1984 United States Senate elections, Maine
Incumbent Republican William Cohen won re-election to a second term over Democrat Libby Mitchell, State Representative.


1984 United States Senate elections, Massachusetts
The election was won by Democrat John Kerry, the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts who remained Senator until 2013 when he resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State. One-term incumbent Paul Tsongas declined to seek re-election and retired from the Senate following a battle with cancer.


1984 United States Senate elections, Michigan
Incumbent Democrat Carl Levin won re-election to a second term.


1984 United States Senate elections, Minnesota
Incumbent Republican Rudy Boschwitz defeated Democratic challenger Joan Growe, Minnesota Secretary of State.


1984 United States Senate elections, Mississippi
Incumbent Republican Thad Cochran won re-election to a second term over former Democratic Governor William Winter.


1984 United States Senate elections, Montana
Incumbent Max Baucus ran for re-election. He easily won renomination in the Democratic primary, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Chuck Cozzens, a former State Representative and the Republican nominee. Despite President Ronald Reagan's strong performance in the state that year, Baucus was able to easily win a second term over Cozzens.


1984 United States Senate elections, Nebraska
Incumbent Democrat J. James Exon won re-election to a second term over Republican businesswoman Nancy Hoch.


1984 United States Senate elections, New Hampshire
Incumbent Republican Gordon J. Humphrey won re-election to a second term over Democratic U.S. Representative Norman D'Amours.


1984 United States Senate elections, New Jersey
Incumbent Democrat Bill Bradley ran for re-election to a second term, defeating Republican Mayor of Montclair Mary V. Mochary.


1984 United States Senate elections, New Mexico
Incumbent Republican Pete Domenici ran for re-election to a third term, defeating Democrat Judith Pratt.


1984 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
The election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and Democratic Governor Jim Hunt. Helms won the election, the most expensive non-presidential election in United States history up to that point, by a margin significantly reduced from that that Helms achieved in 1978.


1984 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
Hunt had a commanding lead in opinion polls for much of the campaign, with one poll in 1983 putting him nineteen points clear of Helms. However, that was changed by the most bitterly contested election in the country that year. Hunt ran a campaign ad connecting Helms to death squads in El Salvador through his association with the Nationalist Republican Alliance, for whom Roberto d'Aubuisson had recently run for the President of El Salvador. In the short time before election day, however, the highly popular incumbent US President Ronald Reagan gave Helms a significant boost by campaigning for him and running a local TV ad praising Helms and asking registered voters in North Carolina to re-elect him.


1984 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
The election cost a total of $26,379,483 in total reported spending (over twelve times as much as the 1980 race), of which, 64% ($16.9m) was spent by Helms.


1984 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
Voters Education Project (VEP) in Atlanta study showed that Helms received 63 percent of the white vote and was particularly successful in small towns and rural areas, while receiving less than 1 percent of the black vote in 35 almost-all-black precincts. "Hunt got 37 percent of the white and 98.8 percent of the black vote, according to VEP. But only 61 percent of registered blacks voted, down from 63 percent in 1980." While, It had among the lowest industrial wages in the United States and was third in terms of mobile homes.


1984 United States Senate elections, Oklahoma
Incumbent Democrat David Boren won re-election to a second term.


1984 United States Senate elections, Oregon
Incumbent Republican Mark Hatfield sought re-election, defeating Democrat State Senator Margie Hendricksen.


1984 United States Senate elections, Rhode Island
Incumbent Democrat Claiborne Pell sought re-election, defeating Republican Barbara M. Leonard.


1984 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
Popular incumbent Republican Strom Thurmond cruised to re-election against Democratic challenger Melvin Purvis. Melvin Purvis, a white minister and the son of famous FBI agent Melvin Purvis, won a close race against black photographer Cecil J. Williams. The closeness of the race and the fact that the black candidate did not win propelled Jesse Jackson to request a Justice Department investigation into the primary and he also considered an independent bid for the seat. Governor Richard Riley and 3rd district Representative Butler Derrick flirted with running, but backed down when Thurmond received endorsements from prominent Democrats in South Carolina.


1984 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
Senator Strom Thurmond easily defeated Robert Cunningham to advance to the general election.


1984 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
Thurmond received endorsements from former Democratic governor Robert Evander McNair, Charleston mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., and an assortment of black mayors in the state. He did not face a serious challenge and spent almost $1.5 million on the race whereas Purvis spent less than $10,000. An ironic footnote to the election is the fact that Purvis used Thurmond's age as an issue in the campaign. He claimed Thurmond was too old, yet Purvis died less than two years after the election of a heart attack at age 46.


1984 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Incumbent Republican Larry Pressler won re-election for a second term, defeating Democrat George V. Cunningham.


1984 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
Three-term popular incumbent Howard Baker, who had served as United States Senate Majority Leader since 1981 (Minority Leader from 1977 to 1981) decided not to seek re-election in order to concentrate on a planned bid for 1988 Republican presidential nomination (which did not happen, as he later accepted a White House Chief of Staff position under President Ronald Reagan). This made a seat open.


1984 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
Democrats nominated Representative and future Vice President of the United States Al Gore, whose father Albert Gore, Sr. once held the other Tennessee Senate seat.


1984 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
In the Republican primary, held on August 2, Ashe easily emerged as a winner:


1984 United States Senate elections, Tennessee
Although the Senate election coincided with the landslide re-election of President Reagan, who carried Tennessee by a wide margin, this time his victory did not have any coattails, as it did in 1980, and Democrats picked up three Republican seats. One of the Democratic gains was in Tennessee, where conservative democrat Gore won in a landslide:


1984 United States Senate elections, Texas
Incumbent Republican John G. Tower decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Phil Gramm won the open seat over Democratic State Senator Lloyd Doggett.


1984 United States Senate elections, Texas
The Democratic primary was 45% Hispanic, but included many moderate to conservative voters. Hance positioned himself as the most moderate to conservative candidate, who co-sponsored President Ronald Reagan's tax package. Doggett was the more liberal candidate, attacking Reaganomics and getting endorsements from the Texas teachers' union and Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Krueger was seen as the front runner and was a moderate who supported the state's oil and gas industry, but had close ties with the Hispanic community because he was Spanish-speaking. Hance attacked both Kroeger and Doggett for supporting amnesty for illegal aliens and supporting gay rights. The initial primary was extremely close between the top three candidates. Each candidate got 31% of the electorate. Hance ranked first, only 273 votes ahead of Doggett and 1,560 votes ahead of Krueger.


1984 United States Senate elections, Texas
Since no candidate passed the 50% threshold, Hance and Doggett qualified for the run-off election. Hance fired his pollster despite ranking first. Krueger endorsed fellow U.S. Congressman Hance, saying "Ultimately, the quality of one's public service depends upon the character that one displays in filling an office." In the June election, Doggett very narrowly defeated Hance by just 1,345 votes.


1984 United States Senate elections, Texas
The Republican primary was a highly competitive, multimillion-dollar contest. Gramm recently switched parties in 1983, but he was a conservative who supported Reaganomics. Gramm spent $4 million.


1984 United States Senate elections, Virginia
Incumbent Republican John W. Warner won re-election to a second term. He handily defeated Edythe C. Harrison, member of the Virginia House of Delegates the "first woman in Virginia nominated by the Democratic Party for statewide office."


1984 United States Senate elections, West Virginia
Incumbent Democratic Jennings Randolph decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Democrat Jay Rockefeller won the open seat over Republican John Raese.


1984 United States Senate elections, Wyoming
Incumbent Republican Alan K. Simpson has won re-election for a second term, defeating Democrat Victor A. Ryan.


1984 United States elections
The 1984 United States elections was held on November 6, and elected the members of the 99th United States Congress. Republicans won a landslide victory in the presidential election, picked up seats in the House of Representatives, and successfully defended their Senate majority.


