United States elections, 1980

1980 United States elections

Presidential election year
Election day	November 4
Presidential election
Electoral vote
Ronald Reagan (R)	489
Jimmy Carter (D)	49
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states/districts won by Republican Ronald Reagan, and Blue denotes those won by Democrat Jimmy Carter. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
Senate elections
Seats contested	34 seats of Class III
Net change	Republicans +12 (Republicans gain control)
1980 Senate election results map
House elections
Seats contested	All 435 seats
Net change	Republicans +34 (Democrats retain control)
1980 House election results map
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	15 (13 states, 2 territories)
Net change	Republican +4
1980 Gubernatorial election results map
Legend
Democratic hold   Democratic pickup   Republican pickup   Republican hold   Independent hold

The 1980 United States elections was held on November 4. These included the 49th presidential election, Senate elections (where 34 seats were decided), and House of Representatives elections (to elect all 435 members of the House for the 97th United States Congress). Other elections were held as well.

The elections saw sweeping gains by the Republican Party in the Senate, House, and in numerous gubernatorial and state races. Republican former California Governor Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic incumbent President Jimmy Carter in a landslide. Additionally, the Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, and increased their numbers in the House. The Republicans also gained four seats in governors' races.

The wins by Reagan and the Republicans marked the beginning of what is popularly called the "Reagan Revolution"^[1] or Reagan Era, and signified a conservative realignment in national politics.

Issues

Domestic issues

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

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

Presidential election

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 and received 6.6% of the vote.

Congressional elections

House of Representatives elections

Elections were held for all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. House Democrats won a slim majority of the popular vote (50.5%) and retained a 243 to 193 seat majority, even though Republicans gained 34 seats.

Senate elections

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 28 years, picking up 12 seats and losing none.

State/territorial elections

Gubernatorial elections

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

• Reagan Era
• Reagan coalition
• Reagan's coattails
• Boll weevil (politics)

References

United States elections
1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
See also Presidential elections Senate elections House elections Gubernatorial elections