1980 United States Senate elections

The Republicans gained a net of 12 seats from the Democrats and gained control of the Senate, 53–46–1. Majority and minority leaders Robert Byrd and Howard Baker exchanged places. This election marked the first time since 1954 that the Republican Party controlled either chamber of Congress.

Without losing any seats, the Republicans took three open seats in Alabama, Alaska, and Florida, and unseated 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).

This was the largest Senate swing since 1958, and was the largest Republican gain since 1946, when Republicans also picked up 12 seats. This was also the last time the Senate changed hands in a presidential election year until 2000 when Democrats won control, as well as the last time the Republicans gained control of the Senate in a presidential election year.

Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
		1978	1980	Change	Vote	%
	Democratic Party	58	46	12	30,699,463	51.62%
	Republican Party	41	53	12	26,597,169	44.73%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		401,077	0.67%
	Independent	1	1		112,242	0.19%
	Others	0	0		1,658,979	2.79%
Total		100	100		59,468,930	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk

Alabama election

Nominee Jeremiah Denton Jim Folsom Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 650,363 610,175 Percentage 50.2% 47.1%

U.S. Senate election results map. Red denotes counties won by Denton. Blue denotes those won by Folsom.   Denton—40-50%   Denton—50-60%   Denton—60-70%   Folsom—40-50%   Folsom—50-60%   Folsom—60-70%   Folsom—70-80%   Folsom—80-90%

U.S. senator before election Donald Stewart Democratic Elected U.S. senator Jeremiah Denton Republican

Incumbent Democrat Donald Stewart decided to run for his second term, but was defeated in the primary. In November, Republican Jeremiah Denton defeated Democrat Jim Folsom, Public Service Commissioner.

Alaska election

Nominee Frank Murkowski Clark Gruening Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 84,159 72,007 Percentage 53.69% 45.93%

U.S. senator before election Mike Gravel Democratic Elected U.S. senator Frank Murkowski Republican

Incumbent Democrat Mike Gravel ran for a third term, but lost in the Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, a former state representative who was the grandson of Ernest Gruening, whom Gravel had defeated twelve years prior in an election for the same seat. Gruening later went on to lose the general election to Republican nominee Frank Murkowski, a banker.

After the loss of Gravel's seat, no Alaska Democrat would win a congressional race again until Mark Begich's narrow, protracted triumph in Alaska's 2008 Senate election.[2]

First elected in 1968, by 1980 two-term Democratic incumbent Mike Gravel had become noted for a filibuster that attempted to end the draft during the Vietnam War and for including the full text of the Pentagon Papers in the Congressional Record.

Gravel faced a challenging bid for re-election, complicated by the fact that his triumph over Ernest Gruening years prior had made him a pariah in the Alaska Democratic Party. Though Gravel had campaigned to be selected as George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 U.S. presidential election and had easily won re-election to the Senate in 1974, he had never established a strong political base in Alaska.[3]

The passage of a controversial land bill earlier in the year, as opposed to a compromise bill worked out by fellow senator Ted Stevens that failed thanks to Gravel two years prior, further harmed his re-election bid.[4][5] A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, campaigned against Gravel on the land bill issue.[6]

The sources of Gravel's campaign funds, some of which came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.[5] Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system, which allows unlimited cross-over voting across parties and from its large unaffiliated electorate;[6] Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.[5] The blanket primary had first been used in the 1968 election, and The blanket primary had first been used in the 1968 electionThe blanket primary had first been used in the 1968 election was something Gravel himself was able to capitalize upon in his 1968 campaign.

Gravel would later comment that by the time of his primary defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska."[4] In the August 26, 1980, primary Gruening defeated Gravel by 11 percentage points.

Arizona election

Nominee Barry Goldwater Bill Schulz Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 432,371 422,972 Percentage 49.46% 48.38%

U.S. Senate election results map. Red denotes counties won by Goldwater. Blue denotes those won by Schulz.

U.S. senator before election Barry Goldwater Republican Elected U.S. senator Barry Goldwater Republican

Incumbent Republican Barry Goldwater decided to run for reelection to a third consecutive term, after returning to the U.S. Senate in 1968 following his failed Presidential run in 1964 against Lyndon B. Johnson. Goldwater defeated Democratic Party nominee Bill Schulz in the general election, but only by a narrow margin, which later caused Goldwater to decide against running for reelection to a fourth consecutive term.