1984 United States elections
Republican incumbent President Ronald Reagan won re-election, defeating Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale. Reagan carried every state except for Washington, D.C., and Mondale's home state of Minnesota; won 58.8 percent of the popular vote; and defeated Mondale by a popular vote margin of eighteen points. Reagan remains the only presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972 to win at least 55 percent of the popular vote.


1984 United States elections
Mondale defeated Colorado Senator Gary Hart and Reverend Jesse Jackson of Illinois to take the Democratic nomination. Mondale selected New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making Ferraro the first woman to appear on a major party presidential ticket.


1984 United States elections
Democrats picked up two Senate seats, bringing their total to 47 out of 100 seats. Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.1 percentage points and retained their majority, though Republicans picked up a total of sixteen seats. The party makeup of both chambers of Congress following this election cycle, in which the Democrats had control of the House and the Republicans had control of the Senate, would not be emulated until 2018. In the gubernatorial elections, the Republicans won a net of one seat.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut
On September 20, 1984, the Shi'a Islamic militant group Hezbollah, with support and direction from the Islamic Republic of Iran, carried out a suicide car bombing targeting the U.S. embassy annex in East Beirut, Lebanon. The attack killed 24 people.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut
Hezbollah had also used suicide car or truck bombs in the April 1983 U.S. embassy bombing and the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut, Bombing
In July 1984, the U.S. had relocated its embassy operations from West Beirut to the relative security of Aukar, a Christian suburb of East Beirut. When on September 20, 1984, the attacker sped his van laden with 3,000 pounds (1360 kg) of explosives toward the six-story embassy, crucial security measures had not yet been completed at the complex, including a massive steel gate.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut, Bombing
The van was heading for the entrance of the diplomatic facility, but did not get within ten yards of the building after the driver was shot by a bodyguard of the British ambassador and Lebanese embassy guards and lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle detonated at 11:44 a.m. after striking a parked van.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut, Bombing
The explosion "ripped off the front of the embassy, shredding glass, bending steel bars and destroying cars in a nearby parking lot." The attack killed a total of 24 people (including the suicide bomber). Only two of the dead were American: Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth V. Welch of the U.S. Army and Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Ray Wagner of the U.S. Navy, who were both assigned to the U.S. Defense Attache Office in Beirut. The majority of those killed were Lebanese, "either local employees or people seeking visas". Of the injured, the U.S. Ambassador, Reginald Bartholomew, was slightly hurt, as well as the British Ambassador, David Miers, who was meeting with Bartholomew at the time of explosion.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut, Responsibility
The Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call a few hours after the explosion. The caller said, "The operation goes to prove that we will carry out our previous promise not to allow a single American to remain on Lebanese soil." The U.S. government understood that Hezbollah had carried out the attack under the cover name of IJO with the support of Iran. Through satellite reconnaissance, U.S. intelligence discovered that a mock-up of the annex had been created at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard-run Sheikh Abdullah barracks in Baalbek to practice for the attack.


1984 United States embassy annex bombing in Beirut, Legal cases
Under the amended Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, victims of the bombing and their families have filed cases against the Islamic Republic of Iran, holding it responsible for its role in the attack and demanding compensation.


1984 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 6, 1984, in 13 states and two territories. The Republicans had a net gain of one seat in this election, which coincided with the Senate, House elections and presidential election.


1984 United States gubernatorial elections
This was the last year in which Arkansas held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Arkansas' governor would be extended from two years to four years with elections taking place in midterm election years following the passage of the Sixty-third Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team
The 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, representing the United States. The USA's senior men's team, was led by coach Bob Knight, who was also the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers at the time. The team won the tournament's gold medal. It was the last amateur level U.S.A. team to win an Olympic gold medal in men's basketball. The team was considered to be one of the strongest in U.S.A.'s history at that time, as it featured four of the five 1984 consensus first team All-Americans, in Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale, and Sam Perkins.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team
Due to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games boycott, which was led by the Soviet Union and involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, the Soviet Union national team and the Hungarian national team withdrew from the tournament. However, the 1980 Summer Olympic Games gold medalists, Yugoslavia, defied the boycott to play at the tournament, and ultimately won the bronze medal.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic trials
Trials for the team were held in April 1984 at Knight's regular base of operations at Indiana's campus in Bloomington. Seventy players attended the trials. Kentucky post players Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin chose to skip the trials, in order to concentrate on the upcoming 1984 NBA draft, and Keith Lee of Memphis State, Len Bias of Maryland and Kenny Smith of North Carolina, ultimately pulled out as well. Knight led the trials with assistant coaches George Raveling, Don Donoher and C. M. Newton, whittling the prospects down to twenty, by the end of the first week of the trials.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic trials
During the trials, Auburn junior Charles Barkley impressed with his performance - most observers felt he and North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan were the two top performers. However, Barkley's and Knight's strong personalities did not mesh, and Barkley was one of the last cuts from the roster. Released along with Barkley, in the penultimate cut from 20 to 16 players in May, were John Stockton of Gonzaga, Terry Porter of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Maurice Martin of Saint Joseph's.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic trials
Knight's final cut to twelve players came in June, and the final four let go were Tim McCormick of Michigan, Lancaster Gordon of Louisville, Johnny Dawkins of Duke and Barkley's Auburn teammate Chuck Person (Dawkins and Person served as alternates for the team). The most controversial selection was Knight's own Indiana player, Steve Alford, who was the team's youngest member at 19 and not expected by most to make the team.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic trials
Prior to the Olympics, the team played eight games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas  and Mark Aguirre and won all eight.


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Olympic tournament
The team went 8–0 in the Olympic tournament, averaging 95.4 points per game, and holding their opponents to 63.3. Four players averaged double-figures in scoring: Michael Jordan (17.1), Chris Mullin (11.6), Patrick Ewing (11.0) and Steve Alford (10.3). Wayman Tisdale led the team in rebounding (5.9 per game), while Leon Wood led the team in assists (7.9 per game).


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
The 1984 Summer Olympics was a coming-out party for Michael Jordan, who led the U. S. team in scoring and dazzled the worldwide viewing audience with his athleticism and speed, including during the sweep of the NBA All-Stars before the Olympics. In addition to Jordan, the team featured two other future Hall of Fame members in Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin (both of whom would later reunite with Jordan, as a part of the 1992 Dream Team). Jordan recalled that while this Olympic experience was exciting, it had also been trying because of Knight: "I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like."


1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team, Legacy
The Olympics and trials helped the draft stock of several players. Vern Fleming and Jeff Turner parlayed their Olympic exposure into first-round spots in the 1984 NBA draft, while several players that were cut from the team, either received strong recommendations from Knight (future Hall of Fame member John Stockton and Tim McCormick), or benefited from exposure from the trials (Charles Barkley and Lancaster Gordon).


1984 United States presidential debates
The 1984 United States presidential election debates were held during the 1984 presidential election. Three debates were held between Republican candidate, incumbent president Ronald Reagan and Democratic former vice president Walter Mondale, the major candidates. One debate was held with their vice presidential running mates, incumbent vice president George H. W. Bush and congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro.


1984 United States presidential debates, October 7: First presidential debate (Center for the Performing Arts)
The first debate between president Ronald Reagan and former vice president Walter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 7, 1984 at the Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville, Kentucky. The debate was moderated by Barbara Walters of ABC News and featured a panel featuring James Wieghart of New York Daily News, Diane Sawyer of ABC News, and Fred Barnes of New Republic. The topics were economic and domestic policy issues.


1984 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center)
The vice presidential debate between vice president George H. W. Bush and congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro took place on Thursday, October 11, 1984 at the Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The debate was moderated by Sander Vanocur of ABC News and featured a panel featuring John Mashek of U.S. News & World Report, Jack White of Time, Norma Quarles of NBC News, and Robert Boyd of Knight-Ridder Newspapers. The topics were domestic and foreign affairs.


