1980 United States Senate elections

1980 United States Senate elections

← 1978 November 4, 1980 1982 →
34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Howard Baker Robert Byrd Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 5, 1980 January 3, 1977 Leader's seat Tennessee West Virginia Seats before 41 58 Seats after 53 46 Seat change 12 12 Popular vote 26,597,169 30,699,463 Percentage 44.7% 51.6% Seats up 10 24 Races won 22 12   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 1[a] Seats after 1[a] Seat change Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Robert Byrd Democratic Elected Majority Leader Howard Baker Republican

The 1980 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, coinciding with Ronald Reagan's victory in the presidential election. The 34 Senate seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter gave a huge boost to Republican Senate candidates, allowing them to flip 12 Democratic seats and win control of the chamber for the first time since the end of the 83rd Congress in January 1955.

This is one of only five occasions where ten or more Senate seats changed hands in an election, with the others being in 1920, 1932, 1946, and 1958. This is the earliest Senate election with a Senator that is still serving, that being Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

This was the largest Senate swing since 1958, and was the largest Republican gain since 1946, when the Republicans also picked up 12 seats. This was also the last time the Senate changed hands in a presidential election year until 2020 when Democrats won control, the last time the Republicans gained control of the Senate in a presidential election year, and the last time Maryland elected a Republican to the Senate. These elections were also the last time the winner of the presidential election had coattails in the Senate until 2004.

As of 2023, this is the last election cycle in which an incumbent Democratic senator lost a bid for re-election while the Democratic nominee for president simultaneously carried that same state.^[b]
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