1980 United States elections

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1980 United States elections
1978          1979          1980          1981          1982
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 4
Incumbent presidentJimmy Carter (Democratic)
Next Congress97th
Presidential election
Partisan controlRepublican gain
Popular vote marginRepublican +9.7%
Electoral vote
Ronald Reagan (R)489
Jimmy Carter (D)49
1980 United States presidential election in California1980 United States presidential election in Oregon1980 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1980 United States presidential election in Idaho1980 United States presidential election in Nevada1980 United States presidential election in Utah1980 United States presidential election in Arizona1980 United States presidential election in Montana1980 United States presidential election in Wyoming1980 United States presidential election in Colorado1980 United States presidential election in New Mexico1980 United States presidential election in North Dakota1980 United States presidential election in South Dakota1980 United States presidential election in Nebraska1980 United States presidential election in Kansas1980 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1980 United States presidential election in Texas1980 United States presidential election in Minnesota1980 United States presidential election in Iowa1980 United States presidential election in Missouri1980 United States presidential election in Arkansas1980 United States presidential election in Louisiana1980 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1980 United States presidential election in Illinois1980 United States presidential election in Michigan1980 United States presidential election in Indiana1980 United States presidential election in Ohio1980 United States presidential election in Kentucky1980 United States presidential election in Tennessee1980 United States presidential election in Mississippi1980 United States presidential election in Alabama1980 United States presidential election in Georgia1980 United States presidential election in Florida1980 United States presidential election in South Carolina1980 United States presidential election in North Carolina1980 United States presidential election in Virginia1980 United States presidential election in West Virginia1980 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1980 United States presidential election in Maryland1980 United States presidential election in Delaware1980 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey1980 United States presidential election in New York1980 United States presidential election in Connecticut1980 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1980 United States presidential election in Vermont1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1980 United States presidential election in Maine1980 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1980 United States presidential election in Hawaii1980 United States presidential election in Alaska1980 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia1980 United States presidential election in Maryland1980 United States presidential election in Delaware1980 United States presidential election in New Jersey1980 United States presidential election in Connecticut1980 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1980 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1980 United States presidential election in Vermont1980 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
1980 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Reagan, blue denotes states won by Carter. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican gain
Seats contested34 of 100 seats
Net seat changeRepublican +12
1980 United States Senate election in Alabama1980 United States Senate election in Alaska1980 United States Senate election in Arizona1980 United States Senate election in Arkansas1980 United States Senate election in California1980 United States Senate election in Colorado1980 United States Senate election in Connecticut1980 United States Senate election in Florida1980 United States Senate election in Georgia1980 United States Senate election in Hawaii1980 United States Senate election in Idaho1980 United States Senate election in Illinois1980 United States Senate election in Indiana1980 United States Senate election in Iowa1980 United States Senate election in Kansas1980 United States Senate election in Kentucky1980 United States Senate election in Louisiana1980 United States Senate election in Maryland1980 United States Senate election in Missouri1980 United States Senate election in Nevada1980 United States Senate election in New Hampshire1980 United States Senate election in New York1980 United States Senate election in North Carolina1980 United States Senate election in North Dakota1980 United States Senate election in Ohio1980 United States Senate election in Oklahoma1980 United States Senate election in Oregon1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1980 United States Senate election in South Carolina1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota1980 United States Senate election in Utah1980 United States Senate election in Vermont1980 United States Senate election in Washington1980 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
1980 Senate results

  Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting members
Popular vote marginDemocratic +2.6%
Net seat changeRepublican +34
1980 House of Representatives results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested15 (13 states, 2 territories)
Net seat changeRepublican +4
1980 Rhode Island gubernatorial election1980 Arkansas gubernatorial election1980 Delaware gubernatorial election1980 Indiana gubernatorial election1980 Missouri gubernatorial election1980 Montana gubernatorial election1980 New Hampshire gubernatorial election1980 North Carolina gubernatorial election1980 North Dakota gubernatorial election1980 Utah gubernatorial election1980 Vermont gubernatorial election1980 Washington gubernatorial election1980 West Virginia gubernatorial election1980 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election1980 American Samoa gubernatorial election
1980 gubernatorial election results
Territorial races not shown

  Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold

The 1980 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 4. Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide. Republicans picked up seats in both chambers of Congress and won control of the Senate, though Democrats retained a majority in the House of Representatives. The election is sometimes referred to as part of the "Reagan Revolution",[1] a conservative realignment in U.S. politics and marked the start of the Reagan Era.

Reagan defeated George H. W. Bush and other candidates in the 1980 Republican presidential primaries, while Carter fended off a challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy in the 1980 Democratic primaries. In the general election, Reagan won 489 of 538 electoral votes and 50.7 percent of the popular vote, while Carter won 41.0 percent of the popular vote and independent candidate John B. Anderson took 6.6 percent of the vote.

Republicans picked up twelve Senate seats to take control of a chamber of Congress for the first time since the 1954 elections. They picked up 34 seats in the House, but Democrats retained a comfortable majority in that chamber. In the gubernatorial elections, Republicans won a net gain of four seats. This was the first presidential election since 1968 that the winning candidate had coattails in the House and Senate.[citation needed] This was the last election until 2020 when a chamber of Congress changed hands in a presidential election, and the first to do so since 1952.

This marks one of four occasions where a newly elected president entered office with a divided legislature, occurring again in 1860, 1876, and 1884. 1876 is the only other occasion where the president's party held the Senate, but not the House. A divided Congress also occurred after the 1984 and 2012 elections.

Issues[edit]

Domestic issues[edit]

The United States in the 1970s underwent "stagflation"—a wrenching period of low economic growth, high inflation, and high-interest rates and intermittent energy crises.[2] These issues played a large role in the 1980 campaign.

While during Barry Goldwater's 1964 campaign, many voters saw his warnings about a too-powerful government as hyperbolic and only 30% of the electorate agreed that government was too powerful, by 1980 a majority of Americans believed that government held too much power.[3]

Foreign issues[edit]

Events such as the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan played a large role in the 1980 elections. America was perceived by many to be weakening as a world power while the Soviet Union was perceived to be strengthening and expanding.

At the time, 60% of Americans polled felt that United States defense spending was too low.[4]

Federal elections[edit]

Presidential election[edit]

Republican Ronald Reagan won the election in a landslide, receiving 489 electoral votes, defeating incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter, who received 49. Reagan received the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate.

Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent, received 6.6% of the vote.

Congressional elections[edit]

Senate elections[edit]

The 34 seats of Class III of the United States Senate were up for election. Republicans won majority control of the Senate for the first time in 26 years, picking up 12 seats and losing none.

House of Representatives elections[edit]

Elections were held for all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Though Democrats won the nationwide popular vote by 2.6 percentage points, Republicans gained 34 seats. Nonetheless, Democrats retained a majority with 243 seats, compared to 193 seats held by Republicans.[5]

State/territorial elections[edit]

Gubernatorial elections[edit]

Thirteen of the fifty state governorships were up for election. Four state governorships changed hands from Democrat to Republican.

The territorial governorships of American Samoa and Puerto Rico were also up for election.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jerry Lanson (2008-11-06). "A historic victory. A changed nation. Now, can Obama deliver?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  2. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 292. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
  3. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 283. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
  4. ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 344. ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
  5. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1980" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 10 April 2017.

External links[edit]