1984 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center)
The result was proclaimed mostly even by newspapers, television, other media, and historians. Women voters tended to think Ferraro had won, while men, Bush. Some media, however, either declared Bush or Ferraro the winner. The candidates were both praised for their ability to debate.


1984 United States presidential debates, October 11: Vice presidential debate (Pennsylvania Hall Civic Center), Bush, Ferraro experience exchange
Ferraro handled a question about her experience at the debate, after being asked how her three House terms stacked up with Bush's two House terms, career as an ambassador to China and the United Nations, Director of Central Intelligence and four years as Vice President. The peak of the experience battle came when, during a discussion of the Carter administration in Iran and the Reagan administration in Lebanon, Bush said, "Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon." Ferraro responded to cap what The New York Times termed "a bristling exchange", "Let me just say first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy."


1984 United States presidential debates, October 21: Second presidential debate (Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium)
The second and final debate between president Ronald Reagan and former vice president Walter Mondale took place on Sunday, October 21, 1984 at the Music Hall, Municipal Auditors in Kansas City, Kansas. The debate was moderated by Edwin Newman, formerly of NBC News and featured a panel featuring Georgie Anne Geyer of Universal Press Syndicate, Marvin Kalb of NBC News, and Morton Kondracke of New Republic. The topics were defense and foreign policy issues.


1984 United States presidential election
The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate, in a landslide victory, winning 525 electoral votes and 58.8 percent of the popular vote. No other candidate in United States history has ever matched Reagan's electoral vote total in a single election.


1984 United States presidential election
Reagan faced only token opposition in his bid for re-nomination by the Republicans, so he and Vice President George H. W. Bush were easily re-nominated. Mondale defeated Colorado Senator Gary Hart, activist Jesse Jackson and several other candidates in the 1984 Democratic primaries before eventually choosing U.S. Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his running mate, the first woman to be on a major party's presidential ticket.


1984 United States presidential election
Reagan touted a strong economic recovery from the 1970s stagflation and the 1981–1982 recession, as well as the widespread perception that his presidency had overseen a revival of national confidence and prestige. At 73, Reagan was, at the time, the oldest person ever to be nominated by a major party for president. The Reagan campaign produced effective television advertising and deftly neutralized concerns regarding Reagan's age. Mondale criticized Reagan's supply-side economic policies and budget deficits and he called for a nuclear freeze and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.


1984 United States presidential election
Reagan won a landslide re-election victory, carrying 49 of the 50 states, making this the second election in the 20th century in which a party won 49 states. Mondale won only his home state of Minnesota with a 0.18% margin, and the District of Columbia. Reagan won 525 of the 538 electoral votes, the most of any presidential candidate in U.S. history.


1984 United States presidential election
In terms of electoral votes, this was the second-most lopsided presidential election in modern U.S. history; Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 victory over Alf Landon, in which he won 98.5 percent or 523 of the then-total 531 electoral votes, ranks first. Reagan won 58.8 percent of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6 percent. His popular vote margin of victory—nearly 16.9 million votes (54.4 million for Reagan to 37.5 million for Mondale)—was exceeded only by Richard Nixon in his 1972 victory over George McGovern. Reagan was also the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to be re-elected while winning absolute popular vote majorities in both of his presidential campaigns.


1984 United States presidential election
Reagan, at 73, would be the eldest elected president until the election of Joe Biden in 2020. As of 2021, no Republican candidate has since won New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Oregon, Hawaii, or Rhode Island. Wisconsin would also not go Republican again until Donald Trump narrowly won the state in 2016. This was also the most recent election in which the entire Southern region was won by a single candidate.


1984 United States presidential election
As of 2021, this is the most recent presidential election in which both major parties' presidential and vice presidential nominees are deceased.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Republican Party candidates, Primaries
Ronald Reagan—the incumbent president—was the assured nominee for the Republican Party, with only token opposition. The popular vote from the Republican primaries was as follows:


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Republican Party candidates, Primaries
Reagan was renominated by a vote of 2,233 delegates (two delegates abstained). For the only time in American history, the vice presidential roll call was taken concurrently with the presidential roll call. Vice President George H. W. Bush was overwhelmingly renominated. This was the last time in the 20th century that the vice presidential candidate of either major party was nominated by roll call vote.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Only three Democratic candidates won any state primaries: Mondale, Hart, and Jackson. Initially, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, after a failed bid to win the 1980 Democratic nomination for president, was considered the de facto front-runner of the 1984 primary. However, Kennedy announced in December 1982 that he did not intend to run. Former Vice-President Mondale was then viewed as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Mondale had the largest number of party leaders supporting him, and he had raised more money than any other candidate. However, both Jackson and Hart emerged as surprising, and troublesome, opponents.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings's wit and experience, as well as his call for a budget freeze, won him some positive attention, but his relatively conservative record alienated liberal Democrats, and he was never really noticed in a field dominated by Walter Mondale, John Glenn, and Gary Hart. Hollings dropped out two days after losing badly in New Hampshire and endorsed Hart a week later. His disdain for his competitors was at times showcased in his comments. He notably referred to Mondale as a "lapdog", and to former astronaut Glenn as "Sky King" who was "confused in his capsule."


