1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

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1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
  1980 November 6, 1984 1988  
  Ronald Reagan presidential portrait (cropped).jpg Walter Mondale 1977 vice presidential portrait (cropped).jpg
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote250
Popular vote2,584,3232,228,131
Percentage53.34%45.99%

Pennsylvania Presidential Election Results 1984.svg
1984 US Presidential election in Pennsylvania by congressional district.svg
1984 United States Presidential Election in Pennsylvania by Municipality.svg

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

The 1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 6, 1984, and was part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Voters chose 25 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Pennsylvania voted for the Republican nominee, President Ronald Reagan, over the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Walter Mondale.

Contents

Reagan won the state by sweeping the small towns and rural areas of central Pennsylvania and performing well in the traditionally Republican suburbs of Philadelphia, but the race was kept within single digits by Mondale’s strong showing in heavily unionized and traditionally Democratic Western Pennsylvania, as well as his decisive victories in the cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. As of the 2024 , this is the last election in which Lackawanna County has voted Republican, the last time that Erie County voted Republican until 2016, and the last time a Republican won one-third of the vote in Philadelphia. [1]

This was one of only three elections since the Civil War in which Pennsylvania has voted more Democratic than neighboring New York (along with 1952 and 1956), and the most recent election in which it voted to the left of Illinois, Washington, or Hawaii. Reagan became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Mercer or Armstrong Counties

Marian Bell, James F. Malone III, Ginny Thornburgh, Coral Scranton, Fred Anton, Harvey Bartle III, Thomas Milhollan, Marta Bell Schoeninger, John H. Ware III, and Theodore Metzger Jr. were among the Republican electors. The Democratic elector slate included Judith Heh, Roxanne Jones, Cathy Irvis, James J. Manderino, and Nancy Nancarrow. Malone was the chair of the electors and Bell was an elector for Richard Nixon in 1972 and Reagan in 1980. [2]

Primaries

Republican primary

Ronald Reagan ran uncontested, winning 616,916 votes (turnout: 27.66%).

Democratic primary

Jesse Jackson's voters were 81% black and 18% white. [3] 41% of Jackson voters listed Mondale as their second candidate in exit polls conducted by CBS News and The New York Times , while 19% listed Hart and 24% selected none. [4]

CandidateVotesPercent
Walter Mondale747,26745.15%
Gary Hart551,33533.31%
Jesse Jackson264,46315.98%
John Glenn22,6051.37%
Others69,2814.19%
Totals1,654,951Turnout: 52.10%

Results

Results in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, shaded by municipality 1984 United States Presidential Election in Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area.svg
Results in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, shaded by municipality
President Ronald Reagan gives remarks at the Polish Festival National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa Doylestown, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1984. President Ronald Reagan delivers remarks in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.jpg
President Ronald Reagan gives remarks at the Polish Festival National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa Doylestown, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1984.
1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania [5]
PartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent)2,584,323 53.34%25
Democratic Walter Mondale 2,228,13145.99%0
Consumer Sonia Johnson 21,6280.45%0
Libertarian David Bergland 6,9820.14%0
Workers' League Edward Winn 2,0590.04%0
Communist Gus Hall 1,7800.04%0
Totals4,844,903100.00%25

