1980 United States House of Representatives elections

1980 United States House of Representatives elections
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives; 218 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic hold Democratic gain; Republican hold Republican gain; Conservative hold
Speaker before election; Tip O'Neill; Democratic	Elected Speaker ; Tip O'Neill; Democratic

The 1980 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 4, 1980, to elect members to serve in the 97th United States Congress. They coincided with the election of Ronald Reagan as president, defeating Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. 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 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.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

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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. As of 2022^[update], 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.

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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.^[1]

Summary of the November 4, 1980, United States House of Representatives election results

↓
242	1	1	191
Democratic	I	C	Republican

More information Parties, Seats ...

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
Parties		1978	1980	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic Party	277	242	35	55.9%	39,347,947	50.5%	3.2%
	Republican Party	157	191	34	43.9%	37,222,588	47.8%	3.0%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		0.0%	568,131	0.7%	0.6%
	Independent	0	1	1	0.0%	216,403	0.3%	0.3%
	Conservative Party	1	1		0.2%	136,967	0.1%	0.1%
	Citizens Party	0	0		0.0%	60,390	0.1%	0.1%
	Right to Life Party	0	0		0.0%	54,142	0.1%	0.1%
	Peace and Freedom Party	0	0		0.0%	45,281	0.1%
	Others	0	0		0.0%	222,068	0.3%	0.3%
Total		435	435	0	100.0%	77,873,917	100.0%	-

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Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

Democratic			50.53%
Republican			47.80%
Libertarian			0.73%
Conservative			0.18%
Others			0.76%

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More information House seats ...

House seats

Democratic			55.86%
Republican			43.91%
Conservative			0.23%

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More information House seats by party holding plurality in state, Change in seats ...

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In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1980 or before January 3, 1981; ordered by election date.