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1984 United States presidential election in Nebraska

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1984 United States presidential election in Nebraska

← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →
  File:Vice President Mondale 1977 closeup.jpg
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote 5 0
Popular vote 460,054 187,866
Percentage 70.55% 28.81%

County Results
Reagan
  50–60%
  60–70%
  70–80%
  80–90%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

The 1984 United States presidential election in Nebraska took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1984 United States presidential election. Voters chose 5 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.

Nebraska 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.

Partisan background

The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for Nebraska, with over 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only five parties formally appearing on the ballot.[1] Every county in Nebraska voted in majority for the Republican candidate, a particularly strong turn out even in this typically conservative state. This included Saline County, which had been the only Nebraska county to vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and for Adlai Stevenson II in 1956, and where George McGovern had lost by only 3.17 percent.

Nebraska weighed in for this election as 12% more Republican than the national average and with 70.55% of the popular vote, proved to be Reagan's third strongest state in the 1984 election after Utah and Idaho.[2]

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[3] Democratic primary. During the primary 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,[4] 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 what he charged was 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.[5]

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,"[6] speaking to the role of women in politics.

Republican platform

Reagan challenging Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!," from the Brandenburg Gate in June, 1987. Reagan's firm stance with the Soviet Union was an important contributor to his 1984 reelection.

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.[7]

The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy,[8] and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for crude oil production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts.[9] These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending,[10] the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor,[11] and the increasing of taxes on those making less than $50,000 per year.[8] Collectively called "Reaganomics", these economic policies were established through several pieces of legislation passed between 1980 and 1987.

Some of these new policies also arguably curbed several existing tax loopholes, preferences, and exceptions. 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.[12]

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.[13] 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,[14] regarding the final as simply being bad for business.

Republican victory

Reagan won the election in Nebraska with a resounding 42 point sweep-out landslide. While Nebraska typically votes conservative, the election results in Nebraska 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."[7] This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. Nebraska continued its age-old trend of voting in par with its sister Great Plains States (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kansas), a trend that has not been broken in any presidential election since 1920.

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."[5] 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 Nebraska, 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."[14] These public opinion factors contributed to Reagan's 1984 landslide victory, in Nebraska and elsewhere.

Results

1984 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan 460,054 70.55% 5
Democratic Walter Mondale 187,866 28.81% 0
Libertarian David Bergland 2,079 0.32% 0
Independent Melvin Mason 1,066 0.16% 0
Independent Dennis Serrette 1,025 0.16% 0
Totals 652,090 100.0% 5

