1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From January 21 to June 3, 1980, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1980 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Jimmy Carter was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses, culminating in the 1980 Democratic National Convention, held from August 11 to 14, 1980, in New York City.

1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries

← 1976 January 21 to June 3, 1980 1984 →
3,346 delegates to the Democratic National Convention 1,674 (majority) votes needed to win
Candidate Jimmy Carter Ted Kennedy Uncommitted Home state Georgia Massachusetts Delegate count 1,984[a][1] 1,237[a][1] 96 Contests won 37 13 1 Popular vote 10,043,016 7,381,693 1,288,423 Percentage 51.1% 37.6% 6.6%
First place by first-instance vote First place by delegate allocation First place by convention roll call      Carter      Kennedy      Uncommitted
Previous Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter

Carter faced a major primary challenger in Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, who won 12 contests and received more than seven million votes nationwide, enough for him to refuse to concede the nomination until the second day of the convention. This remains the last primary election in which an incumbent president's party nomination was still contested going into the convention.

Carter would be the last incumbent president to lose a primary in any contest until Joe Biden lost to Jason Palmer in the 2024 American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses.^[2] For the Democrats in 1980, a then-record of 37 primary races were held.^[3]

Primary race

At the time, Iran was experiencing a major uprising that severely damaged its oil infrastructure and greatly weakened its capability to produce oil.^[4] In January 1979, shortly after Iran's leader Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled the country, lead Iranian opposition figure Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from a 14-year exile and with the help of the Iranian people toppled the Shah which in turn led to the installation of a new government that was hostile towards the United States.^[4] The damage that resulted from Khomeini's rise to power was soon felt throughout many American cities.^[4] In the spring and summer of 1979 inflation was on the rise and various parts of the country were experiencing energy shortages.^[5] The gas lines last seen just after the Arab/Israeli war of 1973 were back and President Carter was widely blamed.

President Carter's approval ratings were very low—28% according to Gallup,^[6] with some other polls giving even lower numbers. In July Carter returned from Camp David and announced a reshuffling of his cabinet on national television, giving a speech whose downcast demeanor resulted in it being widely labelled the "malaise speech." While the speech caused a brief upswing in the president's approval rating, the decision to dismiss several cabinet members was widely seen as a rash act of desperation, causing his approval rating to plummet back into the twenties. Some Democrats felt it worth the risk to mount a challenge to Carter in the primaries. Although Hugh Carey and William Proxmire decided not to run, Senator Edward M. Kennedy finally made his long-expected run at the presidency.

Ted Kennedy had been asked to take his brother Robert's place at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and had refused. He ran for Senate Majority Whip in 1969, with many thinking that he was going to use this as a platform for the 1972 race.^[7] However, then came the notorious Chappaquiddick incident that killed Kennedy's car passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy subsequently refused to run for president in 1972 and 1976. Many of his supporters suspected that Chappaquiddick had destroyed any ability he had to win on a national level. Despite this, in the summer of 1979, Kennedy consulted with his extended family, and that fall, he let it leak out that because of Carter's failings, 1980 might indeed be the year he would try for the nomination. Gallup had him beating the president by over two to one, but Carter remained confident, famously claiming at a June White House gathering of Congressmen that if Kennedy ran against him in the primary, he would "whip his ass."^[8]

Kennedy's official announcement was scheduled for early November. A television interview with Roger Mudd of CBS a few days before the announcement went badly, however. Kennedy gave an "incoherent and repetitive"^[9] answer to the question of why he was running, and the polls, which showed him leading the President by 58–25 in August now had him ahead 49–39.^[10] Meanwhile, U.S. animosity towards the Khomeini régime greatly accelerated after 52 American hostages were taken by a group of Islamist students and militants at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and Carter's approval ratings jumped in the 60-percent range in some polls, due to a "rally ‘round the flag" effect^[11] and an appreciation of Carter's calm handling of the crisis. Kennedy was suddenly left far behind. Carter beat Kennedy decisively in Iowa and New Hampshire. Carter decisively defeated Kennedy everywhere except Massachusetts, until impatience began to build with the President's strategy on Iran. When the primaries in New York and Connecticut came around, it was Kennedy who won.

