In the Presidential election , Republican Representative James Garfield from Ohio defeated Democratic General Winfield Hancock . Though Garfield won a clear majority of electoral votes , he won the popular vote by the smallest margin in history . Incumbent one-term Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes declined to seek re-election . Garfield emerged as the dark horse Republican nominee following the 1880 Republican National Convention , prevailing on the 36th ballot over former President Ulysses S. Grant , Maine Senator James G. Blaine , and Ohio Senator John Sherman . Hancock took the nomination at the 1880 Democratic National Convention on the second ballot , defeating Delaware Senator Thomas F. Bayard and several other candidates . Garfield was the first sitting member of Congress to be elected president , and remains the only sitting member of the House to win a presidential election
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 United States elections