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1984 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

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1984 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →
Turnout60.9%[1]
 
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote 13 0
Popular vote 1,310,936 1,239,606
Percentage 51.22% 48.43%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

The 1984 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place on November 6, 1984, as part of the 1984 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Massachusetts narrowly voted for incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan of California over his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota. Reagan ran with incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush of Texas, while Mondale's running mate was Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York.

On election day, Reagan won 51.22% of the vote in the state to Mondale's 48.43%, a margin of 2.79%. Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960. In 1972, Massachusetts was the only state in the nation to vote for Democrat George McGovern over Republican Richard Nixon in the latter's 49-state landslide. However, in 1980, Reagan had won the state for the GOP for the first time since 1956 in a 3-way race with a plurality of only 41.90% and a razor-thin margin of 0.15%. Thus in a 1984 head-to-head match-up, Massachusetts was one of the few states whose outcome remained in doubt as Reagan appeared poised for a convincing win nationwide.

Ultimately, in the midst of a decisive nationwide Republican landslide, Reagan would narrowly triumph in Massachusetts, as he did in 48 other states, leaving Mondale to win only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. Reagan's win was the first time a Republican had won an absolute majority of the popular vote in Massachusetts since 1956, although it was still Reagan's narrowest win in the nation, thus making it the second most Democratic state after Minnesota. Massachusetts was about 16% more Democratic than the national average in the 1984 election. Mondale's 48.43% of the vote marked his best result in a state he did not carry.

Reagan carried 9 counties in Massachusetts to Mondale's 5. Reagan's strongest county was suburban Plymouth County, where he took 60.2% of the vote. Mondale's strongest county win was Suffolk County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Boston, where he took 62.3% of the vote.

1984 remains the last time to date that a Republican presidential candidate has carried Massachusetts. It is also the last time that Essex County, Norfolk County, Hampden County, Berkshire County, Franklin County, and Nantucket County voted for the Republican candidate. It is also the last time that the cities of Easthampton, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Gloucester, Greenfield, Haverhill, Lowell, Melrose, Newburyport, Peabody, Quincy, Southbridge, Taunton, Waltham, West Springfield, Weymouth, and Woburn and the towns of Acton, Andover, Ashfield, Ashland, Becket, Brewster, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Colrain, Concord, Dalton, Dartmouth, Eastham, Edgartown, Egremont, Falmouth, Goshen, Great Barrington, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Leyden, Mashpee, Maynard, Merrimac, Middlefield, Milford, Millis, Nahant, Nantucket, Natick, New Marlborough, Northfield, Norwood, Plainfield, Richmond, Rockport, Sandisfield, Seekonk, South Hadley, Stoneham, Stoughton, Tyringham, Wareham, Washington, Wayland, West Stockbridge, Westport, Whately, and Worthington voted Republican. This was the first time since 1896 that the town of Blackstone voted for a Republican candidate.

Democratic primary

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Jesse Jackson's voters were 80% white, 16% black, 4% were members of other groups. Massachusetts was the only state where a majority of his voters were white.[2] 30% of Jackson voters listed Hart as their second candidate in exit polls conducted by CBS News and The New York Times' while 24% listed Mondale, 22% listed Mondale, and 19% selected none.[3]

Results

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1984 United States presidential election in Massachusetts[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent) 1,310,936 51.22% 13
Democratic Walter Mondale 1,239,606 48.43% 0
New Alliance Dennis L. Serrette 7,998 0.31% 0
Write-ins Write-ins 913 0.04% 0
Totals 2,559,453 100.00% 13
Voter Turnout (Voting age/Registered) 58%/79%

Results by county

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County Ronald Reagan
Republican
Walter Mondale
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Barnstable 51,261 56.99% 38,369 42.66% 321 0.35% 13,252 14.33% 89,951
Berkshire 33,712 52.85% 29,745 46.63% 328 0.52% 3,967 6.22% 63,785
Bristol 93,232 49.58% 94,010 49.99% 797 0.43% -778 -0.41% 188,039
Dukes 2,788 45.52% 3,313 54.09% 24 0.39% -525 -8.57% 6,125
Essex 162,152 54.84% 132,353 44.77% 1,151 0.39% 29,799 10.07% 295,656
Franklin 15,883 50.37% 15,502 49.16% 148 0.47% 381 1.21% 31,533
Hampden 89,330 51.05% 84,985 48.57% 656 0.38% 4,345 2.48% 174,971
Hampshire 28,111 43.96% 35,597 55.67% 234 0.37% -7,486 -11.71% 63,942
Middlesex 319,604 49.42% 325,065 50.26% 2,085 0.32% -5,461 -0.84% 646,754
Nantucket 1,697 53.53% 1,456 45.93% 17 0.54% 241 7.60% 3,170
Norfolk 160,313 53.56% 138,222 46.18% 784 0.26% 22,091 7.38% 299,319
Plymouth 105,230 60.21% 68,923 39.44% 618 0.35% 36,307 20.77% 174,771
Suffolk 91,563 37.37% 152,568 62.27% 866 0.36% -61,005 -24.90% 244,997
Worcester 156,060 56.45% 119,498 43.23% 882 0.32% 36,562 13.22% 276,440
Totals 1,310,936 51.22% 1,239,606 48.43% 8,911 0.35% 71,330 2.79% 2,559,453

Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Results by Congressional district

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Reagan won 8 of 11 Congressional districts, including seven held by Democrats.

District Reagan Mondale Representative
1st 51% 49% Silvio O. Conte
2nd 53% 46% Edward Boland
3rd 57% 43% Joseph D. Early
4th 48% 52% Barney Frank
5th 57% 43% James Shannon
Chester G. Atkins
6th 55% 45% Nicholas Mavroules
7th 50% 50% Ed Markey
8th 36% 64% Tip O'Neill
9th 48% 52% Joe Moakley
10th 55% 45% Gerry Studds
11th 52% 48% Brian J. Donnelly

See also

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References

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  1. ^ REPORT NUMBER P20-397, Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1984 (Advance Report) Data Tables, table 2.
  2. ^ Ranney 1985, p. 54.
  3. ^ Ranney 1985, p. 62.
  4. ^ "1984 Presidential General Election Results - Massachusetts". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved February 7, 2013.

Works cited

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