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129 November 20, 1980 THE ROLE OF CCIWAIGW CCWTRIBUTIONS IN THE
1980 US. SENAE ELECTIONS If INTRODUCTION I There were twenty-four
Democrat-held and ten'.'Republican-held seat s at stake in the 1980
Senate elections. Two Democrats Stevenson and.Ribicoff, as well as
three Republicans, Schweiker BaI:lmon~and Youhg, had retired. One
Republican senator, Javits was defeated.in a.primary while three
Democrats, Gravel, Stone, and Stew art were also primary:-losers
This left' six Republican incumbents and nineteen Democrat
incumbents running"in the general election.
The Republicans won twenty-two of the) thirty-fouk-:kaces,
including' seven of the nine races for: open seats. caused .by p
rimary defeat or-retkement, and retained all.ten of, the. seats
held by Republicans. before the elections their!races while only
ten of the nineteen Democrat incumbents won re-election iii.'the
new Senate, which'will consist of fifty-three Republicans for t
y-six Democrats, and one Independent It is interesting :to note
that 'when. the new Senate convenes in .January, fifty-four:.of+the
900 senators thirty-five Republicans and only twenty-five senators
fifteen :Democrats,. nine Republicans and one Independen t ) will
have been elected before 1970 This short paper, consi's&g
primarily of statistical tables, presents some analyses of.the.1980
Senate Elections. Tables E and F', which contain some p re.2
im,inary stat i,s.ti c s abouC camp a gn Chances, might be of
specia.1: interest Since:;.the elections, much 'as been written
about the,connection betweemelection victory and campaign
contributions. There have been charges that the All Republican
incumbents won i i There will .be sixteen new Republicans and two
new D emocrats i add nineteen Democrats w.ill: be serving their
first terms I A i 2 Republican landslide was simply Ilbought.
Specifically, the electoral defeats of four of the most prominent
Democrat liberals Senators Bayh, Culver, Church and McGovern, have
pr o voked many arguments. Yet, in three of the four races,
excepting only the Culver vs. Grassley contest, the Democrat
incumbent raised more in campaign contributions than his Republican
challenger. And, this paper shows that in only eight of the
eighteen ra ces won by narrow margins 54 percent or less) did the
winner receive more in campaign contributions than his opponent.
For two reasons, this paper does not deal with the controver sial
issue of independent expenditures by political action commit- tees.
Fir st, no complete and up-to-date statistics are available as
,yet. Secondly, the question whether independent expenditures help
or hinder candidates is based largely on speculation and is
probably unresolvable. Equally unresolvable is the charge that
in-kin d contributions by labor unions contributions that are not
required to be reported under the Federal Election Campaign Act are
significant elements in the campaigns of liberal Democrats. That
question is not dealt with here. Additionally, the much-discusse d
Ilpower of incumbency, If that is, the significant advantages that
incumbents have in running for re-election, is not treated in this
paper.
THE TREND TO THE WEST AND THE SOUTH Hiqhlights of Tables A, B, and
C of the Appendix In the last three Senate ele ctions, the
Republicans have done a much better job of protecting their
incumbents than the Democrats. Twenty-four Democrat incumbents, but
only seven Republican incumbents, have been defeated for
re-election in the last three elections.
From Table B, it can be seen that the ability of the Democra- tic
Party to control both Senate seats in individual states has
declined continually since 19
74. In that year, a plurality of states had two Democrat senators
while today a plurality of states are split with one Democrat
senator and one Republican senator. Additionally, the Republicans
now hold both Senate seats in more states than the Democrats.
From Table C, it can be seen that the new Republican majority in
the Senate has been constructed from states in the West and the
South. In 1974, the West was split evenly between the two parties.
Today, the Republicans hold a commanding 24-14 margin.