Momentum built for Ted Kennedy after Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages on April 25 ended in disaster and drew further skepticism towards Carter's leadership ability.^[12] Nevertheless, Carter was still able to maintain a substantial lead even after Kennedy won the key states of California and New Jersey in June. Despite this, Kennedy refused to drop out, and the 1980 Democratic National Convention was one of the nastiest on record. On the penultimate day, Kennedy conceded the nomination and called for a more liberal party platform in the Dream Shall Never Die speech, considered by many as the best speech of his career, and one of the best political speeches of the 20th Century.^[13] On the stage on the final day, Kennedy for the most part ignored Carter.

Candidates

Nominee

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won	Running mate
Jimmy Carter			President of the United States (1977–1981)	Georgia	(Campaign • Positions) Secured nomination: August 11, 1980	10,043,016 (51.13%)	36 IA, ME, NH, VT, AL, FL, GA, PR, IL, KS, WI, LA, TX, IN, NC, TN, NE, MD, OK, AR ID, KY, NV, MT, OH, WV, MO, OR, WA	Walter Mondale

Other convention candidates

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won
Ted Kennedy			U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1962–2009)	Massachusetts	(Campaign) Withdrew at convention: August 11, 1980	7,381,693 (37.58%)	12 AZ, MA, CT, NY, PA, ND, DC, CA, NJ, NM, RI, SD, VT, AK, MI

Withdrew during primaries

Candidate			Most recent office	Home state	Campaign	Popular vote	Contests won
Jerry Brown			Governor of California (1975–1983)	California	(Campaign) Withdrew: April 2, 1980	575,296 (2.93%)	None

Minor candidates

Lyndon LaRouche	Cliff Finch	Alice Tripp
No Elected Office	Governor of Mississippi (1976–1980)	No Elected Office
177,784 votes	48,032 votes	No votes

Far-right politician David Duke tried to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Despite being six years too young to be qualified to run for president, Duke attempted to place his name onto the ballot in twelve states stating that he wanted to be a power broker who could "select issues and form a platform representing the majority of this country" at the Democratic National Convention.^[14][15]

Results

Tablemaker's Note:^[b]

