1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota

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.

1980 United States Senate election in South Dakota

← 1974 November 4, 1980 1986 →

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

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

Results

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

Candidates

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

Results

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

Candidates

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

Campaign

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

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

• 1980 United States Senate elections

References

1. "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. 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. Marano, Vote Your Conscience, p. 32.
7. "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.