Election to the United States Senate in 1980
The 1980 election to the United States Senate for the 97th United States Congress took place on November 4th. It was part of the election in the United States that day and coincided with the presidential election in which Ronald Reagan was first elected president. In the course of mobilizing for Reagan, the Republicans were able to gain 12 seats in the Senate and replace the Democrats as the majority party.
The 34 Class III seats were up for election, there were no by-elections for senators who left office prematurely. 24 of these senators were from the Democratic Party and 10 from the Republicans . 16 incumbents were able to defend their seats, 10 Democrats and 6 Republicans. The Republicans were also able to win 12 seats previously held by Democrats, while the Democrats did not manage to win a Republican seat. The Democrats lost their previous majority in the Senate of 58 seats and only got 46, while the Republicans improved from 41 to 53. The independent Senator was not available for election.
New Jersey Democratic Senator Harrison A. Williams resigned in March 1980 to forestall Senate expulsion. As his successor, Governor Thomas Kean appointed the Republican Nicholas F. Brady . That increased the majority of Republicans to 54 seats, while the Democrats fell to 45.
Results
- re-elected: an elected incumbent was re-elected