1984 Presidential Election

The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982. Reagan carried 49 of the 50 states, becoming only the second presidential candidate to do so after Richard Nixon's victory in the 1972 presidential election. Mondale's only electoral votes came from the District of Columbia, which has always been considered a Democratic guarantee, and his home state of Minnesota—which he won by a mere 3761 votes, meaning Reagan came within 3800 votes of winning all fifty states. Reagan's 525 electoral votes (out of 538) is the highest total ever received by a presidential candidate. Mondale's 13 electoral votes is also the 2nd-fewest ever received by a second-place candidate, second only to Alf Landon's 8 in 1936. In the national popular vote, Reagan received 58.8% to Mondale's 40.6%.

Source: Wikipedia

1984 Election Results

Candidate Party Electoral Votes Popular Votes
Ronald Reagan (I) Republican 525 54,455,075
Walter F. Mondale Democratic 13 37,577,185

1984 Election Facts

  • Mondale's running mate, Geraldine A. Ferraro is first woman on a major party Presidential ticket
  • Reagan received 525 Electoral Votes and over 54 million popular votes. The Electoral Vote total is a record that stands to this day
  • Popular vote totals from Federal Elections 84.
  • Issues of the Day: Recession and Subsequent Recovery (start of bull market for stocks), Defense Spending

Margin of Victory Map

This map is shaded by how large the popular vote difference was between the two nominees. It is a way to view the relative competitiveness of each state. These maps are also available as a timeline for each election from 1972-2020.