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Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976

Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1976
United States
← 1972 January 27 to June 8, 1976 1980 →
  Jimmy Carter.jpg Morris Udall.jpg JerryBrown.png
Nominee Jimmy Carter Mo Udall Jerry Brown
Home state Georgia Arizona California
Delegate count 2,239 330 301
Contests won 30 3 3
Popular vote 6,971,770 1,611,754 2,449,374
Percentage 40.2% 9.2% 14.0%

  George C Wallace.jpg FrankChurch.jpg HenryJackson.jpg
Nominee George Wallace Frank Church Henry M. Jackson
Home state Alabama Idaho Washington
Delegate count 57 19 10
Contests won 3 5 4
Popular vote 2,236,186 830,818 1,134,375
Percentage 12.8% 4.8% 6.3%

Democratic Party presidential primaries results, 1976.svg

Previous Democratic nominee

George McGovern

Democratic nominee

Jimmy Carter


George McGovern

Jimmy Carter

The 1976 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1976 U.S. presidential election. Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1976 Democratic National Convention held from July 12 to July 15, 1976, in New York City.

The Watergate scandal, resignation of Richard Nixon, American withdrawal from Vietnam, and recession of 1974-75 dominated domestic issues in the runup to the presidential election of 76. President Gerald Ford had squandered his early popularity with an unconditional pardon of Nixon and his perceived mishandling of the recession, and by late 1975 had slumped badly in national polls.

Due to the absence of any clear front-runner for the nomination and a political climate that seemed tilted heavily in their party's favor, a record number of Democrats competed for their party's presidential nomination in 1976. However, most of these candidates would drop out early in the race.

The 1976 campaign featured a record number of state primaries and caucuses, and it was the first presidential campaign in which the primary system was dominant. However, most of the Democratic candidates failed to realize the significance of the increased number of primaries, or the importance of creating momentum by winning the early contests. The one candidate who did see the opportunities in the new nominating system was Jimmy Carter, a former state senator and Governor of Georgia. Carter, who was virtually unknown at the national level, would never have gotten the Democratic nomination under the old, boss-dominated nominating system, but given the public disgust with political corruption following Richard Nixon's resignation, Carter realized that his obscurity and "fresh face" could be an asset in the primaries. Carter's plan was to run in all of the primaries and caucuses, beginning with the Iowa caucus, and build up momentum by winning "somewhere" each time primary elections were held. Carter startled many political experts by finishing second in the Iowa caucuses (where he came in second to "uncommitted"). Arizona Congressman Morris Udall, who had been leading in the polls at one point, came in fifth behind Fred R. Harris, leading Harris to coin the term "winnowed in", referring to his surprisingly strong showing. Carter then won the New Hampshire primary on February 24, thus proving that a Southerner could win in the North. He then proceeded to slowly but steadily accumulate delegates in primaries around the nation. He also knocked his key rivals out of the race one by one. He defeated George Wallace in the North Carolina primary March 23, thus eliminating his main rival in the South. He defeated Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson in Pennsylvania April 27, and Jackson quit the race. In the Wisconsin primary on April 6, Carter scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over Mo Udall, and eliminated Udall as a serious contender.


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