California — 1976 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate1976 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentFordR+1.8
How it voted
Share of the 1976 vote
| Gerald Ford ✓Republican | 49.3% | 3,882,244 |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy CarterDemocratic | 47.6% | 3,742,284 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 3.1% | 242,589 |
1976presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 1976 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 45 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+19.8 |
| Alpine County, CA | Republican | R+8.1 |
| Amador County, CA | Democratic | D+4.2 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+7.7 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+1.2 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+7.6 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Republican | R+1.1 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Democratic | D+1.1 |
| Fresno County, CA | Democratic | D+1.6 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+7.6 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+12.6 |
| Imperial County, CA | Republican | R+1.8 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+18.9 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+6.7 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+1.2 |
| Lake County, CA | Democratic | D+7.4 |
| Lassen County, CA | Democratic | D+11.3 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+1.9 |
| Madera County, CA | Democratic | D+5.2 |
| Marin County, CA | Republican | R+9.7 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Democratic | D+1.9 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+4.0 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+5.6 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+4.9 |
| Mono County, CA | Republican | R+21.1 |
| Monterey County, CA | Republican | R+5.0 |
| Napa County, CA | Republican | R+6.9 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+1.4 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+26.8 |
| Placer County, CA | Democratic | D+7.1 |
| Plumas County, CA | Democratic | D+8.3 |
| Riverside County, CA | Republican | R+0.8 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+7.6 |
| San Benito County, CA | Republican | R+4.1 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Republican | R+1.6 |
| San Diego County, CA | Republican | R+14.1 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+11.7 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Republican | R+1.5 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Republican | R+5.3 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Republican | R+6.2 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Republican | R+4.9 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Republican | R+2.5 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Democratic | D+8.0 |
| Shasta County, CA | Democratic | D+5.1 |
| Sierra County, CA | Democratic | D+10.2 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+0.1 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+12.2 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Republican | R+0.2 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Democratic | D+7.5 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+11.0 |
| Tehama County, CA | Democratic | D+6.5 |
| Trinity County, CA | Democratic | D+4.2 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+10.8 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Democratic | D+3.0 |
| Ventura County, CA | Republican | R+9.1 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+11.9 |
| Yuba County, CA | Democratic | D+7.8 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Jimmy Carter+80,708 | 155,28038.1% | 235,98857.9% | 16,4134.0% | 407,681 |
| Alpine County | Gerald Ford+36 | 22550.3% | 18942.3% | 337.4% | 447 |
| Amador County | Jimmy Carter+338 | 3,69946.1% | 4,03750.3% | 2823.5% | 8,018 |
| Butte County | Gerald Ford+4,197 | 28,40051.8% | 24,20344.1% | 2,2514.1% | 54,854 |
| Calaveras County | Gerald Ford+88 | 3,69549.1% | 3,60747.9% | 2263.0% | 7,528 |
| Colusa County | Gerald Ford+393 | 2,73352.7% | 2,34045.2% | 1092.1% | 5,182 |
| Contra Costa County | Gerald Ford+2,856 | 126,59849.3% | 123,74248.2% | 6,1942.4% | 256,534 |
| Del Norte County | Jimmy Carter+308 | 2,48145.3% | 2,78950.9% | 2083.8% | 5,478 |
| El Dorado County | Jimmy Carter+291 | 12,47247.7% | 12,76348.8% | 9193.5% | 26,154 |
| Fresno County | Jimmy Carter+2,425 | 72,53348.1% | 74,95849.7% | 3,3142.2% | 150,805 |
