1984 United States presidential election in Illinois

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Main article: 1984 United States presidential election
1984 United States presidential election in Illinois
← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →
  x200px x200px
Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
Party Republican Democratic
Home state California Minnesota
Running mate George H.W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro
Electoral vote 24 0
Popular vote 2,707,103 2,086,499
Percentage 56.17% 43.30%
350px
County Results
President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

 Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The 1984 United States presidential election in Illinois 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 24 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.

Illinois 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 Illinois, with over 99% of the electorate voting only either Democratic or Republican, though several other parties did appear on the presidential ballot in the State.[1] Nearly every county in Illinois voted in majority for Reagan, a particularly strong turnout in this rapidly liberalizing state. One notable exception to this trend was Chicago's highly populated Cook County, which voted in majority for Mondale, albeit with a 2.6% margin, or 51% to 48.4%. 1984 marks the last time any presidential candidate won Cook County with a single digit margin, and the last election that a Republican won over a million votes in that county.

Illinois weighed in for this election as 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. As of the 2016 presidential election, this is the last election in which Jackson County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[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 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

On the campaign trail, President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan wave from limousine while touring Dixon, Illinois. February, 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 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.

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.[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 Illinois with a decisive 13 point landslide, carrying all but five counties. No Republican candidate has received as strong of support in the American Great Lakes States, at large, post Reagan. While Illinois typically voted conservative at the time, the election results in Illinois 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.

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 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 Illinois, 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 Illinois and elsewhere.

Notably, this is the closest to date that a Republican has come to carrying Cook County, home to Chicago, since Richard Nixon won it in 1972. Mondale took 51% of Cook County's vote to Reagan's 48.4%.

Results

1984 United States presidential election in Illinois
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan 2,707,103 56.17% 24
Democratic Walter Mondale 2,086,499 43.30% 0
Libertarian David Bergland 10,086 0.21% 0
Communist Party Gus Hall 4,672 0.10% 0
Citizen's Party Sonia Johnson 2,716 0.06% 0
Socialist Equality Party Edward Winn 2,632 0.05% 0
New Alliance Party Dennis Serrette 2,386 0.05% 0
Socialist Workers Party Melvin Mason 2,132 0.04% 0
Write-Ins 862 0.02% 0
Totals 4,819,088 100.0% 24