Results by county

County[15] Ronald Wilson Reagan
Republican
Walter Frederick Mondale
Democratic
David Peter Bergland
Libertarian
Melvin T. Mason
Independent
Dennis L. Serrette
Independent
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 9,127 75.09% 2,945 24.23% 48 0.39% 21 0.17% 14 0.12% 6,182 50.86% 12,155
Antelope 3,222 81.80% 697 17.69% 12 0.30% 4 0.10% 4 0.10% 2,525 64.10% 3,939
Arthur 248 88.26% 33 11.74% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 215 76.51% 281
Banner 457 87.55% 58 11.11% 5 0.96% 2 0.38% 0 0.00% 399 76.44% 522
Blaine 363 88.32% 48 11.68% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 315 76.64% 411
Boone 2,508 78.01% 690 21.46% 6 0.19% 8 0.25% 3 0.09% 1,818 56.55% 3,215
Box Butte 4,011 72.60% 1,471 26.62% 22 0.40% 7 0.13% 14 0.25% 2,540 45.97% 5,525
Boyd 1,175 78.54% 308 20.59% 10 0.67% 2 0.13% 1 0.07% 867 57.95% 1,496
Brown 1,514 82.60% 312 17.02% 2 0.11% 1 0.05% 4 0.22% 1,202 65.58% 1,833
Buffalo 11,365 78.11% 3,086 21.21% 51 0.35% 21 0.14% 27 0.19% 8,279 56.90% 14,550
Burt 2,645 71.08% 1,054 28.33% 9 0.24% 9 0.24% 4 0.11% 1,591 42.76% 3,721
Butler 2,557 67.56% 1,193 31.52% 22 0.58% 5 0.13% 8 0.21% 1,364 36.04% 3,785
Cass 5,461 68.04% 2,499 31.14% 26 0.32% 22 0.27% 18 0.22% 2,962 36.91% 8,026
Cedar 3,298 72.71% 1,201 26.48% 21 0.46% 11 0.24% 5 0.11% 2,097 46.23% 4,536
Chase 1,697 80.93% 368 17.55% 21 1.00% 3 0.14% 8 0.38% 1,329 63.38% 2,097
Cherry 2,720 85.05% 463 14.48% 10 0.31% 2 0.06% 3 0.09% 2,257 70.58% 3,198
Cheyenne 3,159 77.73% 857 21.09% 28 0.69% 9 0.22% 11 0.27% 2,302 56.64% 4,064
Clay 2,920 77.74% 811 21.59% 9 0.24% 7 0.19% 9 0.24% 2,109 56.15% 3,756
Colfax 2,999 74.68% 981 24.43% 13 0.32% 10 0.25% 13 0.32% 2,018 50.25% 4,016
Cuming 3,931 82.93% 779 16.43% 23 0.49% 4 0.08% 3 0.06% 3,152 66.50% 4,740
Custer 4,749 80.94% 1,090 18.58% 8 0.14% 14 0.24% 6 0.10% 3,659 62.37% 5,867
Dakota 3,467 57.76% 2,510 41.82% 12 0.20% 8 0.13% 5 0.08% 957 15.94% 6,002
Dawes 3,326 78.59% 865 20.44% 18 0.43% 12 0.28% 11 0.26% 2,461 58.15% 4,232
Dawson 6,887 81.92% 1,487 17.69% 13 0.15% 13 0.15% 7 0.08% 5,400 64.23% 8,407
Deuel 962 82.43% 198 16.97% 7 0.60% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 764 65.47% 1,167
Dixon 2,155 68.11% 986 31.16% 9 0.28% 9 0.28% 5 0.16% 1,169 36.95% 3,164
Dodge 10,201 70.15% 4,266 29.34% 41 0.28% 15 0.10% 18 0.12% 5,935 40.82% 14,541
Douglas 112,676 65.24% 58,979 34.15% 487 0.28% 279 0.16% 299 0.17% 53,697 31.09% 172,720
Dundy 992 80.98% 225 18.37% 5 0.41% 2 0.16% 1 0.08% 767 62.61% 1,225
Fillmore 2,474 70.46% 1,009 28.74% 10 0.28% 14 0.40% 4 0.11% 1,465 41.73% 3,511
Franklin 1,597 75.08% 522 24.54% 5 0.24% 2 0.09% 1 0.05% 1,075 50.54% 2,127
Frontier 1,351 83.55% 258 15.96% 4 0.25% 3 0.19% 1 0.06% 1,093 67.59% 1,617
Furnas 2,363 79.67% 579 19.52% 10 0.34% 9 0.30% 5 0.17% 1,784 60.15% 2,966
Gage 6,116 68.78% 2,709 30.47% 35 0.39% 17 0.19% 15 0.17% 3,407 38.32% 8,892
Garden 1,158 85.71% 180 13.32% 4 0.30% 4 0.30% 5 0.37% 978 72.39% 1,351