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
California Senator Alan Cranston hoped to galvanize supporters of the nuclear freeze movement that had called on the United States to halt the deployment of existing nuclear weapons and the development of new ones. Glenn and Askew hoped to capture the support of moderate and conservative Democrats. None of them possessed the fundraising ability of Mondale nor the grassroots support of Hart and Jackson, and none won any contests.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Jackson was the second African-American (after Shirley Chisholm) to mount a nationwide campaign for the presidency, and he was the first African-American candidate to be a serious contender. He got 3.5 million votes during the primaries, third behind Hart and Mondale. He won the primaries in Virginia, South Carolina, and Louisiana, and split Mississippi, where there were two separate contests for Democratic delegates. Through the primaries, Jackson helped confirm the black electorate's importance to the Democratic Party in the South at the time.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
During the campaign, however, Jackson made an off-the-cuff reference to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown", for which he later apologized. Nonetheless, the remark was widely publicized, and derailed his campaign for the nomination. Jackson ended up winning 21% of the national primary vote but received only 8% of the delegates to the national convention, and he initially charged that his campaign was hurt by the same party rules that allowed Mondale to win. He also poured scorn on Mondale, saying that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul-Minneapolis" area.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Hart, from Colorado, was a more serious threat to Mondale, and after winning several early primaries it looked as if he might take the nomination away from Mondale. Hart finished a surprising second in the Iowa caucuses, with 16.5% of the vote. This established him as the main rival to Mondale, effectively eliminating John Glenn, Ernest Hollings and Alan Cranston as alternatives. Hart criticized Mondale as an "old-fashioned" New Deal Democrat who symbolized "failed policies" of the past.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Hart positioned himself (just as Bill Clinton would eight years later) as a younger, fresher, and more moderate Democrat who could appeal to younger voters. He emerged as a formidable candidate, winning the key New Hampshire, Ohio, and California primaries as well as several others, especially in the West. However, Hart could not overcome Mondale's financial and organizational advantages, especially among labor union leaders in the Midwest and industrial Northeast.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Hart was also badly hurt in a televised debate with Mondale during the primaries, when the former vice president used a popular television commercial slogan to ridicule Hart's vague "New Ideas" platform. Turning to Hart on camera, Mondale told Hart that whenever he heard Hart talk about his "New Ideas", he was reminded of the Wendy's fast-food slogan "Where's the beef?" The remark drew loud laughter and applause from the viewing audience and caught Hart off-guard. Hart never fully recovered from Mondale's charge that his "New Ideas" were shallow and lacking in specifics.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
At a roundtable debate between the three remaining Democratic candidates moderated by Phil Donahue, Mondale and Hart got into such a heated argument over the issue of U.S. policy in Central America that Jackson had to tap his water glass on the table to help get them to stop.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Mondale gradually pulled away from Hart in the delegate count, but, as Time reported in late May, "Mondale ... has a wide lead in total delegates (1,564 to 941) ... because of his victories in the big industrial states, his support from the Democratic Establishment and the arcane provisions of delegate-selection rules that his vanguard helped draft two years ago." After the final primary in California, on June 5, which Hart won, Mondale was about 40 delegates short of the total he needed for the nomination. However, at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco on July 16, Mondale received the overwhelming support of the unelected superdelegates from the party establishment to win the nomination.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
Mondale's nomination marked the second time since the nomination of former Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter in 1976 and the fourth time since the nomination of former Representative John W. Davis in 1924 that the Democratic Party nominated a private citizen for President (i.e., not serving in an official government role at the time of the nomination and election). Mondale was the last private citizen to be nominated for president by the Democratic Party until former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Mondale was also the last former Vice President to be nominated for president by the Democratic Party after leaving office until Joe Biden in 2020.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Primaries
This race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination was the closest in two generations, and, as of 2020, it was the last occasion that a major party's race for the presidential nomination went all the way to its convention.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Endorsements
Note: These are only those endorsements which occurred during or before the primary race.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Convention
When he made his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, Mondale said: "Let's tell the truth. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." Although Mondale intended to expose Reagan as hypocritical and position himself as the honest candidate, the choice of raising taxes as a discussion point likely damaged his electoral chances.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Vice presidential nominee
Mondale chose U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro from New York as his running mate, making her the first woman nominated for that position by a major party, and the first Italian American on a major party ticket since Al Smith in 1928. Mondale wanted to establish a precedent with his vice presidential candidate; although Tonie Nathan of the Libertarian Party had already figured as an Electoral-College candidate for vice-president (1972), Ferraro would become the first woman to receive votes from all the electors of a state.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Vice presidential nominee
Another reason for the nominee to "go for broke" instead of balancing the ticket was Reagan's lead in the polls. Mondale hoped to appeal to women, and by 1980, they were the majority of voters. In a "much criticized parade of possible Veep candidates" to his home in Minnesota, Mondale considered San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins, also female; Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African American; and San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, a Hispanic, as other finalists for the nomination.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Vice presidential nominee
In addition to her sex, Mondale chose Ferraro because he hoped she would attract ethnic voters with her personal background. Unsuccessful nomination candidate Jesse Jackson derided Mondale's vice-presidential screening process as a "P.R. parade of personalities", but praised Mondale for his choice, having himself pledged to name a woman to the ticket in the event he was nominated.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Democratic Party candidates, Vice presidential nominee
Mondale had wanted to choose New York Governor Mario Cuomo as his running mate, but Cuomo declined and recommended Ferraro, his protégée. Mondale might have named Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis as his running mate had he wanted to make a "safe" choice", while others preferred Senator Lloyd Bentsen because he would appeal to more conservative Southern voters. Nomination rival Gary Hart stated before Ferraro's selection that he would accept an invitation to run with Mondale; Hart's supporters claimed he would do better than Mondale against President Reagan, an argument undercut by a June 1984 Gallup poll that showed both men nine points behind the president.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, National Unity Party nomination
The National Unity Party was an outgrowth of John Anderson's presidential campaign from the 1980 presidential election. Anderson hoped that the party would be able to challenge the "two old parties", which he viewed as being tied to various special interest groups and incapable of responsible fiscal reform. The intention was to organize the new party in California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, the New England states, and others where his previous candidacy had proven to have experienced the most success. The party was also eligible for $5.8 million in Federal election funds, but its qualification depended on it being on the ballot in at least ten states; however, it remained unclear if National Unity could actually obtain the funds, or if it needed to be Anderson himself.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, National Unity Party nomination
Anderson initially was against running, hoping that another notable politico would take the party into the 1984 election, and feared that his own candidacy might result in the party being labeled a "personality cult". However, no candidate came forward resulting in Anderson becoming the nominee in waiting. While Anderson had found equal support from the Republicans and Democrats in the 1980 election, the grand majority of the former had since switched back, resulting in the new party being supported principally by those who normally would vote Democratic, which it was feared might make him a spoiler candidate. In light of this, in addition to difficulties in getting on the ballot in his targeted states (Utah and Kentucky were the only two, neither among those he intended to prominently campaign in), Anderson ultimately declined to run. Later he would endorse the Democratic nominee, Walter Mondale.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, National Unity Party nomination
Anderson had hoped that the party would continue to grow and later field a candidate in 1988 (which he declared would not be him), but it floundered and ultimately dissolved.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, Libertarian Party nomination
Burns was the initial frontrunner for the nomination, but withdrew, citing concerns that the party would not be able to properly finance a campaign. The remaining candidates were Bergland; Ravenal, who had worked in the Department of Defense under Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford; and Ruwart. Bergland narrowly won the presidential nomination over Ravenal. His running mate was James A. Lewis. The ticket appeared on 39 state ballots.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, Citizens Party nomination
Sonia Johnson ran in the 1984 presidential election, as the presidential candidate of the Citizens Party, Pennsylvania's Consumer Party and California's Peace and Freedom Party. Johnson received 72,161 votes (0.1%) finishing fifth. Her running mate for the Citizens Party was Richard Walton and for the Peace and Freedom Party Emma Wong Mar. One of her campaign managers, Mark Dunlea, later wrote a novel about a first female president, Madame President.


1984 United States presidential election, Nominations, Other parties, Communist Party nomination
The Communist Party USA ran Gus Hall for president and Angela Davis for vice president.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
Mondale ran a liberal campaign, supporting a nuclear freeze and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). He spoke against what he considered to be unfairness in Reagan's economic policies and the need to reduce federal budget deficits.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
While Ferraro's choice was popular among Democratic activists, polls immediately after the announcement showed that only 22% of women were pleased about her selection, versus 18% who agreed that it was a bad idea. 60% of all voters thought that pressure from women's groups had led to Mondale's decision, versus 22% who believed that he had chosen the best available candidate. Some members of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church criticized the Catholic Ferraro for being pro-choice on abortion.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
Already fighting an uphill battle with voters, Ferraro also faced a slew of allegations, mid-campaign, directed toward her husband, John Zaccaro. These allegations included Zaccaro's possible past involvement in organized crime, pornography distribution, and campaign contribution violations. Ferraro responded to these allegations against her husband by releasing her family tax returns to the media on August 21, 1984. However, the damage to the campaign was already done.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
At a campaign stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, Reagan said, "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire, New Jersey's Bruce Springsteen." The Reagan campaign briefly used "Born in the U.S.A.", a song criticizing the treatment of Vietnam War veterans (which they mistakenly thought was devoid of anti-war content and a very jingoistic patriotic rock song), as a campaign song, without permission, until Springsteen, a lifelong Democrat, insisted that they stop. The Reagan campaign was very skilled at producing effective television advertising. Two of the more memorable ads it produced were commonly known as "Bear in the woods" and "Morning in America".


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
Reagan was the oldest president to have served to that time (at 73) and there were questions about his capacity to endure the grueling demands of the presidency, particularly after Reagan had a poor showing in his first debate with Mondale on October 7. He referred to having started going to church "here in Washington", although the debate was in Louisville, Kentucky, referred to military uniforms as "wardrobe", and admitted to being "confused", among other mistakes.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
In the next debate on October 21, however, in response to a question about his age, Reagan joked, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Mondale himself laughed at the joke, and later admitted that Reagan had effectively neutralized the age issue:


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Campaign
If TV can tell the truth, as you say it can, you'll see that I was smiling. But I think if you come in close, you'll see some tears coming down because I knew he had gotten me there. That was really the end of my campaign that night, I think. [ I told my wife] the campaign was over, and it was.


