1976 Alabama Democratic presidential primary
May 4, 1976 (first round)
May 25, 1976 (runoff) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 Democratic National Convention delegates (27 pledged, 8 unpledged) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Allegiance of winning district delegates
George Wallace
Jimmy Carter
Uncommitted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Alabama |
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| Government |
A presidential primary was held in the U.S. state of Alabama on May 4, 1976, with runoff elections on May 25 to elect delegates representing Alabama to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. In order to choose the state's thirty-five delegates, the state was divided up into twenty-seven delegate districts based on state house lines. Delegate districts were made up by grouping together three to five state house districts, based on their voting strength for national Democratic presidential nominees in 1968 and 1972, with weaker districts containing more House districts. The remaining eight delegates were hand-picked by the state Executive Democratic Committee in proportion to the winner's share of the popular vote. Governor of Alabama George Wallace won a large majority of the state's delegates.
In the first round of the primary, nineteen were elected outright, seventeen pledged to Governor George Wallace and two uncommitted, both of whom were Black state legislators. In the runoff, Wallace picked up four more delegates, two more uncommitted delegates were nominated, and Governor of Georgia and eventual nominee Jimmy Carter won his only two district delegates. In response to the primary results, the Committee was set to choose six Wallace delegates, one uncommitted delegate, and one Carter delegate at a convention. Wowever, Wallace withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Carter before the Committee could convene.