1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

| country = Wisconsin

| flag_year = 1913

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1972 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

| previous_year = 1972

| next_election = 1980 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

| next_year = 1980

| election_date = November 2, 1976

| image_size = x200px

| image1 = Jimmy Carter 1977 cropped.jpg

| nominee1 = Jimmy Carter

| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)

| home_state1 = Georgia

| running_mate1 = Walter Mondale

| electoral_vote1 = 11

| popular_vote1 = 1,040,232

| percentage1 = 49.50%

| image2 = Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg

| nominee2 = Gerald Ford

| party2 = Republican Party (United States)

| home_state2 = Michigan

| running_mate2 = Bob Dole

| electoral_vote2 = 0

| popular_vote2 = 1,004,987

| percentage2 = 47.83%

| map_image = Wisconsin Presidential Election Results 1976.svg

| map_size = 300px

| map_caption = County Results

Carter

Ford

| title = President

| before_election = Gerald Ford

| before_party = Republican Party (United States)

| after_election = Jimmy Carter

| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

The 1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. Jimmy Carter won the state of Wisconsin with 49.50 percent of the vote{{cite web|title=1976 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1976&fips=55&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0|publisher=Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas}} giving him 11 electoral votes.

In September, President Ford announced he would devote $20,000 to campaigning in Wisconsin. The state was one of ten he considered critical to defeating Carter, but Ford devoted less money to it than any of the others.{{cite news|author=Naughton, James M.|title=Ford to Aim at New York, Jersey And 8 Other Key Industrial States: Ford Will Aim His Election Effort at 10 Major States|date=September 23, 1976|page=85}} During his campaign, Ford focused chiefly on the Catholic working-class electorate in South Milwaukee, whose hierarchy had been disappointed Carter was not committed – following Roe v. Wade – to a constitutional amendment banning abortion.{{cite news|title=Ford Banks on Catholic|work=The Irish Times|date=September 10, 1976|page=6}}

Carter himself responded by visiting white ethnic communities in the state during September.{{cite news|author=Naughton, James M.|title=Remark by Ford Is Aid to Carter At Rally in Ohio: Carter, in Midwest, reaps an Ethnic Gain|work=The New York Times|date=October 10, 1976|page=1}} His campaign amongst the Polish-Americans and Greek-Americans in the southeast of the state was strongly aimed at Ford's policy towards the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe and their human rights violations.{{cite news|title=Carter hits Ford about East Europe|work=The Irish Times|date=October 12, 1976|page=7}}

In early October, polls showed Wisconsin as a tossup.{{cite news|title=Poll Shows Carter Is Ahead in States Needed for Victory: But His Lead for Electoral Votes Is Found Small and Slipping Close Election Foreseen Poll Shows Carter Ahead in States With Majority in Electoral College|work=]The New York Times|date=October 3, 1976|page=1}} Aided by a return of traditionally Democratic Catholic voters and a gain amongst nonpartisans, Carter established a lead in mid-October polls.{{cite news|author=Apple, R.W.|title=Carter, Focusing on Ford Record, Gains Among Independents in Poll|work=The New York Times|date=October 15, 1976|page=1}} The Georgia Governor would retain this lead to election day, and carry Wisconsin by 1.68 points. This result nonetheless made Wisconsin 0.43% more Republican than the nation at large. Wisconsin was the tipping-point state of the election.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Ronald Reagan would flip Wisconsin back into the Republican column in 1980 and 1984, but Carter's victory was a sign of things to come for the state, as it would transition into a Democratic-leaning swing state in 1988, and would vote Republican only twice since then. This is the third most recent election in which Wisconsin voted for a different candidate than neighboring Iowa, a phenomenon that has only been repeated in 2004 and 2020.

Primaries

=Democratic primaries=

Despite the fact that at the time of this election Wisconsin had been dominated for a decade by very liberal Democrats like Senators Gaylord Nelson and William Proxmire, and had been the fifth-best state for George McGovern in his landslide 1972 presidential defeat, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the state on a "nonideological" campaign in the April primaries,{{Cite news|last=Apple|first=R. W.|date=1976-04-02|title=Carter Gains Among Wisconsin Liberals and Unions|page=9|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/02/archives/carter-gains-among-wisconsin-liberals-and-unions.html|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0362-4331}} despite claiming that price floors for dairy farmers in the nation's leading dairy state would need to be lowered.{{Cite news|last=King|first=Seth S.|date=1976-04-05|title=Carter and Udall Vie in Wisconsin|page=25|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/05/archives/carter-and-udall-vie-in-wisconsin-dispute-over-farm-parity-reminds.html|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0362-4331}}

Jimmy Carter – 36.63%
Mo Udall – 35.62%
George Wallace – 12.49%
Scoop Jackson – 6.43%

=Republican primaries=

Gerald Ford won the GOP primary against the insurgent conservative challenge of Ronald Reagan, saying that his win was largely due to the endorsement of Henry Kissinger.{{Cite news|last=Naughton|first=James N.|date=1976-04-08|title=Ford Sees Wisconsin Vote As Kissinger Endorsement|page=32|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/08/archives/ford-sees-wisconsin-vote-as-kissinger-endorsement-risktaking.html|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0362-4331}}

Gerald Ford (incumbent) – 55.23%
Ronald Reagan – 44.29%

Results

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
colspan="6" \| 1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
colspan="2" style="width: 15em" \|Party ! style="width: 17em" \|Candidate ! style="width: 5em" \|Votes ! style="width: 7em" \|Percentage ! style="width: 5em" \|Electoral votes
style="background:#33f; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Democratic \| Jimmy Carter \| style="text-align:right;"\| 1,040,232 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 49.50% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 11
style="background:#f33; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Republican \| Gerald Ford (incumbent) \| style="text-align:right;"\| 1,004,987 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 47.83% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Eugene McCarthy \| style="text-align:right;"\| 34,943 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 1.66% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#CC66FF; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| American \| Lester Maddox \| style="text-align:right;"\| 8,552 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.41% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Frank Zeidler \| style="text-align:right;"\| 4,298 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.20% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Roger L. MacBride \| style="text-align:right;"\| 3,814 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.18% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Peter Camejo \| style="text-align:right;"\| 1,691 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.08% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Margaret Wright \| style="text-align:right;"\| 943 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.04% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Gus Hall \| style="text-align:right;"\| 749 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.04% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Lyndon H. LaRouche \| style="text-align:right;"\| 738 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.04% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
style="background:#DDDDCC; width:3px;"\| \| style="width: 130px" \| Independent \| Julius Levin \| style="text-align:right;"\| 389 \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0.02% \| style="text-align:right;"\| 0
colspan="3"\| Totals	2,101,336	100.0%	11

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

colspan="6" | 1976 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

colspan="2" style="width: 15em" |Party

! style="width: 17em" |Candidate

! style="width: 5em" |Votes

! style="width: 7em" |Percentage

! style="width: 5em" |Electoral votes

style="background:#33f; width:3px;"|

| style="width: 130px" | Democratic

| Jimmy Carter

| style="text-align:right;"| 1,040,232

| style="text-align:right;"| 49.50%

| style="text-align:right;"| 11

style="background:#f33; width:3px;"|

| style="width: 130px" | Republican

| Gerald Ford (incumbent)

| style="text-align:right;"| 1,004,987

| style="text-align:right;"| 47.83%