1984 United States presidential election in Florida
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The 1984 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 6, 1984. All fifty states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Florida voters chose 21 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.
Florida 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.
Contents
Partisan background
The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Florida, with nearly 100% of the electorate voting either Democratic or Republican, with only those two parties appearing on the presidential ballot in Florida.[1] Almost every county in Florida voted in majority for the Republican candidate, a particularly strong turn out even in this typically conservative-leaning state. The one exception was Gadsden County, a regular African-American majority Democratic stronghold in Northern Florida.
In this election, Florida voted 7% more Republican than the national average.
Democratic platform
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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 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
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 1970's, 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.
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.[11] 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,[12] regarding the final as simply being bad for business.
Republican victory
Reagan won the election in Florida with a resounding 31 point sweep-out landslide. While Florida typically voted conservative at the time, the election results in Florida are also reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s; called by Reagan the "second American Revolution."[6] This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. Hardly then the swing state we now consider it, Florida produced Reagan's best numbers in the Deep South.
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 promise 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 Florida, 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."[12] These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Florida and elsewhere.
Results
| United States presidential election in Florida, 1984 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Ronald Reagan | 2,730,350 | 65.32% | 21 | |
| Democratic | Walter Mondale | 1,448,816 | 34.66% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | David Bergland (write-in) | 754 | 0.02% | 0 | |
| Other write-ins | 141 | >0.01% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 4,180,051 | 100.0% | 21 | ||
Results by county
| Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican |
Walter Frederick Mondale Democratic |
Various candidates Write-ins |
Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # |
| Alachua | 30,609 | 53.46% | 26,584 | 46.43% | 60 | 0.10% | 4,025 | 7.03% | 57,253 |
| Baker | 3,485 | 71.62% | 1,381 | 28.38% | 2,104 | 43.24% | 4,866 | ||
| Bay | 29,356 | 75.77% | 9,384 | 24.22% | 4 | 0.01% | 19,972 | 51.55% | 38,744 |
| Bradford | 4,130 | 63.82% | 2,341 | 36.18% | 1,789 | 27.65% | 6,471 | ||
| Brevard | 102,477 | 73.45% | 36,985 | 26.51% | 49 | 0.04% | 65,492 | 46.94% | 139,511 |
| Broward | 254,608 | 56.68% | 194,584 | 43.32% | 34 | 0.01% | 60,024 | 13.36% | 449,226 |
| Calhoun | 2,493 | 65.48% | 1,312 | 34.46% | 2 | 0.05% | 1,181 | 31.02% | 3,807 |
| Charlotte | 27,486 | 70.85% | 11,305 | 29.14% | 2 | 0.01% | 16,181 | 41.71% | 38,793 |
| Citrus | 20,764 | 66.47% | 10,468 | 33.51% | 4 | 0.01% | 10,296 | 32.96% | 31,236 |
| Clay | 21,571 | 79.72% | 5,489 | 20.28% | 16,082 | 59.43% | 27,060 | ||
| Collier | 33,619 | 78.75% | 9,067 | 21.24% | 5 | 0.01% | 24,552 | 57.51% | 42,691 |
| Columbia | 8,814 | 67.41% | 4,261 | 32.59% | 4,553 | 34.82% | 13,075 | ||
| Dade | 324,414 | 59.17% | 223,863 | 40.83% | 35 | 0.01% | 100,551 | 18.34% | 548,312 |
| DeSoto | 4,822 | 67.64% | 2,304 | 32.32% | 3 | 0.04% | 2,518 | 35.32% | 7,129 |
| Dixie | 2,204 | 64.29% | 1,224 | 35.71% | 980 | 28.59% | 3,428 | ||
| Duval | 128,724 | 62.41% | 77,488 | 37.57% | 37 | 0.02% | 51,236 | 24.84% | 206,249 |
| Escambia | 66,715 | 71.32% | 26,812 | 28.66% | 22 | 0.02% | 39,903 | 42.65% | 93,549 |
| Flagler | 4,913 | 62.08% | 3,000 | 37.91% | 1 | 0.01% | 1,913 | 24.17% | 7,914 |
| Franklin | 2,218 | 67.05% | 1,090 | 32.95% | 1,128 | 34.10% | 3,308 | ||
| Gadsden | 5,807 | 43.95% | 7,403 | 56.03% | 2 | 0.02% | -1,596 | -12.08% | 13,212 |
| Gilchrist | 2,056 | 66.15% | 1,051 | 33.82% | 1 | 0.03% | 1,005 | 32.34% | 3,108 |
