Landslide victory
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In politics, a landslide victory (short form: landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election.
Landslides can occur when one candidate or party is perceived as far superior to their opponents, through unfair elections, or by imperfect voting counting systems. See bloc voting, and the unanimous 2002 re-election of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, criticised by many external observers as unfair.
Examples
Canada
- British Columbia general election, 2001, in which 77 of 79 seats were won by the BC Liberal Party
- New Brunswick general election, 1987, in which the Liberal Party of New Brunswick won every seat in the legislature
United Kingdom
- the Liberal Party landslide in the United Kingdom general election, 1906
- the Labour Party's general election victory in 1997 of 419 seats.
United States
Popular votes
- U.S. Senator Barack Obama's 70% to Alan Keyes's 27% in U.S. Senate election, 2004
- U.S. Senator Charles Schumer's 71% to Howard Mills's 25% in U.S. Senate election, 2004
Electoral votes
- President Bill Clinton's 379 electoral votes to Bob Dole's 159 electoral votes in 1996
- President Calvin Coolidge's 382 electoral votes to John W. Davis's 136 electoral votes in 1924
- President Lyndon B. Johnson's 486 electoral votes to Barry Goldwater's 52 electoral votes in 1964
- President Richard Nixon's 520 electoral votes to George McGovern's 17 electoral votes in 1972
- President Ronald Reagan's 525 electoral votes to Walter Mondale's 13 electoral votes in 1984
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 523 electoral votes to Alfred Mossman Landon's 8 electoral votes in 1936