Date (daily totals)	Contest	Total pledged delegates
			Delegates won and popular vote
			Jimmy Carter	Ted Kennedy	Jerry Brown	Lyndon LaRouche	Others	Uncommitted
January 21	Iowa Caucuses[16][c] 3,220 SDs	0 (of 50)	1,830 SDs (56.83%)	968 SDs (30.06%)	-	-	-	297 SDs (9.22%)
February 10	Maine Caucuses[17][d] 2,247 SDs 33,326	0 (of 50)	1,017 SDs (45.26%) 14,528 (43.59%)	847 SDs (37.69%) 13,384 (40.16%)	263 SDs (11.70%) 4,626 (13.88%)	-	-	52 SDs (2.31%) 793 (2.38%)
February 26	Minnesota Caucuses[18][e]	0 (of 75)	(~73.7%)	(~10.4%)	-	-	-	-
	New Hampshire Primary[19] 111,930	19 (of 19)	10 Del. 52,692 (47.08%)	9 Del. 41,745 (37.30%)	10,743 (9.60%)	2,326 (2.08%)	4,424 WI (3.95%)	-
March 4	Massachusetts Primary[20] 907,323	111 (of 111)	34 Del. 260,401 (28.70%)	77 Del. 590,393 (65.07%)	31,498 (3.47%)	-	5,368 WI (0.59%)	19,663 (2.17%)
	Vermont Primary[21] 39,703	0 (of 12)	29,015 (73.08%)	10,135 (25.53%)	358 WI (0.90%)	6 WI (0.02%)	189 (0.48%)	-
March 8	Iowa County Conventions[22] 3,220 SDs	0 (of 50)	1,966 SDs (61.06%)	1,116 SDs (34.66%)	-	-	-	121 SDs (3.76%)
March 11	Alabama Primary[23] 237,464	45 (of 45)	43 Del. 193,734 (81.59%)	2 Del. 31,382 (13.22%)	9,529 (4.01%)	1,149 (0.48%)	-	1,670 (0.70%)
	Alaska Caucuses[24][f] 2,367 SDs	0 (of 11)	392 SDs (16.56%)	110 SDs (4.65%)	10 SDs (0.42%)	-	-	847 SDs (35.78%)
	Florida Primary[25] 1,098,003	99 (of 99)	76 Del. 666,321 (60.69%)	23 Del. 254,727 (23.20%)	53,474 (4.87%)	-	19,160 (1.75%)	1 Del.104,321 (9.50%)
	Georgia Primary[26] 384,780	63 (of 63)	62 Del. 338,772 (88.04%)	1 Del. 32,315 (8.40%)	7,255 (1.89%)	-	2,731 (0.71%)	3,707[g] (0.96%)
	Oklahoma Caucuses[27][h]	0 (of 42)	4,638 CDs (76.07%)	593 CDs (9.74%)	19 CDs (0.31%)	-	-	847 CDs (13.89%)
March 15	Mississippi Caucuses[27][i]	0 (of 32)	(~78%)	(~5%)	(~1%)	-	(~1%)	(~16%)
	South Carolina Caucuses[28][j] 11,107 CDs	0 (of 37)	7,035 CDs (63.34%)	579 CDs (5.21%)	7 CDs (0.06%)	-	-	3,486 CDs (31.39%)
March 16	Puerto Rico Primary[29] 870,235	41 (of 41)	21 Del. 449,681 (51.67%)	20 Del. 418,068 (48.04%)	1,660 (0.19%)	-	826 (0.10%)	-
March 18	Illinois Pres. Primary[30] 1,201,067	0 (of 179)	780,787 (65.01%)	359,875 (29.96%)	39,168 (3.26%)	19,192 (1.60%)	2,045 WI (1.77%)	-
	Illinois Del. Primary[31]	179 (of 179)	165 Del.	14 Del.	-	-	-	-
	Washington Caucuses[32] 9,811 CDs	0 (of 57)	5,264 CDs (53.65%)	2,491 CDs (25.39%)	63 CDs (0.64%)	-	-	1,993 CDs (20.31%)
