Why did Carter do so well in Kansas?

[Kodak]

In 1976, Ford only won Kansas with 52% of the vote, and it trended 5 points towards the Democrats. Except for Johnson, Carter's 44% of the vote is the most any Democrat has received since Roosevelt. Considering Ford's running mate was Kansas senator Bob Dole, how did Carter do so well?

[SoLongAtlas]

He was a southern Democrat, Kansans could relate to that and Ford pardoned Nixon so he lost a ton of potential votes due to just that, among other issues.

[MIKESOWELL]

Carter was a peanut farmer. If he was the GOP candidate that year, he might have neared 2/3rds of the popular vote there.

[RINO Tom]

He was a southern Democrat, Kansans could relate to that and Ford pardoned Nixon so he lost a ton of potential votes due to just that, among other issues.

John Davis (D-WV) lost Kansas by 37.94% in 1920.  Truma (D-MO) lost it by 9.02% in 1948 with more than two major candidates.  LBJ (D-TX) did win KS by 9.03% in 1964, but it was his 4th closest victory, and I'm sure Forum liberals would be quick to agree that voting Democratic in 1964 wasn't exactly indicative of fondness for Southern Democrats.  Wallace did get 10.09% there in 1968, but Nixon still won a clear majority, and Wallace got nearly that much in Michigan and New Jersey.  That brings us to Carter (D-GA) who got it under 8% and did much better than any Southern Democrat before him.

I wouldn't say there is much evidence that Kansas voters had an attachment to Southern Democrats or that being a Southern Democrat helped you in Kansas, so I'm guessing it was something else.

[SoLongAtlas]

He was a southern Democrat, Kansans could relate to that and Ford pardoned Nixon so he lost a ton of potential votes due to just that, among other issues.

John Davis (D-WV) lost Kansas by 37.94% in 1920.  Truma (D-MO) lost it by 9.02% in 1948 with more than two major candidates.  LBJ (D-TX) did win KS by 9.03% in 1964, but it was his 4th closest victory, and I'm sure Forum liberals would be quick to agree that voting Democratic in 1964 wasn't exactly indicative of fondness for Southern Democrats.  Wallace did get 10.09% there in 1968, but Nixon still won a clear majority, and Wallace got nearly that much in Michigan and New Jersey.  That brings us to Carter (D-GA) who got it under 8% and did much better than any Southern Democrat before him.

I wouldn't say there is much evidence that Kansas voters had an attachment to Southern Democrats or that being a Southern Democrat helped you in Kansas, so I'm guessing it was something else.

The "real person" factor or that Ford pardoned Nixon, perhaps?

[SingingAnalyst]

He was a southern Democrat, Kansans could relate to that and Ford pardoned Nixon so he lost a ton of potential votes due to just that, among other issues.

John Davis (D-WV) lost Kansas by 37.94% in 1920.  Truma (D-MO) lost it by 9.02% in 1948 with more than two major candidates.  LBJ (D-TX) did win KS by 9.03% in 1964, but it was his 4th closest victory, and I'm sure Forum liberals would be quick to agree that voting Democratic in 1964 wasn't exactly indicative of fondness for Southern Democrats.  Wallace did get 10.09% there in 1968, but Nixon still won a clear majority, and Wallace got nearly that much in Michigan and New Jersey.  That brings us to Carter (D-GA) who got it under 8% and did much better than any Southern Democrat before him.

I wouldn't say there is much evidence that Kansas voters had an attachment to Southern Democrats or that being a Southern Democrat helped you in Kansas, so I'm guessing it was something else.

Perhaps that Carter was a farmer, not necessarily a Southern one? Most states where Ford did worse in '76 than Nixon in '68 were in the midwest farm belt: IA, KS, NE, ND, SD.

[mieastwick]

Judging from the fact that all the other states that trended toward Carter were in the South, and Oklahoma trended toward Carter more than Kansas, I am inclined to say Carter did well in Kansas due to whatever cultural southerners that may reside in that state.

[TDAS04]

He did better in the Dakotas.  Carter was a good fit for rural voters in general.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

He did better in the Dakotas.  Carter was a good fit for rural voters in general.

Carter was a self described 'rural hick farmer' from Plains, Georgia. That appeal would spread far beyond just the South.

[Chinggis]

In 1976, Ford only won Kansas with 52% of the vote, and it trended 5 points towards the Democrats. Except for Johnson, Carter's 44% of the vote is the most any Democrat has received since Roosevelt. Considering Ford's running mate was Kansas senator Bob Dole, how did Carter do so well?

It could be read as a stunning rebuke of Bob Dole from the folks who knew him best, and that seems to have been the dominant narrative at the time if the 1978 edition of The Almanac of American Politics can be believed. That doesn't quite add up, though. For one thing, Ford-Dole won 69 percent in Dole's home of Russell County (where President Ford flew in for a huge summer rally), their best showing in the state. That's not exactly a hometown backlash.

More significantly perhaps, Bob Dole had survived the toughest reelection fight of his career in 1974, running against a well-liked Topeka physician named Bill Roy. He only got 51 percent of the vote that year. Why is this significant? Jimmy Carter carried seventeen counties that Roy lost, although he ran worse statewide. Carter carried the cow towns of Dodge City and Garden City, along with the southern-accented city of Atchison on the Missouri line and fourteen rural counties, all of which Dole had carried two years prior.

This implies that Carter had some unique personal appeal throughout much of rural and small-city Kansas. In other words, they voted for Carter even though they liked Bob Dole. (On the flip side, Carter lost cities like Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, and Leavenworth- all of which Roy had carried two years prior. Carter's was definitely a rural appeal)

[VPH]

In 1976, Ford only won Kansas with 52% of the vote, and it trended 5 points towards the Democrats. Except for Johnson, Carter's 44% of the vote is the most any Democrat has received since Roosevelt. Considering Ford's running mate was Kansas senator Bob Dole, how did Carter do so well?

It could be read as a stunning rebuke of Bob Dole from the folks who knew him best, and that seems to have been the dominant narrative at the time if the 1978 edition of The Almanac of American Politics can be believed. That doesn't quite add up, though. For one thing, Ford-Dole won 69 percent in Dole's home of Russell County (where President Ford flew in for a huge summer rally), their best showing in the state. That's not exactly a hometown backlash.

More significantly perhaps, Bob Dole had survived the toughest reelection fight of his career in 1974, running against a well-liked Topeka physician named Bill Roy. He only got 51 percent of the vote that year. Why is this significant? Jimmy Carter carried seventeen counties that Roy lost, although he ran worse statewide. Carter carried the cow towns of Dodge City and Garden City, along with the southern-accented city of Atchison on the Missouri line and fourteen rural counties, all of which Dole had carried two years prior.

This implies that Carter had some unique personal appeal throughout much of rural and small-city Kansas. In other words, they voted for Carter even though they liked Bob Dole. (On the flip side, Carter lost cities like Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, and Leavenworth- all of which Roy had carried two years prior. Carter's was definitely a rural appeal)

Parts of Western Kansas showed Democratic flashes at times. I cannot seem to explain why, though. It makes sense in Eastern KS areas Atchison, which as you note is Southern in history (and also quite Catholic in some parts). Other Catholic places like Marshall County and Ellis County were Democratic hubs. Same goes for older mining counties where labor remained strong in SE Kansas. Also, SE Kansas has some Southern roots too.