1984 United States presidential election in Arizona

1984 United States presidential election in Arizona

← 1980 November 6, 1984 1988 →

Nominee Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale Party Republican Democratic Home state California Minnesota Running mate George H. W. Bush Geraldine Ferraro Electoral vote 7 0 Popular vote 681,416 333,854 Percentage 66.42% 32.54%

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

President before election Ronald Reagan Republican Elected President Ronald Reagan Republican

Elections in Arizona
Federal government Presidential elections 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2004 2008 2016 2020 Republican 2008 2012 2016 U.S. Senate elections 1912 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 1950 1952 1956 1958 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2020 sp 2022 2024 U.S. House elections 1911 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1933 at-large sp 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1961 2nd sp 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1991 2nd sp 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 8th 2008 2010 2012 8th sp 2014 2016 2018 8th sp 2020 2022
State government State elections 2006 2010 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 Gubernatorial elections 1911 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Secretary of State 2014 2018 2022 Attorney General 2018 2022 Superintendent of Public Instruction 2018 2022 Senate elections 2006 2018 2020 2022 House of Representatives elections 2006 2018 2020
Ballot measures List of Arizona ballot propositions 2000 203 2004 200 2006 107 204 207 2008 102 2010 100 203 2020 207
Chandler Mayoral elections 2006
Gilbert Mayoral elections 2012
Glendale Mayoral elections 2012 2016
Mesa Mayoral elections 2008 2020
Phoenix Mayoral elections 2011 2015 2018–19 (special) 2020
Scottsdale Mayoral elections 2008 2012
Tucson Mayoral elections 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
v t

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

Arizona 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 Arizona, with just under 99% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four parties appearing on the ballot.^[1] Nearly every county in Arizona voted in majority for Reagan, a particularly strong turn out even in this typically conservative-leaning state. Reagan did the best in Phoenix's highly populated Maricopa County, and Mondale did the best in predominantly Native American Apache County, which was typical of his gains vis-à-vis Jimmy Carter in Native American counties throughout the nation.^[2] Mondale also won heavily unionized copper-mining Greenlee County; albeit his performance there was the worst by a Democrat since statehood.

Arizona weighed in for this election as sixteen points more Republican than the national average.

Republican victory[]

Reagan won the election in Arizona with a decisive 34 point sweep-out landslide. The wide margins found in Arizona, though generally conservative in its voting, are reflective of a nationwide reconsolidation of base for the Republican Party which took place through the 1980s; called by Reagan the "second American Revolution".^[3] This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. No Republican candidate has received as strong of support in the American West at large, as Reagan did.

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

Results[]

Results by county[]

See also[]

• Presidency of Ronald Reagan

References[]