Reagan's coattails

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Reagan's coattails refers to the influence of Ronald Reagan's popularity in elections other than his own, after the American political expression to "ride in on another's coattails." Chiefly, it refers to the "Reagan Revolution" accompanying his 1980 election to the U.S. Presidency. This victory was accompanied by the change of 12 seats in the U.S. Senate from Democratic to Republican hands, producing a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954.

The most stunning defeat was that of U.S. Sen. George S. McGovern (D-S.D.), a prominent liberal Democrat who had been the party's nominee for president in 1972. McGovern lost his bid for a fourth term in the Senate by a resounding 58% to 39% margin to U.S. Rep. James Abdnor (R-S.D.).

Democratic losses in the Senate that year:

  1. U.S. Sen. George S. McGovern (D-S.D.) (3 terms) lost to U.S. Rep. James Abdnor (R-S.D.)
  2. U.S. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson (D-Wash.) (6 terms) lost to Republican T. Slade Gorton III.
  3. U.S. Sen. Gaylord A. Nelson (D-Wis.) (3 terms) lost to Republican Robert W. Kasten Jr..
  4. U.S. Sen. John A. Durkin (D-N.H.) (1 term) lost to Republican Warren B. Rudman. Durkin resigned his seat in December and Rudman was appointed to fill out the remaining few days of Durkin's term.
  5. U.S. Sen. John C. Culver (D-Iowa) (1 term) lost to Republican Charles E. Grassley.
  6. U.S. Sen. Birch E. Bayh II (D-Ind.) (3 terms) lost to J. Danforth Quayle.
  7. U.S. Sen. Frank F. Church (D-Idaho) (4 terms) lost to Republican Steven D. Symms.
  8. U.S. Sen. Herman E. Talmadge (D-Ga.) (4 terms) lost to Republican Mack F. Mattingly.
  9. U.S. Sen. Richard B. Stone (D-Fla.) (1 term) lost in the Democratic primary to William D. Gunter Jr.. Gunter lost the general election to Republican Paula Hawkins.
  10. U.S. Sen. Maurice R. "Mike" Gravel (D-Alaska) (2 terms), the senator who in 1971 had entered the full text of the Pentagon Papers into the official record of the Senate Subcommittee of Public Buildings and Grounds, was unexpectedly defeated in the Democratic primary by Clark Gruening. Gruening was the grandson of Ernest Gruening, the incumbent Democrat whom Gravel had unseated in the 1968 Democratic primary. The younger Gruening lost the general election to Republican Frank H. Murkowski.
  11. U.S. Sen. Donald W. Stewart (D-Ala.) (1 term) lost in the Democratic primary to James E. Folsom Jr.. Folsom lost the general election to Republican Jeremiah A. Denton Jr..
  12. U.S. Sen. Robert B. Morgan (D-N.C.) (1 term) lost to Republican John P. East.

Notably, the bulk of this Reagan class of Senate Republicans failed to hold their seats for the Republican party beyond one term. In the 1986 election, the Democrats managed to recapture the majority in the Senate, partly thanks to the defeat of several members of the Reagan class of 1980:

  • Abdnor was challenged in the Republican primary by William J. Janklow. He survived a tough primary fight, but lost in the general election to Democrat Thomas A. Daschle, who became a leader in the Democratic caucus and held on to the seat until 2004, when he was finally unseated in a historic race.
  • Kasten managed to win a bid for re-election in 1986, but in 1992, Russell D. Feingold foiled his bid for a third term.
  • Quayle's seat remained in Republican hands through his re-election in 1986, and after his resignation to become vice president, through the appointment of Daniel R. Coats to replace him. Coats made a successful bid for re-election in 1992. In 1998, Coats declined to run for a third term and Democrat B. Evans "Evan" Bayh III (the son of the man that Quayle had unseated in 1980) was elected to fill the seat.
  • Denton lost his re-election bid to Democrat Richard C. Shelby. In 1995, however, after the Republicans retook the Senate, Shelby switched parties, returning the seat to Republican hands.

The other seats have remained in Republican hands: Grassley remains a member of the Senate to this day. Rudman, who successfully ran for re-election in 1986 and in 1992, after his retirement, was succeeded by fellow Republican Judd A. Gregg. Symms was succeeded by fellow Republicans Dirk A. Kempthorne in 1992 and Michael D. Crapo in 1998. Murkowski held his seat until 2002, when he was elected governor of Alaska and appointed his own daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to replace him.

Mattingly's seat has alternated between the parties: Democrat W. Wyche Fowler Jr. in 1986, Republican Paul D. Coverdell in 1992 and 1998, Democrat Zell B. Miller in 2000 (following Coverdell's death), and Republican Johnny Isakson in 2004. East's seat has also shown similar instability. After East committed suicide in 1986, James T. Broyhill was appointed to fill out his term. Broyhill was succeeded by Democrat Terry Sanford in 1986, Republican D. McLaughlin "Lauch" Faircloth in 1992, Democrat Johnny R. "John" Edwards in 1998, and Republican Richard M. Burr in 2004.

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