1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

Summary

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.

1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote 25 0
Popular vote 2,584,323 2,228,131
Percentage 53.34% 45.99%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Pennsylvania voted for the Republican nominee, President Ronald Reagan, over the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Walter Mondale. Reagan won Pennsylvania by a margin of 7.35%, making Pennsylvania 5.5% more Democratic than the nation at large.

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 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Lackawanna County has voted Republican, the last time that Erie County gave a majority to a Republican (Donald Trump would win it by plurality in 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; George H. W. Bush would repeat this feat four years later, while his son would win without Mercer but with Armstrong in 2000.

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 edit

Republican primary edit

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

Democratic primary edit

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]

Candidate Votes Percent
Walter Mondale 747,267 45.15%
Gary Hart 551,335 33.31%
Jesse Jackson 264,463 15.98%
John Glenn 22,605 1.37%
Others 69,281 4.19%
Totals 1,654,951 Turnout: 52.10%

Results edit

 
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.
1984 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania[5]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent) 2,584,323 53.34% 25
Democratic Walter Mondale 2,228,131 45.99% 0
Consumer Sonia Johnson 21,628 0.45% 0
Libertarian David Bergland 6,982 0.14% 0
Workers' League Edward Winn 2,059 0.04% 0
Communist Gus Hall 1,780 0.04% 0
Totals 4,844,903 100.00% 25

