1984 United States presidential election in Virginia

The 1984 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.

1984 United States presidential election in Virginia

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 12 0
Popular vote 1,337,078 796,250
Percentage 62.29% 37.09%

County and Independent City Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Virginia 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 Virginia, with just under 99% of the electorate voting only either Democratic or Republican, and only three candidates appearing on the ballot.[1] Only two of Virginia's counties or independent cities failed to give either Mondale or Reagan an outright majority: the city of Franklin gave Reagan a plurality, and Greensville County gave Mondale a plurality. Mondale's best performance was in Charles City County, which gave him 68.7% of its vote; Reagan's was in the city of Poquoson, which gave him 84.7%.

Virginia weighed in for this election as 5% more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which the independent cities of Franklin, Roanoke, and Falls Church voted for the Republican candidate.

Democratic platform

Walter Mondale accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency after pulling narrowly ahead of Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and Rev. Jesse Jackson of Illinois - his main contenders during what would be a very contentious[2] Democratic primary. During the campaign, Mondale was vocal about reduction of government spending, and, in particular, was vocal against heightened military spending on the nuclear arms race against the Soviet Union,[3] which was reaching its peak on both sides in the early 1980s.

Taking a (what was becoming the traditional liberal) stance on the social issues of the day, Mondale advocated for gun control, the right to choose regarding abortion, and strongly opposed the repeal of laws regarding institutionalized prayer in public schools. He also criticized Reagan for his economic marginalization of the poor, stating that Reagan's reelection campaign was "a happy talk campaign," not focused on the real issues at hand.[4]

A very significant political move during this election: the Democratic Party nominated Representative Geraldine Ferraro to run with Mondale as Vice-President. Ferraro is the first female candidate to receive such a nomination from the party in United States history. She said in an interview at the 1984 Democratic National Convention that this action "opened a door which will never be closed again,"[5] speaking to the role of women in politics.

Republican platform

Away from the campaign trail, Reagan (center, far left frame) attends the interment ceremony for the Vietnam Era serviceman, at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. May 28, 1984.

By 1984, Reagan was very popular with voters across the nation as the President who saw them out of the economic stagflation of the early and middle 1970s, and into a period of (relative) economic stability.[6]

The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy,[7] and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for crude oil production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts.[8] These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending,[9] the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor,[10] and the increasing of taxes on those making less than $50,000 per year.[7] Collectively called "Reaganomics", these economic policies were established through several pieces of legislation passed between 1980 and 1987.

These new tax policies also arguably curbed several existing tax loopholes, preferences, and exceptions, but Reaganomics is typically remembered for its trickle down effect of taxing poor Americans more than rich ones. Reaganomics has (along with legislation passed under presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton) been criticized by many analysts as "setting the stage" for economic troubles in the United States after 2007, such as the Great Recession.[11]

Virtually unopposed during the Republican primaries, Reagan ran on a campaign of furthering his economic policies. Reagan vowed to continue his "war on drugs," passing sweeping legislation after the 1984 election in support of mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession.[12] Furthermore, taking a (what was becoming the traditional conservative) stance on the social issues of the day, Reagan strongly opposed legislation regarding comprehension of gay marriage, abortion, and (to a lesser extent) environmentalism,[13] regarding the final as simply being bad for business.

Republican victory

Reagan won Virginia by a landslide 25% margin. The Old Dominion, which had been the only former Confederate state to vote for Gerald Ford in 1976, had, unlike many other Southern states, not even been particularly close in 1980: Virginia rejected the incumbent Southerner, Jimmy Carter, in favor of Reagan by nearly 13%. 1984 confirmed Virginia's position as a center of the emerging Republican South; Reagan's 62.3% vote share in the state made it his 17th best nationally, and his fourth-best in the Old Confederacy, after Florida, Texas, and South Carolina. (Of those three, Florida and Texas had similarly decisively rejected Carter in 1980.)