The most remarkable Republican gains have been in the South where,
it seems, the old IISolid South11 has now been completely destroyed
111.1974, the Democratic Party still held both Senate seats in six
states. Today, only two southern states (Arkansas and Lo uisiana)
have two Democrat senators 3 THE MARGINS OF VICTORY IN THE 1980
SENATE ELECTIONS (Table D Of the eighteen races where the margin of
victory was narrow 54 percent or less the Republicans were
victorious in fifteen.
Of the eleven Democrat incumbents who were involved in narrow
races, eight were defeated. Of the sixteen Republican winners in
narrow races, six collected more votes in their races than Reagan
did in those states victory was wide 55 percent or greater
incumbents won eleven. Of the sixtee n races where the margin of
SENATE CAMPAIGN FINANCES 0- SOME PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS Tables E
and F show the qross campaign receipts of all the major candidates
for the Senate in the 1980 elections. These tables are based on
each candidate's final pre-ele c tion report October 23) to the
Federal Election Commission. But that. final report covers receipts
only through October 15. So it must be noted that these statistics
are very preliminary. The final totals will not be available from
the FEC until the begin ning of December receipts, the totals for
some candidates might be inflated. Nevertheless, some highlights
Additionally, since the receipts are qross unaudited In twenty-one
of the thirty-four races, the eventual winner received the most in
contributions.
In only eight of the eighteen close races did the winner receive
the most in contributions.
Twenty-six of the sixty-eight major candidates received more than 1
million in contributions.
Thirteen of these twenty-six were incumbents.
Only six of these incumbents were winners.
Only fourteen of the twenty-six millionaires were winners.
Four of the five receiving more than $2 million in contribu- tions
were Democrats.
Of the twenty-six candidates receiving more than $1 million in
contributions eight were R epublican winners seven were Democrat
winners three were Republican losers eight were Democrat losers Of
the twenty-six candidates receiving more than $1 million in
contributions: sixteen were involved in close races five of the
remaining 10 were incumben t s In seven of the thirty-four races,
both candidates received more than $1 million in contributions THE
NEW REPUBLICAN SENATE AND THE FUTURE SENATE ELECTIONS Table G shows
a remarkable fact about the new Senate twelve of twenty chairmen of
Senate committe es are from the West nine of the chairman of the
fifteen major committees are from the West.
Table H shows which senators will be up for re-election in the 1982
and 1984 elections.
Thomas R. Ascik Policy Analyst 5 Table A After the Elections
Primary Gener al Senate New Senators Incumbents Defeated Change of
Seats of D R D R D R Ind D to R R to D 1974 9 2 1 1 0 2 1 5 1976 10
8 0 0 5 '3 1 7 8 1978 9 11 2 1 5 2 8 5 1980 2 16 3 1 9 0 12 0 Table
B After the Senate Elections of 1974 1976 1978 1980 Senate Number
of Number .of Number of Lineup States with States with States with
2 Dem. Senators 2 Rep. Senators 1 Dem 1 Rep. Other D-60 21 R-38
Ind-2 D-61 19 R-38 Ind-1 D-58 16 R-41 Ind-1 8 19 N.Y.-1 Rep.-1 Ind.
Va.-1 Rep.-1 Ind 7 23 Va.-1 Rep.-1 Ind.
R-53 11 14 D-46 Ind-1 7 26 Va.-1 Rep.-1 Ind 24 Va.-1 Rep-1 Ind .I 6
i 111 PI c, m cr rn E 3 PI cr 111 rl rl 0 3 4 PI111 5aJg 3 I d In U
rl rl cv rl o o? rl o\\ rl o In In U I o? rl 0 cv 03 rl o In o I o?
rl rl In U rl rl U 0 In 0 cv 03 d 0 rl In U 00 I o? rl d o 0 rl rl
o rl cv U cv U d m 0 Qo o\\ rl A mu Prn m H 7 Table D 1980 Senate
Races According to the Narrowness of the Victories Incumbent State
Winner 54 or less (18 Wash Ind Iowa Ok. Ore. Mo N.H. Ala. Colo. Fla
Pa. Vt. Wis.
