, November 02, 1976". Our Campaigns.