Electoral history of Gerald Ford

Electoral history of Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States (1974–1977), 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974); United States Representative from Michigan (1949–1973).

Congressional races (1948–1972)

1948

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1948 Republican Primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford	23,632	62.23%
	Republican	Bartel J. Jonkman	14,341	37.77%

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1948^[2]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford	74,191	60.51%
Democratic	Fred J. Barr, Jr.	46,972	38.31%
Prohibition	William H. Barlette	853	0.70%
Progressive	Theodore Theodore	504	0.41%
Socialist	Eugene Ten Brink, Jr.	93	0.08%

1950

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1950^[3]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	72,829	66.74%
Democratic	James H. McLaughlin	35,927	32.92%
Prohibition	Ella Fruin	376	0.35%

1952

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1952^[4]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	109,807	66.26%
Democratic	Vincent E. O’Neill	55,147	33.28%
Prohibition	Ella Fruin	617	0.37%
Progressive	William Glenn	146	0.09%

1954

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1954^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	81,702	63.26 %
	Democratic	Robert S. McAllister	47,453	36.74%

1956

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	120,349	67.14%
	Democratic	George E. Clay	58,899	32.86%

1958

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1958
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	88,156	63.64%
Democratic	Richard Vander Veen	50,203	36.24%
Prohibition	Bernard Elve	156	0.11%

1960

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1960
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	131,461	66.84%
Democratic	William G. Reamon	65,064	33.08%
Prohibition	LeRoy A. Robert	115	0.06%
Socialist Labor	Donald Teets	54	0.03%

1962

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1962
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	110,043	67.04%
	Democratic	William G. Reamon	54,112	32.96%

1964

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1964
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	101,810	61.22%
	Democratic	William G. Reamon	64,488	38.78%

1966

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	87,914	68.39%
	Democratic	James M. Catchick	40,629	31.61%

1968

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1968
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	105,085	62.75%
Democratic	Lawrence E. Howard	62,219	37.16%
Socialist Labor	Frank Girard	156	0.09%

1970

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1970
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)	88,208	61.36%
Democratic	Jean McKee	55,337	38.50%
Socialist Labor	Frank Girard	120	0.08%
Socialist Workers	Walter M. Kus	87	0.06%

1972

Michigan’s 5th Congressional District, 1972
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Gerald Ford (inc.)		%
Democratic	Jean McKee		%
American Independent	Dwight W. Johnson	2,045	%
Socialist Labor	Frank Girard		%
Communist			%

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Gerald Ford (R) (inc.) – 88,208 (61.36%)
Jean McKee (D) – 55,337 (38.50%)
Frank Girard (Socialist Labor) – 120 (0.08%)
Walter M. Kus (Socialist Workers) – 87 (0.06%)

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Gerald Ford (R) (inc.) – 118,027 (61.08%)
Jean McKee (D) – 72,782 (37.67%)
Dwight W. Johnson (American Independent) – 2,045 (1.06%)
Frank Girard (Socialist Labor) – 235 (0.12%)
Alan Lee Maki (Communist) – 140 (0.07%)

Vice presidential nomination, 1973

Vice President of the United States (confirmation in the Congress):^[15]

House vote:

Yea – 387
Nay – 35

Senate vote:

Yea – 92
Nay – 3
Not voting – 5

Presidential races (1976–1980)

1976 Republican presidential primaries

Popular vote:^[16]
- Gerald Ford (inc.) – 5,529,899 (53.29%)
- Ronald Reagan – 4,760,222 (45.88%)
- Unpledged – 34,717 (0.34%)

States carried:^[17]
- Ford – 27
- Reagan – 23

1976 Republican National Convention (Presidential tally):^[18]

Gerald Ford (inc.) – 1,187 (52.57%)
Ronald Reagan – 1,070 (47.39%)
Elliot Richardson – 1 (0.04%)