Results by county

County Ronald Wilson Reagan
Republican		 Walter Frederick Mondale
Democratic		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Adams 20,225 65.99% 10,336 33.72% 88 0.29% 9,889 32.27% 30,649
Alexander 2,574 47.08% 2,872 52.53% 21 0.38% -298 -5.45% 5,467
Bond 4,240 59.46% 2,870 40.25% 21 0.29% 1,370 19.21% 7,131
Boone 7,536 66.65% 3,717 32.88% 53 0.47% 3,819 33.78% 11,306
Brown 1,478 60.43% 959 39.21% 9 0.37% 519 21.22% 2,446
Bureau 11,741 62.57% 6,925 36.90% 99 0.53% 4,816 25.66% 18,765
Calhoun 1,648 53.04% 1,443 46.44% 16 0.51% 205 6.60% 3,107
Carroll 5,237 68.39% 2,398 31.31% 23 0.30% 2,839 37.07% 7,658
Cass 3,435 53.68% 2,937 45.90% 27 0.42% 498 7.78% 6,399
Champaign 39,224 58.61% 27,266 40.74% 435 0.65% 11,958 17.87% 66,925
Christian 8,534 52.84% 7,541 46.69% 77 0.48% 993 6.15% 16,152
Clark 5,318 63.45% 3,032 36.17% 32 0.38% 2,286 27.27% 8,382
Clay 4,562 64.22% 2,524 35.53% 18 0.25% 2,038 28.69% 7,104
Clinton 9,233 66.43% 4,628 33.30% 38 0.27% 4,605 33.13% 13,899
Coles 14,044 65.95% 7,156 33.60% 95 0.45% 6,888 32.35% 21,295
Cook 1,055,558 48.40% 1,112,641 51.02% 12,536 0.57% -57,083 -2.62% 2,180,735
Crawford 6,261 66.44% 3,130 33.21% 33 0.35% 3,131 33.22% 9,424
Cumberland 3,002 63.04% 1,733 36.39% 27 0.57% 1,269 26.65% 4,762
DeKalb 4,534 65.57% 2,352 34.01% 29 0.42% 2,182 31.55% 6,915
DeWitt 20,294 64.50% 10,942 34.78% 229 0.73% 9,352 29.72% 31,465
Douglas 5,691 66.14% 2,886 33.54% 27 0.31% 2,805 32.60% 8,604
DuPage 227,141 75.66% 71,430 23.79% 1,644 0.55% 155,711 51.87% 300,215
Edgar 6,821 67.54% 3,241 32.09% 37 0.37% 3,580 35.45% 10,099
Edwards 2,778 72.25% 1,057 27.49% 10 0.26% 1,721 44.76% 3,845
Effingham 9,617 71.22% 3,841 28.44% 46 0.34% 5,776 42.77% 13,504
Fayette 6,607 63.09% 3,844 36.70% 22 0.21% 2,763 26.38% 10,473
Ford 4,871 73.11% 1,763 26.46% 29 0.44% 3,108 46.65% 6,663
Franklin 9,656 47.39% 10,667 52.35% 54 0.27% -1,011 -4.96% 20,377
Fulton 9,147 49.77% 9,131 49.69% 99 0.54% 16 0.09% 18,377
Gallatin 1,939 47.15% 2,164 52.63% 9 0.22% -225 -5.47% 4,112
Greene 4,057 60.96% 2,563 38.51% 35 0.53% 1,494 22.45% 6,655
Grundy 9,595 66.98% 4,671 32.61% 59 0.41% 4,924 34.37% 14,325
Hamilton 3,074 57.50% 2,251 42.11% 21 0.39% 823 15.39% 5,346
Hancock 6,251 62.50% 3,713 37.13% 37 0.37% 2,538 25.38% 10,001
Hardin 1,689 58.26% 1,205 41.57% 5 0.17% 484 16.70% 2,899
Henderson 2,289 53.51% 1,969 46.03% 20 0.47% 320 7.48% 4,278
Henry 14,504 57.41% 10,679 42.27% 79 0.31% 3,825 15.14% 25,262
Iroquois 11,327 77.13% 3,300 22.47% 58 0.39% 8,027 54.66% 14,685
Jackson 13,609 52.55% 12,105 46.74% 182 0.70% 1,504 5.81% 25,896
Jasper 3,673 67.35% 1,750 32.09% 31 0.57% 1,923 35.26% 5,454
Jefferson 9,642 57.10% 7,200 42.64% 43 0.25% 2,442 14.46% 16,885
Jersey 5,146 57.60% 3,762 42.11% 26 0.29% 1,384 15.49% 8,934
Jo Daviess 5,877 63.18% 3,348 35.99% 77 0.83% 2,529 27.19% 9,302
Johnson 3,424 67.36% 1,647 32.40% 12 0.24% 1,777 34.96% 5,083
Kane 72,655 69.09% 31,875 30.31% 629 0.60% 40,780 38.78% 105,159
Kankakee 23,807 60.02% 15,246 38.44% 612 1.54% 8,561 21.58% 39,665
Kendall 10,872 73.81% 3,789 25.72% 69 0.47% 7,083 48.09% 14,730
Knox 14,974 55.21% 12,027 44.34% 121 0.45% 2,947 10.87% 27,122
Lake 118,401 68.35% 53,947 31.14% 876 0.51% 64,454 37.21% 173,224
LaSalle 27,388 56.89% 20,532 42.65% 219 0.45% 6,856 14.24% 48,139
Lawrence 4,686 61.35% 2,924 38.28% 28 0.37% 1,762 23.07% 7,638
Lee 11,178 73.76% 3,919 25.86% 58 0.38% 7,259 47.90% 15,155
Livingston 12,291 72.65% 4,567 26.99% 61 0.36% 7,724 45.65% 16,919
Logan 9,932 70.71% 4,052 28.85% 62 0.44% 5,880 41.86% 14,046
Macon 30,457 54.28% 25,463 45.38% 192 0.34% 4,994 8.90% 56,112
Macoupin 12,282 53.51% 10,602 46.19% 69 0.30% 1,680 7.32% 22,953
