The 1982 United States Senate election in Indiana was held on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Richard Lugar Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from De ...

faced Democratic

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Floyd Fithian Floyd James Fithian (November 3, 1928June 27, 2003) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Representative from Indiana as a Democrat. He was one of the forty nine Watergate Babies who won election to the House of R ...

in the general election. Lugar won with a margin of 53% of the vote, compared to Fithian's 46%. This was Lugar's closest election out of his 7 senate elections for the class 1 seat.

Republican primary

Candidates

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Incumbent United States Senator Richard Lugar won the republican nomination in an uncontested primary on May 4, 1982.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, U.S. Representative from Tippecanoe County * Michael Kendall,

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

from

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

Campaign

After the

1980 Census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...

, the Indiana General Assembly redistricted Indiana's congressional districts, pushing Democratic representative

's district into more conservative territory. After redistricting, Fithian, the three term incumbent of

Indiana's 2nd congressional district Indiana's 2nd congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress in Northern Indiana. It includes South Bend and Elkhart. On November 8, 2022, Republican candidate Rudy Yakym won both the special election, to complete the re ...

, decided to run for

Secretary of State of Indiana The Secretary of State of Indiana is one of five constitutional officers originally designated in Indiana's State Constitution of 1816. Since 1851, it has been an elected position. The Secretary of State oversees four divisions, and is the third ...

, but withdrew from the primary to ultimately run for the United States Senate. He challenged fellow Democrat and one term

Indiana State Senator The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms ...

Michael Kendall of Jasper, Indiana, who Fithian earlier encouraged to run for the Senate. Kendall, who represented Indiana's 47th Senate district and formed the Notre Dame Students for

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

organization during the 1968 presidential election, was seen a young progressive alternative to Fithian, who he called the "ideological twin of Richard Lugar." After the bitterly contested primary, Fithian prevailed over Kendall, winning with 59% of the vote.

Results

General election

In the general election, Lugar faced Fithian and American Party candidate Raymond James. On November 5, 1982, Lugar defeated Fithian and James in the general election, winning 74 of Indiana's 93 counties.

References

{{United States elections, 1982

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

General election

See also

References