1984 United States presidential election, General election, Presidential debates
There were two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate during the 1984 general election.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Reagan was re-elected in the November 6 election in an electoral and popular vote landslide, winning 49 states by the time the ballots were finished counting on election night at 11:34 PM in Iowa. He won a record 525 electoral votes total (of 538 possible), and received 58.8% of the popular vote; despite Ferraro's selection, 55% of women who voted did so for Reagan, and his 54 to 61% of the Catholic vote was the highest for a Republican candidate in history.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Mondale's 13 electoral college votes (from his home state of Minnesota—which he won by 0.18%—and the District of Columbia) marked the lowest total of any major presidential candidate since Alf Landon's 1936 loss to Franklin D. Roosevelt.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Mondale's defeat was also the worst for any Democratic Party candidate in American history in the Electoral College (and his 13 electoral votes the fewest any Democrat has won since Stephen A. Douglas claimed 12 in the 1860 election, when the Democratic vote was divided), though others, including Alton B. Parker, James M. Cox, John W. Davis, and George S. McGovern, did worse in the popular vote.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Psephologists attributed a factor of the Republican victory to "Reagan Democrats", millions of Democrats who voted for Reagan, as in 1980. They characterized such Reagan Democrats as southern whites and northern blue collar workers who voted for Reagan because they credited him with the economic recovery, saw Reagan as strong on national security issues, and perceived the Democrats as supporting the poor and minorities at the expense of the middle class.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
The Democratic National Committee commissioned a study after the election that came to these conclusions, but destroyed all copies of the final report, afraid that it would offend the party's key voters. Reagan also benefited from a near-total collapse in the third-party vote, which dropped to just 0.67% of the popular vote, its lowest level since 1964. Despite John B. Anderson's endorsement of Mondale, the majority of the people who voted for Anderson in 1980 voted for Reagan in this 1984 election, as did the majority of those who voted for Ed Clark in 1980.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
When Reagan was asked in December 1984 what he wanted for Christmas he joked, "Well, Minnesota would have been nice". Reagan lost Minnesota in both this election and in 1980, making it the only state he failed to win in either election, and also making him the first two-term president not to carry Minnesota since Woodrow Wilson. The same feat would later be duplicated by fellow Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush who won both the 2000, and 2004 United States Presidential Elections without winning Minnesota either time.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
This is the last election where the Republican candidate achieved any of the following: Win every state in the Northeastern and Pacific regions of the United States; win at least one county in every state; and win any of the following states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
It was also the last election where the Republican nominee won Wisconsin until 2016, Iowa until 2004, West Virginia until 2000, the last election in which the winning candidate won by a double-digit margin in the percentage of the popular vote, and the last election where the winning candidate won by an eight-digit margin in total popular votes (10 million or more).


1984 United States presidential election, Results
Finally, despite his narrow loss in Minnesota, Reagan still won in five out of its eight congressional districts (by contrast, Nixon had only carried one Massachusetts district twelve years earlier) thus making Reagan the only U.S. presidential candidate in history to win the popular vote in a majority of congressional districts in every state.


1984 United States presidential election, Results
In stark contrast, Mondale became the first major-party U.S. presidential candidate since the start of popular presidential elections not to win a majority of the popular vote in even a single state (not counting Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and William H. Taft in 1912, elections which were both complicated by strong third-party performances, plus the Democratic vote being divided between Douglas and John C. Breckinridge in 1860), having only won a plurality of 49.7% of the vote in Minnesota.


1984 United States presidential election, Results, Statistics, Results by state
Maine allowed its electoral votes to be split between candidates. Two electoral votes were awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Reagan won all four votes.


1984 United States presidential election, Results, Statistics, Close states
Margin of victory more than 1%, but less than 5% (17 electoral votes):


1984 United States presidential election, Results, Statistics, Close states
Margin of victory more than 5%, but less than 10% (90 electoral votes):


1984 United States presidential election, Voter demographics
Source: CBS News and The New York Times exit poll from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (9,174 surveyed)


1984 United States presidential election in Alabama
The 1984 United States presidential election in Alabama took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Alabama voters chose 9 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Alabama
Alabama was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Alabama, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Alabama, with just under 99 percent of the electorate voting only either Democratic or Republican. Every county in the state gave either Reagan or Mondale a majority save Etowah County, which gave Reagan a plurality. Macon County gave Mondale 82.71% of the vote, which was the highest percentage he received in any county nationwide outside the District of Columbia. Reagan's best county was Shelby, which gave him 77.88%.


1984 United States presidential election in Alabama, Republican victory
Reagan won Alabama by a massive 22% landslide margin, a dramatic shift from 1980, when Reagan had won it by just 1.3% over Southerner Jimmy Carter. This was only the third time that the Republican nominee exceeded 60% of the vote in the Yellowhammer State, after Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1972. Mondale carried most of Alabama's Black Belt counties, but outside these predominantly African-American counties, he carried only Colbert, Lawrence, and Jackson Counties, which lay within the region served by the Tennessee Valley Authority (Colbert is home to Muscle Shoals). Overwhelmingly, the state's 'Wallace country' went red this election, unlike in 1976 or even 1980. As an example, Reagan claimed over 2/3 of the vote in Coffee County, Alabama, which had voted for Carter in 1976 by over 20% and had voted for Reagan in 1980 by just 4.7%.


1984 United States presidential election in Alabama, Republican victory
Alabama voted the same way as its Deep Southern neighbor Mississippi for the 29th time in a row, a trend dating back to 1872. The last time the two states voted differently was (and, as of 2020, remains) 1840, when Mississippi voted for William Henry Harrison, and Alabama, for Martin Van Buren. (In 1868, Mississippi, unlike Alabama, hadn't yet been re-admitted to the Union.)


1984 United States presidential election in Alaska
The 1984 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 6, 1984, as part of the nationwide presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1984 United States presidential election in Alaska
Alaska was won by incumbent President Ronald Reagan (R-California) with almost two-thirds of the popular vote against Walter Mondale (D-Minnesota) with 29.9%. Reagan ultimately won the national vote, winning re-election. Alaska has only voted Democratic once, and that was in 1964 for Lyndon B. Johnson. Libertarian candidate David Bergland also had his best performance in this state, but did not receive nearly as much support as Ed Clark did in the previous election four years earlier.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona
The 1984 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 6, 1984. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose seven electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona
Arizona was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with incumbent Vice President and former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Arizona, with just under 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four parties appearing on the ballot. Nearly every county in Arizona voted in majority for Reagan, a particularly strong turn out even in this typically conservative-leaning state. Reagan did the best in Phoenix's highly populated Maricopa County, and Mondale did the best in predominantly Native American Apache County, which was typical of his gains vis-à-vis Jimmy Carter in Native American counties throughout the nation. Mondale also won heavily unionized copper-mining Greenlee County; albeit his performance there was the worst by a Democrat since statehood.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona, Partisan background
Arizona weighed in for this election as sixteen points more Republican than the national average.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona, Republican victory
Reagan won the election in Arizona with a decisive 34 point sweep-out landslide. The wide margins found in Arizona, though generally conservative in its voting, are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s; called by Reagan the "second American Revolution". This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. No Republican candidate has received as strong of support in the American West at large, as Reagan did.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona, Republican victory
It is speculated that Mondale lost support with voters nearly immediately during the campaign, namely during his acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. There he stated that he intended to increase taxes. To quote Mondale, "By the end of my first term, I will reduce the Reagan budget deficit by two thirds. Let's tell the truth. It must be done, it must be done. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." Despite this claimed attempt at establishing truthfulness with the electorate, this claim to raise taxes badly eroded his chances in what had already begun as an uphill battle against the charismatic Ronald Reagan.


