1984 United States presidential election in South Dakota

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

1984 United States presidential election in South Dakota

← 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 3 0
Popular vote 200,267 116,113
Percentage 63.00% 36.53%

County Results

President before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected President

Ronald Reagan
Republican

South Dakota 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.

The presidential election of 1984 was a very partisan election for South Dakota, with over 99.5% of the electorate voting for either the Democratic or Republican parties, and only four candidates appearing on the ballot.[1] All but two counties in South Dakota voted in majority for the Republican candidate. This included the typically more Democratic East River counties such as Brown, and Minnehaha (Sioux Falls). Reagan did the best in Haakon County, and Mondale did the best in nearby Shannon County, which gave Mondale his third-best percentage nationwide behind the District of Columbia and Alabama’s Macon County.[2]

South Dakota weighed in for this election as about eight points more Republican than the national average. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Dewey County, Buffalo County, and Clay County voted for a Republican presidential candidate.[3]

Reagan carried South Dakota by 26.5%, the strongest performance of any presidential nominee in the state since 1952. After nearly voting for Carter in 1976, the state trended much more heavily Republican in both of Reagan's elections; it had been one of only nine to give Reagan over 60% of the vote in the three-way election of 1980. South Dakota became much more competitive in the drought-influenced 1988 election, but would go on to re-establish itself as a reliably red state in the 21st century. Even so, as of 2020, Reagan's 63.00% vote share in South Dakota has remained unmatched by any subsequent nominee.

Reagan challenging Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!," from the Brandenburg Gate in June, 1987. Reagan's firm stance with the Soviet Union was an important contributor to his 1984 reelection.

Results

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1984 United States presidential election in South Dakota
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Ronald Reagan (incumbent) 200,267 63.00% 3
Democratic Walter Mondale 116,113 36.53% 0
Independent Dennis Serrette 1,150 0.36% 0
Independent Melvin Mason 337 0.11% 0
Totals 317,867 100.0% 3

