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.
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 County Results
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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.
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.[1] As was typical for the time, the large majority of counties in Colorado voted mainly for the Republican candidate. Colorado was a powerfully Republican state at the time, giving Reagan a 28-point margin, almost ten points in excess of his national margin. It would remain a powerfully Republican state through the 2000s, albeit to a decreasing degree, as then-traditionally Republican Boulder County turned Democratic and Democratic margins in Denver increased. 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.[2] This was the last election until 2020 in which Colorado was decided by double digits, and the last such time a Republican won by such a margin.
Republican victory
| Elections in Colorado |
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Reagan won the election in Colorado with a resounding 28 point sweep-out landslide. These very decisive results in Colorado, which was rapidly transitioning toward swing state by this time, 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."[3] 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.
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."[4] 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.
Reagan also enjoyed high levels of bipartisan support during the 1984 presidential election, both in Colorado, 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."[5] These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Colorado and elsewhere.
Results
| 1984 United States presidential election in Colorado | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Ronald Reagan | 821,818 | 63.44% | 8 | |
| Democratic | Walter Mondale | 454,974 | 35.12% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | David Bergland | 11,257 | 0.87% | 0 | |
| Independent | Lyndon LaRouche | 4,662 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| New Alliance Party | Dennis Serrette | 978 | 0.08% | 0 | |
| Prohibition | Earl Dodge | 859 | 0.07% | 0 | |
| Socialist Workers Party | Melvin Mason | 810 | 0.06% | 0 | |
| Write-Ins | 23 | >0.01% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 1,295,381 | 100.0% | 8 | ||
Results by county
| County | Ronald Wilson Reagan[6] Republican |
Walter Frederick Mondale[6] Democratic |
David Peter Bergland[6] Libertarian |
Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.[6] Independent |
Various candidates[6] Other parties |
Margin | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | |
| Rio Blanco | 80.81% | 2,131 | 18.35% | 484 | 0.49% | 13 | 0.23% | 6 | 0.11% | 3 | 62.46% | 1,647 |
| Douglas | 79.33% | 12,249 | 19.50% | 3,011 | 0.80% | 124 | 0.25% | 39 | 0.12% | 18 | 59.83% | 9,238 |
| Dolores | 78.47% | 667 | 20.35% | 173 | 0.24% | 2 | 0.59% | 5 | 0.35% | 3 | 58.12% | 494 |
| Jackson | 78.22% | 722 | 20.69% | 191 | 0.11% | 1 | 0.54% | 5 | 0.43% | 4 | 57.53% | 531 |
| Washington | 77.47% | 2,080 | 21.15% | 568 | 0.37% | 10 | 0.86% | 23 | 0.15% | 4 | 56.31% | 1,512 |