Arkansas election

Nominee Dale Bumpers William Clark Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 477,905 360,576 Percentage 57.0% 43.0%

U.S. senator before election Dale Bumpers Democratic Elected U.S. senator Dale Bumpers Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Dale Bumpers won re-election to a second term over real estate broker William Clark.

California election

Nominee Alan Cranston Paul Gann Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 4,705,399 3,093,426 Percentage 56.5% 37.2%

U.S. senator before election Alan Cranston Democratic Elected U.S. senator Alan Cranston Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Alan Cranston easily won re-election to a third term over Paul Gann, political activist, even as the state's former Republican governor, Ronald Reagan, claimed a landslide victory in the presidential election.

Colorado election

Nominee Gary Hart Mary Estill Buchanan Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 590,501 571,295 Percentage 50.3% 48.7%

U.S. senator before election Gary Hart Democratic Elected U.S. senator Gary Hart Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Gary Hart won re-election to a second term over Mary Estill Buchanan, Colorado Secretary of State.

Connecticut election

Nominee Chris Dodd James Buckley Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 763,969 581,884 Percentage 56.3% 42.9%

U.S. senator before election Abraham Ribicoff Democratic Elected U.S. senator Chris Dodd Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Abraham Ribicoff decided to retire. Democrat Chris Dodd won the open seat over James Buckley, former U.S. senator from New York

Florida election

Nominee Paula Hawkins Bill Gunter Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,822,460 1,705,409 Percentage 51.7% 48.3%

U.S. senator before election Richard Stone Democratic Elected U.S. senator Paula Hawkins Republican

Incumbent Democrat Richard Stone decided to run for re-election to a second term, but was defeated in the Democratic primary election by Bill Gunter. Republican Paula Hawkins won the open seat.[1]

Stone, a freshman senator, had a reputation for changing his mind. In 1980, the AFL-CIO actively campaigned against him, and Stone was deemed vulnerable in his re-election bid.[13] Six Democrats entered the race for Stone's seat including his 1974 runoff opponent Bill Gunter who was Florida State Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner in 1980.[13] As was the case in 1974, Stone and Gunter were forced into a runoff but, unlike 1974, Gunter won the nomination.

Georgia election

Nominee Mack Mattingly Herman Talmadge Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 803,686 776,143 Percentage 50.87% 49.13%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Herman Talmadge Democratic Elected U.S. senator Mack Mattingly Republican

Incumbent Democrat and former Governor of Georgia Herman Talmadge decided to run for re-election to a fifth term, but lost a close race to Mack Mattingly, Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. 1980 resulted in a landslide election for Republicans that would come to be known as the Reagan Revolution.[1]

Idaho election

Nominee Steve Symms Frank Church Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 218,701 214,439 Percentage 49.7% 48.8%

U.S. senator before election Frank Church Democratic Elected U.S. senator Steve Symms Republican

Incumbent Democrat Frank Church ran for re-election to a fifth term, but was defeated by Republican Steve Symms, U.S. Congressman.

Illinois election

Nominee Alan Dixon Dave O'Neal Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,565,302 1,946,296 Percentage 56.0% 42.5%

U.S. senator before election Adlai Stevenson III Democratic Elected U.S. senator Alan J. Dixon Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Adlai Stevenson III decided to retire. Democrat Alan J. Dixon won the open seat, beating Dave O'Neal, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois

Indiana election

Nominee Dan Quayle Birch Bayh Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,182,414 1,015,922 Percentage 53.8% 46.2%

County results

U.S. senator before election Birch Bayh Democratic Elected U.S. senator Dan Quayle Republican

Incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh ran for a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican Dan Quayle.

Birch Bayh, the incumbent senator, faced no opposition within the Indiana Democratic Party and avoided a primary election. Bayh was originally elected in 1962 and re-elected in 1968 and 1974. He was Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee and architect of 25th and 26th Amendments. This election was one of the key races in the country, and signaled a trend that would come to be known as Reagan's coattails, describing the influence Ronald Reagan had in congressional elections. Incumbent three-term senator Birch Bayh was defeated by over 160,000 votes to Representative Dan Quayle, who would later go on to be Vice President of the United States.

Iowa election

Nominee Chuck Grassley John Culver Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 683,014 581,545 Percentage 53.49% 45.54%

U.S. senator before election John Culver Democratic Elected U.S. senator Chuck Grassley Republican

Incumbent Democrat John Culver sought re-election to a second term in the Senate, but he was unsuccessful in his bid to do so, falling to Chuck Grassley, the United States Congressman from Iowa's 3rd congressional district, the Republican nominee.