| Glades | 1,987 | 65.00% | 1,070 | 35.00% | 917 | 30.00% | 3,057 | ||
| Gulf | 3,573 | 66.70% | 1,784 | 33.30% | 1,789 | 33.40% | 5,357 | ||
| Hamilton | 1,921 | 57.83% | 1,401 | 42.17% | 520 | 15.65% | 3,322 | ||
| Hardee | 3,962 | 72.06% | 1,536 | 27.94% | 2,426 | 44.13% | 5,498 | ||
| Hendry | 4,524 | 69.15% | 2,018 | 30.85% | 2,506 | 38.31% | 6,542 | ||
| Hernando | 21,279 | 63.54% | 12,204 | 36.44% | 4 | 0.01% | 9,075 | 27.10% | 33,487 |
| Highlands | 16,474 | 69.53% | 7,217 | 30.46% | 3 | 0.01% | 9,257 | 39.07% | 23,694 |
| Hillsborough | 157,926 | 64.67% | 86,230 | 35.31% | 52 | 0.02% | 71,696 | 29.36% | 244,208 |
| Holmes | 4,548 | 78.70% | 1,231 | 21.30% | 3,317 | 57.40% | 5,779 | ||
| Indian River | 23,716 | 73.08% | 8,736 | 26.92% | 14,980 | 46.16% | 32,452 | ||
| Jackson | 9,091 | 64.70% | 4,960 | 35.30% | 4,131 | 29.40% | 14,051 | ||
| Jefferson | 2,244 | 52.16% | 2,057 | 47.81% | 1 | 0.02% | 187 | 4.35% | 4,302 |
| Lafayette | 1,513 | 63.71% | 862 | 36.29% | 651 | 27.41% | 2,375 | ||
| Lake | 35,319 | 74.29% | 12,217 | 25.70% | 7 | 0.01% | 23,102 | 48.59% | 47,543 |
| Lee | 85,024 | 73.89% | 30,022 | 26.09% | 30 | 0.03% | 55,002 | 47.80% | 115,076 |
| Leon | 36,325 | 55.00% | 29,683 | 44.94% | 38 | 0.06% | 6,642 | 10.06% | 66,046 |
| Levy | 5,561 | 64.19% | 3,103 | 35.81% | 2,458 | 28.37% | 8,664 | ||
| Liberty | 1,410 | 68.45% | 650 | 31.55% | 760 | 36.89% | 2,060 | ||
| Madison | 2,819 | 57.30% | 2,101 | 42.70% | 718 | 14.59% | 4,920 | ||
| Manatee | 55,793 | 72.75% | 20,889 | 27.24% | 6 | 0.01% | 34,904 | 45.51% | 76,688 |
| Marion | 37,815 | 69.97% | 16,225 | 30.02% | 6 | 0.01% | 21,590 | 39.95% | 54,046 |
| Martin | 28,900 | 76.28% | 8,978 | 23.70% | 9 | 0.02% | 19,922 | 52.58% | 37,887 |
| Monroe | 16,332 | 67.73% | 7,774 | 32.24% | 9 | 0.04% | 8,558 | 35.49% | 24,115 |
| Nassau | 8,039 | 69.76% | 3,484 | 30.23% | 1 | 0.01% | 4,555 | 39.53% | 11,524 |
| Okaloosa | 37,044 | 83.51% | 7,304 | 16.47% | 9 | 0.02% | 29,740 | 67.05% | 44,357 |
| Okeechobee | 4,449 | 66.65% | 2,226 | 33.35% | 2,223 | 33.30% | 6,675 | ||
| Orange | 122,068 | 71.39% | 48,752 | 28.51% | 165 | 0.10% | 73,316 | 42.88% | 170,985 |
| Osceola | 18,348 | 73.45% | 6,628 | 26.53% | 4 | 0.02% | 11,720 | 46.92% | 24,980 |
| Palm Beach | 186,811 | 61.67% | 116,091 | 38.32% | 29 | 0.01% | 70,720 | 23.35% | 302,931 |
| Pasco | 66,618 | 61.92% | 40,962 | 38.07% | 8 | 0.01% | 25,656 | 23.85% | 107,588 |
| Pinellas | 240,612 | 65.16% | 128,574 | 34.82% | 63 | 0.02% | 112,038 | 30.34% | 369,249 |
| Polk | 84,246 | 70.33% | 35,516 | 29.65% | 22 | 0.02% | 48,730 | 40.68% | 119,784 |
| Putnam | 11,435 | 59.37% | 7,823 | 40.61% | 4 | 0.02% | 3,612 | 18.75% | 19,262 |
| St. Johns | 16,500 | 71.26% | 6,652 | 28.73% | 2 | 0.01% | 9,848 | 42.53% | 23,154 |
| St. Lucie | 28,200 | 68.37% | 13,040 | 31.61% | 7 | 0.02% | 15,160 | 36.75% | 41,247 |
| Santa Rosa | 21,265 | 82.04% | 4,649 | 17.94% | 6 | 0.02% | 16,616 | 64.10% | 25,920 |
| Sarasota | 87,771 | 74.15% | 30,525 | 25.79% | 69 | 0.06% | 57,246 | 48.36% | 118,365 |
| Seminole | 56,244 | 75.91% | 17,795 | 24.02% | 53 | 0.07% | 38,449 | 51.89% | 74,092 |
| Sumter | 6,255 | 64.37% | 3,461 | 35.62% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,794 | 28.75% | 9,717 |
| Suwannee | 6,082 | 68.57% | 2,788 | 31.43% | 3,294 | 37.14% | 8,870 | ||
| Taylor | 4,038 | 69.98% | 1,732 | 30.02% | 2,306 | 39.97% | 5,770 | ||
| Union | 1,804 | 70.28% | 761 | 29.65% | 2 | 0.08% | 1,043 | 40.63% | 2,567 |
| Volusia | 68,358 | 60.93% | 43,820 | 39.06% | 13 | 0.01% | 24,538 | 21.87% | 112,191 |
| Wakulla | 3,088 | 67.75% | 1,470 | 32.25% | 1,618 | 35.50% | 4,558 | ||
| Walton | 7,126 | 74.01% | 2,503 | 25.99% | 4,623 | 48.01% | 9,629 | ||
| Washington | 4,608 | 70.62% | 1,916 | 29.36% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,692 | 41.26% | 6,525 |
| Totals | 2,730,350 | 65.32% | 1,448,816 | 34.66% | 885 | 0.02% | 1,281,534 | 30.66% | 4,180,051 |
See also
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Kurt Andersen, "A Wild Ride to the End", Time, May 28, 1984
- ↑ Trying to Win the Peace, by Even Thomas, Time, July 2, 1984
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984, AllPolitics
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Historical tables, Budget of the United States Government Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, 2013, table 6.1.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. OCLC 317650570, 50016270 and 163149563
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
