Mondale Ferraro Blue

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The American presidential election was held on November 6, 1984, in which Republican Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term, defeating Democrat Walter Mondale, a former U.S. vice president. Reagan won 49 states en route to amassing 525 electoral votes to Mondale’s 13—one of the biggest landslides in U.S. election history. The election was also notable for being the first time a major party had a woman on its ticket—Geraldine Ferraro, Mondale’s running mate.

Mondale made history by choosing as his running mate Geraldine Ferraro—the first woman selected by a major political party for its presidential ticket. At the time, Ferraro was a three-term congresswoman from New York, and it was hoped that her nomination would galvanize the campaign. It did initially, but the Democratic ticket was derailed almost immediately by a monthlong controversy over the finances of Ferraro and her husband, a New York real estate operator. The Mondale-Ferraro ticket attempted, without success, to find an issue that would resonate with voters. Reagan won virtually every demographic group except African Americans. His margin of victory over Mondale was nearly 17 million popular votes, the second largest in history; it was surpassed only by Richard Nixon’s margin over McGovern in 1972. His electoral landslide of 525–13 was second only to Franklin Roosevelt’s 523–8 margin over Alf Landon in 1936. Mondale carried only the District of Columbia (three electoral votes) by a convincing margin. He won his home state of Minnesota by a scant 3,800 votes (less than 0.2 percent).