March 22	Virginia Caucuses[33][k] 2,999 SDs	0 (of 64)	2,169 SDs (72.32%)	355 SDs (11.84%)	1 SD (0.03%)	-	-	186 SDs (6.20%)
March 24	South Carolina County Conventions[34][l] 11,107 CDs	0 (of 37)	(~69%)	(~6%)	-	-	-	(~25%)
March 25	Connecticut Primary[35] 210,275	54 (of 54)	25 Del. 87,207 (41.47%)	29 Del. 98,662 (46.92%)	5,386 (2.56%)	5,617 (2.67%)	-	13,403 (6.37%)
	New York Primary[36][37] 989,062	282 (of 282)	118 Del. 406,305 (41.08%)	164 Del. 582,757 (58.92%)	-	-	-	-
March 29	Oklahoma County Conventions[38] 932 SDs	0 (of 42)	723 SDs (77.58%)	88 SDs (9.44%)	-	-	1 SDs (0.11%)	120 SDs (12.88%)
April 1	Kansas Primary[39] 193,918	37 (of 37)	23 Del. 109,807 (56.63%)	14 Del. 61,318 (31.62%)	9,434 (4.87%)	-	2,196[m] (1.13%)	9,434 (4.87%)
	Wisconsin Primary[40] 629,619	75 (of 75)	48 Del. 353,662 (56.17%)	26 Del. 189,520 (30.10%)	1 Del. 74,496 (11.83%)	6,896 (1.10%)	2,351[n] (0.37%)	2,694 (0.43%)
April 5	Louisiana Primary[41] 358,741	51 (of 51)	39 Del. 199,956 (55.74%)	12 Del. 80,797 (22.52%)	16,774 (4.68%)	-	19,600[o] (5.46%)	41,614 (11.60%)
April 6	Mississippi District Conventions[42]	22 (of 32)	22 Del.	-	-	-	-	-
April 12	Arizona Caucuses[17][p] 19,600	0 (of 29)	8,342 (42.56%)	10,241 (52.25%)	95 (0.49%)	-	8[q] (0.04%)	914 (4.66%)
	South Carolina State Convention[43][r]	37 (of 37)	34 Del.	1 Del.	-	-	-	2 Del.
	Virginia District Conventions[s][44]	23 (of 64)	21 Del.	2 Del.	-	-	-	-
April 17	Idaho Caucuses[45] 380 SDs	17[t] (of 17)	8 Del. 185 SDs (48.68%)	5 Del. 111 SDs (29.21%)	-	-	-	4 Del. 84 SDs (22.11%)
April 18	Washington County Conventions[46] 1,310 SDs	0 (of 57)	744 SDs (56.79%)	368 SDs (28.09%)	-	-	-	198 SDs (15.11%)
April 19	Iowa District Conventions[47]	34 (of 50)	21 Del.	11 Del.	-	-	-	2 Del.
	Minnesota District Conventions[u][48]	18 (of 75)	12 Del.	1 Del.	-	-	-	5 Del.
	Mississippi District Conventions[49]	10 (of 32)	10 Del.	-	-	-	-	-
	Oklahoma District Conventions[50] 932 SDs	29 (of 42)	24 Del.	3 Del.	-	-	-	2 Del.
	Virginia District Conventions[v][51]	17 (of 64)	14 Del.	3 Del.	-	-	-	-
April 22	Missouri Caucuses[52] 793 SDs	0 (of 77)	550 SDs (69.36%)	108 SDs (13.62%)	-	-	-	135 SDs (17.02%)
	Pennsylvania Primary[53] 1,613,223	185 (of 185)	91 Del. 732,332 (45.40%)	94 Del. 736,854 (45.68%)	37,669 (2.34%)	-	12,503 WI (0.78%)	93,865 (5.82%)
Vermont Caucuses[54] 1,535 SDs[w]	0 (of 12)	366 SDs (23.84%)	516 SDs (33.62%)	-	-	-	262 SDs (17.06%)
April 26	Michigan caucuses	141 (of 141)	7,567 46.68%[55]	7,793 48.08%[55]	-	-	-	5.24%[55]