Kentucky election

November 4, 1980

Nominee Wendell Ford Mary Louise Foust Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 720,891 386,029 Percentage 65.13% 34.87%

U.S. senator before election Wendell Ford Democratic Elected U.S. senator Wendell Ford Democratic

Democrat Wendell Ford won re-election, he defeated Republican Mary Louise Foust.

Nevada election

Nominee Paul Laxalt Mary Gojack Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 144,224 92,129 Percentage 58.5% 37.4%

U.S. Senate election results map. Red denotes those won by Laxalt.   Laxalt—50-60%   Laxalt—60-70%   Laxalt—70-80%   Laxalt—80-90%

U.S. senator before election Paul Laxalt Republican Elected U.S. senator Paul Laxalt Republican

Incumbent Republican won re-election to a second term over Mary Gojack, former State senator (1974–1978) and former State Assemblywoman (1972–1974).[21]

New Hampshire election

Nominee Warren Rudman John Durkin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 195,559 179,455 Percentage 52.2% 47.8%

U.S. senator before election John A. Durkin Democratic Elected U.S. senator Warren Rudman Republican

Incumbent Democrat John Durkin was defeated by former Attorney General of New Hampshire Warren Rudman in a relatively close election, where nationwide Republicans would have a landslide election known as the Reagan Revolution.

New York election

Nominee Al D'Amato Elizabeth Holtzman Jacob K. Javits Party Republican Democratic Liberal Popular vote 2,699,652 2,618,661 664,544 Percentage 44.9% 43.5% 11.1%

County results

U.S. senator before election Jacob K. Javits Republican Elected U.S. senator Al D'Amato Republican

Incumbent Republican Jacob K. Javits was defeated in the primary, and Republican Al D'Amato, Presiding Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, won the three way election with Elizabeth Holtzman, U.S. Representative.

Javits's refusal to adjust politically to the rightward movement of his party as well as his 1979 diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) led to a primary challenge. Javits was defeated in the primary by Hempstead Presiding Supervisor Al D'Amato on September 9.

D'Amato, also running on the Conservative line, proceeded to defeat Democratic U.S. Representative Elizabeth Holtzman and Javits, who ran on the Liberal Party ticket. In the traditionally liberal state of New York, Javits split the Democratic vote with Holtzman to give D'Amato a close victory.[24]

North Carolina election

Nominee John East Robert Morgan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 898,064 887,653 Percentage 50.0% 49.4%

U.S. senator before election Robert Morgan Democratic Elected U.S. senator John East Republican

Incumbent Democrat Robert Morgan lost re-election a second term to Republican John East, Professor at East Carolina University.

North Dakota election

Nominee Mark Andrews Kent Johanneson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 210,347 86,658 Percentage 70.29% 28.96%

U.S. senator before election Milton R. Young Republican Elected U.S. senator Mark Andrews Republican

Incumbent Republican Milton Young was retiring. Republican Mark Andrews defeated North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party candidate Kent Johanneson to fill the vacated seat.[1]

Andrews, who had served as a Representative since 1965, easily received the Republican nomination, and the endorsed Democratic-NPL candidate was Kent Johanneson. Andrews and Johanneson won the primary elections for their respective parties.

Two independent candidates, Harley McLain and Don J. Klingensmith also filed before the deadline under the Chemical Farming Banned and Statesman parties respectively. McLain would later run for the same seat in 1998 against then incumbent Byron Dorgan.

Ohio election

Nominee John Glenn Jim Betts Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,770,786 1,137,695 Percentage 68.8% 28.3%

U.S. senator before election John Glenn Democratic Elected U.S. senator John Glenn Democratic

Incumbent Democrat John Glenn won re-election to a second term in a landslide with 69% of the vote over Jim Betts, State Representative, coinciding with Ronald Reagan's substantial win in the state during the presidential election.

Oklahoma election

Nominee Don Nickles Andy Coats Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 587,252 400,230 Percentage 53.5% 44.8%

U.S. senator before election Henry Bellmon Republican Elected U.S. senator Don Nickles Republican

Incumbent Republican Henry Bellmon decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Don Nickles won the open seat over Andy Coats, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma district attorney.[27]

After two years in the State Senate and displeased by the policies of the Carter Administration, Nickles ran for the United States Senate in 1980 to succeed Republican Henry Bellmon who was retiring. As an unknown in a field crowded with business and political bigwigs, Nickles was not initially given much of a chance. Bellmon even tried to convince him to wait and run for the U.S. House. Utilizing personal contact and passing out unique "wooden nickel" campaign button novelties, Nickles unique grassroot community ties to local Amway distributors throughout Oklahoma gave him an interpersonal network which proved helpful. Nickles beat two well funded oil millionaires (Jack Zink and Ed Noble) in the primary and won the primary run-off against Zink, a race car driver. He later won the general election against Democrat Oklahoma City Mayor Andy Coats and independent Charles Nesbitt, the Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner and former Oklahoma Attorney General. At the age of 32, Nickles was the youngest Republican ever elected to the United States Senate.