Reagan performed well throughout all of Virginia's regions, relegating Mondale mostly to some largely African-American counties in the east, some highly unionized coal counties in southwest Virginia, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Norfolk, Richmond, and Portsmouth.[14] Particularly noteworthy, however, was Reagan's strong performance in Virginia's large, suburban counties: he got over 60% of the vote in Fairfax County, which cast the most votes of any of the state's jurisdictions, and over 70% in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Henrico County, and Chesterfield County. He also got over 2/3 of the vote in the emerging exurb of Prince William County. In a noteworthy shift against the state and national trend, however, Mondale flipped Arlington County, making Reagan the first Republican since William Howard Taft in 1908 to win the White House without carrying the county.[15]

Results

1984 United States presidential election in Virginia[16]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (inc.) 1,337,078 62.29% 12
Democratic Walter Mondale 796,250 37.09% 0
Independent Democrat Lyndon LaRouche 13,307 0.62% 0
Totals 2,146,635 100.0% 12

Results by county or independent city

County or Independent City Ronald Wilson Reagan
Republican
Walter Fritz Mondale
Democratic
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche
Independent Democrat
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Accomack County 8,047 64.55% 4,355 34.94% 64 0.51% 3,692 29.62% 12,466
Albemarle County 14,455 64.16% 7,982 35.43% 93 0.41% 6,473 28.73% 22,530
Alleghany County 3,067 60.89% 1,932 38.36% 38 0.75% 1,135 22.53% 5,037
Amelia County 2,336 61.41% 1,432 37.64% 36 0.95% 904 23.76% 3,804
Amherst County 7,004 66.51% 3,409 32.37% 117 1.11% 3,595 34.14% 10,530
Appomattox County 3,386 68.65% 1,498 30.37% 48 0.97% 1,888 38.28% 4,932
Arlington County 34,848 48.24% 37,031 51.26% 363 0.50% -2,183 -3.02% 72,242
Augusta County 15,308 79.22% 3,899 20.18% 116 0.60% 11,409 59.04% 19,323
Bath County 1,434 65.93% 727 33.43% 14 0.64% 707 32.51% 2,175
Bedford County 10,371 68.15% 4,754 31.24% 92 0.60% 5,617 36.91% 15,217
Bland County 1,812 67.29% 867 32.19% 14 0.52% 945 35.09% 2,693
Botetourt County 5,959 64.15% 3,243 34.91% 87 0.94% 2,716 29.24% 9,289
Brunswick County 2,950 48.58% 3,040 50.06% 83 1.37% -90 -1.48% 6,073
Buchanan County 5,053 38.71% 7,828 59.97% 172 1.32% -2,775 -21.26% 13,053
Buckingham County 2,627 57.36% 1,879 41.03% 74 1.62% 748 16.33% 4,580
Campbell County 13,388 74.69% 4,380 24.44% 156 0.87% 9,008 50.26% 17,924
Caroline County 2,949 48.04% 3,111 50.68% 78 1.27% -162 -2.64% 6,138
Carroll County 7,056 70.26% 2,914 29.02% 72 0.72% 4,142 41.25% 10,042
Charles City County 776 30.03% 1,776 68.73% 32 1.24% -1,000 -38.70% 2,584
Charlotte County 2,999 61.76% 1,811 37.29% 46 0.95% 1,188 24.46% 4,856
Chesterfield County 54,896 79.78% 13,739 19.97% 176 0.26% 41,157 59.81% 68,811
Clarke County 2,529 67.21% 1,215 32.29% 19 0.50% 1,314 34.92% 3,763
Craig County 1,173 57.70% 845 41.56% 15 0.74% 328 16.13% 2,033
Culpeper County 5,596 70.60% 2,255 28.45% 75 0.95% 3,341 42.15% 7,926
Cumberland County 2,027 60.89% 1,237 37.16% 65 1.95% 790 23.73% 3,329
Dickenson County 3,921 44.34% 4,848 54.82% 75 0.85% -927 -10.48% 8,844
Dinwiddie County 4,547 56.04% 3,485 42.95% 82 1.01% 1,062 13.09% 8,114
Essex County 2,120 61.63% 1,300 37.79% 20 0.58% 820 23.84% 3,440
Fairfax County 183,181 62.88% 107,295 36.83% 822 0.28% 75,886 26.05% 291,298
Fauquier County 10,319 71.41% 4,056 28.07% 76 0.53% 6,263 43.34% 14,451
Floyd County 3,431 67.69% 1,599 31.54% 39 0.77% 1,832 36.14% 5,069
Fluvanna County 2,247 62.21% 1,332 36.88% 33 0.91% 915 25.33% 3,612
