1980 United States House of Representatives elections information
House elections for the 97th U.S. Congress
1980 United States House of Representatives elections
← 1978
November 4, 1980
1982 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Tip O'Neill
John Rhodes (retired as leader)
Party
Democratic
Republican
Leader since
January 4, 1977
December 7, 1973
Leader's seat
Massachusetts 8th
Arizona 1st
Last election
277 seats
157 seats
Seats won
242
191
Seat change
35
34
Popular vote
39,347,947
37,222,588
Percentage
50.5%
47.8%
Swing
3.2%
3.0%
Third party
Fourth party
Party
Conservative
Independent
Last election
1
0
Seats won
1
1
Seat change
1
Popular vote
136,967
216,403
Percentage
0.1%
0.1%
Swing
0.1%
0.1%
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.
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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