United States presidential election, 1976

Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale (D) – 40,831,881 (50.1%) and 297 electoral votes (23 states and D.C. carried)
Gerald Ford/Bob Dole (R) – 39,148,634 (48.0%) and 240 electoral votes (27 states carried)
Ronald Reagan/Bob Dole (R) – 1 electoral vote (faithless elector)
Eugene McCarthy (Independent) – 740,460 (0.9%)
Roger MacBride/David Bergland (Libertarian) – 172,553 (0.2%)
Lester Maddox/William Dyke (American Independent) – 170,274 (0.2%)
Thomas J. Anderson/Rufus Shackelford (American) – 158,271 (0.2%)
Peter Camejo/Willie Mae Reid (Socialist Workers) – 90,986 (0.1%)

1980 Republican presidential primaries:^[19]

- Ronald Reagan – 7,709,793 (59.79%)
- George H. W. Bush – 3,070,033 (23.81%)
- John B. Anderson – 1,572,174 (12.19%)
- Howard Baker – 181,153 (1.41%)
- Phil Crane – 97,793 (0.76%)
- John B. Connally – 82,625 (0.64%)
- Unpledged – 68,155 (0.53%)
- Ben Fernandez – 68,155 (0.53%)
- Harold Stassen – 25,425 (0.20%)
- Gerald Ford – 10,557 (0.08%)
- Bob Dole – 7,204 (0.06%)

References

[1] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 R Primary Race – Sep 14, 1948

[2] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 2, 1948

[3] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 7, 1950

[4] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 4, 1952

[5] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 2, 1954

[6] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 6, 1956

[7] Our Campaigns – MI District 05 Race – Nov 4, 1958

[8] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 8, 1960

[9] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 6, 1962

[10] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 3, 1964

[11] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 8, 1966

[12] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 5, 1968

[13] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 3, 1970

[14] Our Campaigns – MI District 5 Race – Nov 7, 1972

[15] Our Campaigns – US Vice President Appointment Race – Nov 27, 1973

[16] Our Campaigns – US President – R Primaries Race – Feb 1, 1976

[17] Elections

[18] Our Campaigns – US President – R Convention Race – Aug 16, 1976

[19] Our Campaigns – US President – R Primaries Race – Feb 17, 1980

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v t e Gerald Ford
38th President of the United States (1974–1977) 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974) U.S. Representative for MI–5 (1949–1973)
Presidency (timeline)	Inauguration Timeline Foreign policy Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Safe Drinking Water Act Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 Equal Credit Opportunity Act Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Education for All Handicapped Children Act Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control Helsinki Accords National Security Study Memorandum 200 Nixon pardon Whip inflation now Cannabis policy Wilson desk Assassination attempts Sacramento San Francisco State of the Union Addresses 1975 1976 1977 Judicial appointments Supreme Court candidates controversies Executive Orders Presidential Proclamations
Life	Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens President Gerald R. Ford Jr. Boyhood Home Gerald R. Ford Jr. House Warren Commission Confirmation as Vice President AEI World Forum Death and state funeral Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Elections	United States House of Representatives elections 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1976 presidential election Carter transition Republican Party presidential primaries 1976 1980 1976 Republican National Convention 1976 1980
Cultural depictions	The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978) Dynasty (1981) The Betty Ford Story (1987) Assassins (1990) "Two Bad Neighbors" (1996) Saturday Night Live parodies The X-Presidents (1997) Presidential Reunion (2010) The Political Machine (2004) The Butler (2013) The First Lady (2022)
Legacy	Gerald R. Ford International Airport Gerald R. Ford Award Ford School of Public Policy Ford House Office Building USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Gerald R. Ford Freeway U.S. Postage stamps Statue
Family	Charles Henry King (grandfather) Leslie Lynch King Sr. (father) Dorothy Gardner Ford (mother) Gerald Rudolff Ford (stepfather) Thomas Gardner Ford (half-brother) Betty Ford (wife) Michael Gerald Ford (son) John Gardner Ford (son) Steven Meigs Ford (son) Susan Ford Bales (daughter) Liberty (family dog)
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