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| Elections in Wisconsin |
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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[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
Carter himself responded by visiting white ethnic communities in the state during September.[4] 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.[5]
In early October, polls showed Wisconsin as a tossup.[6] Aided by a return of traditionally Democratic Catholic voters and a gain amongst nonpartisans, Carter established a lead in mid-October polls.[7] 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]
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.
- ^ "1976 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas.
- ^ Naughton, James M. (September 23, 1976). "Ford to Aim at New York, Jersey And 8 Other Key Industrial States: Ford Will Aim His Election Effort at 10 Major States". p. 85.
- ^ "Ford Banks on Catholic". The Irish Times. September 10, 1976. p. 6.
- ^ Naughton, James M. (October 10, 1976). "Remark by Ford Is Aid to Carter At Rally in Ohio: Carter, in Midwest, reaps an Ethnic Gain". The New York Times. p. 1.
- ^ "Carter hits Ford about East Europe". The Irish Times. October 12, 1976. p. 7.
- ^ "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". ]The New York Times. October 3, 1976. p. 1.
- ^ Apple, R.W. (October 15, 1976). "Carter, Focusing on Ford Record, Gains Among Independents in Poll". The New York Times. p. 1.