Ronald Reagan won the popular vote with 58.8% (54,455,073 votes), ahead of Walter Mondale with 40.5% (37,568,137 votes). Presidents are chosen by the Electoral College, so the popular vote winner is not always the winner of the election.
The margin between the first two candidates was 18.2 percentage points (16,886,936 votes). The party margin (Republican share minus Democratic share) was a Republican lead of 18.2 points.
Compared with the previous comparable race in the same area, the party margin moved 8.5 points toward Republicans.
92,654,861 votes were counted in this race, for 16 candidates or options.
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