Republicans won a landslide victory in the presidential election, picked up seats in the House of Representatives, and successfully defended their Senate majority.

[3] Reagan carried every state except for Washington, D.C., and Mondale's home state of Minnesota; won 58.8 percent of the popular vote; and defeated Mondale by a popular vote margin of eighteen points.

Mondale defeated Colorado Senator Gary Hart and Reverend Jesse Jackson of Illinois to take the Democratic nomination.

Mondale selected New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making Ferraro the first woman to appear on a major party presidential ticket.

Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 5.1 percentage points and retained their majority, though Republicans picked up a total of sixteen seats.