Former President Jimmy Carter, who turns 100 today, compiled a 1-for-2 record with the Arlington electorate.
The former Georgia governor in his successful 1976 bid for the White House defeated Republican Gerald Ford in the county tally, 32,536 to 30,872, according to data from the county government’s elections office.
Four other candidates were on the ballot, but managed less than 1,000 votes in Arlington between them. And despite Arlington’s vote supporting Carter, Virginia’s electoral votes went to Ford that year.
In 1980, Carter lost the Arlington vote to Ronald Reagan, who compiled 28,912 votes to the incumbent’s 25,003. John Anderson tallied 7,315, with two other candidates on the ballot but making little impact. Reagan also easily won the Virginia vote.
That 1980 election was important to Arlington for a number of reasons:
- It marked the last time a Republican won the county’s vote for president. Even in Reagan’s 49-state landslide of 1984, he was defeated in Arlington by Democrat Walter Mondale. In more recent times, Republican presidential candidates have been likely to garner 30 percent of the Arlington vote; Donald Trump received less than 20 percent in 2016 and 2020.
- Reagan’s victory in 1980 helped give Republican Frank Wolf a victory over incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Joseph Fisher (D-10th).
Fisher, who had served on the Arlington County Board before election to Congress in 1974, easily won the Arlington vote but was demolished by Wolf in Fairfax and other outer areas of the district.
Wolf would remain in Congress for three decades, although the 10th District after 1990 no longer included Arlington, which was moved into the 8th District.
In neighboring Fairfax County, Carter lost both times he was on the ballot, falling to Ford (110,424 to 92,037) in 1976 and to Reagan (137,620 to 73,734) in 1980.