Madison 57,021 53.94% 48,352 45.74% 340 0.32% 8,669 8.20% 105,713
Marion 11,300 59.65% 7,599 40.11% 46 0.24% 3,701 19.54% 18,945
Marshall 4,060 62.53% 2,386 36.75% 47 0.72% 1,674 25.78% 6,493
Mason 4,109 54.89% 3,354 44.80% 23 0.31% 755 10.09% 7,486
Massac 3,827 54.29% 3,194 45.31% 28 0.40% 633 8.98% 7,049
McDonough 9,383 67.02% 4,561 32.58% 57 0.41% 4,822 34.44% 14,001
McHenry 47,282 76.21% 14,420 23.24% 340 0.55% 32,862 52.97% 62,042
McLean 32,221 66.64% 15,880 32.84% 248 0.51% 16,341 33.80% 48,349
Menard 3,925 68.07% 1,826 31.67% 15 0.26% 2,099 36.40% 5,766
Mercer 4,907 54.97% 3,982 44.61% 38 0.43% 925 10.36% 8,927
Monroe 6,936 67.89% 3,256 31.87% 25 0.24% 3,680 36.02% 10,217
Montgomery 8,191 56.08% 6,360 43.55% 54 0.37% 1,831 12.54% 14,605
Morgan 10,683 66.37% 5,361 33.30% 53 0.33% 5,322 33.06% 16,097
Moultrie 3,593 59.17% 2,458 40.48% 21 0.35% 1,135 18.69% 6,072
Ogle 13,503 73.40% 4,803 26.11% 90 0.49% 8,700 47.29% 18,396
Peoria 45,607 55.02% 36,830 44.43% 462 0.56% 8,777 10.59% 82,899
Perry 5,852 55.88% 4,584 43.77% 36 0.34% 1,268 12.11% 10,472
Piatt 5,000 63.46% 2,840 36.05% 39 0.49% 2,160 27.41% 7,879
Pike 5,295 57.03% 3,965 42.70% 25 0.27% 1,330 14.32% 9,285
Pope 1,545 62.00% 940 37.72% 7 0.28% 605 24.28% 2,492
Pulaski 1,923 52.48% 1,724 47.05% 17 0.46% 199 5.43% 3,664
Putnam 1,912 56.02% 1,487 43.57% 14 0.41% 425 12.45% 3,413
Randolph 9,415 59.48% 6,355 40.15% 59 0.37% 3,060 19.33% 15,829
Richland 5,665 71.95% 2,182 27.71% 27 0.34% 3,483 44.23% 7,874
Rock Island 35,121 46.41% 40,208 53.13% 343 0.45% -5,087 -6.72% 75,672
Saline 7,176 54.15% 6,038 45.57% 37 0.28% 1,138 8.59% 13,251
Sangamon 54,086 61.10% 34,059 38.47% 378 0.43% 20,027 22.62% 88,523
Schuyler 2,515 61.93% 1,533 37.75% 13 0.32% 982 24.18% 4,061
Scott 1,976 67.33% 943 32.13% 16 0.55% 1,033 35.20% 2,935
Shelby 6,372 59.38% 4,317 40.23% 41 0.38% 2,055 19.15% 10,730
St. Clair 51,046 49.01% 52,294 50.21% 808 0.78% -1,248 -1.20% 104,148
Stark 2,228 67.15% 1,072 32.31% 18 0.54% 1,156 34.84% 3,318
Stephenson 14,237 67.37% 6,723 31.82% 171 0.81% 7,514 35.56% 21,131
Tazewell 33,782 59.15% 23,095 40.44% 238 0.42% 10,687 18.71% 57,115
Union 4,721 55.13% 3,815 44.55% 28 0.33% 906 10.58% 8,564
Vermilion 22,932 57.89% 16,530 41.73% 149 0.38% 6,402 16.16% 39,611
Wabash 3,639 66.73% 1,795 32.92% 19 0.35% 1,844 33.82% 5,453
Warren 5,846 63.59% 3,318 36.09% 29 0.32% 2,528 27.50% 9,193
Washington 5,129 68.24% 2,363 31.44% 24 0.32% 2,766 36.80% 7,516
Wayne 6,298 70.36% 2,621 29.28% 32 0.36% 3,677 41.08% 8,951
White 5,500 61.23% 3,457 38.48% 26 0.29% 2,043 22.74% 8,983
Whiteside 16,743 59.59% 11,226 39.96% 127 0.45% 5,517 19.64% 28,096
Will 78,684 63.25% 45,193 36.33% 520 0.42% 33,491 26.92% 124,397
Williamson 14,930 56.06% 11,614 43.61% 86 0.32% 3,316 12.45% 26,630
Winnebago 64,203 58.66% 44,629 40.78% 619 0.57% 19,574 17.88% 109,451
Woodford 10,758 70.44% 4,425 28.97% 89 0.58% 6,333 41.47% 15,272
Totals 2,707,103 56.17% 2,086,499 43.30% 25,486 0.53% 620,604 12.88% 4,819,088

See also

References

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Template:1984 United States elections

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  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. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984, AllPolitics
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Historical tables, Budget of the United States Government Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, 2013, table 6.1.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. OCLC 317650570, 50016270 and 163149563
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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