Results by county

CountyRonald Reagan
Republican
Walter Mondale
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
# %# %# %# %
Adams 16,78669.44%7,28930.15%990.41%9,49739.29%24,174
Allegheny 284,69242.76%372,57655.96%8,4801.27%-87,884-13.20%665,748
Armstrong 13,70948.37%14,52551.25%1100.39%-816-2.88%28,344
Beaver 32,05236.79%54,76562.86%3000.34%-22,713-26.07%87,117
Bedford 13,08570.57%5,42429.25%340.18%7,66141.32%18,543
Berks 74,60565.94%37,84933.45%6910.61%36,75632.49%113,145
Blair 30,10465.52%15,65134.06%1900.41%14,45331.46%45,945
Bradford 14,80872.71%5,47426.88%850.42%9,33445.83%20,367
Bucks 130,11963.25%74,56836.25%1,0320.50%55,55127.00%205,719
Butler 31,67655.94%24,73543.68%2150.38%6,94112.26%56,626
Cambria 32,17344.50%39,86555.14%2580.36%-7,692-10.64%72,296
Cameron 2,03167.05%99032.68%80.26%1,04134.37%3,029
Carbon 10,70154.41%8,83644.93%1310.67%1,8659.48%19,668
Centre 27,80262.85%16,19436.61%2400.54%11,60826.24%44,236
Chester 92,22170.11%38,87029.55%4400.33%53,35140.56%131,531
Clarion 9,83664.27%5,40735.33%610.40%4,42928.94%15,304
Clearfield 18,65360.62%11,96338.88%1530.50%6,69021.74%30,769
Clinton 6,67859.24%4,52540.14%700.62%2,15319.10%11,273
Columbia 14,40263.39%8,25436.33%620.27%6,14827.06%22,718
Crawford 20,18160.80%12,79238.54%2220.67%7,38922.26%33,195
Cumberland 49,28269.29%21,37430.05%4670.66%27,90839.24%71,123
Dauphin 54,33061.28%33,57637.87%7520.85%20,75423.41%88,658
Delaware 161,75461.79%98,20737.51%1,8210.70%63,54724.28%261,782
Elk 8,47060.47%5,48639.17%510.36%2,98421.30%14,007
Erie 55,86051.12%52,47148.02%9350.86%3,3893.10%109,266
Fayette 21,31437.69%35,09862.07%1350.24%-13,784-24.38%56,547
Forest 1,46863.36%83936.21%100.43%62927.15%2,317
Franklin 27,24370.13%11,48029.55%1220.31%15,76340.58%38,845
Fulton 3,25471.14%1,30928.62%110.24%1,94542.52%4,574
Greene 6,37640.40%9,36559.33%430.27%-2,989-18.93%15,784
Huntingdon 10,22069.57%4,43030.15%410.28%5,79039.42%14,691
Indiana 18,84554.22%15,79145.43%1230.35%3,0548.79%34,759
Jefferson 11,33465.31%5,95034.28%710.41%5,38431.03%17,355
Juniata 5,05965.66%2,62434.06%220.29%2,43531.60%7,705
Lackawanna 48,13250.57%45,85148.17%1,2021.26%2,2812.40%95,185
Lancaster 99,09075.63%31,30823.90%6180.47%67,78251.73%131,016
Lawrence 19,27744.43%23,98155.27%1280.30%-4,704-10.84%43,386
Lebanon 27,00871.61%10,52027.89%1880.50%16,48843.72%37,716
Lehigh 61,79959.69%41,08939.69%6490.63%20,71020.00%103,537
Luzerne 69,16953.50%58,48245.23%1,6401.27%10,6878.27%129,291
Lycoming 28,49868.02%13,14731.38%2500.60%15,35136.64%41,895
McKean 10,96369.22%4,81830.42%580.37%6,14538.80%15,839
Mercer 24,21149.11%24,65850.01%4340.88%-447-0.90%49,303
Mifflin 9,10663.35%5,17836.03%890.62%3,92827.32%14,373
Monroe 16,10965.82%8,19333.48%1720.70%7,91632.34%24,474
Montgomery 181,42664.18%99,74135.29%1,4990.53%81,68528.89%282,666
Montour 4,17466.81%2,05532.89%190.30%2,11933.92%6,248
Northampton 44,64853.49%37,97945.50%8401.01%6,6697.99%83,467
Northumberland 22,10961.13%13,74838.01%3080.85%8,36123.12%36,165
Perry 9,36571.42%3,69228.16%560.43%5,67343.26%13,113
Philadelphia 267,17834.60%501,36964.94%3,5550.46%-234,191-30.34%772,102
Pike 6,34371.17%2,50328.08%670.75%3,84043.09%8,913
Potter 5,16473.94%1,78925.62%310.44%3,37548.32%6,984
Schuylkill 37,33058.96%25,75840.68%2240.35%11,57218.28%63,312
Snyder 8,96878.73%2,38320.92%400.35%6,58557.81%11,391
Somerset 19,50258.23%13,90041.50%890.27%5,60216.73%33,491
Sullivan 1,92666.67%95232.95%110.38%97433.72%2,889
Susquehanna 10,56669.95%4,47129.60%670.44%6,09540.35%15,104
Tioga 10,53271.92%4,06027.72%520.36%6,47244.20%14,644
Union 7,79273.66%2,74725.97%400.38%5,04547.69%10,579
Venango 13,50759.44%9,11440.11%1040.46%4,39319.33%22,725
Warren 10,83862.93%6,24436.26%1390.81%4,59426.67%17,221
Washington 34,78240.47%50,91159.24%2440.28%-16,129-18.77%85,937
Wayne 10,06175.66%3,15523.73%810.61%6,90651.93%13,297
Westmoreland 71,37746.82%79,90652.41%1,1810.77%-8,529-5.59%152,464
Wyoming 7,23074.01%2,51825.78%210.21%4,71248.23%9,769
York 75,02068.67%33,35930.54%8680.79%41,66138.13%109,247
Totals2,584,32353.34%2,228,13145.99%32,4490.67%356,1927.35%4,844,903

Results by congressional district

Reagan carried 17 of the 23 congressional districts, including seven held by Democrats.

District [6] ReaganMondale
1st34.8%65.2%
2nd10.4%89.6%
3rd64%46%
4th48%52%
5th66.9%33.1%
6th64%36%
7th62.3%37.7%
8th64.2%35.8%
9th66.7%33.3%
10th61.9%38.1%
11th56%44%
12th50.8%49.2%
13th60%40%
14th30.6%69.4%
15th57.6%42.4%
16th74.2%25.8%
17th66.9%33.1%
18th58.2%41.8%
19th67.9%32.1%
20th37.9%62.1%
21st53.2%46.8%
22nd42.9%57.1%
19th62.9%37.1%

See also

References

  1. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  2. "Faithful electors vote 25-0 in a celebration of Reagan". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . December 18, 1984. p. 6. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  3. Ranney 1985, p. 54.
  4. Ranney 1985, p. 62.
  5. David Leip. "1984 Presidential General Election Results – Pennsylvania". Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. "1984 United States Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District". Western Washington University. Retrieved July 24, 2024.

Works cited