Garfield 899 81.43% 196 17.75% 4 0.36% 3 0.27% 2 0.18% 703 63.68% 1,104
Gosper 802 79.33% 201 19.88% 4 0.40% 2 0.20% 2 0.20% 601 59.45% 1,011
Grant 406 88.45% 51 11.11% 1 0.22% 1 0.22% 0 0.00% 355 77.34% 459
Greeley 948 65.74% 485 33.63% 3 0.21% 3 0.21% 3 0.21% 463 32.11% 1,442
Hall 13,193 73.47% 4,655 25.92% 46 0.26% 29 0.16% 33 0.18% 8,538 47.55% 17,956
Hamilton 3,418 79.77% 842 19.65% 11 0.26% 9 0.21% 5 0.12% 2,576 60.12% 4,285
Harlan 1,692 76.80% 493 22.38% 10 0.45% 5 0.23% 3 0.14% 1,199 54.43% 2,203
Hayes 593 85.45% 101 14.55% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 492 70.89% 694
Hitchcock 1,391 79.99% 341 19.61% 1 0.06% 4 0.23% 2 0.12% 1,050 60.38% 1,739
Holt 4,613 83.19% 893 16.10% 22 0.40% 13 0.23% 4 0.07% 3,720 67.09% 5,545
Hooker 433 87.83% 55 11.16% 1 0.20% 3 0.61% 1 0.20% 378 76.67% 493
Howard 1,899 67.68% 887 31.61% 12 0.43% 5 0.18% 3 0.11% 1,012 36.07% 2,806
Jefferson 3,116 68.89% 1,367 30.22% 19 0.42% 13 0.29% 8 0.18% 1,749 38.67% 4,523
Johnson 1,542 64.36% 821 34.27% 15 0.63% 10 0.42% 8 0.33% 721 30.09% 2,396
Kearney 2,508 76.89% 726 22.26% 18 0.55% 8 0.25% 2 0.06% 1,782 54.63% 3,262
Keith 3,433 84.10% 631 15.46% 12 0.29% 5 0.12% 1 0.02% 2,802 68.64% 4,082
Keya Paha 507 79.84% 128 20.16% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 379 59.69% 635
Kimball 1,734 83.09% 339 16.24% 3 0.14% 3 0.14% 8 0.38% 1,395 66.84% 2,087
Knox 3,364 73.77% 1,149 25.20% 25 0.55% 15 0.33% 7 0.15% 2,215 48.57% 4,560
Lancaster 48,778 59.31% 32,898 40.00% 307 0.37% 122 0.15% 140 0.17% 15,880 19.31% 82,245
Lincoln 10,717 70.01% 4,509 29.46% 39 0.25% 24 0.16% 18 0.12% 6,208 40.56% 15,307
Logan 446 86.77% 67 13.04% 1 0.19% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 379 73.74% 514
Loup 323 79.95% 79 19.55% 1 0.25% 1 0.25% 0 0.00% 244 60.40% 404
Madison 9,790 84.48% 1,757 15.16% 25 0.22% 5 0.04% 12 0.10% 8,033 69.32% 11,589
McPherson 295 82.87% 57 16.01% 3 0.84% 1 0.28% 0 0.00% 238 66.85% 356
Merrick 2,700 76.14% 818 23.07% 10 0.28% 11 0.31% 7 0.20% 1,882 53.07% 3,546
Morrill 1,888 79.80% 464 19.61% 7 0.30% 4 0.17% 3 0.13% 1,424 60.19% 2,366
Nance 1,393 72.14% 525 27.19% 9 0.47% 3 0.16% 1 0.05% 868 44.95% 1,931
Nemaha 2,752 72.55% 1,004 26.47% 21 0.55% 9 0.24% 7 0.18% 1,748 46.08% 3,793
Nuckolls 2,132 68.82% 947 30.57% 10 0.32% 4 0.13% 5 0.16% 1,185 38.25% 3,098
Otoe 4,679 70.94% 1,869 28.34% 26 0.39% 15 0.23% 7 0.11% 2,810 42.60% 6,596
Pawnee 1,306 69.32% 552 29.30% 10 0.53% 9 0.48% 7 0.37% 754 40.02% 1,884
Perkins 1,420 81.80% 307 17.68% 3 0.17% 2 0.12% 4 0.23% 1,113 64.11% 1,736
Phelps 3,741 83.11% 740 16.44% 10 0.22% 5 0.11% 5 0.11% 3,001 66.67% 4,501
Pierce 3,017 84.06% 545 15.19% 13 0.36% 9 0.25% 5 0.14% 2,472 68.88% 3,589
Platte 10,069 82.38% 2,061 16.86% 53 0.43% 25 0.20% 14 0.11% 8,008 65.52% 12,222
Polk 2,149 77.41% 610 21.97% 8 0.29% 6 0.22% 3 0.11% 1,539 55.44% 2,776
Red Willow 4,131 79.69% 1,026 19.79% 11 0.21% 12 0.23% 4 0.08% 3,105 59.90% 5,184
