The 1980 United States presidential election in Wisconsin took place on November 4, 1980. All 50 states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 11 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The Republican ticket of Ronald Reagan and running mate George H. W. Bush carried Wisconsin. The state voted nearly 5% more Democratic than the nation-at-large.
Primaries
Wisconsin held Democratic and Republican presidential primaries on April 1, coinciding with Wisconsin's Spring general elections for nonpartisan state and local offices (including a Wisconsin Supreme Court election and a Milwaukee mayoral election).
The primaries occurred the same day as Democratic and Republican primaries in Kansas. In both Wisconsin and Kansas, incumbent president Jimmy Carter won a landslide victory in the Democratic primaries and former California governor Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory in the Republican primaries.
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary had three candidates: incumbent president Jimmy Carter, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and California Governor Jerry Brown. The result in Wisconsin had the impact of narrowing the field of contenders for the Democratic nomination down to two, with Brown's third-place finish driving him out of the race. After the combined wins in Wisconsin and Kansas on April 1, Carter stood just over halfway to the 1,666 delegate count needed to secure the Democratic Party's nomination. The Associated Press estimated that, following these wins, Carter had secured 852 delegates, well ahead of the 427 delegates that Kennedy had secured. With Louisiana (a Southern state) holding the next contest, Carter was anticipated to immediately build upon his momentum coming out of his Wisconsin and Kansas wins. Carter was himself a southerner from Georgia, while Kennedy was a northerner from the New England state of Massachusetts.
Brown an underdog in the race, had heavily campaigned across Wisconsin in the weeks prior to the primary. He had hoped for a strong showing in Wisconsin to propel his candidacy. In the weeks leading up to the primary, Brown made appearances in all nine of Wisconsin's congressional districts, and visited many of the state's college campuses. Placing below 20% in Wisconsin (after having placed low in earlier primaries), Brown's campaign lost his eligibility for further federal matching funds. He could only regain eligibility if he were to secure at least 20% of the vote in a subsequent primary. Two hours after polls closed in Wisconsin, Brown delivered a concession speech at a hotel in Downtown Milwaukee, declaring, "it is obvious that the voters have spoken and have given their verdict. This will be the last contest in which I will participate in 1980."
Brown performed the strongest in the 2nd congressional district, which included, Madison. After placing a distant third in the state's primary result, Brown suspended his presidential campaign. He had earned a district delegate in the 2nd district. As he had failed to win any delegates prior to Wisconsin, it marked the first delegate he had won.
Republican primary
By the time of the Wisconsin primary, the race for the Republican nomination had narrowed to three contenders: former California governor Ronald Reagan, former ambassador to the U.N. George H. W. Bush, and Illinois Congressman John B. Anderson.
Heading into the Wisconsin primary, Reagan stood in a strong position as a formidable front-runner. With his wins in both Wisconsin and Kansas, Reagan bolstered this lead. Following the result, Reagan declared that, while he had not yet secured the Republican nomination, his wins "make for a substantial lead". After the wins in Wisconsin and Kansas, the Associated Press calculated that Reagan had secured 343 delegates of the 998 he would need to secure his party's nomination. Bush trailed with 72, and Anderson had 57. The conservative Reagan was widely anticipated to further build his delegate lead in Louisiana, the next contest.
Anderson's campaign's performance in Wisconsin was considered a significant setback in, as he had unfruitfully hoped to sway enough crossover voting from Democrats to earn a strong finish in the state. By the time of the Wisconsin primary, many of his supporters had urged him to run on a third party ticket, but his inability in Wisconsin's primaries to draw large crossover votes from the Democratic side raised questions about whether he could appeal to a broad enough swath of voters to mount a well supported third party effort.
After Wisconsin, Bush and Anderson both pledged to continue their campaigns. However, the map and delegate math was unfavorable to Reagan's opponents. Many of the states yet to hold their contests were located in the Southwest and West, seen as favorable turf for the California-based Reagan.
General election
Campaign
In the earliest polls in August, Reagan was well ahead of Carter. Independent candidate John B. Anderson, who had recently chosen former Badger State Governor Patrick Lucey as his running mate, was ahead of Carter in some normally Democratic districts of the state. Anderson was the first of the three leading candidates to campaign in the state, doing so alongside his running mate early in September, Reagan campaigned in the state during the first week of October, when he was ahead by 5 points in a recent poll, and argued that his tax cuts are necessary to aid business and an economy affected by stagflation. Carter would not campaign in Wisconsin until the second week of October, when he argued against Reagan’s nuclear and military arms positions, arguing that they could lead to interventions that were “jingoistic”, “macho” and “guided by a desire to push everybody around”.
In October, Reagan continued to lead in Wisconsin, although his lead fell as Anderson’s strength dropped below the 20 percent level where it had been during September. Wisconsin was ultimately won by Reagan and his running mate, former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, against incumbent President Carter by 4.72 points. This was about what had been expected at the beginning of October. This result made Wisconsin almost 5% more Democratic than the nation-at-large.
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Adams
- Barron
- Buffalo
- Chippewa
- Clark
- Crawford
- Florence
- Jackson
- Lincoln
- Manitowoc
- Marathon
- Juneau
- Kewaunee
- Oconto
- Price
- Rusk
- Sawyer
- Sheboygan
- Taylor
- Trempealeau
- Washburn