Coverage of the presidential election is increasing as the first electoral events draw near. The Iowa Caucus is on February 1, 2016, the New Hampshire Primary is on February 9, 2016, and the Massachusetts Primary is on Super Tuesday, March 1, 2016. With that in mind, I decided to review the presidential elections which have occurred since I was old enough to vote. Here they are, showing the general election candidates with the number of electoral votes each received (270 are needed to win) followed by the main candidates in each party’s presidential primaries:

1980: Ronald Reagan (489) defeated Jimmy Carter (49) and John Anderson (0).
Democratic candidates: Carter, Ted Kennedy, and Gerry Brown
Republican candidates: Reagan, George Bush, John Anderson, Howard Baker, Phil Crane, John Connally, Bob Dole, and Lowell Weicker.

1984: Ronald Reagan (525) defeated Walter Mondale (13)
Democratic candidates: Mondale, Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson, John Glenn, George McGovern, Alan Cranston, Ernest Hollings, Reubin Askew.
Republican candidates: Reagan

1988: George Bush (426) defeated Michael Dukakis (111).
Democratic candidates: Dukakis, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, Paul Simon, Gary Hart, Bruce Babbitt, and Joe Biden.
Republican candidates: Bush, Bob Dole, Pat Robertson, Jack Kemp, Pierre du Pont, Alexander Haig, Paul Laxalt, and Donald Rumsfeld.

1992: Bill Clinton (370) defeated George Bush (168) and Ross Perot (0).
Democratic candidates: Clinton, Gerry Brown, Paul Tsongas, Bob Kerrey, and Tom Harkin.
Republican candidates: Bush and Pat Buchanan

1996: Bill Clinton (379) defeated Bob Dole (159) and Ross Perot (0).
Democratic candidates: Clinton
Republican candidates: Dole, Pat Buchanan, Steve Forbes, Lamar Alexander, Alan Keyes, Richard Lugar, Phil Gramm, Bob Dornan, Arlen Specter, and Pete Wilson.

2000: George W. Bush (271) defeated Al Gore (266).
Democratic candidates: Gore and Bill Bradley.
Republican candidates: Bush, John McCain, Alan Keyes, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Orrin Hatch, Pat Buchanan, Elizabeth Dole, Bob Smith, Dan Quayle, Lamar Alexander, and John Kasich.

2004: George W. Bush (286) defeated John Kerry (252).
Democratic candidates: Kerry, John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt, Carol Moseley Braun, and Bob Graham.

2008: Barack Obama (365) defeated John McCain (173).
Democratic candidates: Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel, Christopher Dodd, Evan Bayh, and Tom Vilsack.
Republican candidates: McCain, Mitt Romney, Mick Huckabee, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Alan Keyes, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, and Tommy Thompson.

2012: Barack Obama (332) defeated Mitt Romney (206).
Democratic candidates: Obama
Republican candidates: Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Buddy Roemer, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Gary Johnson, Herman Cain, and Tim Pawlenty.

2016: election on Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Democratic candidates: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley
Republican candidates: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Donald Trump.