May 3	Minnesota District Conventions[x][56]	33 (of 75)	15 Del.	4 Del.	-	-	-	14 Del.
	Oklahoma State Convention[57] 932 SDs	13 (of 42)	10 Del.	-	-	-	-	3 Del.
	Texas Primary[58] 1,377,356	0 (of 152)	770,390 (55.93%)	314,129 (22.81%)	35,585 (2.58%)	-	-	257,252 (18.68%)
	Virginia District Conventions[y][59]	17 (of 64)	4 Del.	-	-	-	-	-
May 5	Colorado Caucuses[z][60][61][62] 2,918SDs	0 (of 40)	1,174 SDs (40.23%)	852 SDs (29.20%)	-	-	-	892 SDs (30.57%)
May 6	Washington, D.C. Primary[63] 64,150	19 (of 19)	8 Del. 23,697 (36.94%)	11 Del. 39,561 (61.67%)	-	892 (1.39%)	-	-
	Indiana Primary[64] 589,441	80 (of 80)	53 Del. 398,949 (67.68%)	27 Del. 190,492 (32.32%)	-	-	-	-
	North Carolina Primary[65] 737,262	69 (of 69)	53 Del. 516,778 (70.09%)	13 Del. 130,684 (17.73%)	21,420 (2.91%)	-	-	68,380 (9.28%)
	Tennessee Primary[65] 294,680	55 (of 55)	44 Del. 221,658 (75.22%)	11 Del. 53,258 (18.07%)	5,612 (1.90%)	925 (0.31%)	1,684[aa] (0.57%)	11,515 (3.91%)
May 10	Texas Caucuses[66] 3,900 SDs[ab]	0 (of 152)	1,431 SDs (36.69%)	644 SDs (16.51%)	-	-	-	312 SDs (8.00%)
	Wyoming State Convention[67]	11 (of 11)	8 Del.	3 Del.	-	-	-	-
May 13	Maryland Primary[68] 477,090	30 (of 30)	32 Del. 226,528 (47.48%)	26 Del. 181,091 (37.96%)	14,313 (3.00%)	4,388 (0.92%)	4,891[ac] (1.03%)	1 Del. 45,879 (9.62%)
	Nebraska Primary[69] 153,881	24 (of 24)	14 Del. 72,120 (46.87%)	10 Del. 57,826 (37.58%)	5,478 (3.56%)	1,169 (0.76%)	1,247 WI (0.81%)	16,041 (10.42%)
May 17	Alaska State Convention[70]	11 (of 11)	0.61 Del.	1.83 Del.	-	-	-	8.56 Del.
	Maine State Convention[71]	22 (of 22)	11 Del.	11 Del.	-	-	-	-
	Virginia State Convention[72]	20 (of 64)	20 Del.	-	-	-	-	-
May 20 (116)	Michigan Primary[73] 78,424	0 (of 141)	-	-	23,043 (29.38%)	8,948 (11.41%)	10,048 WI (12.81%)	36,385 (46.40%)
	Oregon Primary[74] 367,204	39 (of 39)	26 Del. 208,693 (56.83%)	13 Del. 114,651 (31.22%)	34,409 (9.37%)	-	9,451 WI (2.57%)	-
	Utah Caucuses[75] 3,760	0 (of 20)	1,779 (47.31%)	876 (23.30%)	-	-	-	1,105 (29.39%)
May 24	Arizona State Convention[76]	22 (of 22)	13 Del.	16 Del.	-	-	-	-
	Delaware State Convention[77]	14 (of 14)	10 Del.	4 Del.	-	-	-	-
	Vermont State Convention[78]	12 (of 12)	5 Del.	7 Del.	-	-	-	-
May 27	Arkansas Primary[79][80] 448,290	33 (of 33)	23 Del. 269,375 (60.09%)	5 Del. 78,542 (17.52%)	-	-	19,469[ad] (4.34%)	5 Del. 80,904 (18.05%)