Results by county edit

County Ronald Wilson Reagan
Republican
Walter Frederick Mondale
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Adams 16,786 69.44% 7,289 30.15% 99 0.41% 9,497 39.29% 24,174
Allegheny 284,692 42.76% 372,576 55.96% 8,480 1.27% -87,884 -13.20% 665,748
Armstrong 13,709 48.37% 14,525 51.25% 110 0.39% -816 -2.88% 28,344
Beaver 32,052 36.79% 54,765 62.86% 300 0.34% -22,713 -26.07% 87,117
Bedford 13,085 70.57% 5,424 29.25% 34 0.18% 7,661 41.31% 18,543
Berks 74,605 65.94% 37,849 33.45% 691 0.61% 36,756 32.49% 113,145
Blair 30,104 65.52% 15,651 34.06% 190 0.41% 14,453 31.46% 45,945
Bradford 14,808 72.71% 5,474 26.88% 85 0.42% 9,334 45.83% 20,367
Bucks 130,119 63.25% 74,568 36.25% 1,032 0.50% 55,551 27.00% 205,719
Butler 31,676 55.94% 24,735 43.68% 215 0.38% 6,941 12.26% 56,626
Cambria 32,173 44.50% 39,865 55.14% 258 0.36% -7,692 -10.64% 72,296
Cameron 2,031 67.05% 990 32.68% 8 0.26% 1,041 34.37% 3,029
Carbon 10,701 54.41% 8,836 44.93% 131 0.67% 1,865 9.48% 19,668
Centre 27,802 62.85% 16,194 36.61% 240 0.54% 11,608 26.24% 44,236
Chester 92,221 70.11% 38,870 29.55% 440 0.33% 53,351 40.56% 131,531
Clarion 9,836 64.27% 5,407 35.33% 61 0.40% 4,429 28.94% 15,304
Clearfield 18,653 60.62% 11,963 38.88% 153 0.50% 6,690 21.74% 30,769
Clinton 6,678 59.24% 4,525 40.14% 70 0.62% 2,153 19.10% 11,273
Columbia 14,402 63.39% 8,254 36.33% 62 0.27% 6,148 27.06% 22,718
Crawford 20,181 60.80% 12,792 38.54% 222 0.67% 7,389 22.26% 33,195
Cumberland 49,282 69.29% 21,374 30.05% 467 0.66% 27,908 39.24% 71,123
Dauphin 54,330 61.28% 33,576 37.87% 752 0.85% 20,754 23.41% 88,658
Delaware 161,754 61.79% 98,207 37.51% 1,821 0.70% 63,547 24.27% 261,782
Elk 8,470 60.47% 5,486 39.17% 51 0.36% 2,984 21.30% 14,007
Erie 55,860 51.12% 52,471 48.02% 935 0.86% 3,389 3.10% 109,266
Fayette 21,314 37.69% 35,098 62.07% 135 0.24% -13,784 -24.38% 56,547
Forest 1,468 63.36% 839 36.21% 10 0.43% 629 27.15% 2,317
Franklin 27,243 70.13% 11,480 29.55% 122 0.31% 15,763 40.58% 38,845
Fulton 3,254 71.14% 1,309 28.62% 11 0.24% 1,945 42.52% 4,574
Greene 6,376 40.40% 9,365 59.33% 43 0.27% -2,989 -18.94% 15,784
Huntingdon 10,220 69.57% 4,430 30.15% 41 0.28% 5,790 39.41% 14,691
Indiana 18,845 54.22% 15,791 45.43% 123 0.35% 3,054 8.79% 34,759
Jefferson 11,334 65.31% 5,950 34.28% 71 0.41% 5,384 31.02% 17,355
Juniata 5,059 65.66% 2,624 34.06% 22 0.29% 2,435 31.60% 7,705
Lackawanna 48,132 50.57% 45,851 48.17% 1,202 1.26% 2,281 2.40% 95,185
Lancaster 99,090 75.63% 31,308 23.90% 618 0.47% 67,782 51.74% 131,016
Lawrence 19,277 44.43% 23,981 55.27% 128 0.30% -4,704 -10.84% 43,386
Lebanon 27,008 71.61% 10,520 27.89% 188 0.50% 16,488 43.72% 37,716
Lehigh 61,799 59.69% 41,089 39.69% 649 0.63% 20,710 20.00% 103,537
Luzerne 69,169 53.50% 58,482 45.23% 1,640 1.27% 10,687 8.27% 129,291
Lycoming 28,498 68.02% 13,147 31.38% 250 0.60% 15,351 36.64% 41,895
McKean 10,963 69.22% 4,818 30.42% 58 0.37% 6,145 38.80% 15,839
Mercer 24,211 49.11% 24,658 50.01% 434 0.88% -447 -0.91% 49,303
Mifflin 9,106 63.35% 5,178 36.03% 89 0.62% 3,928 27.33% 14,373
Monroe 16,109 65.82% 8,193 33.48% 172 0.70% 7,916 32.34% 24,474
Montgomery 181,426 64.18% 99,741 35.29% 1,499 0.53% 81,685 28.90% 282,666
Montour 4,174 66.81% 2,055 32.89% 19 0.30% 2,119 33.91% 6,248
Northampton 44,648 53.49% 37,979 45.50% 840 1.01% 6,669 7.99% 83,467
Northumberland 22,109 61.13% 13,748 38.01% 308 0.85% 8,361 23.12% 36,165
Perry 9,365 71.42% 3,692 28.16% 56 0.43% 5,673 43.26% 13,113
Philadelphia 267,178 34.60% 501,369 64.94% 3,555 0.46% -234,191 -30.33% 772,102
Pike 6,343 71.17% 2,503 28.08% 67 0.75% 3,840 43.08% 8,913
Potter 5,164 73.94% 1,789 25.62% 31 0.44% 3,375 48.32% 6,984
Schuylkill 37,330 58.96% 25,758 40.68% 224 0.35% 11,572 18.28% 63,312
Snyder 8,968 78.73% 2,383 20.92% 40 0.35% 6,585 57.81% 11,391
Somerset 19,502 58.23% 13,900 41.50% 89 0.27% 5,602 16.73% 33,491
Sullivan 1,926 66.67% 952 32.95% 11 0.38% 974 33.71% 2,889
Susquehanna 10,566 69.95% 4,471 29.60% 67 0.44% 6,095 40.35% 15,104
Tioga 10,532 71.92% 4,060 27.72% 52 0.36% 6,472 44.20% 14,644
Union 7,792 73.66% 2,747 25.97% 40 0.38% 5,045 47.69% 10,579
Venango 13,507 59.44% 9,114 40.11% 104 0.46% 4,393 19.33% 22,725
Warren 10,838 62.93% 6,244 36.26% 139 0.81% 4,594 26.68% 17,221
Washington 34,782 40.47% 50,911 59.24% 244 0.28% -16,129 -18.77% 85,937
Wayne 10,061 75.66% 3,155 23.73% 81 0.61% 6,906 51.94% 13,297
Westmoreland 71,377 46.82% 79,906 52.41% 1,181 0.77% -8,529 -5.59% 152,464
Wyoming 7,230 74.01% 2,518 25.78% 21 0.21% 4,712 48.23% 9,769
York 75,020 68.67% 33,359 30.54% 868 0.79% 41,661 38.13% 109,247
Totals 2,584,323 53.34% 2,228,131 45.99% 32,449 0.67% 356,192 7.35% 4,844,903

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican edit

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic edit

See also edit

References edit

  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.

Works cited edit