1984 United States presidential election in Arizona, Republican victory
Reagan also enjoyed high levels of bipartisan support during the 1984 presidential election, both in Arizona, and across the nation at large. Many registered Democrats who voted for Reagan (Reagan Democrats) stated that they had chosen to do so because they associated him with the economic recovery, because of his strong stance on national security issues with Russia, and because they considered the Democrats as "supporting American poor and minorities at the expense of the middle class." These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Arizona and elsewhere.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas
The 1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 6, 1984. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose six electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas
Arkansas was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Arkansas, with just under 99% of the electorate voting only either Democratic or Republican, although a total of ten parties appeared on the ballot. The vast majority of counties in Arkansas voted for Reagan in a particularly strong turn out, even in this typically conservative leaning state. A bloc of heavily African-American counties in the southeastern Delta region turned out in majority for Mondale.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas, Partisan background
Arkansas weighed in for this election as 2 percentage points more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which St. Francis County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas, Republican victory
Reagan won the election in Arkansas with a resounding 22-point sweep-out landslide. While Arkansas typically voted conservative at the time, the election results in Arkansas are also reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s; called by Reagan the "second American Revolution." This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. Arkansas continued in this election as a component of the Republican stronghold of the Deep South, which is evident after the presidency of Jimmy Carter.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas, Republican victory
It is speculated that Mondale lost support with voters nearly immediately during the campaign, namely during his acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. There he stated that he intended to increase taxes. To quote Mondale, "By the end of my first term, I will reduce the Reagan budget deficit by two thirds. Let's tell the truth. It must be done, it must be done. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." Despite this claimed attempt at establishing truthfulness with the electorate, this claim to raise taxes badly eroded his chances in what had already begun as an uphill battle against the charismatic Ronald Reagan.


1984 United States presidential election in Arkansas, Republican victory
Reagan also enjoyed high levels of bipartisan support during the 1984 presidential election, both in Arkansas, and across the nation at large. Many registered Democrats who voted for Reagan (Reagan Democrats) stated that they had chosen to do so because they associated him with the economic recovery, because of his strong stance on national security issues with Russia, and because they considered the Democrats as "supporting American poor and minorities at the expense of the middle class." These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Arkansas and elsewhere.


1984 United States presidential election in California
The 1984 United States presidential election in California took place on November 6, 1984 as part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose 47 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


1984 United States presidential election in California
California voted for the Republican incumbent and former California Governor, Ronald Reagan, in a landslide over the Democratic challenger, former Minnesota Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale. Reagan easily won his home state with a comfortable 16.24% margin and carried all but five counties. Despite this, California's margin was 1.97% more Democratic than the nation as a whole.


1984 United States presidential election in California
Reagan is the last Republican to carry nine California counties in a presidential election: Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Mendocino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. No Republican since Reagan has come close to matching his performance in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he is also the last candidate from either party to carry every county they won in the state by a majority of the vote in those counties (more than 50%). This is also the most recent occasion where a Republican won more than thirty percent of the vote in San Francisco, won the state by double digits (George H. W. Bush would win the state by a 3-point margin in 1988), and won every county of Greater Southern California.


1984 United States presidential election in California
As a result of this election, San Francisco and Alameda were the only two counties in California to have never been carried by Reagan in either of his campaigns for president or for Governor of California (Reagan also did not carry Yolo County in any of his presidential campaigns; however, he carried the county in his 1966 gubernatorial campaign).


1984 United States presidential election in California
Reagan became the first Republican ever to win the White House without Marin or Santa Cruz Counties.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado
The 1984 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado
Colorado was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with incumbent Vice President and former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Colorado, with over 98% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, though several parties appeared on the ballot. All but two counties gave either Reagan or Mondale an outright majority, the two exceptions being Huerfano (which gave Mondale a plurality) and Lake (which gave Reagan a plurality).


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Partisan background
Reagan did best in Rio Blanco County, and Mondale did the best in Costilla County, along the Southern Rockies. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Adams County, Boulder County, Gilpin County, Lake County, Pitkin County, Saguache County, and San Miguel County voted for a Republican presidential candidate. This was the last election until 2020, won by Democrat Joe Biden, in which Colorado was decided by double digits.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
Reagan won Colorado by a landslide margin of 28.3%, a little more than 10% in excess of his national 18.2% margin. His 63.4% vote share made the Columbine State Reagan's 15th-best in the nation. This was typical for Colorado at the time, as the Mountain West in general had trended toward being a Republican bastion since 1952. Gerald Ford had carried Colorado by a double-digit margin amid his narrow national defeat in 1976.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
Reagan performed strongly throughout rural Colorado outside the Southern Rockies, along the border with northern New Mexico; not only did he carry a vast majority of Colorado's counties, but he exceeded 60% in a majority of them. However, particularly important for the strength of his win was his strong showing in the state's second- and third-largest counties, the Denver-area suburban counties of Jefferson and Arapahoe, in both of which he exceeded two-thirds of the vote.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
There were few signs of any shakiness of the Republican strength in Colorado; Reagan even carried Pitkin County, the one county in the state that had switched from Nixon in 1968 to McGovern in 1972. Like several Mountain West states, Colorado was weaker than usual for the Republican Party in 1988, but would rebound to being sufficiently red to vote for Dole in 1996.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
The beginnings of Colorado's slide toward swing-state status, which would materialize in 2008, could, however, be seen in the ongoing weakening of Republican strength in Boulder County, one of the state's larger counties and at the time a traditionally Republican county. Reagan carried the county with 55.1%, substantially less than his national vote share; in 1976, Ford had carried it with 52.7%, 4.7% in excess of his national vote share. In 1968, Nixon received 57.7% of the county's vote; and in 1960, 61.5%.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
Another sign was the city-county of Denver switching from Reagan in 1980 to Mondale in 1984, despite Reagan running considerably stronger nationally in 1984 than in 1980. Although it was an urban jurisdiction, Denver was not strongly Democratic at the time; it voted for Kennedy and Carter only very narrowly in the nationally close elections of 1960 and 1976, respectively. In 1980, it had given Reagan a 42.2%-41.0% plurality (with John Anderson scoring a strong 13.7%).


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
Republican fortunes in Denver and Boulder County steadily continued to sink after 1984, which was, as of 2020, the last election in which the Republican would stay above 40% in the former or carry the latter. Even though Colorado remained reasonably reliably red for Republicans who were competitive at the national level for another two decades, these trends mitigated the degree of Colorado's solidity for the GOP; despite Ford's double-digit win here in 1976, 1984 would be (as of 2020) the last time the Republican nominee carried the state by double digits.


1984 United States presidential election in Colorado, Republican victory
The Colorado political landscape would change dramatically: by 2020, the Democratic strength in 3 of 5 counties (Las Animas, Pueblo and Huerfano) that Mondale carried had mostly disappeared, while Democrats completely flipped many of Reagan's high performing counties into Democratic strongholds (both rural mountain counties such as Eagle and Routt and suburban counties such as Arapahoe started swinging towards the Democrats since this election and are now some of CO's bluest counties).


