Why did PA vote to the left of NY in 1984
There was a thread about this very topic before, and on that thread, it was said that Mondale's strength in Southwestern Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Westmoreland, Greene, Washington Counties, etc.) and in Philadelphia itself helped to keep the state within single digits. Black voters did not like Reagan at all, and thus Philadelphia voted more heavily Democratic than New York City. In New York, Reagan got over 40% in Queens, won Staten Island with more than 60% of the vote, and managed to do relatively well in the other three boroughs, even hitting 30% in Manhattan, if I am not mistaken.
He dominated Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, and Sussex Counties, and swept most of upstate New York except for Albany and Ithaca. I assume that ethnic white voters in New York City, and white-collar, upper-crust white professionals in the city and in the suburbs, helped Reagan. Mondale's performance in Pennsylvania can also be explained by the presence of more unionized white-working class voters, who reacted adversely to the Reagan Administration's economic policies.