	Idaho Primary[81] 50,482	0 (of 20)	31,383 (62.17%)	11,087 (21.96%)	2,078 (4.12%)	-	-	5,934 (11.76%)
	Kentucky Primary[81] 240,331	50 (of 50)	38 Del. 160,819 (66.92%)	12 Del. 55,167 (22.96%)	-	-	5,126[ae] (2.13%)	19,219 (8.00%)
	Nevada Primary[81] 66,948	12 (of 12)	5 Del. 25,159 (37.58%)	3 Del. 19,296 (28.82%)	-	-	-	4 Del. 22,493 (33.60%)
May 30	Hawaii State Convention[82]	19 (of 19)	15 Del.	4 Del.	-	-	-	-
May 31	Colorado District Conventions[af][83]	6 (of 40)	3 Del.	2 Del.	-	-	-	1 Del.
June 3	California Primary[84] 3,363,969	298 (of 298)	137 Del. 1,266,276 (37.64%)	167 Del. 1,507,142 (44.80%)	135,962 (4.04%)	71,779 (2.13%)	51 WI (0.00%)	382,759 (11.38%)
	Missouri District Conventions[ag][85]	53 (of 77)	40 Del.	5 Del.	-	-	-	8 Del.
	Montana Primary[86] 130,059	19 (of 19)	10 Del. 66,922 (51.46%)	9 Del. 47,671 (36.65%)	-	-	-	15,466 (11.89%)
	New Jersey Pres. Primary[87] 277,977	113 (of 113)	45 Del. 212,387 (37.87%)	68 Del. 315,109 (56.18%)	-	13,913 (2.48%)	-	19,499 (3.48%)
	New Mexico Primary[88] 159,364	20 (of 20)	10 Del. 66,621 (41.80%)	10 Del. 73,721 (46.26%)	-	4,798 (3.01%)	4,490[ah] (2.82%)	9,734 (6.11%)
	Ohio Primary[89] 1,186,410	161 (of 161)	84 Del. 605,744 (51.06%)	77 Del. 523,874 (44.16%)	-	35,268 (2.97%)	21,524 (1.81%)	-
	Rhode Island Primary[90] 38,327	23 (of 23)	6 Del. 9,907 (25.85%)	17 Del. 26,179 (68.30%)	310 (0.81%)	1,160 (3.03%)	-	771 (2.01%)
	South Dakota Primary[91] 68,763	19 (of 19)	9 Del. 31,251 (45.45%)	10 Del. 33,418 (48.60%)	-	-	-	4,094 (5.95%)
	West Virginia Primary[92] 317,934	32 (of 32)	24 Del. 197,687 (62.18%)	8 Del. 120,247 (37.82%)	-	-	-	-
June 7	Minnesota State Convention[93]	24 (of 75)	12 Del.	7 Del.	-	-	-	5 Del.
June 8	North Dakota State Convention[94]	14 (of 14)	7 Del.	5 Del.	-	-	-	2 Del.
June 14	Colorado State Convention[95]	13 (of 40)	6 Del.	4 Del.	-	-	-	3 Del.
	Colorado District Conventions[ai][aj][95]	21 (of 40)	11 Del.	8 Del.	-	-	-	2 Del.
	Iowa State Convention[96]	16 (of 50)	10 Del.	6 Del.	-	-	-	-
	Missouri State Convention[97]	24 (of 77)	17 Del.	-	-	-	-	7 Del.
	Washington State Convention[98]	58 (of 58)	36 Del.	21 Del.	-	-	-	1 Del.
June 21	Texas State Convention[99]	152 (of 152)	104 Del.	38 Del.	-	-	-	10 Del.
July 12	Utah State Convention[100] 3,760	20 (of 20)	10 Del.	4 Del.	-	-	-	6 Del.
3,315 delegates 19,649,458 votes			1,979.61 10,043,016 (51.11%)	1,229.83 7,381,693 (37.57%)	1 575,296 (2.93%)	0 177,784 (0.91%)	0 183,246 (0.93%)	96.56 1,288,423 (6.56%)

