“By this date in 1980, Reagan had a majority vote in only two states,”
By this date in 1980, Reagan had a majority vote in 3 out of the 6 states who had held primaries at the time. By the 11th, he had swept the 3 states up for grabs AL-70%, FL-56%, GA-73%. And only lost 4 more states from then on. More than half of those remaining he won by 70% or higher.
After the March 8 South Carolina primary, Reagan had won New Hampshire with 50% and SC with 55%. Do I misread conventional history?
There were only 8 GOP candidates vying for votes in the 1980 primaries.
There were 12 GOP candidates in Iowa, 2016: