1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee

The 1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 2, 1976. The Democratic Party candidate, former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter won the state of Tennessee with 56% of the vote against Republican Party candidate, President Gerald Ford, carrying the state's 10 electoral votes.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this was the last time a Democratic presidential candidate won more than 50% of the vote in Tennessee or carried the state by a double-digit margin. This is also the last election in which Williamson County, Sullivan County, Madison County, Hamblen County, Cumberland County, McMinn County, Loudon County, Monroe County, Rhea County, and Chester County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

Background

From 1966 to 1972, the Republicans won Tennessee in the presidential elections, both of the state's seats in the United States Senate, the governorship, and increased its membership in the U.S. House to four of the state's nine seats. However, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ray Blanton won in the 1974 election.

Campaign

Carter won Tennessee and the Democratic nominee won in the concurrent senatorial election. 51% of white voters supported Carter while 48% supported Ford.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Anderson
• Benton
• Bledsoe
• Cannon
• Campbell
• Carroll
• Chester
• Claiborne
• Cumberland
• DeKalb
• Franklin
• Grundy
• Fentress
• Hamblen
• Haywood
• Henry
• Hickman
• Hardin
• Humphreys
• Lake
• Lawrence
• Loudon
• Madison
• McMinn
• McNairy
• Meigs
• Monroe
• Morgan
• Overton
• Robertson
• Rhea
• Roane
• Sequatchie
• Sullivan
• Smith
• Trousdale
• Van Buren
• Warren
• Williamson
• Bedford
• Cheatham
• Clay
• Coffee
• Crockett
• Davidson
• Decatur
• Dickson
• Dyer
• Fayette
• Gibson
• Giles
• Lauderdale
• Lewis
• Marion
• Marshall
• Maury
• Montgomery
• Moore
• Morgan
• Obion
• Polk
• Putnam
• Rutherford
• Shelby
• Sumner
• Tipton
• Weakley
• Wilson
• Hardeman
• Lincoln
• White

References

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674941306.
• Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0275931455.