United States presidential election in Illinois, 1984
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The 1984 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 6, 1984. All 50 states and
the District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
, were part of the
1984 United States presidential election The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale, in a ...
. 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 Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
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 George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
of Texas, and Mondale ran with Representative Geraldine Ferraro of
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, the first major female candidate for the vice presidency. As of
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, this is the last time a Republican presidential candidate won over 1 million votes in Cook County, the state's most populous county. The presidential election of 1984 was a very
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election for Illinois, with over 99% of the electorate voting only either
Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
or Republican, though several other parties did appear on the presidential ballot in the State. Nearly every county in Illinois voted in majority for Reagan. 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 Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
than the national average. , this is the last election in which Jackson County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.Sullivan, Robert David
‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’
''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016
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 The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian– American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadia ...
, 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." This was most evident during the 1984 presidential election. 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 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
. Mondale took 51% of Cook County's vote to Reagan's 48.4%.


Primaries

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices (
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and
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), as well as those for state offices.


Turnout

Turnout in the state-run primary elections (Democratic and Republican) was 37.25% with a total of 2,254,503 votes cast. Turnout during the general election was 74.48%, with 4,819,088 votes cast. State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on March 20.


Democratic

The 1984 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 20, 1984, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1984 presidential election.


Republican

The 1984 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 20, 1984, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1984 presidential election.


Democratic platform

Walter Mondale accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency after pulling narrowly ahead of
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...
of Colorado and Rev.
Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
of Illinois - his main contenders during what would be a very contentious Democratic
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
. 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, 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
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, the
right to choose Freedom of choice describes an individual's opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties. In politics In the abortion debate, for example, the term "freedom of ch ...
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.Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984
AllPolitics
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 The 1984 Democratic National Convention was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select candidates for the 1984 United States presidential election. Former Vice President Walter Mondale was nom ...
that this action "opened a door which will never be closed again," speaking to the role of women in politics.


Republican platform

By 1984,
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
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. The economic success seen under Reagan was politically accomplished (principally) in two ways. The first was initiation of deep tax cuts for the wealthy, and the second was a wide-spectrum of tax cuts for
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
production and refinement, namely, with the 1980 Windfall profits tax cuts. These policies were augmented with a call for heightened military spending, and the cutting of social welfare programs for the poor. 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. 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, regarding the final as simply being bad for business.


Results


Results by county


See also

* Presidency of Ronald Reagan *
United States presidential elections in Illinois Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Illinois, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1818, Illinois has participated in every U.S. presidential election. Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refe ...


References

{{1984 United States elections Illinois
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
1984 Illinois elections