Ga Ari. Ida. N.C. N.Y Go rto n (R) Quayle (R) Grass ley (R)
Nickles(R Packwood(R Eagleton(D Rudman R) Denton(R) Hawkins(R
Specter(R) Kas ten (R) Ma ttingly (R Goldwater(R Hart (D Leahy (D
symms (R) East (R) D ha to (R 55% or more (16 La. Haw. Utah S.C.
Ohio N.D. Md KY Kan Ark. Cal. N ev S.D.
Ill. Alas.
COM Long (D Inouye (D Gam (R Hollings (D Glenn (D Andrews(R
Matthias(R Ford(D Dole (R Bumpers(D Crans ton(D Laxalt(R) Abdnor
(R) Dodd (D) Dixon(D) Murkowski(R Winning Votes for x Winner 54 54
54 53 52 52 52 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 50 50 50 45 832,752 1,164,678
684,701 573,339 578,046 1,057,467 195,053 638,944 585,776 1,732,828
2,238,516 103,185 1,101,669 788,757 426,171 218,793 891,373
2,627,458 unopposed 78 224,485 72 595,210 71 2,731,377 71 189,170
66 811,925 65 719,679 64 595,194 59 473 , 132 59 4,638,488 58
143,781 58 190,726 57 765,126 56 2,494,254 55 65,924 74 433,943
Votes for Loser Reagan J Magnuson 763,631 *Bayh 1,231,295 *Culver
676,556 Coats 683,807 Kulongski 555,859 McNary 1,055,355 Durkin
221,771 Folsom 640,621 Buchanon 650,749 G u nter 1,937,269 Flaherty
2,251,058 Ledbetter 93,443 Nelson 1,089,75.0 Talmadge 870,483
Carter) Schulz 523,124 *Church 290,087 913,949 Holtzman 2,790,498
JI Morgan 796,240 Brown 135,879 Carter) Berman 435,839 Mays 445,414
Betts 2,202,212 Johanneson 173,825 C onroy 706,327 (Carter) Fous t
625,820 Simpson 562,848 Clark 402,946 Gann 4,447,266 Go j ack
154,570 McGovern 198,102 Buckle y 672,648 ''Neal 2,342,450 Gruening
66,874 8 Table E Candidates and Total Gross Campaign Receipts Based
on the Final Pre-Election R eport to the Federal Election
Commission (October 23, 1980 The Final Report Covers Receipts Only
Through October 15.
Total Receipts 612,977 205,015 State Candidate Jeremiah Denton(R
Jim Folsom(D Alabama Alaska Clark Gruening(D Frank Murkowski(R
410,183 304 ,045 Arizona Barry Goldwater(R Bill Schulz (D 534,360
1,389,443 267,213 69,466 Arkansas Dale Bumpers(D Bill Clark(R
California Alan Cranston(D Paul Gann(R 2,675,975 445,061 Colorado
Mary Buchanan(R Gary Hart(D 763,915 883,798 Connecticut James
Buckley(R C h ris Dodd(D 1,362,996 1,111 109 Florida Bill Gunter(D
Paula Hawkins(R 1,245,174 316,536 Georgia Mack Mattingly(R Herman
Talmadge(D 338,630 1,925,863 Hawaii E. Cooper Brown(R Daniel
Inouye(D 3,824 711,188 Idaho Frank Church(D Steve Symms(R Alan
Dixon(D Davi d ''Neal(R 1,644,271 1,528,911 Illinois 2,129,180
1,145,843 Indiana Birch Bayh(D Dan Quayle(R 2,223,006 1,874,063
Iowa John Culver D Charles Grassley(R 1,385,447 1,635,276 Kansas
Robert Dole(R John Simpson(D 1,033,628 294,9''7 I State Kentucky
Louisiana Ma r yland Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New York North
Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South
Carolina South Dakota Utah Vermont 9 Candidate Wendell Ford(D) Mary
Foust(R Russell Long(D Edward Conroy(D Charles Mathias(R Thomas