Oregon election

Nominee Bob Packwood Ted Kulongoski Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 594,290 501,963 Percentage 52.1% 44.0%

U.S. senator before election Bob Packwood Republican Elected U.S. senator Bob Packwood Republican

Republican incumbent Bob Packwood was re-elected to a third term, defeating Democratic state senator Ted Kulongoski and Libertarian Tonie Nathan.

Mount St. Helens erupted two days before the Oregon primaries.

The primary elections were held on May 20, 1980 in conjunction with the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. Interest in the primaries was somewhat subdued because they occurred just two days after the eruption of Mount St. Helens, about 60 miles (97 km) north of Oregon's most populous city, Portland.[29][30] The eruption (which was a VEI = 5 event) was the first significant one to occur in the contiguous 48 U.S. states since the 1915 eruption of California's Lassen Peak.[31]

In addition to the candidates chosen in the primaries, Tonie Nathan was chosen as the Libertarian Party candidate at that party's convention in June.[34] Previously, Nathan had been the Libertarian vice presidential candidate in the 1972 Presidential election and was the first woman to ever receive an electoral vote in a U.S. Presidential election from a faithless elector who voted for her.[35]

As a well-funded incumbent, Packwood was expected to have a fairly easy road to re-election and led by double digit margins in most early polls.[36][37] Packwood chose defense spending as his key issue in the campaign while Kulongoski focused on the economy and unemployment. Nathan hammered at core Libertarian principles of limited government, with a goal of 5% of votes which would keep the party as a valid minor party.[38] The three candidates agreed to three debates, to be held across the state in the summer of 1980.[39] As the challenger, Kulongoski aggressively attempted to engage Packwood in the debates, but the debate format did not allow the candidates to ask follow-up questions or rebut each other's statements and Packwood was largely able to avoid confrontation and stay above the fray.[38] As the campaign wore on, Kulongoski grew more confident and tried to appeal to Oregonians' independent values by saying that Packwood's enormous cash advantage was due to "eastern" money.[29]

Kulongoski closed to within a few points in some late polls, but with no mistakes made by Packwood and with the coattail effect of Ronald Reagan's Presidential victory, the incumbent achieved an electoral majority and a fairly comfortable 8-point margin over Kulongoski. Nathan finished with less than 4% of the vote, short of her goal of 5%.[40] With Republicans taking control of the U.S. Senate, Packwood was in line to become chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Fellow Oregon Republican senator Mark Hatfield was also elevated to chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, giving Oregon power in the Senate it had never seen before.[41]

Pennsylvania election

Nominee Arlen Specter Pete Flaherty Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,230,404 2,122,391 Percentage 50.5% 48.0%

County results

U.S. senator before election Richard Schweiker Republican Elected U.S. senator Arlen Specter Republican

Incumbent Republican Richard Schweiker decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Arlen Specter won the open seat, defeating Democratic nominee Peter F. Flaherty, former Mayor of Pittsburgh.

Arlen Specter, formerly a member of the Democratic party, had served as legal counsel to the Warren Commission, which investigated the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, after which he became District Attorney of Philadelphia. After he was defeated in a 1967 run for Mayor of Philadelphia, Specter was defeated in his bid for a third term as district attorney. He had run in the Republican primary in the 1976 Senate election, but was defeated by John Heinz and also ran in the 1978 gubernatorial election, but was defeated by Dick Thornburgh in the primary. Shortly after Specter opened a law practice in Atlantic City, New Jersey, incumbent Republican Richard Schweiker unexpectedly announced his decision not to seek re-election to his seat. Specter, believing his reputation as a political moderate would help him in the general election, and would help him in the general election, d would help him in the general election, and would help him in the general electionecided to run. In the Republican primary, Specter faced state senator Edward Howard, as well as Delaware County councilman Bud Haabestad, who was endorsed by Schweiker, then-governor Thornburgh and John Heinz. Specter ultimately defeated Haabestad, his most prominent challenger, by approximately 37,000 votes.[43]