| Kit Carson | 77.06% | 2,762 | 21.71% | 778 | 0.33% | 12 | 0.61% | 22 | 0.28% | 10 | 55.36% | 1,984 |
| Custer | 76.12% | 832 | 22.05% | 241 | 0.82% | 9 | 0.91% | 10 | 0.09% | 1 | 54.07% | 591 |
| Teller | 75.84% | 3,460 | 22.86% | 1,043 | 0.88% | 40 | 0.35% | 16 | 0.07% | 3 | 52.98% | 2,417 |
| Baca | 75.85% | 1,903 | 23.12% | 580 | 0.28% | 7 | 0.64% | 16 | 0.12% | 3 | 52.73% | 1,323 |
| Elbert | 75.27% | 2,605 | 23.17% | 802 | 0.95% | 33 | 0.52% | 18 | 0.09% | 3 | 52.09% | 1,803 |
| Kiowa | 75.22% | 850 | 23.45% | 265 | 0.27% | 3 | 0.80% | 9 | 0.27% | 3 | 51.77% | 585 |
| Hinsdale | 74.88% | 310 | 23.67% | 98 | 0.97% | 4 | 0.24% | 1 | 0.24% | 1 | 51.21% | 212 |
| El Paso | 75.04% | 88,377 | 23.93% | 28,185 | 0.59% | 694 | 0.31% | 360 | 0.13% | 157 | 51.11% | 60,192 |
| Yuma | 74.32% | 3,394 | 24.55% | 1,121 | 0.33% | 15 | 0.59% | 27 | 0.22% | 10 | 49.77% | 2,273 |
| Moffat | 72.88% | 3,630 | 24.65% | 1,228 | 1.67% | 83 | 0.56% | 28 | 0.24% | 12 | 48.22% | 2,402 |
| Cheyenne | 73.23% | 892 | 25.21% | 307 | 0.16% | 2 | 0.90% | 11 | 0.49% | 6 | 48.03% | 585 |
| Montezuma | 73.06% | 4,753 | 25.59% | 1,665 | 0.46% | 30 | 0.69% | 45 | 0.20% | 13 | 47.46% | 3,088 |
| Rio Grande | 73.25% | 3,122 | 25.90% | 1,104 | 0.40% | 17 | 0.31% | 13 | 0.14% | 6 | 47.35% | 2,018 |
| Lincoln | 72.91% | 1,661 | 25.77% | 587 | 0.44% | 10 | 0.70% | 16 | 0.18% | 4 | 47.15% | 1,074 |
| Mineral | 72.55% | 333 | 25.49% | 117 | 1.09% | 5 | 0.65% | 3 | 0.22% | 1 | 47.06% | 216 |
| Grand | 72.72% | 2,865 | 25.81% | 1,017 | 0.81% | 32 | 0.66% | 26 | 0.00% | 0 | 46.90% | 1,848 |
| Logan | 72.33% | 5,883 | 26.50% | 2,155 | 0.23% | 19 | 0.69% | 56 | 0.25% | 20 | 45.84% | 3,728 |
| Sedgwick | 72.39% | 1,146 | 27.10% | 429 | 0.13% | 2 | 0.19% | 3 | 0.19% | 3 | 45.29% | 717 |
| Arapahoe | 71.92% | 107,556 | 26.67% | 39,891 | 1.05% | 1,566 | 0.20% | 303 | 0.16% | 239 | 45.24% | 67,665 |
| Archuleta | 71.98% | 1,557 | 27.00% | 584 | 0.46% | 10 | 0.37% | 8 | 0.18% | 4 | 44.98% | 973 |
| Morgan | 71.26% | 6,097 | 27.24% | 2,331 | 0.94% | 80 | 0.30% | 26 | 0.26% | 22 | 44.02% | 3,766 |
| Phillips | 71.36% | 1,689 | 27.50% | 651 | 0.51% | 12 | 0.59% | 14 | 0.04% | 1 | 43.85% | 1,038 |
| Park | 70.33% | 2,041 | 26.95% | 782 | 1.79% | 52 | 0.62% | 18 | 0.31% | 9 | 43.38% | 1,259 |
| Ouray | 70.85% | 914 | 28.37% | 366 | 0.08% | 1 | 0.54% | 7 | 0.16% | 2 | 42.48% | 548 |
| Montrose | 70.40% | 7,162 | 28.15% | 2,864 | 0.40% | 41 | 0.78% | 79 | 0.27% | 27 | 42.25% | 4,298 |
| Mesa | 69.66% | 23,736 | 29.17% | 9,938 | 0.50% | 171 | 0.50% | 170 | 0.17% | 59 | 40.49% | 13,798 |
| Prowers | 68.71% | 3,501 | 28.79% | 1,467 | 1.47% | 75 | 0.53% | 27 | 0.49% | 25 | 39.92% | 2,034 |
| Delta | 69.28% | 6,678 | 29.41% | 2,835 | 0.39% | 38 | 0.60% | 58 | 0.31% | 30 | 39.87% | 3,843 |
| Garfield | 69.14% | 7,111 | 29.91% | 3,076 | 0.56% | 58 | 0.28% | 29 | 0.11% | 11 | 39.23% | 4,035 |
| Jefferson | 68.92% | 124,495 | 29.73% | 53,700 | 0.78% | 1,401 | 0.40% | 727 | 0.17% | 304 | 39.19% | 70,795 |
| Weld | 68.51% | 31,293 | 30.35% | 13,863 | 0.54% | 248 | 0.41% | 188 | 0.19% | 87 | 38.16% | 17,430 |
| Eagle | 67.84% | 4,500 | 30.63% | 2,032 | 0.87% | 58 | 0.39% | 26 | 0.26% | 17 | 37.21% | 2,468 |