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut
The 1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut
Connecticut was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut
As of 2020, this was the most recent presidential election in which the Republican nominee carried the following municipalities: Ashford, Cornwall, East Hartford, Hamden, Manchester, Meriden, Newington, Norwich, Portland, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, West Haven, Windham, and Windsor.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Connecticut, with over 99% of the electorate voting only either Democratic or Republican, and only 4  parties appearing on the ballot. Every county in Connecticut voted in majority for the Republican candidate.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Partisan background
Connecticut weighed in for this election as 2% more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 United States presidential election, this is the last election in which Hartford County voted for the Republican candidate. This is also the final time that a Republican presidential candidate was able to win every county in the state or win by a double digit margin.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Republican victory
Reagan won Connecticut by a 22% margin and with slightly over 60% of the vote, making it slightly more Republican than the nation overall amid his national landslide. Since 1896, Connecticut had generally leaned Republican, voting for losing Republican candidates in 1916, 1932, 1948, and 1976 (but also voting for Humphrey in 1968 and for Kennedy as he only narrowly won in 1960). The basis for Republican strength in the Nutmeg State had been suburban Fairfield County, where Reagan approached 2/3 of the vote. However, Reagan also took New Haven County--the swing county amongst the state's three largest--by twenty points, and won Hartford County--generally the most Democratic-friendly of the state's three largest counties--by double digits.


1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Republican victory
After 1996, all of Connecticut's large counties would become reliably Democratic, and the state with them. Reagan's 890,877 votes is the most received by a Republican presidential candidate in the state's history.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware
The 1984 United States presidential election in Delaware took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose three electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware
Delaware was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Delaware, with over 99% of the electorate voting either Democratic or Republican, though 6 parties appeared on the ballot. All three of Delaware's counties gave Reagan an outright majority.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware, Partisan background
Delaware weighed in for this election as 1% more Republican than the national average.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican victory
Reagan won Delaware by just shy of 20%. His strongest county was Sussex County, Delaware's southernmost county, where he received over 2/3 of the vote. He also received over 60% in Delaware's middle county, Kent County. In New Castle County, Delaware's northernmost and most populous county, Reagan won by double digits, but was held to a 14.5% margin, discernibly less than his national margin.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican victory
In the Gilded Age, Delaware generally voted as part of the Democratic Solid South, voting Democratic in every election from 1868 through 1892 save 1872. From the 1896 election on, Delaware became a conservative-leaning state for about half a century, being one of only two Southern states to vote for Hughes in 1916 and one of only six states nationally to vote for Hoover in 1932. From 1952, however, Delaware became a bellwether state. 1984 was the tenth election in a row in which Delaware voted for the national winner.


1984 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican victory
However, 1984 would (as of 2020) turn out to be the second-to-last time that a Republican would carry the Blue Hen State. Although Reagan comfortably carried New Castle County, Republicans would not carry--or even exceed 40% in--Delaware's northernmost and by far most populous county from 1992 on. Democratic strength in this largely urbanized county has been more than enough to carry the state for the Democrats, even though Republicans remain dominant in Sussex County and competitive in Kent County.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida
The 1984 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 6, 1984. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Florida voters chose 21 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida
Florida was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Florida, with nearly 100% of the electorate voting either Democratic or Republican, with only those two parties appearing on the presidential ballot in Florida. Every county gave either Reagan or Mondale an outright majority; all but one gave Reagan a majority. Only the Black Belt county of Gadsden gave Mondale a majority.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Partisan background
In this election, Florida voted 7% more Republican than the national average.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Democratic platform
Walter Mondale accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency after pulling narrowly ahead of Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and Rev. Jesse Jackson of Illinois - his main contenders during what would be a very contentious Democratic primary. During the campaign, Mondale was vocal about reduction of government spending, and, in particular, was vocal against heightened military spending on the nuclear arms race against the Soviet Union, which was reaching its peak on both sides in the early 1980s.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Democratic platform
Taking a (what was becoming the traditional liberal) stance on the social issues of the day, Mondale advocated for gun control, the right to choose regarding abortion, and strongly opposed the repeal of laws regarding institutionalized prayer in public schools. He also criticized Reagan for his economic marginalization of the poor, stating that Reagan's reelection campaign was "a happy talk campaign," not focused on the real issues at hand.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Democratic platform
A very significant political move during this election: the Democratic Party nominated Representative Geraldine Ferraro to run with Mondale as Vice-President. Ferraro is the first female candidate to receive such a nomination in United States history. She said in an interview at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that this action "opened a door which will never be closed again," speaking to the role of women in politics.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican platform
By 1984, Reagan was very popular with voters across the nation as the President who saw them out of the economic stagflation of the early and middle 1970's, and into a period of (relative) economic stability.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican platform
The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy, and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for crude oil production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts. These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending, the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor, and the increasing of taxes on those making less than $50,000 per year. Collectively called "Reaganomics", these economic policies were established through several pieces of legislation passed between 1980 and 1987.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican platform
Virtually unopposed during the Republican primaries, Reagan ran on a campaign of furthering his economic policies. Reagan vowed to continue his "war on drugs," passing sweeping legislation after the 1984 election in support of mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession. Furthermore, taking a (what was becoming the traditional conservative) stance on the social issues of the day, Reagan strongly opposed legislation regarding comprehension of gay marriage, abortion, and (to a lesser extent) environmentalism, regarding the final as simply being bad for business.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican victory
Reagan won Florida in a 30.7% landslide, carrying all but one of the Sunshine State's counties. His vote share of 65.32% made it his 11th-best state, and his best state amongst those that had belonged to the Confederacy, amongst those that had voted for Carter in 1976, and amongst those that had at least 10 electoral votes. Reagan performed powerfully throughout both Florida's population centers as well as its rural areas. He won each of Dade, Broward, Pinellas, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Duval, and Orange Counties by double digits; of these seven, he went below 60% only in Dade and Broward.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican victory
Mondale collapsed in the rural Southern counties that had put Carter over the top in 1976 and many of which had stuck with the incumbent in 1980; even in 1980, for example, Carter was able to get over 60% of the vote in rural Dixie County, but Mondale sank to 35.7%.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican victory
A similar process played out in Calhoun, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Gulf, and Liberty Counties, all of which Carter won by double digits in 1980, and in all of which Mondale sank below 40% (with similar swings away from Mondale occurring in other, similar counties which Carter had won more narrowly, or lost narrowly in 1980 after carrying in 1976). And Southwest Florida, which had turned Republican in the late 1940s and early 1950s and proved resistant to Carter's appeal in 1976, once again turned out powerfully for the Republican nominee: Reagan broke 70% in all of Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties.


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican victory
There were few positive signs for Mondale or the Democratic Party in the returns from Florida. Dade and--apart from its vote for Goldwater in 1964--Duval had been Democratic-leaning counties. But not only did both vote for Reagan by double digits, they both also voted more Republican than the nation (Dade barely so, giving Reagan an 18.3% margin as compared to his 18.2% national margin).