Eagleton(D Gene McNa ry (R Mary Gojack(D Paul Laxalt(R John
Durkin(D Warren Rudman(R Alfonse ''Amato(R Elizabeth Holtzman(D
Jacob Javits (Liberal John East(R Robert Morgan(D Mark Andrews(R
Kent Johanne s on (D James Betts (R John Glenn(D Andy Coats (D Don
Nickles(R T ed Kulongoski(D Robert Packwood(R Pete Flaherty(D Arlen
Specter(R) Ernest Hollings (D Marshall Mays(R James Abdnor(R George
McGovern(D Dan Berman(D Jake Garn(R Patrick Leahy(D Stewart
Ledbetter(R Total Receipts 560,306 1,974,412 133,128 807,722
1,142,854 9 61,331 137,644 990,698 516,558 338,608 1,244,757
1,661,929 1,674,888 897,961 645,281 280,634 123,353 367,496
1,148,947 766,786 456,325 161,157 2,783,071 418,487 1,039,826
932,002 52,311 1,383,448 2,695,438 188,110 896,811 452,828 392,933
10 State Washingt o n Wisconsin Candidate Slade Gorton(R Warren
Magnuson(D Robert Ka s t en (R Gaylord Nelson(D Total Receipts
608,667 1,271,012 373,439 733,474 11 Table F Senators with receipts
over $1 million (26 incumbent Packwood(R McGovern(D Cranston(D
Bayh(D Dixon(D Lo ng (D Talmadge(D Quayle (R Javits(R Holtzman(D
Church(D Grassley(R Schulz (D Culver(D Abdnor (R Buc kley (R Ma
gnus on (D Gunter (D D ha to (R Glenn(D 0 Neal (R Eagleton(D Dodd
(D Specter(R Dole (R symms (R Ore.
S.D.
Cal.
Ind Ill.
La.
Ga Ind N.Y. N.Y. Ida.
Iowa Ida.
Ari.
Iowa S.D.
Conn.
Wash.
Fla N.Y. Ohio Ill. Mo Conn Pa.
Kan 2,783,071 2,695,438 2,675,97.5 2,223,006 2,129,180 1,974,412
1,925,863 1,874,063 1,674,888 1,661,929 1,644,271 1,635,276
1,528,911 1,389,443 1,385,477 1,383,448 1,362,996 1,271,012
1,245,174 1,244,757 1,148,947 1,145,843 1,142,854 1,039,826
1,033,628 1 ,111,109 winner loser winner loser winner winner
unopposed loser winner loser loser loser winner winner loser loser
winner loser loser loser winner winner loser winner winner winner
winner 12 Table G Probable Committee Chairman in the Next Senate
Agricult u re Helms Appropriations Hatfield Armed Services Tower
Banking Garn Budget Domenici Commerce Packwood Energy McClure
Environment and Public Works Stafford Finance Dole Foreign Affairs
Percy Government Affairs Roth Judiciary Thurrnond Labor and Human
Resour c es Hatch Rules Veterans Simpson Select Committee on:
Ethics Schmitt Indian Affairs Cohen Intelligence Goldwater Small
Business Hayakawa Aging Heinz 13 1982 Senate Elections Democrats
(20 DeConcini Chiles Ma tsunaga Mitchell Kennedy Riegle Stennis Me1
che r Zorinsky Cannon Wi 11 iams Moyni han Burdick Metzenbaum
Sasser Bentsen Jackson Byrd (W.Va Proxmire Sa rbanes Byrd (Va
Republicans 12 Hayakawa Weiker Ro th Lugar Danforth Durenberger
Schmitt He inz Chafee Hatch Stafford Wallop 1984 Senate Elections
Democr a ts (14 Heflin Pryor Biden NUM Huddleston Johns ton Ts onga
s Levin Baucus Exon Bradley Boren Pel1 Randolph Republicans 19
Stevens Arms trong McClure Per cy Jepsen Kas sebaum Cohen Bos chwi
t z Cochran Humphrey Domeni c i Helms Hatf ield Thurmond Pressler
Baker Tower Warner Simpson