| Gunnison | 67.30% | 3,100 | 30.92% | 1,424 | 1.24% | 57 | 0.20% | 9 | 0.35% | 16 | 36.39% | 1,676 |
| La Plata | 67.49% | 8,719 | 31.27% | 4,040 | 0.53% | 68 | 0.44% | 57 | 0.26% | 34 | 36.22% | 4,679 |
| Fremont | 67.31% | 8,250 | 31.78% | 3,895 | 0.46% | 56 | 0.31% | 38 | 0.14% | 17 | 35.53% | 4,355 |
| Larimer | 66.64% | 49,883 | 31.93% | 23,896 | 0.81% | 610 | 0.40% | 300 | 0.21% | 160 | 34.72% | 25,987 |
| Chaffee | 66.31% | 3,680 | 32.05% | 1,779 | 1.01% | 56 | 0.45% | 25 | 0.18% | 10 | 34.25% | 1,901 |
| Routt | 66.15% | 4,239 | 32.01% | 2,051 | 1.26% | 81 | 0.45% | 29 | 0.12% | 8 | 34.14% | 2,188 |
| Summit | 66.14% | 3,253 | 32.29% | 1,588 | 1.04% | 51 | 0.39% | 19 | 0.14% | 7 | 33.86% | 1,665 |
| Clear Creek | 65.34% | 2,151 | 33.08% | 1,089 | 0.91% | 30 | 0.55% | 18 | 0.12% | 4 | 32.26% | 1,062 |
| Crowley | 65.03% | 993 | 33.86% | 517 | 0.33% | 5 | 0.46% | 7 | 0.33% | 5 | 31.17% | 476 |
| Otero | 62.37% | 5,373 | 34.88% | 3,005 | 1.87% | 161 | 0.35% | 30 | 0.53% | 46 | 27.49% | 2,368 |
| San Juan | 61.66% | 320 | 35.26% | 183 | 1.93% | 10 | 0.39% | 2 | 0.77% | 4 | 26.40% | 137 |
| Alamosa | 62.68% | 2,953 | 36.51% | 1,720 | 0.30% | 14 | 0.30% | 14 | 0.21% | 10 | 26.17% | 1,233 |
| Adams | 60.20% | 55,092 | 38.56% | 35,285 | 0.56% | 513 | 0.49% | 450 | 0.19% | 171 | 21.64% | 19,807 |
| Bent | 59.75% | 1,314 | 39.06% | 859 | 0.55% | 12 | 0.59% | 13 | 0.05% | 1 | 20.69% | 455 |
| Gilpin | 57.03% | 896 | 40.36% | 634 | 2.23% | 35 | 0.19% | 3 | 0.19% | 3 | 16.68% | 262 |
| Saguache | 57.63% | 1,201 | 41.60% | 867 | 0.29% | 6 | 0.38% | 8 | 0.10% | 2 | 16.03% | 334 |
| Pitkin | 56.39% | 3,117 | 41.48% | 2,293 | 1.48% | 82 | 0.47% | 26 | 0.18% | 10 | 14.91% | 824 |
| San Miguel | 54.77% | 833 | 43.00% | 654 | 1.38% | 21 | 0.39% | 6 | 0.46% | 7 | 11.77% | 179 |
| Boulder | 55.06% | 53,535 | 43.39% | 42,195 | 0.99% | 960 | 0.34% | 326 | 0.23% | 222 | 11.66% | 11,340 |
| Conejos | 51.40% | 1,669 | 47.83% | 1,553 | 0.18% | 6 | 0.43% | 14 | 0.15% | 5 | 3.57% | 116 |
| Lake | 49.65% | 1,364 | 48.20% | 1,324 | 1.42% | 39 | 0.40% | 11 | 0.33% | 9 | 1.46% | 40 |
| Huerfano | 49.04% | 1,581 | 49.69% | 1,602 | 0.53% | 17 | 0.59% | 19 | 0.16% | 5 | -0.65% | -21 |
| Denver | 47.83% | 105,096 | 50.15% | 110,200 | 1.45% | 3,190 | 0.27% | 586 | 0.30% | 669 | -2.32% | -5,104 |
| Pueblo | 47.19% | 24,634 | 51.97% | 27,126 | 0.32% | 168 | 0.35% | 184 | 0.17% | 88 | -4.77% | -2,492 |
| Las Animas | 44.38% | 2,992 | 54.43% | 3,670 | 0.36% | 24 | 0.39% | 26 | 0.44% | 30 | -10.06% | -678 |
| Costilla | 38.07% | 621 | 61.13% | 997 | 0.43% | 7 | 0.25% | 4 | 0.12% | 2 | -23.05% | -376 |
See also
References
- "1984 Presidential General Election Results – Colorado". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
- 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. Archived from the original on 2013-11-14. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984 Archived 2013-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, AllPolitics
- Prendergast, William B. (1999). The Catholic vote in American politics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. pp. 186, 191–193. ISBN 0-87840-724-3.
- Our Campaigns; CO US President, November 06, 1984
