The last time a presidential candidate broke tradition and missed the Al Smith dinner, he lost in 49 of the 50 states

The 79th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a historic fundraiser organized by New York's Catholic community, took place on Thursday night, October 17. It is tradition for both Democratic and Republican candidates for president to attend the event and give a  lighthearted speech, making jokes about themselves and their opponent. Kamala Harris decided not to attend this year, which immediately makes her comparable to the last person who also declined the invitation who didn't do very well in the subsequent presidential election.

Commonly known as the Al Smith dinner, its first edition was held in 1945 as a tribute for the man it is named after, who had recently passed away. It became an election tradition in 1960, when it was attended by Richard Nixon and John Kennedy, who would later become the first Roman Catholic president. The content of the evening is very simple: a rich dinner, good drinks, New York's political class as attendees and the presidential candidates of the day, who close out the night with their speeches.

As for the funds raised, they go to Catholic charities that support children with various needs in the Archdiocese of New York. For example, in 2016, $6 million was raised.

The dinner has been organized on and off since then, although the organization did not invite the candidates in 1996 or 2004. On the earlier occasion, it was due to the anger of Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor towards President Bill Clinton, who had recently vetoed legislation that would have banned many late-term abortions. In 2004, Joseph Zwilling, the archdiocese's spokesman, asserted that the candidates were not invited because "the issues in this year's campaign could provoke division and disagreement."

"This hasn't happened in 40 years"

The last time a candidate for president deliberately declined an invitation to the Al Smith dinner was in 1984. Walter Mondale, then the Democratic nominee, declined the invitation on the grounds that he was preparing for a presidential debate with President Ronald Reagan.

Journalist Amy Sullivan suggested that the real reason had to do with "tensions between the Catholic Church and the Democratic Party."

So how did Mondale fare in the election? He lost 49 of the 50 states to Reagan. No candidate in history received more electoral votes than 'The Gipper.' In turn, the 1984 election was the last in which a candidate won the popular vote by more than double digits.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute didn't let this opportunity pass them by and reminded Harris of what happened to her predecessor.

"VP Kamala Harris is not attending tonight’s Al Smith dinner. Neither did Walter Mondale in 1984. Cardinal Dolan noted: 'This hasn’t happened in 40 years since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation. And remember, he lost 49 out of 50 states'. In addition to winning 49 out of 50 states, President Reagan carried 525 electoral votes (out of 538) – the highest total ever received by a presidential candidate," they posted on their X account.

Unlike Mondale, Harris declined the invitation to attend a campaign event in Wisconsin and simply sent a recorded message. The content of the video was a comedy of sorts with actress Molly Shannon playing her familiar 'Saturday Night Live' character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, a quirky Catholic schoolgirl.

"I don't even know what that noise you're making is. As I watched that, I couldn't help but think of: Now I know how my kids felt when... I FaceTimed into a piano recital they were at," joked comedian Jim Gaffigan after the video played.