Franklin County 7,684 60.21% 4,903 38.42% 175 1.37% 2,781 21.79% 12,762
Frederick County 9,542 77.79% 2,671 21.77% 54 0.44% 6,871 56.01% 12,267
Giles County 4,340 58.18% 3,047 40.84% 73 0.98% 1,293 17.33% 7,460
Gloucester County 7,109 70.91% 2,830 28.23% 86 0.86% 4,279 42.68% 10,025
Goochland County 3,404 60.60% 2,178 38.78% 35 0.62% 1,226 21.83% 5,617
Grayson County 4,508 65.43% 2,319 33.66% 63 0.91% 2,189 31.77% 6,890
Greene County 2,216 73.87% 760 25.33% 24 0.80% 1,456 48.53% 3,000
Greensville County 2,304 48.28% 2,352 49.29% 116 2.43% -48 -1.01% 4,772
Halifax County 6,726 60.58% 4,231 38.11% 146 1.31% 2,495 22.47% 11,103
Hanover County 18,800 79.26% 4,831 20.37% 87 0.37% 13,969 58.90% 23,718
Henrico County 63,864 74.74% 21,336 24.97% 248 0.29% 42,528 49.77% 85,448
Henry County 12,693 63.76% 6,976 35.04% 237 1.19% 5,717 28.72% 19,906
Highland County 997 70.91% 398 28.31% 11 0.78% 599 42.60% 1,406
Isle of Wight County 5,664 60.18% 3,650 38.78% 98 1.04% 2,014 21.40% 9,412
James City County 7,104 66.54% 3,486 32.65% 87 0.81% 3,618 33.89% 10,677
King and Queen County 1,449 54.39% 1,201 45.08% 14 0.53% 248 9.31% 2,664
King George County 2,356 61.34% 1,450 37.75% 35 0.91% 906 23.59% 3,841
King William County 2,803 65.43% 1,448 33.80% 33 0.77% 1,355 31.63% 4,284
Lancaster County 3,416 67.72% 1,559 30.91% 69 1.37% 1,857 36.82% 5,044
Lee County 5,365 50.83% 5,085 48.18% 104 0.99% 280 2.65% 10,554
Loudoun County 17,765 67.99% 8,227 31.49% 136 0.52% 9,538 36.50% 26,128
Louisa County 3,789 57.91% 2,703 41.31% 51 0.78% 1,086 16.60% 6,543
Lunenburg County 2,713 59.94% 1,754 38.75% 59 1.30% 959 21.19% 4,526
Madison County 2,723 67.15% 1,302 32.11% 30 0.74% 1,421 35.04% 4,055
Mathews County 2,868 71.61% 1,106 27.62% 31 0.77% 1,762 44.00% 4,005
Mecklenburg County 6,777 65.69% 3,438 33.33% 101 0.98% 3,339 32.37% 10,316
Middlesex County 2,612 67.23% 1,206 31.04% 67 1.72% 1,406 36.19% 3,885
Montgomery County 12,428 62.88% 7,202 36.44% 135 0.68% 5,226 26.44% 19,765
Nelson County 2,777 57.22% 2,021 41.64% 55 1.13% 756 15.58% 4,853
New Kent County 2,679 68.71% 1,204 30.88% 16 0.41% 1,475 37.83% 3,899
Northampton County 2,906 55.81% 2,226 42.75% 75 1.44% 680 13.06% 5,207
Northumberland County 3,166 68.41% 1,407 30.40% 55 1.19% 1,759 38.01% 4,628
Nottoway County 3,418 59.00% 2,296 39.63% 79 1.36% 1,122 19.37% 5,793
Orange County 4,483 65.72% 2,285 33.50% 53 0.78% 2,198 32.22% 6,821
Page County 5,021 66.78% 2,437 32.41% 61 0.81% 2,584 34.37% 7,519
Patrick County 4,703 70.47% 1,908 28.59% 63 0.94% 2,795 41.88% 6,674
Pittsylvania County 15,743 66.08% 7,791 32.70% 290 1.22% 7,952 33.38% 23,824
Powhatan County 3,921 73.61% 1,381 25.92% 25 0.47% 2,540 47.68% 5,327
Prince Edward County 3,454 56.11% 2,589 42.06% 113 1.84% 865 14.05% 6,156
Prince George County 4,999 69.64% 2,136 29.76% 43 0.60% 2,863 39.89% 7,178
Prince William County 34,992 68.88% 15,631 30.77% 180 0.35% 19,361 38.11% 50,803
Pulaski County 8,242 64.90% 4,364 34.36% 93 0.73% 3,878 30.54% 12,699
Rappahannock County 1,696 62.65% 999 36.90% 12 0.44% 697 25.75% 2,707
Richmond County 1,869 68.46% 830 30.40% 31 1.14% 1,039 38.06% 2,730
Roanoke County 23,348 68.56% 10,569 31.04% 137 0.40% 12,779 37.53% 34,054
Rockbridge County 4,067 65.66% 2,098 33.87% 29 0.47% 1,969 31.79% 6,194
Rockingham County 13,480 75.70% 4,220 23.70% 107 0.60% 9,260 52.00% 17,807
Russell County 5,738 45.54% 6,760 53.66% 101 0.80% -1,022 -8.11% 12,599
Scott County 5,804 59.10% 3,904 39.75% 113 1.15% 1,900 19.35% 9,821
Shenandoah County 9,048 76.03% 2,771 23.29% 81 0.68% 6,277 52.75% 11,900
Smyth County 8,593 67.08% 4,102 32.02% 116 0.91% 4,491 35.06% 12,811
Southampton County 4,669 57.99% 3,300 40.99% 82 1.02% 1,369 17.00% 8,051