In the Democratic primary, former Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty contended with State Representative Joseph Rhodes Jr., former U.S. Representative Edward Mezvinsky, State senator H. Craig Lewis and Dean of Temple University Law School Peter J. Liacouras. Flaherty's name recognition enabled him to defeat his primary opponents, winning every county and thus winning the Democratic nomination.[43]

Flaherty employed a general election strategy he had used in two previous statewide office campaigns: win by a wide margin in the southwestern part of the state and narrowly win Philadelphia. He also hoped to carry several swing towns on account of his support from several labor unions. Specter hoped to carry his home town of Philadelphia, despite the Democrats' 7–2 voter registration advantage there. To this end, Specter sought endorsements among city Democratic leadership, including future mayor John F. Street. Specter hoped that, with wins in suburban areas and the heavily Republican central portion of the state in addition to winning Philadelphia, he would be able to win the election. Specter distanced himself from Governor Dick Thornburgh, who had become unpopular in some demographics due to his proposals to decrease welfare program spending.[43]

In the end, Specter defeated Flaherty by approximately 108,000 votes, carrying Philadelphia and its suburbs as well as the central and northeastern portions of the state. Flaherty performed strongest in the western portion of the state, including Cambria, Clarion, Erie and Mercer counties.[43]

South Carolina election

Nominee Ernest Hollings Marshall Mays Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 612,556 257,946 Percentage 70.4% 29.6%

U.S. senator before election Fritz Hollings Democratic Elected U.S. senator Ernest Hollings Democratic

Incumbent Democratic senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican challenger Marshall Mays to win his third full term.

South Dakota election

Nominee James Abdnor George McGovern Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 190,594 129,018 Percentage 58.2% 39.4%

County results

U.S. senator before election George McGovern Democratic Elected U.S. senator James Abdnor Republican

Incumbent Democrat George McGovern ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican James Abdnor, U.S. Representative.

McGovern was one of several liberal Democratic U.S. senators targeted for defeat in 1980 by the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), which put out a year's worth of negative portrayals of McGovern.[45] They and other pro-life groups especially focused on McGovern's support for pro-choice abortion laws.[46] McGovern faced a Democratic primary challenge for the first time, from a pro-life candidate.[47]

Abdnor, a four-term incumbent congressman who held identical positions to McGovern on farm issues, was solidly conservative on national issues, and was well liked within the state.[46][48] Abdnor's campaign focused on both McGovern's liberal voting record and what it said was McGovern's lack of involvement in South Dakotan affairs.[46] McGovern made an issue of NCPAC's outside involvement, and that group eventually withdrew from the campaign after Abdnor denounced a letter they had sent out.[46] Far behind in the polls earlier, McGovern outspent Abdnor 2-to-1, hammered away at Abdnor's refusal to debate him (drawing attention to a slight speech defect Abdnor had), and, showing the comeback pattern of some of his past races in the state, closed the gap for a while.[46][49][50]

However, in the general election McGovern was solidly defeated, getting only 39 percent of the vote to Abdnor's 58 percent.[49] McGovern became one of many Democratic casualties of that year's Republican sweep,[50] which became known as the "Reagan Revolution".

Vermont election

Nominee Patrick Leahy Stewart M. Ledbetter Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 104,089 101,647 Percentage 49.8% 48.6%

U.S. senator before election Patrick Leahy Democratic Elected U.S. senator Patrick Leahy Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Patrick Leahy ran successfully for reelection to a second term in the United States Senate, defeating Stewart M. Ledbetter

Washington election

Nominee Slade Gorton Warren Magnuson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 936,317 792,052 Percentage 54.2% 45.8%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Warren Magnuson Democratic Elected U.S. senator Slade Gorton Republican

Incumbent Democrat Warren Magnuson lost re-election to State Attorney General Slade Gorton.

Wisconsin election

Nominee Bob Kasten Gaylord Nelson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,106,311 1,065,487 Percentage 50.2% 48.3%

County results

U.S. senator before election Gaylord Nelson Democratic Elected U.S. senator Bob Kasten Republican

Incumbent Democrat Gaylord Nelson ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Bob Kasten, Former U.S. Representative from Wisconsin's 9th congressional district (1975–1979).[1]

• 1980 United States elections
  • 1980 United States gubernatorial elections
  • 1980 United States presidential election
  • 1980 United States House of Representatives elections
• 96th United States Congress
• 97th United States Congress