in the 1980 united states presidential election, the catholic vote was split between the republican nominee, ronald reagan, and the democratic nominee, jimmy carter. this was the first time since the 1960 election that a catholic had been on the presidential ballot. reagan won the catholic vote by a margin of 49%-46%, despite the fact that the catholic church had initially endorsed carter. this was largely due to reagan's support for religious freedom and his opposition to abortion.