County Results:^[ak]

  Carter

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

  Kennedy

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

  Uncommitted

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

  Brown

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Others

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Tie

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  No Data

Endorsements

Jimmy Carter
U.S. Senators Senator John Glenn of Ohio[101] Senator Joe Biden of Delaware Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut[102] Federal officials Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young[102] Governors Governor Edward J. King of Massachusetts[103] Governor Brendan T. Byrne of New Jersey[102] State officials Treasurer Gertrude Donahey of Ohio[101] Secretary of State Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr., of Ohio[101] State Senate president Oliver Ocasek of Ohio[101] State Representative Mary O. Boyle of Ohio[101] Municipal officials Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco[102] Mayor Maynard Jackson of Atlanta[102] Mayor William Donald Schaefer of Baltimore[104] Individuals Glenn Watts, President of the Communications Workers of America[102] Singer Johnny Cash[105] Singer Tom T. Hall[105] Singer Willie Nelson[105] Musician Hank Snow[105]

Ted Kennedy
U.S. Senators Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Senate Majority Leader Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, former presidential candidate[106] Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio[101] Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson of Washington Ambassador at Large and United States Coordinator for Refugee Affairs and Former Senator Dick Clark of Iowa[107] Senator Harrison A. Williams of New Jersey[108] Former Senator William Hathaway of Maine[109] Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts[110] House of Representatives Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts[110] Representative Paul Simon of Illinois[111] Representative Chris Dodd of Connecticut[112] Representative Toby Moffett of Connecticut[112] Representative William R. Ratchford of Connecticut[112] Representative William R. Cotter of Connecticut[112] Representative Eugene Atkinson of Pennsylvania[113] Representative Barbara Mikulski of Maryland[104] Representative Louis Stokes of Ohio[101] Representative Mo Udall of Arizona[102] Representative Shirley Chisholm of New York[114] Representative Walter Fauntroy of the District of Columbia[115] Cabinet officials Stewart Udall, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (1961–1969)[116] Roswell Gilpatrick, 10th Deputy Secretary of Defense (1961–1964)[117] Governors Governor Joseph Brennan of Maine[102] Former Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon of Puerto Rico[118] Former Governor Patrick Lucey of Wisconsin[119] Former Governor Michael DiSalle of Ohio[101] Former Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts[120] Former Governor Thomas P. Salmon of Vermont[121] State officials Thomas P. O'Neill III, 65th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1975–1983)[122] Tom Miller, Attorney General of Iowa[123] James A. Guest, Secretary of State of Iowa[124] Joan Growe, Secretary of State of Minnesota[125] Bill Christiansen, Former Lieutenant Governor of Montana[126] Frank Murray, Secretary of State of Montana[127] State Representative Frank Giglio of Illinois[111] State Senator Julian Bond of Georgia[102] Municipal officials Mayor Jane Byrne of Chicago[111] City Treasurer Cecil A. Partee of Chicago[111] Alderman Edward Vrdolyak of Chicago's 10th Ward[111] Alderman Wilson Frost of Chicago's 34th Ward[111] Alderman Eugene Sawyer of Chicago's 6th Ward[111] Francis J. Caine, Former Mayor of Burlington, Vermont[121] Richard Fulton, Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee[128] Earle Grueskin, Former Mayor of Sioux City, Iowa[129] Mayor William J. Green III of Philadelphia[113] Carol Bellamy, President of the New York City Council[102] Former Mayor Jerry Springer of Cincinnati[101] Party officials Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chairman Tim Hagan[101] Labor unions AFL-CIO[130] United Automobile Workers[131] Brotherhood of Railway, Airline, Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees[132] International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers[133] International Union of Police Associations[134] New York State United Teachers[135] United Paperworkers' International Union[136] Organizations Americans for Democratic Action[137] Individuals Douglas A. Fraser, President of the United Auto Workers[102] Author Norman Mailer of New York[138] Actor Warren Beatty[139][105] Singer Andy Williams[105] Actress Goldie Hawn[105] Actor Jack Lemmon[105] Actress Eva Marie Saint[105] Actor Carroll O'Connor[140] J. B. Pritzker, high school student and member of the Pritzker family[141] Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 617 president Phil Hare[111]

Jerry Brown
Individuals Band Chicago[105] Band The Doobie Brothers[105] Band Eagles[105] Actress Jane Fonda[105] Singer Helen Reddy[105] Singer Linda Rondstadt[105] Singer JD Souther[105]

Convention

Main article: 1980 Democratic National Convention

Presidential tally^[142]