Spotsylvania County 8,207 66.74% 4,012 32.63% 78 0.63% 4,195 34.11% 12,297
Stafford County 10,293 69.63% 4,429 29.96% 60 0.41% 5,864 39.67% 14,782
Surry County 1,462 43.38% 1,875 55.64% 33 0.98% -413 -12.26% 3,370
Sussex County 2,183 46.14% 2,408 50.90% 140 2.96% -225 -4.76% 4,731
Tazewell County 9,645 53.89% 8,014 44.78% 237 1.32% 1,631 9.11% 17,896
Warren County 5,016 65.73% 2,551 33.43% 64 0.84% 2,465 32.30% 7,631
Washington County 12,132 68.06% 5,573 31.26% 121 0.68% 6,559 36.79% 17,826
Westmoreland County 3,219 56.84% 2,363 41.73% 81 1.43% 856 15.12% 5,663
Wise County 7,909 51.36% 7,303 47.43% 187 1.21% 606 3.94% 15,399
Wythe County 6,773 68.65% 2,996 30.37% 97 0.98% 3,777 38.28% 9,866
York County 10,214 71.24% 4,063 28.34% 60 0.42% 6,151 42.90% 14,337
Alexandria City 21,166 46.77% 23,552 52.05% 535 1.18% -2,386 -5.27% 45,253
Bedford City 1,553 60.36% 997 38.75% 23 0.89% 556 21.61% 2,573
Bristol City 5,012 67.11% 2,429 32.53% 27 0.36% 2,583 34.59% 7,468
Buena Vista City 1,335 64.40% 724 34.93% 14 0.68% 611 29.47% 2,073
Charlottesville City 6,947 48.56% 7,317 51.15% 42 0.29% -370 -2.59% 14,306
Chesapeake City 27,542 61.64% 16,740 37.46% 402 0.90% 10,802 24.17% 44,684
Clifton Forge City 965 51.44% 896 47.76% 15 0.80% 69 3.68% 1,876
Colonial Heights City 6,387 83.71% 1,218 15.96% 25 0.33% 5,169 67.75% 7,630
Covington City 1,722 54.46% 1,391 43.99% 49 1.55% 331 10.47% 3,162
Danville City 12,141 66.85% 5,846 32.19% 174 0.96% 6,295 34.66% 18,161
Emporia City 1,252 60.25% 807 38.84% 19 0.91% 445 21.41% 2,078
Fairfax City 6,234 65.36% 3,263 34.21% 41 0.43% 2,971 31.15% 9,538
Falls Church City 2,684 52.62% 2,398 47.01% 19 0.37% 286 5.61% 5,101
Franklin City 1,561 49.87% 1,537 49.11% 32 1.02% 24 0.77% 3,130
Fredericksburg City 3,500 58.60% 2,439 40.83% 34 0.57% 1,061 17.76% 5,973
Galax City 1,548 65.18% 814 34.27% 13 0.55% 734 30.91% 2,375
Hampton City 25,537 57.95% 18,180 41.25% 351 0.80% 7,357 16.69% 44,068
Harrisonburg City 5,221 68.15% 2,384 31.12% 56 0.73% 2,837 37.03% 7,661
Hopewell City 5,661 68.27% 2,564 30.92% 67 0.81% 3,097 37.35% 8,292
Lexington City 1,197 55.34% 946 43.74% 20 0.92% 251 11.60% 2,163
Lynchburg City 18,047 67.41% 8,542 31.91% 183 0.68% 9,505 35.50% 26,772
Manassas City 4,613 71.34% 1,824 28.21% 29 0.45% 2,789 43.13% 6,466
Manassas Park City 975 71.96% 375 27.68% 5 0.37% 600 44.28% 1,355
Martinsville City 4,234 58.37% 2,942 40.56% 78 1.08% 1,292 17.81% 7,254
Newport News City 33,614 60.35% 21,834 39.20% 250 0.45% 11,780 21.15% 55,698
Norfolk City 36,360 48.15% 38,913 51.53% 243 0.32% -2,553 -3.38% 75,516
Norton City 806 48.32% 842 50.48% 20 1.20% -36 -2.16% 1,668
Petersburg City 5,753 38.17% 9,248 61.35% 73 0.48% -3,495 -23.19% 15,074
Poquoson City 3,667 84.73% 647 14.95% 14 0.32% 3,020 69.78% 4,328
Portsmouth City 18,940 46.42% 21,623 53.00% 238 0.58% -2,683 -6.58% 40,801
Radford City 2,855 61.15% 1,781 38.15% 33 0.71% 1,074 23.00% 4,669
Richmond City 38,754 43.73% 49,408 55.75% 466 0.53% -10,654 -12.02% 88,628
Roanoke City 19,008 52.09% 17,300 47.41% 184 0.50% 1,708 4.68% 36,492
Salem City 6,419 65.43% 3,347 34.12% 44 0.45% 3,072 31.31% 9,810
South Boston City 1,899 65.64% 974 33.67% 20 0.69% 925 31.97% 2,893
Staunton City 6,137 74.88% 2,012 24.55% 47 0.57% 4,125 50.33% 8,196
Suffolk City 10,128 52.97% 8,842 46.25% 149 0.78% 1,286 6.73% 19,119
Virginia Beach City 72,571 74.36% 24,703 25.31% 320 0.33% 47,868 49.05% 97,594
Waynesboro City 4,465 73.45% 1,579 25.97% 35 0.58% 2,886 47.47% 6,079
Williamsburg City 1,913 56.23% 1,469 43.18% 20 0.59% 444 13.05% 3,402
Winchester City 5,055 70.68% 2,064 28.86% 33 0.46% 2,991 41.82% 7,152
Totals1,337,07862.29%796,25037.09%13,3070.62%540,82825.19%2,146,635