| Glenn County | Gerald Ford+593 | 4,09452.7% | 3,50145.0% | 1782.3% | 7,773 |
| Humboldt County | Jimmy Carter+5,466 | 18,03441.6% | 23,50054.2% | 1,8384.2% | 43,372 |
| Imperial County | Gerald Ford+374 | 10,61849.9% | 10,24448.2% | 4001.9% | 21,262 |
| Inyo County | Gerald Ford+1,270 | 3,90558.2% | 2,63539.3% | 1662.5% | 6,706 |
| Kern County | Gerald Ford+7,456 | 58,02352.3% | 50,56745.6% | 2,3712.1% | 110,961 |
| Kings County | Gerald Ford+202 | 8,26349.7% | 8,06148.4% | 3181.9% | 16,642 |
| Lake County | Jimmy Carter+912 | 5,46244.5% | 6,37451.9% | 4493.7% | 12,285 |
| Lassen County | Jimmy Carter+794 | 3,00743.0% | 3,80154.3% | 1902.7% | 6,998 |
| Los Angeles County | Jimmy Carter+46,967 | 1,174,92647.8% | 1,221,89349.7% | 62,2582.5% | 2,459,077 |
| Madera County | Jimmy Carter+781 | 6,84446.0% | 7,62551.2% | 4232.8% | 14,892 |
| Marin County | Gerald Ford+9,835 | 53,42552.5% | 43,59042.9% | 4,7004.6% | 101,715 |
| Mariposa County | Jimmy Carter+81 | 2,01246.6% | 2,09348.5% | 2124.9% | 4,317 |
| Mendocino County | Jimmy Carter+869 | 9,78445.5% | 10,65349.5% | 1,0725.0% | 21,509 |
| Merced County | Jimmy Carter+1,795 | 14,84246.1% | 16,63751.7% | 7292.3% | 32,208 |
| Modoc County | Gerald Ford+184 | 1,91751.2% | 1,73346.3% | 942.5% | 3,744 |
| Mono County | Gerald Ford+575 | 1,60058.8% | 1,02537.7% | 963.5% | 2,721 |
| Monterey County | Gerald Ford+4,047 | 40,89651.0% | 36,84946.0% | 2,4083.0% | 80,153 |
| Napa County | Gerald Ford+2,791 | 20,83951.8% | 18,04844.9% | 1,3183.3% | 40,205 |
| Nevada County | Gerald Ford+244 | 8,17048.4% | 7,92647.0% | 7854.7% | 16,881 |
| Orange County | Gerald Ford+176,386 | 408,63262.2% | 232,24635.3% | 16,5552.5% | 657,433 |
| Placer County | Jimmy Carter+2,872 | 18,15445.0% | 21,02652.2% | 1,1312.8% | 40,311 |
| Plumas County | Jimmy Carter+545 | 2,88443.9% | 3,42952.2% | 2503.8% | 6,563 |
| Riverside County | Gerald Ford+1,546 | 97,77449.2% | 96,22848.5% | 4,5562.3% | 198,558 |
| Sacramento County | Jimmy Carter+21,093 | 123,11044.6% | 144,20352.3% | 8,5633.1% | 275,876 |
| San Benito County | Gerald Ford+276 | 3,39850.9% | 3,12246.7% | 1602.4% | 6,680 |
| San Bernardino County | Gerald Ford+3,629 | 113,26549.5% | 109,63647.9% | 5,9842.6% | 228,885 |
| San Diego County | Gerald Ford+89,648 | 353,30255.7% | 263,65441.6% | 16,8392.7% | 633,795 |
| San Francisco County | Jimmy Carter+30,172 | 103,56140.3% | 133,73352.1% | 19,5947.6% | 256,888 |
| San Joaquin County | Gerald Ford+1,544 | 50,27749.6% | 48,73348.1% | 2,3512.3% | 101,361 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Gerald Ford+2,859 | 27,78551.2% | 24,92645.9% | 1,5872.9% | 54,298 |
| San Mateo County | Gerald Ford+14,442 | 117,33850.6% | 102,89644.4% | 11,5075.0% | 231,741 |
| Santa Barbara County | Gerald Ford+5,904 | 60,92250.8% | 55,01845.9% | 3,9043.3% | 119,844 |
| Santa Clara County | Gerald Ford+11,165 | 219,18849.5% | 208,02346.9% | 15,9273.6% | 443,138 |
| Santa Cruz County | Jimmy Carter+5,900 | 31,87243.1% | 37,77251.1% | 4,3255.8% | 73,969 |
| Shasta County | Jimmy Carter+1,927 | 17,27345.6% | 19,20050.7% | 1,3813.6% | 37,854 |
| Sierra County | Jimmy Carter+161 | 68043.1% | 84153.4% | 553.5% | 1,576 |
| Siskiyou County | Gerald Ford+10 | 7,07048.4% | 7,06048.3% | 4853.3% | 14,615 |
| Solano County | Jimmy Carter+7,546 | 26,13642.4% | 33,68254.6% | 1,8263.0% | 61,644 |
| Sonoma County | Gerald Ford+202 | 50,55547.7% | 50,35347.5% | 5,0444.8% | 105,952 |
| Stanislaus County | Jimmy Carter+5,511 | 32,93744.8% | 38,44852.3% | 2,0802.8% | 73,465 |
| Sutter County | Gerald Ford+1,779 | 8,74554.2% | 6,96643.2% | 4202.6% | 16,131 |
| Tehama County | Jimmy Carter+880 | 6,11044.8% | 6,99051.3% | 5353.9% | 13,635 |
| Trinity County | Jimmy Carter+183 | 1,98945.7% | 2,17249.9% | 1954.5% | 4,356 |
| Tulare County | Gerald Ford+6,313 | 31,86454.5% | 25,55143.7% | 1,0271.8% | 58,442 |
| Tuolumne County | Jimmy Carter+388 | 6,10446.9% | 6,49249.9% | 4073.1% | 13,003 |
| Ventura County | Gerald Ford+14,141 | 82,67053.2% | 68,52944.1% | 4,2012.7% | 155,400 |
| Yolo County | Jimmy Carter+5,157 | 18,37642.4% | 23,53354.3% | 1,4083.3% | 43,317 |
| Yuba County | Jimmy Carter+955 | 5,49644.7% | 6,45152.5% | 3382.8% | 12,285 |
Nominees: Jimmy Carter (D) · Gerald Ford (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 1976 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Same ballot, 1976CA
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 1976 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.