Results by county

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County[4] Ronald Reagan
Republican
Walter Mondale
Democratic
Dennis Serrette
Independent
Melvin Mason
Independent
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # %
Aurora 1,029 54.65% 840 44.61% 10 0.53% 4 0.21% 189 10.04% 1,883
Beadle 5,876 62.36% 3,523 37.39% 18 0.19% 5 0.05% 2,353 24.97% 9,422
Bennett 856 65.05% 453 34.42% 4 0.30% 3 0.23% 403 30.63% 1,316
Bon Homme 2,478 63.44% 1,408 36.05% 13 0.33% 7 0.18% 1,070 27.39% 3,906
Brookings 6,679 61.76% 4,089 37.81% 37 0.34% 9 0.08% 2,590 23.95% 10,814
Brown 10,541 60.35% 6,852 39.23% 51 0.29% 21 0.12% 3,689 21.12% 17,465
Brule 1,578 61.74% 961 37.60% 13 0.51% 4 0.16% 617 24.14% 2,556
Buffalo 253 51.21% 236 47.77% 3 0.61% 2 0.40% 17 3.44% 494
Butte 2,865 78.13% 784 21.38% 14 0.38% 4 0.11% 2,081 56.75% 3,667
Campbell 1,035 82.47% 214 17.05% 4 0.32% 2 0.16% 821 65.42% 1,255
Charles Mix 2,660 58.29% 1,879 41.18% 14 0.31% 10 0.22% 781 17.11% 4,563
Clark 1,748 64.31% 960 35.32% 7 0.26% 3 0.11% 788 28.99% 2,718
Clay 3,057 52.63% 2,711 46.68% 29 0.50% 11 0.19% 346 5.95% 5,808
Codington 6,108 63.11% 3,528 36.45% 37 0.38% 5 0.05% 2,580 26.66% 9,678
Corson 955 54.48% 792 45.18% 5 0.29% 1 0.06% 163 9.30% 1,753
Custer 2,183 71.27% 858 28.01% 19 0.62% 3 0.10% 1,325 43.26% 3,063
Davison 4,783 59.43% 3,248 40.36% 14 0.17% 3 0.04% 1,535 19.07% 8,048
Day 2,150 52.43% 1,932 47.11% 14 0.34% 5 0.12% 218 5.32% 4,101
Deuel 1,537 61.73% 941 37.79% 11 0.44% 1 0.04% 596 23.94% 2,490
Dewey 941 54.49% 772 44.70% 8 0.46% 6 0.35% 169 9.79% 1,727
Douglas 1,713 76.00% 536 23.78% 5 0.22% 0 0.00% 1,177 52.22% 2,254
Edmunds 1,553 60.43% 1,007 39.18% 9 0.35% 1 0.04% 546 21.25% 2,570
Fall River 2,748 70.37% 1,135 29.07% 16 0.41% 6 0.15% 1,613 41.30% 3,905
Faulk 1,124 65.89% 579 33.94% 3 0.18% 0 0.00% 545 31.95% 1,706
Grant 2,738 62.80% 1,606 36.83% 13 0.30% 3 0.07% 1,132 25.97% 4,360
Gregory 1,777 69.17% 780 30.36% 12 0.47% 0 0.00% 997 38.81% 2,569
Haakon 1,168 82.84% 237 16.81% 4 0.28% 1 0.07% 931 66.03% 1,410
Hamlin 1,782 64.54% 963 34.88% 10 0.36% 6 0.22% 819 29.66% 2,761
Hand 2,030 70.34% 846 29.31% 8 0.28% 2 0.07% 1,184 41.03% 2,886
Hanson 898 58.69% 625 40.85% 6 0.39% 1 0.07% 273 17.84% 1,530
Harding 723 79.28% 186 20.39% 2 0.22% 1 0.11% 537 58.89% 912
Hughes 4,985 70.32% 2,072 29.23% 29 0.41% 3 0.04% 2,913 41.09% 7,089
Hutchinson 3,372 72.92% 1,237 26.75% 8 0.17% 7 0.15% 2,135 46.17% 4,624
Hyde 797 69.43% 350 30.49% 1 0.09% 0 0.00% 447 38.94% 1,148
Jackson 903 70.82% 365 28.63% 6 0.47% 1 0.08% 538 42.19% 1,275
Jerauld 1,012 64.79% 542 34.70% 6 0.38% 2 0.13% 470 30.09% 1,562
Jones 689 76.64% 206 22.91% 3 0.33% 1 0.11% 483 53.73% 899
Kingsbury 2,121 62.70% 1,249 36.92% 12 0.35% 1 0.03% 872 25.78% 3,383
Lake 3,027 55.92% 2,367 43.73% 15 0.28% 4 0.07% 660 12.19% 5,413
Lawrence 5,949 69.42% 2,565 29.93% 39 0.46% 16 0.19% 3,384 39.49% 8,569
Lincoln 3,988 60.10% 2,626 39.57% 19 0.29% 3 0.05% 1,362 20.53% 6,636
Lyman 1,120 69.78% 478 29.78% 6 0.37% 1 0.06% 642 40.00% 1,605
Marshall 1,529 57.72% 1,111 41.94% 5 0.19% 4 0.15% 418 15.78% 2,649
McCook 1,902 56.57% 1,448 43.07% 8 0.24% 4 0.12% 454 13.50% 3,362
McPherson 1,813 81.08% 418 18.69% 5 0.22% 0 0.00% 1,395 62.39% 2,236
Meade 5,908 73.47% 2,093 26.03% 31 0.39% 9 0.11% 3,815 47.44% 8,041
Mellette 616 66.45% 303 32.69% 6 0.65% 2 0.22% 313 33.76% 927
Miner 1,004 50.78% 960 48.56% 8 0.40% 5 0.25% 44 2.22% 1,977
Minnehaha 29,908 56.25% 23,042 43.34% 177 0.33% 44 0.08% 6,866 12.91% 53,171
Moody 1,633 50.59% 1,586 49.13% 7 0.22% 2 0.06% 47 1.46% 3,228
Pennington 21,947 72.22% 8,224 27.06% 186 0.61% 32 0.11% 13,723 45.16% 30,389
Perkins 1,686 69.93% 714 29.61% 11 0.46% 0 0.00% 972 40.32% 2,411
Potter 1,551 76.22% 482 23.69% 2 0.10% 0 0.00% 1,069 52.53% 2,035
Roberts 2,767 57.17% 2,063 42.62% 7 0.14% 3 0.06% 704 14.55% 4,840
Sanborn 1,080 63.72% 611 36.05% 2 0.12% 2 0.12% 469 27.67% 1,695
Shannon 324 17.71% 1,489 81.41% 7 0.38% 9 0.49% -1,165 -63.70% 1,829
Spink 2,627 60.75% 1,680 38.85% 12 0.28% 5 0.12% 947 21.90% 4,324
Stanley 942 72.52% 351 27.02% 6 0.46% 0 0.00% 591 45.50% 1,299
Sully 836 75.52% 266 24.03% 4 0.36% 1 0.09% 570 51.49% 1,107
Todd 679 39.61% 1,022 59.63% 7 0.41% 6 0.35% -343 -20.02% 1,714
Tripp 2,483 72.18% 935 27.18% 14 0.41% 8 0.23% 1,548 45.00% 3,440
Turner 3,086 67.20% 1,486 32.36% 14 0.30% 6 0.13% 1,600 34.84% 4,592
Union 2,431 51.98% 2,221 47.49% 20 0.43% 5 0.11% 210 4.49% 4,677
Walworth 2,396 75.02% 779 24.39% 15 0.47% 4 0.13% 1,617 50.63% 3,194
Yankton 5,161 63.36% 2,932 36.00% 37 0.45% 15 0.18% 2,229 27.36% 8,145
Ziebach 429 54.17% 359 45.33% 2 0.25% 2 0.25% 70 8.84% 792
Totals 200,267 63.00% 116,113 36.53% 1,150 0.36% 337 0.11% 84,154 26.47% 317,867

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1984 Presidential General Election Results – South Dakota". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "1984 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  3. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  4. ^ Our Campaigns; SD US Presidential Election Race, November 06, 1984