• Jimmy Carter (inc.) – 2,123 (64.04%)
• Ted Kennedy – 1,151 (34.72%)
• William Proxmire – 10 (0.30%)
• Koryne Kaneski Horbal – 5 (0.15%)
• Scott M. Matheson – 5 (0.15%)
• Ron Dellums – 3 (0.09%)
• Robert Byrd – 2 (0.06%)
• John Culver – 2 (0.06%)
• Kent Hance – 2 (0.06%)
• Jennings Randolph – 2 (0.06%)
• Warren Spannaus – 2 (0.06%)
• Alice Tripp – 2 (0.06%)
• Jerry Brown – 1 (0.03%)
• Dale Bumpers – 1 (0.03%)
• Hugh L. Carey – 1 (0.03%)
• Walter Mondale – 1 (0.03%)
• Edmund Muskie – 1 (0.03%)
• Thomas J. Steed – 1 (0.03%)

In the vice-presidential roll call, Mondale was re-nominated with 2,428.7 votes to 723.3 not voting and 179 scattering.

See also

• 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Jimmy Carter rabbit incident
• 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries

Notes

1. This is an estimate provided by the source.
2. This should not be taken as a finalized list of results. While a significant amount of research was done, there were a number of Delegates who were not bound by the instruction, or "Pledged" to a candidate, and to simplify the data these delegates were considered "Uncommitted". Some states also held primaries for the delegate positions, and these on occasion were where slates or candidates pledge to a certain candidate might be elected; however, as these elections allowed for a single person to vote for multiple candidates, as many as the number of positions being filled, it is difficult to determine how many people actually voted in these primaries. For this reason, while the results of some are in the table, they are not included in the popular vote summaries at the bottom of the table.
3. Three percent of the precincts had not yet reported their results in the source used.
4. 20 communities of 503 had not yet reported their results in the source used.
5. Only 98 of 100 precincts were tallied in the source, and only by percentages.
6. Only 57% of the seats were decided in the source.
7. Includes 1,378 votes (0.36%) for Cliff Finch, 513 votes (0.13%) for Lyndon LaRouche.
8. Only 82% of the precincts were called in the source. The number of delegates elected was also unclear.
9. Only 63% of the delegate selections were given in the source, and only by percentages.
10. Only 1,079 of 1,629 precincts were called in the source.
11. Only 90% of meetings were accounted for in the source.
12. Only 37 of 45 counties were called in the source.
13. Includes 629 votes (0.32%) for Cliff Finch.
14. Includes 1,842 votes (0.29%) for Cliff Finch.
15. Includes 11,153 votes (3.11%) for Cliff Finch.
16. 8 polling places out of 84 had not yet reported their results in the source used.
17. Includes 5 votes (0.03%) for Cliff Finch.
18. Only 37 of 45 counties were called in the source.
19. Only five of ten districts held conventions on this date.
20. Delegates were actually picked later at the State Convention on June 28th, but no source around that time specifies this.
21. Only three of eight districts held conventions on this date.
22. Only four of ten districts held conventions on this date.
23. Results only for 1,144 of the 1,535 Delegates were accounted for in the source.
24. Only five of eight districts held conventions on this date.
25. Only one of ten districts held conventions on this date.
26. With only 65% of precincts tallied, no vote beyond percentages.
27. Includes 1,663 votes (0.56%) for Cliff Finch.
28. Results only for 2,387 of the 3,900 Delegates were accounted for in the source.
29. All votes for Cliff Finch.
30. All votes for Cliff Finch.
31. Includes 2,517 votes (1.05%) for Cliff Finch.
32. Only one of five districts held conventions on this date.
33. All ten districts held conventions on this date.
34. All votes for Cliff Finch.
35. Only four of five districts held conventions on this date.
36. This is an assumption; no sources were found for the other District Conventions, but they occurred sometime before or during the State Convention.
37. Only partial county returns were available for Arizona and Washington. Additionally, states where no county data was available are shaded according to the statewide winners share of the vote or by the percentage of delegate allocation. Only township level data was available for Connecticut.