The 1980 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
on November 4, 1980, to elect members to serve in the
97th United States Congress. They coincided with the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
of
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
as
president, defeating
Democratic incumbent
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
. Reagan's victory also allowed many
Republican House candidates to secure elections. The Republicans gained a net of 35 seats from the
Democratic Party. The Democrats nonetheless retained a significant majority, unlike the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
elections, where Republicans gained control of the chamber. However, many Democratic congressmen from the south (known as "
Boll weevils") frequently took conservative stances on issues, allowing Republicans to have a working ideological majority for some of President Reagan's proposals during his first two years in office.
This election marked the first time since
Reconstruction that Republicans won a sizable majority of Representatives from a
Deep South state (South Carolina). It was also the first time that the new
Libertarian Party received the third-largest share of the
popular vote in both chambers of Congress. , this is the last time that Republicans won a majority of seats in the Minnesota delegation. This is the earliest House election with currently serving members, those being
Chris Smith and
Hal Rogers.
Overall results
398 incumbent members sought reelection, but 6 were defeated in primaries and 31 defeated in the general election for a total of 358 incumbents winning.
Summary of the November 4, 1980, United States House of Representatives election results
Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
Special elections
In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1980 or before January 3, 1981; ordered by election date.
Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
See
Non-voting delegates, below.
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
See
Non-voting delegates, below.
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Guam
See
Non-voting delegates, below.
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
As of 2021, this is the last time the Republican Party held a majority of congressional districts from
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
.
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
See
Non-voting delegates, below.
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
U.S. Virgin Islands
See
Non-voting delegates, below.
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Non-voting delegates
Each non-voting delegate was up for reelection in 1980.
, -
!
, colspan=3, None. Position created.
, , New member elected.
Democratic gain
, nowrap ,
, -
!
,
Walter Fauntroy
, , Democratic
,
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
!
,
Antonio Borja Won Pat
, , Democratic
, 1972
, Incumbent re-elected
, nowrap ,
, -
!
,
Baltasar Corrada del Río
, , New Progressive
, 1976
, Incumbent re-elected
,
, -
!
,
Melvin H. Evans
, , Republican
,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
, , Incumbent lost re-election.
Democratic gain.
, nowrap ,
See also
*
1980 United States elections
**
1980 United States gubernatorial elections
**
1980 United States presidential election
**
1980 United States Senate elections
*
96th United States Congress
*
97th United States Congress
Notes
References
Works cited
*
{{Al Gore
November 1980 in the United States
Presidency of Ronald Reagan
John Conyers
John Dingell
Larry Craig
Al Gore
Geraldine Ferraro
Barney Frank
Ed Markey
Chuck Schumer
Jamie Whitten