1984Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1984 election for Connecticut's 5th District
U.S. House · Connecticut
John Rowland (R) won with 54.3% of the vote, defeating William R. Ratchford (D) by 8.8 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
John RowlandRepublican · winner
54.3%130,700
William R. RatchfordDemocrat
45.5%109,425
James P. PeronLibertarian
0.2%532
240,657 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1984
Races before and after
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
William R. RatchfordJohn Rowland
$538.9K
Raised by the campaign
$244.3K
$523.5K
Spent by the campaign
$240.8K
$26.5K
Cash on hand
$3.3K
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 1984.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 1984