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| United States Presidential Election, 1980 | ||||
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| November 4, 1980 | ||||
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| Nominee | Walter Mondale | Bob Dole | ||
| Party | Democratic | Republican | ||
| Home state | Minnesota | Kansas | ||
| Running mate | Walter Huddleston | Robert Stafford | ||
| Electoral vote | 270 | 268 | ||
| States carried | 20+DC | 30 | ||
| Popular vote | 40,630,834 | 40,709,745 | ||
| Percentage | 49.3% | 49.4% | ||
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| Presidential results map. Blue denotes states won by Mondale/Huddleston, Red denotes states won by Dole/Stafford. | ||||
The 1980 United States Presidential Election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election. Held on Tuesday, November 4, 1980, it was contested primarily between incumbent Republican Vice President Bob Dole and his Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, the 1976 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate.
Mondale, after defeating Edward Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, ran an attacking campaign against Dole, (who easily won the Republican nomination after President Ford declined to run) for his party's inability to deal with spiralling economy, alongside the costly effects of the Iran Hostage Crisis. However, President Ford, alongside Dole, was still popular among most Americans, and they capitalized on it.
When the results came in on November 4, many called for a recount after it seemed Mondale had won; the only votes tipping him across the line were those in D.C. Given until December 20, the recounts were issued trying to finalise the results, and when the deadline was reached, Mondale had won the electoral college vote, but not the popular vote, thus becoming the third President to do so.