1984 United States presidential election in Florida, Republican victory
Perhaps the only sign of a positive trend for the Democratic Party was that Reagan barely increased his vote share in Broward County, which voted somewhat more Democratic than the nation; Broward had been a Republican stronghold, voting Republican in seven straight elections (including for Goldwater in 1964) before narrowly voting for Carter in 1976. In 1980, it seemed to snap back to its Republican ways, giving Reagan a substantially larger margin and vote share than he got nationally. But his 56.6% showing in the county in 1984 contrasted alarmingly with Nixon's 72.4% in his 1972 landslide. Nevertheless, in the run-up to the 1988 election, Florida was the only large state accounted assuredly safe for George H. W. Bush.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia
The 1984 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Georgia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia
Georgia was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency. Georgia had been 1 of just 6 states that voted against Reagan in 1980, but with Jimmy Carter not on the ballot, President Reagan cruised to victory in Georgia, even winning Sumter County where Carter's hometown, Plains is located.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Georgia, with just under 100% of the electorate voting either Democratic or Republican, and only those 2 parties appearing on the official ballot. All of Georgia's counties gave either Reagan or Mondale an absolute majority of the vote, with the great majority going to Reagan. However, Mondale received 76% of the vote in Hancock County, making it his fourth strongest county in the country outside the District of Columbia.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Partisan background
Georgia weighed in for this election as 2% more Republican than the national average.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Partisan background
1984 marked the first time a winning candidate won over a million votes in Georgia. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Randolph County, Clarke County (home to Athens and the University of Georgia), and DeKalb County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Democratic platform
Walter Mondale accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency after pulling narrowly ahead of Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and Rev. Jesse Jackson of Illinois – his main contenders during what would be a very contentious Democratic primary. During the campaign, Mondale was vocal about reduction of government spending, and, in particular, was vocal against heightened military spending on the nuclear arms race against the Soviet Union, which was reaching its peak on both sides in the early 1980s.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Democratic platform
Taking a (what was becoming the traditional liberal) stance on the social issues of the day, Mondale advocated for gun control, the right to choose regarding abortion, and strongly opposed the repeal of laws regarding institutionalized prayer in public schools. He also criticized Reagan for what he charged was his economic marginalization of the poor, stating that Reagan's reelection campaign was "a happy talk campaign," not focused on the real issues at hand.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Democratic platform
A very significant political move during this election: the Democratic Party nominated Representative Geraldine Ferraro to run with Mondale as vice-president. Ferraro is the first female candidate to receive such a nomination in United States history. She said in an interview at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that this action "opened a door which will never be closed again," speaking to the role of women in politics.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican platform
By 1984, Reagan was very popular with voters across the nation as the President who saw them out of the economic stagflation of the early and middle 1970's, and into a period of (relative) economic stability.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican platform
The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy, and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for crude oil production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts. These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending, the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor, and the increasing of taxes on those making less than $50,000 per year. Collectively called "Reaganomics", these economic policies were established through several pieces of legislation passed between 1980 and 1987.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican platform
These new tax policies also arguably curbed several existing tax loopholes, preferences, and exceptions. Reaganomics has (along with legislation passed under presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton) been criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican platform
Virtually unopposed during the Republican primaries, Reagan ran on a campaign of furthering his economic policies. Reagan vowed to continue his "war on drugs," passing sweeping legislation after the 1984 election in support of mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession. Furthermore, taking a (what was becoming the traditional conservative) stance on the social issues of the day, Reagan strongly opposed legislation regarding comprehension of gay marriage, abortion, and (to a lesser extent) environmentalism, regarding the final as simply being bad for business.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican victory
Reagan won Georgia in a convincing 20.4% landslide, as he became the second nominee of either party (and the second Republican nominee ever, after Nixon in 1972) to sweep the states of the Old Confederacy since 1944. Georgia was one of thirty states, mostly in the South and Mountain and Plains West, in which Reagan cracked 60% of the vote. Reagan's strong performance in Georgia was a strong contrast with 1980, when Georgia was the only state to give its native son, incumbent President Jimmy Carter, an outright majority. With Carter not on the ticket, the all-Northern ticket of Mondale and Ferraro sank in Georgia. Even Carter's home county of Sumter County opted for Reagan.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican victory
Unlike McGovern in 1972 (who failed to carry a single county in the state), however, Mondale did have some substantial pockets of strength in the Peach State, mostly in Fulton County (Atlanta), as well as in Georgia's section of the Black Belt. Reagan did well in most of the rest of rural Georgia, although Mondale was able to garner over a third, or in some cases even over 40%, of the vote in counties in which the Democratic vote share has sunk to under a quarter of the vote in the 21st century.


1984 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican victory
Reagan did particularly well in the growing Atlanta suburban counties of Gwinnett and Cobb, which gave him his second- and third-best vote shares in the state, respectively, and which may have found his positions on reducing taxes and regulations appealing. These counties had already abandoned Carter in 1980 despite Carter still fairly comfortably carrying the state that year.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii
The 1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Hawaii voters chose 4 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii
Hawaii was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii
Hawaii weighed in for this election as 7% more Democratic than the national average. As a result of Reagan's victory in Hawaii, he became the second Republican presidential candidate to win Hawaii, the first being Richard Nixon in 1972. To date, this is the last time Hawaii has voted for a Republican in a presidential election, making Hawaii one of six states that Reagan is the last Republican presidential candidate to have won; the others being Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Hawaii, with just under 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties. All four island districts in Hawaii voted in majority for President Reagan, a stand-alone event in the State's history. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which any of Hawaii's counties voted for the Republican candidate.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Democratic platform
Walter Mondale accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency after pulling narrowly ahead of Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and Rev. Jesse Jackson of Illinois - his main contenders during what would be a very contentious Democratic primary. During the campaign, Mondale was vocal about reduction of government spending, and, in particular, was vocal against heightened military spending on the nuclear arms race against the Soviet Union, which was reaching its peak on both sides in the early 1980s.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Democratic platform
Taking a (what was becoming the traditional liberal) stance on the social issues of the day, Mondale advocated for gun control, the right to choose regarding abortion, and strongly opposed the repeal of laws regarding institutionalized prayer in public schools. He also criticized Reagan for his economic marginalization of the poor, stating that Reagan's reelection campaign was "a happy talk campaign," not focused on the real issues at hand.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Democratic platform
A very significant political move during this election: the Democratic Party nominated Representative Geraldine Ferraro to run with Mondale as Vice-President. Ferraro is the first female candidate to receive such a nomination in United States history. She said in an interview at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that this action "opened a door which will never be closed again," speaking to the role of women in politics.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican platform
By 1984, Reagan was very popular with voters across the nation as the President who saw them out of the economic stagflation of the early and middle 1970's, and into a period of (relative) economic stability.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican platform
The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy, and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for crude oil production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts. These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending, the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor, and the increasing of taxes on those making less than $50,000 per year. Collectively called "Reaganomics", these economic policies were established through several pieces of legislation passed between 1980 and 1987.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican platform
Some of these new policies also arguably curbed several existing tax loopholes, preferences, and exceptions, but Reaganomics is typically remembered for its trickle down effect. Reaganomics has (along with legislation passed under presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton) been criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican platform
Virtually unopposed during the Republican primaries, Reagan ran on a campaign of furthering his economic policies. Reagan vowed to continue his "war on drugs," passing sweeping legislation after the 1984 election in support of mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession. Furthermore, taking a (what was becoming the traditional conservative) stance on the social issues of the day, Reagan strongly opposed legislation regarding comprehension of gay marriage, abortion, and (to a lesser extent) environmentalism, regarding the final as simply being bad for business.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican victory
Reagan won the election in Hawaii with a decisive 11 point landslide. The election results in Hawaii are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s; called by Reagan the "second American Revolution." This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. No Republican candidate has received as strong of support in the American Pacific states at large, as Reagan did. This is also the most recent election cycle where Hawaii sent Republican electors to the Electoral College.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican victory
It is speculated that Mondale lost support with voters nearly immediately during the campaign, namely during his acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. There he stated that he intended to increase taxes. To quote Mondale, "By the end of my first term, I will reduce the Reagan budget deficit by two thirds. Let's tell the truth. It must be done, it must be done. Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." Despite this claimed attempt at establishing truthfulness with the electorate, this claim to raise taxes badly eroded his chances in what had already begun as an uphill battle against the charismatic Ronald Reagan.


1984 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Republican victory
Reagan also enjoyed high levels of bipartisan support during the 1984 presidential election, both in Hawaii, and across the nation at large. Many registered Democrats who voted for Reagan (Reagan Democrats) stated that they had chosen to do so because they associated him with the economic recovery, because of his strong stance on national security issues with Russia, and because they considered the Democrats as "supporting American poor and minorities at the expense of the middle class." These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Hawaii and elsewhere.


1984 United States presidential election in Idaho
The 1984 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.


1984 United States presidential election in Idaho
Idaho was won by incumbent United States President Ronald Reagan of California, who was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran for a second time with incumbent Vice President and former C.I.A. Director George H. W. Bush of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency.