|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Republican holds
Republican pickups
Democratic holds
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1980 U.S. Senate elections coincided with Ronald Reagan's election to the Presidency. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter pulled in many Democratic voters and gave a huge boost to Republican senate candidates.
The Republicans gained a net of twelve seats from the Democrats, the largest swing since 1958, and gained control of the Senate, 53-46. Majority and minority leaders Robert Byrd and Howard Baker exchanged places. This marked the first time since 1954 that the Republican Party controlled one of the Houses of Congress.
Without losing any seats, the Republicans took open seats in Alabama, Alaska, and Florida, and defeated nine incumbents: Herman Talmadge (D-GA), Frank Church (D-ID), Birch E. Bayh II (D-IN), John Culver (D-IA), John A. Durkin (D-NH), Robert Morgan (D-NC), 1972 presidential nominee George S. McGovern (D-SD), Warren Magnuson (D-WA), and Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) (see Reagan's coattails).
Notable new senators included future Vice-President J. Danforth Quayle (R-IN). Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-NY) defeated incumbent liberal Republican icon Jacob Javits in a primary, demonstrating the ascendancy of conservative Republicans.
In 1982, Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ) resigned from the Senate rather than face a vote on his expulsion over the Abscam scandal. He was replaced by Republican Nicholas F. Brady. This is not reflected in the party totals.
Contents |
| Parties | Total Seats | Popular Vote | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 1980 | +/- | Vote | % | ||||||
| Republican Party | 41 | 53 | +12 | 26,597,169 | 44.73% | |||||
| Democratic Party | 58 | 46 | -12 | 30,699,463 | 51.62% | |||||
| Others | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,172,298 | 3.65% | |||||
| Total | 100 | 100 | - | 59,468,930 | 100.0% | |||||
| Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk | ||||||||||
A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Result | Opposing candidate(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Donald W. Stewart | Democratic | Lost renomination Republican gain |
Jeremiah Denton (Republican) 50.2% Jim Folsom, Jr. (Democratic) 47.1% |
| Alaska | Mike Gravel | Democratic | Lost renomination Republican gain |
Frank Murkowski (Republican) 53.7% Clark Gruening (Democratic) 45.9% |
| Arizona | Barry Goldwater | Republican | Re-elected, 49.5% | Bill Schulz (Democratic) 48.4% Fred R. Easer (Libertarian) 1.4% Lorenzo Torrez (People Over Politics) 0.4% Josefina Otero (Socialist Workers) 0.4% |
| Arkansas | Dale Bumpers | Democratic | Re-elected, 59.1% | Bill Clark (Republican) 40.9% |
| California | Alan Cranston | Democratic | Re-elected, 56.5% | Paul Gann (Republican) 37.1% David Bergland (Libertarian) 2.4% David Wald (Peace & Freedom) 2.4% Jim Griffin (American Ind.) 1.6% |
| Colorado | Gary Hart | Democratic | Re-elected, 50.3% | Mary E. Buchanan (Republican) 48.7% Earl Higgerson (Statesman) 0.6% Henry John Olshaw (Unaffiliated-American) 0.4% |
| Connecticut | Abraham A. Ribicoff | Democratic | Retired Democratic hold |
Chris Dodd (Democratic) 56.3% James L. Buckley (Republican) 42.9% |
| Florida | Richard Stone | Democratic | Lost renomination Republican gain |
Paula Hawkins (Republican) 51.7% Bill Gunter (Democratic) 48.3% |
| Georgia | Herman Talmadge | Democratic | Lost re-election, 49.1% Republican gain |
Mack Mattingly (Republican) 50.9% |
| Hawaii | Daniel Inouye | Democratic | Re-elected, 77.9% | Cooper Brown (Republican) 18.4% |
| Idaho | Frank Church | Democratic | Lost re-election, 48.8% Republican gain |
Steve Symms (Republican) 49.7% |
| Illinois | Adlai Stevenson III | Democratic | Retired Democratic hold |
Alan J. Dixon (Democratic) 56.0% Dave O'Neal (Republican) 42.5% |
| Indiana | Birch Bayh | Democratic | Lost re-election, 46.2% Republican gain |
Dan Quayle (Republican) 53.8% |
| Iowa | John Culver | Democratic | Lost re-election, 45.5% Republican gain |
Chuck Grassley (Republican) 53.5% |
| Kansas | Bob Dole | Republican | Re-elected, 63.8% | John Simpson (Democratic) 36.2% |
| Kentucky | Wendell H. Ford | Democratic | Re-elected, 65.1% | Mary L. Foust (Republican) 34.9% |
| Louisiana | Russell B. Long | Democratic | Re-elected in primary | |
| Maryland | Charles Mathias, Jr. | Republican | Re-elected, 66.2% | Edward T. Conroy (Democratic) 33.8% |
| Missouri | Thomas Eagleton | Democratic | Re-elected, 52.0% | Gene McNary (Republican) 47.7% Martha Pettit (Socialist Workers) 0.3% |
| Nevada | Paul Laxalt | Republican | Re-elected, 58.5% | Mary Gojack (Democratic) 37.4% |
| New Hampshire | John A. Durkin | Democratic | Lost re-election, 47.8% Republican gain |
Warren Rudman (Republican) 52.1% |
| New York | Jacob K. Javits | Republican | Lost renomination Republican hold |
Al D'Amato (Republican) 44.9% Elizabeth Holtzman (Democratic) 43.5% Jacob K. Javits (Liberal) 11.0% Richard Savadel (Libertarian) 0.36% William R. Scott (Communist) 0.07% Thomas Soto (Workers World) 0.06% Victor A. Nieto (Socialist Workers) 0.06% |
| North Carolina | Robert Burren Morgan | Democratic | Lost re-election, 49.4% Republican gain |
John Porter East (Republican) 50.0% |
| North Dakota | Milton Young | Republican | Retired Republican hold |
Mark Andrews (Republican) 70.3% Kent Johanneson (Democratic) 29.0% |
| Ohio | John Glenn | Democratic | Re-elected, 68.8% | James E. Betts (Republican) 28.2% |
| Oklahoma | Henry Bellmon | Republican | Retired Republican hold |
Don Nickles (Republican) 53.5% Andrew Coats (Democratic) 43.5% |
| Oregon | Bob Packwood | Republican | Re-elected, 52.1% | Ted Kulongoski (Democratic) 44.0% Theodora Nathalia Nathan (Libertarian) 3.8% |
| Pennsylvania | Richard Schweiker | Republican | Retired Republican hold |
Arlen Specter (Republican) 50.5% Pete Flaherty (Democratic) 48.0% |
| South Carolina | Ernest Hollings | Democratic | Re-elected, 70.4% | Marshall T. Mays (Republican) 29.6% |
| South Dakota | George McGovern | Democratic | Lost re-election, 39.4% Republican gain |
James Abdnor (Republican) 58.2% Wayne Peterson (Independent) 2.4% |
| Utah | Jake Garn | Republican | Re-elected, 73.6% | Dan Berman (Democratic) 25.5% |
| Vermont | Patrick Leahy | Democratic | Re-elected, 49.8% | Stewart M. Ledbetter (Republican) 48.5% |
| Washington | Warren G. Magnuson | Democratic | L re-election, 45.8% Republican gain |
Slade Gorton (Republican) 54.2% |
| Wisconsin | Gaylord Nelson | Democratic | Lost re-election, 48.3% Republican gain |
Bob Kasten (Republican) 50.2% |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key: | D=Democratic | I=Independent | R=Republican | V=Vacant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| divider | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||