WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 1984 (UPI) - President Reagan's landslide victory kept black voters from being a major factor in the White House race but votes by blacks decided some state and local contests, a post-election analysis showed Wednesday.
Black voters, accounting for about 10 percent of the voting population, can be decisive only in fairly close presidential races, said Thomas Cavanagh of the Joint Center for Political Studies.
The black vote was overwhelmed this year by the fact that white voters supported Reagan over Democrat Walter Mondale by about a 2-to-1 margin, Cavanagh said during a public policy forum on blacks and the election.
However, Cavanagh said, the black vote was decisive in three Senate races where the Democratic candidates got less than a majority of the white vote -- Sens. Howell Heflin in Alabama and Carl Levin in Michigan, and Rep. Paul Simon, who won the Illinois Senate race.
Blacks in Congress suffered a net loss of one because Rep. Katie Hall, D-Ind., lost in the primary, but the other 20 black House members were re-elected.
Cavanagh noted, however, that all black challengers lost in House races.
He said blacks may be nearing the high water mark in Congress because there are only four remaining House districts with black majorities that are not represented by blacks.
The results of state legislative races were ''not particularly encouraging'' for blacks because the net gain was ''exactly zero,'' he said.
Cavanagh said the election results for blacks overall were disappointing because of expectations that the presidential bid of Jesse Jackson would give a boost to black candidates.
E. Williams, director of the nonprofit center specializing in black studies, said the election signaled growing racial polarization, with 88 percent of blacks voting for Mondale, but only 28 percent of whites preferring the Democratic ticket over Reagan.
He said blacks, in order to bolster their influence, need to develop coalitions with other groups.
Cavanagh said there was a 5.4 percent increase in black voter registration for the election over 1980, but the Election Day turnout was up by just over 3 percent.
