1980 United States presidential election in Alabama

The United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 4, 1980. Former California Governor Ronald Reagan narrowly won the state and its 9 electoral votes, winning 48.8% to incumbent President Jimmy Carter's 47.5%. John B. Anderson came in third place, winning 1.23%, although Alabama was Anderson's weakest state in the entire country. Two other candidates, Conservative Party nominee John Rarick and Libertarian Party candidate Ed Clark, each received close to one percent of the vote.

The key to Reagan’s narrow victory statewide, was his landslide victory in the ‘Over the Mountain’ suburbs of Birmingham. For example, The Locksley Fire Station precinct in Mountain Brook, voted for Reagan by landslide margin of 3,662 to 527 for Carter, this precinct alone nearly accounted for 20 percent of Reagan’s statewide margin. Reagan’s support from these areas contributed to Reagan winning Jefferson County (the state’s largest county), by a larger raw vote margin than he won the state by, in spite of easily losing to Carter in precincts the core of Birmingham.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Limestone County, Morgan County, Marshall County, Talladega County, Cullman County, Tallapoosa County, Bibb County, Randolph County, Henry County, Lamar County, and Clay County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the most recent election where Alabama was more Democratic than the nation at-large and where Alabama voted left of several modern-day blue and purple states like California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Among white voters, 59% supported Reagan while 36% supported Carter.