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County results Symms: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Church: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Idaho |
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The 1980 United States Senate election in Idaho took place on November 4, 1980 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Church ran for re-election to a fifth term, but was narrowly defeated by Republican Steve Symms. Ever since Symms took office in 1981, Republicans have held both of Idaho's U.S. Senate seats, as they had done so previously from 1951 to 1957.
Entering the election, Church was seen as vulnerable due in part to the fact he was a liberal Senator representing one of the most conservative states. [1] [2] Nevertheless, Church was considered by many to be the favorite, with even prominent Republicans in the state not giving his opponent, 1st congressional district Representative Steve Symms much of a chance to unseat Church. [3]
However, due to a variety of factors, the dynamic of the race would soon shift. For one, the race was affected by the concurrent Presidential Election, in which Ronald Reagan's coattails were anticipated to have an effect. [4] Another factor was an influx of out-of-state money affecting the campaigns. Church and Symms both raised considerable sums from out of state donors from states such as Texas and Florida, and by the campaigns end, both had spent close to $3.5 million, a state record. [5] [6]
Moreover, groups such as the ABC (Anybody But Church), which was affiliated with the NCPAC (National Conservative Political Action Committee), spent big on advertisements and mailers to damage Church's standing. [7] Church criticized these efforts as using the big lie. [8] These factors, plus criticism over his stance on the Panama Canal Treaties, made this a difficult campaign for the Senator. [9] [10]
Polls throughout the election showed Church up by small margins, highlighting the race's closeness. [10] [8] [1] Even in the final days, it had been believed that a large amount of voters remained undecided. [11]
In the end, Church lost by a margin of just over 4,000 votes. Many reasons were attributed to Church's defeat. One reason was that Ronald Reagan's landslide victory caused a coattail effect that Church couldn't overcome. [2] Another one was Jimmy Carter's early concession. Because Carter had conceded before polls closed in the Panhandle (which is in Pacific Time as opposed to the rest of the state, which is in Mountain Time), this was believed to have depressed voters in one of Church's strongest regions. [12] [13] There was also the factor of shifts among Mormon voters, who due to a focus on moral issues such as abortion, turned away from Church in the Eastern part of the state. [14]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Steve Symms | 218,701 | 49.74% | 7.61 | |
Democratic | Frank Church (incumbent) | 214,439 | 48.78% | 7.30 | |
Libertarian | Larry Fullmer | 6,507 | 1.48% | N/A | |
Majority | 4,262 | 0.97% | -12.96% | ||
Turnout | 439,647 | +41.13% | |||
Republican gain from Democratic |
John Victor Evans Sr. was an American politician from Idaho. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the state's 27th governor and was in office for 10 years, from 1977 to 1987.
Frank Forrester Church III was an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, from 1957 to 1981 he served as a U.S. Senator from Idaho, and is currently the last Democrat to do so. He was the longest serving Democratic senator from the state and the only Democrat from the state who served more than two terms in the Senate. He was a prominent figure in American foreign policy and established a reputation as a member of the party's liberal wing.
Reagan's coattails refers to the influence of Ronald Reagan's popularity in elections other than his own, after the American political expression to "ride in on another's coattails". Chiefly, it refers to the "Reagan Revolution" accompanying his 1980 election to the U.S. presidency. This victory was accompanied by the change of twelve seats in the United States Senate from Democratic to Republican hands, producing a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954.
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Steven Douglas Symms is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a four-term congressman (1973–1981) and two-term U.S. Senator (1981–1993), representing Idaho. He is a partner at Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.
Fred Thomas Dubois was a controversial American politician from Idaho who served two terms in the United States Senate. He was best known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise Mormon voters.
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