1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut

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

1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut

← 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 8 0
Popular vote 890,877 569,597
Percentage 60.73% 38.83%


President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Connecticut weighed in for this election as 2% more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 United States presidential election, this is the last election in which Hartford County voted for the Republican candidate. This is also the final time that a Republican presidential candidate was able to win every county in the state or win by a double-digit margin. Reagan won Connecticut by a 22% margin and with slightly over 60% of the vote, making it 3.7% more Republican than the nation overall amid his national landslide. Since 1896, Connecticut had generally leaned Republican, voting for losing Republican candidates in 1916, 1932, 1948, and 1976 (but also voting for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and for John F. Kennedy, as he only narrowly won in 1960). The basis for Republican strength in Connecticut had been suburban Fairfield County, where Reagan approached 2/3 of the vote. However, Reagan also took New Haven County—the swing county amongst the state's three largest—by twenty points, and won Hartford County—generally the most Democratic-friendly of the state's three largest counties—by double digits.

After 1996, all of Connecticut's large counties would become reliably Democratic, and the state with them. Reagan's 890,877 votes were the most received by a Republican presidential candidate in the state's history.

To date, this is the last time that the cities of Meriden, Norwich, and West Haven, as well as the towns of Ashford, Cornwall, East Hartford, Hamden, Manchester, Newington, Portland, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Windham, and Windsor voted Republican.

Results

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1984 United States presidential election in Connecticut
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent) 890,877 60.77% 8
Democratic Walter Mondale 569,597 38.83% 0
Communist Party Gus Hall 4,826 0.33% 0
New Alliance Party Dennis Serrette 1,374 0.09% 0
Write-Ins 226 0.02% 0
Totals 1,466,900 100.0% 3

By county

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County Ronald Reagan
Republican
Walter Mondale
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Fairfield 257,319 65.78% 132,253 33.81% 1,607 0.41% 125,066 31.97% 391,179
Hartford 208,210 55.02% 168,609 44.56% 1,586 0.42% 39,601 10.46% 378,405
Litchfield 52,583 66.21% 26,564 33.45% 269 0.34% 26,019 32.76% 79,416
Middlesex 39,580 59.32% 26,915 40.34% 227 0.34% 12,665 18.98% 66,722
New Haven 212,166 59.81% 140,945 39.74% 1,601 0.45% 71,221 20.07% 354,712
New London 63,121 61.59% 38,857 37.91% 509 0.50% 24,264 23.68% 102,487
Tolland 32,981 61.88% 20,103 37.72% 214 0.40% 12,878 24.16% 53,298
Windham 24,917 61.59% 15,351 37.95% 187 0.46% 9,566 23.64% 40,455
Totals 890,877 60.73% 569,597 38.83% 6,426 0.44% 321,280 21.90% 1,466,900

Counties flipped from Democratic to Republican

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By congressional district

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Reagan won all 6 congressional districts, including three held by Democrats.

District Reagan Mondale Representative
1st 53% 47% Barbara B. Kennelly
2nd 61% 39% Sam Gejdenson
3rd 59% 41% Bruce Morrison
4th 63% 37% Stewart McKinney
5th 67% 33% William R. Ratchford
John G. Rowland
6th 63% 37% Nancy Johnson

See also

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References

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