Election Night 1976 Part 3

Here is the next part of the coverage

[@hfelgob]

13:15 A Senate candidate was controversial because he was a millionaire. Nowadays, you can't get elected to the Senate unless you're a millionaire!

[@hoss73ford]

For sure. Campaign costs alone are several times that.

[@ryanschroer]

Walters is uncomfortable here..out of her element..funny to see her so rattled on that night..not the in-control interviewer she'd become later. Reasoner and Smith don't want her there and it has nothing to do with sexual differences, it's synergy.

[@cr3861]

Probably the only "millionaire" on the ABC anchor desk had to be Walters, and she certainly has the interviews and scoops to prove it.

[@jamalmccoy6074]

Barbara Walters was an attractive young woman back in 76...

[@electioncoverages8249]

SENATE, PRESIDENT, HOUSE, AND GOVERNOR PROJECTIONS
President:
6:09 Florida (Carter win)
10:41 Tennessee (Carter win)
19:09 New Jersey (Ford win)
Senate:
14:14 Massachusetts (Democratic hold)
14:34 New Jersey (Democratic hold)
Governor:
6:54 Illinois (Republican gain)
7:33 North Carolina (Democratic gain)

[@Zoomer30]

Those color graphics were probably a big deal in 76

[@2201Duluth]

such tension between Reasoner and Walters. He could not stand her

[@tommyers]

The possibility of gambling in Atlantic City and the return of bottles and cans for the purpose of being reused. The issues are different in 2012, yet the level of discussion and fascination for the talking heads is the same.

[@hoss73ford]

Yep, that was the 70's.

[@steelersguy74]

West Virginia and Illinois governor races? Were the election cycles different in the past?

[@hrtvfan2870]

steelersguy74 West Virginia's gubernatorial elections still coincide with the Presidential race; but a state constitutional amendment in Illinois changed the gubernatorial election schedule from the presidential to the midterm year (which is why the winner, Republican candidate "Big Jim" Thompson, had just two years in his first term).

[@efan2011]

@cr3861 She was paid 2 Million to switch over I think, she did it mostly for the same reasons Katie Couric did 30 years later, she was tired of getting up early and wanted to see her son more than she did.
I did not know that about Mrs. Compton that's cool! And I find that hilarious, those people must have had a childhood grudge against him from childhood or something.

[@wendyscott9521]

@efan2011 was there no reply button in 2012?

[@cr3861]

Today just happens to be Ann Compton's birthday, she is 65..

[@josephmackela8466]

She looks like 50 (in today's standards) or 40s.

[@campos0815]

Besides of all machismo on the side of the male anchors - but Walters shrill voice is hardly to bear.

[@cr3861]

@efan2011 Check out Ann Compton's Wikipedia page, she's quite the trailblazer.

[@88mphsss]

I'm really curious how Ford won New Jersey. I don't get how Carter didn't win either NJ or Connecticut when he was able to win New York. Was New Jersey lost in the rural vote or were there enough Republican counties there at the time?

[@josephvu9913]

New York was a Democratic State for a long time. It only went for the Republicans in 1972, 1984, 1952, and 1956. Those elections were landslides. Ford was considered a moderate republican. New Jersey back then was a moderate GOP state. Same thing with Connecticut. Jimmy Carter was from the south.

[@88mphsss]

Joseph Vu I guess I just find it interesting that there weren't enough votes in Newark, perhaps Trenton and Atlantic City, or outside Philadelphia in order to deliver it to Carter. I'm making the assumption that NJ must have had demographics similar to Orange County, California. I just find that win fascinating. Connecticut not so much since several New England states were known to be Republican back then, but New Jersey all by itself; it just makes the map look very funny to me!
I am slightly curious how he was able to win Illinois too. Did Chicago just not trust Carter quite enough, or was the state pretty much delivered by southern Illinois?

[@josephvu9913]

Kevin P The suburbs in New Jersey back then usually went for the Republicans. So even with Carter preforming well in the cities , Ford's strength in suburban areas gave New Jersey to Ford. In the case of Illinois, Carter won Chicago pretty narrowly for a democrat. Combined with Ford's strength in once again the suburbans areas, Carter therefore lost Illinois.

[@88mphsss]

Joseph Vu Wish I knew and understood more of this stuff! I'm still trying to figure out how Adlai Stevenson won my home state of Missouri in 1956. It's the only one Eisenhower lost from 1952. He actually gained West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana, gained 2% in the popular vote, received over a million more votes than in 1952, and got a larger number of electoral college votes. I've always theorized it was because he'd offended the Trumans on Inauguration Day by not going in the White House for tea, and that maybe it pissed off just enough Missourians that it somehow flipped the state.

[@josephvu9913]

Kevin P Go to Election Atlas. It has a forum where you could learn more.

[@josephmackela8466]

I could call these States more accurately then them.

[@cr3861]

Those 99 who voted for Ford, probably never volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, or never filled up at Billy's gas station.

[@hoss73ford]

or bought Billy Beer, LOL.