Incorrect. Ford lead Reagan and the convention did not go contested because Ford picked up the delegates he needed. Keep trying.
By the way, it was good that Ford took the fall in ‘76. The country was still trying to get over Nixon and Vietnam. The GOP was not in good standing.
Yea, it was good that Ford lost so we could get Jimmy Carter!
Nominee
Gerald Ford Ronald Reagan
Home state
Michigan California
Delegate count
1,121[1] 1,078[1]
States carried
26 24
Popular vote
5,529,899 4,760,222
Percentage
53.3% 45.9%
Republican presidential primary results, 1976.svg
Blue indicates a win by Ford, red a win by Reagan.
President before election
Gerald Ford
Republican presidential candidate-elect
Gerald Ford
The 1976 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1976 U.S. presidential election. Incumbent President Gerald Ford was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1976 Republican National Convention held from August 16 to August 19, 1976 in Kansas City, Missouri. 1976 was the first time that Republican primaries or caucuses were held in every state; the Democrats had previously done so in 1972.
Contents [hide]
1 Primary race
2 Candidates 2.1 Declined
3 Results 3.1 Statewide
3.2 Nationwide
3.3 Vice-presidential nomination
4 See also
5 References
Primary race[edit]
Ford, the incumbent President, faced a very strong primary challenge from Ronald Reagan. The former California Governor was popular among the GOP’s conservative wing. The race for the nomination was the last one by the Republicans not to have been decided by the start of the party convention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_1976
So, since 1976 we have never again had a contested convention because the guys mathematically eliminated have dropped out, not plotted convention fights.