Richardson 3,634 71.28% 1,422 27.89% 22 0.43% 9 0.18% 11 0.22% 2,212 43.39% 5,098
Rock 873 85.34% 147 14.37% 1 0.10% 1 0.10% 1 0.10% 726 70.97% 1,023
Saline 2,942 54.54% 2,385 44.22% 34 0.63% 21 0.39% 12 0.22% 557 10.33% 5,394
Sarpy 20,192 74.37% 6,838 25.19% 64 0.24% 31 0.11% 25 0.09% 13,354 49.19% 27,150
Saunders 5,217 67.34% 2,467 31.84% 34 0.44% 14 0.18% 15 0.19% 2,750 35.50% 7,747
Scotts Bluff 10,711 77.18% 3,074 22.15% 47 0.34% 21 0.15% 25 0.18% 7,637 55.03% 13,878
Seward 3,983 67.09% 1,911 32.19% 17 0.29% 17 0.29% 9 0.15% 2,072 34.90% 5,937
Sheridan 2,661 86.93% 377 12.32% 10 0.33% 8 0.26% 5 0.16% 2,284 74.62% 3,061
Sherman 1,144 61.44% 701 37.65% 6 0.32% 7 0.38% 4 0.21% 443 23.79% 1,862
Sioux 732 85.12% 121 14.07% 3 0.35% 2 0.23% 2 0.23% 611 71.05% 860
Stanton 2,082 83.01% 411 16.39% 10 0.40% 4 0.16% 1 0.04% 1,671 66.63% 2,508
Thayer 2,580 72.66% 946 26.64% 11 0.31% 6 0.17% 8 0.23% 1,634 46.02% 3,551
Thomas 298 79.68% 73 19.52% 1 0.27% 1 0.27% 1 0.27% 225 60.16% 374
Thurston 1,410 56.40% 1,077 43.08% 4 0.16% 5 0.20% 4 0.16% 333 13.32% 2,500
Valley 2,055 73.21% 739 26.33% 3 0.11% 7 0.25% 3 0.11% 1,316 46.88% 2,807
Washington 5,191 76.44% 1,565 23.05% 16 0.24% 12 0.18% 7 0.10% 3,626 53.39% 6,791
Wayne 3,075 78.13% 833 21.16% 11 0.28% 9 0.23% 8 0.20% 2,242 56.96% 3,936
Webster 1,694 71.93% 645 27.39% 5 0.21% 5 0.21% 6 0.25% 1,049 44.54% 2,355
Wheeler 365 78.49% 97 20.86% 3 0.65% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 268 57.63% 465
York 5,147 82.08% 1,124 17.92% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 4,023 64.15% 6,271
Totals 460,054 70.55% 187,866 28.81% 2,079 0.32% 1,066 0.16% 1,025 0.16% 272,188 41.74% 652,090

See also

References

  1. ^ "1984 Presidential General Election Results – Nebraska". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  2. ^ "1984 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  3. ^ Kurt Andersen, "A Wild Ride to the End", Time, May 28, 1984
  4. ^ Trying to Win the Peace, by Even Thomas, Time, July 2, 1984
  5. ^ a b Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984, AllPolitics
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ a b "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.
  9. ^ Joseph J. Thorndike (Nov 10, 2005). "Historical Perspective: The Windfall Profit Tax". Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  10. ^ Historical tables, Budget of the United States Government Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, 2013, table 6.1.
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Jerry Lanson (2008-11-06). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  13. ^ Alexander, Michelle (2010). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1595581037.
  14. ^ a b Prendergast, William B. (1999). The Catholic vote in American politics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. pp. 186, 191–193. ISBN 0-87840-724-3.
  15. ^ "NE US President Race, November 06, 1984". Our Campaigns.