1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota

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| <- 1974 | November 4, 1980 | 1986 ->

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Nominee  | James Abdnor | George McGovern |
Party  | Republican | Democratic
Popular vote  | 190,594 | 129,018
Percentage  | 58.20% | 39.40%

* * *

County results

Abdnor: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%

McGovern: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

* * *

| U.S. senator before election

George McGovern
Democratic

| Elected U.S. Senator

James Abdnor
Republican

|

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The 1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on Tuesday November 4, Incumbent United States Senator George McGovern ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican James Abdnor.

## Democratic primary

[edit]

### Candidates

[edit]

* George McGovern, incumbent U.S. Senator
* Larry Schumaker, educator and Pro-Life activist

### Results

[edit]

Results by county:

McGovern

* 50–60%

* 60–70%

* 70–80%

Schumaker

* 50–60%

* 60–70%

Democratic primary results[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Democratic | George McGovern (incumbent)  | 44,822  | 62.44%
| Democratic | Larry Schumaker  | 26,958  | 37.56%
Total votes  | 71,780  | 100.00%

## Republican primary

[edit]

### Candidates

[edit]

* James Abdnor, U.S. Representative
* Dale Bell

### Results

[edit]

Republican primary results[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | James Abdnor  | 68,196  | 72.93%
| Republican | Dale Bell  | 25,314  | 27.07%
Total votes  | 93,510  | 100.00%

## General election

[edit]

### Candidates

[edit]

* James Abdnor (R), U.S. Representative
* George McGovern (D), incumbent U.S. Senator

### Campaign

[edit]

McGovern was one of several liberal Democratic U.S. senators targeted for defeat in 1980 by the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), which put out a year's worth of negative portrayals of McGovern.[2] They and other anti-abortion groups especially focused on McGovern's support for pro-choice abortion laws.[3] McGovern faced a Democratic primary challenge for the first time, from an anti-abortion candidate.[4]

Abdnor, a four-term incumbent congressman who held identical positions to McGovern on farm issues, was solidly conservative on national issues, and was well liked within the state.[3][5] Abdnor's campaign focused on both McGovern's liberal voting record and what it said was McGovern's lack of involvement in South Dakotan affairs.[3] McGovern made an issue of NCPAC's outside involvement, and that group eventually withdrew from the campaign after Abdnor denounced a letter they had sent out.[3] Far behind in the polls earlier, McGovern outspent Abdnor 2-to-1, hammered away at Abdnor's refusal to debate him (drawing attention to a slight speech defect Abdnor had), and, showing the comeback pattern of some of his past races in the state, closed the gap for a while.[3][6][7]

However, McGovern was solidly defeated in the general election, receiving only 39 percent of the vote to Abdnor's 58 percent.[6] McGovern became one of many Democratic casualties in that year's Republican sweep,[7] which became known as the "Reagan Revolution". McGovern was one of nine incumbent Senators to lose a general election that year, and his margin of defeat was by far the largest until Blanche Lincoln was unseated by John Boozman in 2010.[8]

### Results

[edit]

General election results[9] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Republican | James Abdnor | 190,594  | 58.20%  | +11.24%
| Democratic | George McGovern (incumbent)  | 129,018  | 39.40%  | −13.65%
| Independent | Wayne Peterson  | 7,866  | 2.40%  | N/A
Total votes  | 327,478  | 100.00%  | N/A
| Republican gain from Democratic

## See also

[edit]

* 1980 United States Senate elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Official Election Returns and Registration Figures for South Dakota, Primary Election, June 3, 1980" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
2. ^ *Marano, Richard Michael, Vote Your Conscience: The Last Campaign of George McGovern, Praeger Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-275-97189-9. pp. 22–23.
3. ^ a b c d e Petersen, Iver (November 5, 1980). "McGovern Fails in Attempt At Fourth Term as Senator" (fee required). The New York Times. p. A21.
4. ^ Marano, Vote Your Conscience, p. 27.
5. ^ Marano, Vote Your Conscience, p. 29.
6. ^ a b Marano, Vote Your Conscience, p. 32.
7. ^ a b "Nation: Reagan Gets a G.O.P Senate". Time. November 17, 1980. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013.
8. ^ "Senator Blanche Lincoln Headed for a Historic Defeat". August 27, 2010.
9. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1980" (PDF). clerk.house.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 20, 2022.

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(1979 <-)  1980 United States elections (-> 1981)

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