By congressional district

All 10 congressional districts, including 4 that elected Democratic congressmen, voted for Reagan.[17]

District Reagan Mondale Representative
1st 62% 37% Herbert H. Bateman
2nd 63% 37% G. William Whitehurst
3rd 65% 35% Thomas J. Bliley Jr.
4th 56% 43% Norman Sisisky
5th 66% 34% Dan Daniel
6th 66% 34% Jim Olin
7th 69% 31% J. Kenneth Robinson
D. French Slaughter Jr.
8th 61% 38% Stanford Parris
9th 58% 41% Rick Boucher
10th 59% 41% Frank Wolf

See also

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  2. Kurt Andersen, "A Wild Ride to the End", Time, May 28, 1984
  3. Trying to Win the Peace, by Even Thomas, Time, July 2, 1984
  4. Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984, AllPolitics
  5. Martin, Douglas (2011-03-27). "Geraldine A. Ferraro, First Woman on Major Party Ticket, Dies at 75". The New York Times. pp. A1. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  6. 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.
  7. "U.S. Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History, 1913–2011 (Nominal and Inflation-Adjusted Brackets)". Tax Foundation. September 9, 2011. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  8. Joseph J. Thorndike (Nov 10, 2005). "Historical Perspective: The Windfall Profit Tax". Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  9. Historical tables, Budget of the United States Government Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, 2013, table 6.1.
  10. Niskanen, William A. (1992). "Reaganomics". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (1st ed.). Library of Economics and Liberty. OCLC 317650570, 50016270, 163149563
  11. Jerry Lanson (2008-11-06). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  12. Alexander, Michelle (2010). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1595581037.
  13. Prendergast, William B. (1999). The Catholic vote in American politics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. pp. 186, 191–193. ISBN 0-87840-724-3.
  14. "Virginia Elections Database » 1984 President General Election". Virginia Elections Database. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  15. "The Political Graveyard: Arlington County, Va". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  16. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1984election.pdf
  17. https://archive.org/details/officialelection1984virg
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