United States Senate elections, 1980

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Category: United States Senate elections

The Contenders

A national pool of contenders, see below

The Significance

In 1980, as Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter went down for a landslide defeat at the hands of Republican Ronald Reagan, the Republican party made significant gains in the Senate, taking over that legislative body for the first time in more than 20 years. More notably, the Reagan coattails carried many undistinguished Republican challengers to victory over more respected, and in many cases legendary Democratic incumbents.

Indiana's Rep. Dan Quayle took down Democratic powerhouse Birch Bayh; in Georgia, Herman Talmadge, a Senator since the late forties and a member of the state's most famous political family, lost to Mack Mattingly, who became the state's first post-reconstruction Republican Senator. Idaho's Frank Church lost to Steve Symms; the 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern of South Dakota lost to James Abdnor.

There were several "Class of 1980" Republicans that went on to attain fame in their own right: Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Alfonse D'Amato of New York among others. But whether by defeat or retirement, most of the newcomers lasted only one term. By 1986, the Democrats turned the tide and wiped out the Republican majority.