1984 United States presidential election in Maine

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

November 6, 1984
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 336,500 214,515
Percentage 60.83% 38.78%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Maine, with more than 99% of the electorate voting either Democratic or Republican, and only four parties appearing on the ballot.[1] Every county in Maine voted for Reagan by a double-digit margin, a strong performance in a historically Republican-leaning state that had trended Democratic since the 1960s. Reagan became the first Republican to win industrialized, Catholic French-Canadian Androscoggin County since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.[2] Reagan enjoyed high levels of bipartisan support, with many registered Democrats voting for him (Reagan Democrats) for his association with the economic recovery, his strong stance on national security issues with the Soviet Union, and the perception that the Democratic platform "support[ed] American poor and minorities at the expense of the middle class."[3]

Even amidst a national Republican landslide, Maine weighed in as almost 4% more Republican than the national average. This election marked something of a high water mark for Republicans in Maine; no candidate of either party has since come close to Reagan's vote share or margin, and the state at-large has subsequently only voted Republican once more (in the following election of 1988). Despite Reagan's success in 1984, the subsequent and rapid decline of the Republican Party in Maine and other liberal New England states has been attributed in part to the broader party adopting the conservative policies that Reagan championed, in what the president described as the "second American Revolution."[4]

Results

1984 United States presidential election in Maine
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent) 336,500 60.83% 4
Democratic Walter Mondale 214,515 38.78% 0
Communist Party Gus Hall 1,292 0.23% 0
New Alliance Party Dennis Serrette 755 0.14% 0
Write-Ins 82 0.01% 0
Totals 553,144 100.0% 4

Results by congressional district

Reagan won both of Maine's congressional districts.[5]

District Reagan # Reagan % Mondale # Mondale % Hall # Hall % Total votes cast Representative
1st 175,472 59.69% 117,450 39.95% 685 0.23% 293,979 John McKernan Jr.
2nd 161,028 62.16% 97,065 37.47% 607 0.23% 259,063 Olympia Snowe

Results by county

County Ronald Wilson Reagan[6]
Republican
Walter Frederick Mondale[6]
Democratic
Gus Hall[6]
Communist
Various candidates[6]
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Androscoggin 26,904 57.24% 19,885 42.31% 101 0.21% 110 0.23% 7,019 14.93% 47,000
Aroostook 21,837 63.59% 12,348 35.96% 95 0.28% 58 0.17% 9,489 27.63% 34,338
Cumberland 65,842 56.75% 49,894 43.00% 190 0.16% 100 0.09% 15,948 13.75% 116,026
Franklin 8,330 62.40% 4,954 37.11% 40 0.30% 25 0.19% 3,376 25.29% 13,349
Hancock 14,660 65.12% 7,764 34.49% 53 0.24% 34 0.15% 6,896 30.63% 22,511
Kennebec 31,753 59.70% 21,183 39.82% 173 0.33% 82 0.15% 10,570 19.87% 53,191
Knox 11,311 65.00% 6,024 34.62% 47 0.27% 19 0.11% 5,287 30.38% 17,401
Lincoln 10,312 67.68% 4,869 31.96% 29 0.19% 26 0.17% 5,443 35.72% 15,236
Oxford 15,408 64.34% 8,430 35.20% 67 0.28% 43 0.18% 6,978 29.14% 23,948
Penobscot 40,403 62.11% 24,445 37.58% 112 0.17% 94 0.14% 15,958 24.53% 65,054
Piscataquis 5,427 63.98% 3,016 35.56% 24 0.28% 15 0.18% 2,411 28.42% 8,482
Sagadahoc 9,222 63.51% 5,208 35.87% 64 0.44% 26 0.18% 4,014 27.64% 14,520
Somerset 13,010 62.64% 7,657 36.86% 66 0.32% 38 0.18% 5,353 25.77% 20,771
Waldo 8,814 62.22% 5,289 37.34% 40 0.28% 23 0.16% 3,525 24.88% 14,166
Washington 9,713 64.41% 5,308 35.20% 31 0.21% 29 0.19% 4,405 29.21% 15,081
York 43,554 60.43% 28,241 39.19% 160 0.22% 115 0.16% 15,313 21.25% 72,070
Totals336,50060.83%214,51538.78%1,2920.23%8370.15%121,98522.05%553,144

See also

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  2. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 218-219 ISBN 0786422173
  3. Prendergast, William B. (1999). The Catholic vote in American politics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. pp. 186, 191–193. ISBN 0-87840-724-3.
  4. Raines, Howell (November 7, 1984). "Reagan Wins By a Landslide, Sweeping at Least 48 States; G.O.P. Gains Strength in House". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  5. 1984 General Election: Presidential (Report). Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions. 1984.
  6. Our Campaigns; ME US Presidential Race; November 06, 1084
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.