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 Results by state house district Murkowski: 50–60% 60–70% Gruening: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Alaska |
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The1980 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 1980. IncumbentDemocraticUnited States SenatorMike Gravel ran for a third term in theUnited States Senate, but lost in theDemocratic primary toClark Gruening, a formerstate representative who was the grandson ofErnest Gruening, whom Gravel had defeated twelve years prior in an election for the same seat. Gruening later went on to lose the general election toRepublican nomineeFrank Murkowski, a banker. With Murkowski's victory, this marked the first time in history that Republicans held both of Alaska's Senate seats or that the state had an entirely Republican congressional delegation.
After the loss of Gravel's seat, no Alaska Democrat would win a congressional race again untilMark Begich's narrow victory inAlaska's 2008 Senate election.[1]
First elected in 1968, the two-term Democratic incumbent Mike Gravel had become known nationally for afilibuster that attempted to endthe draft during theVietnam War and for including the full text of thePentagon Papers in theCongressional Record, an act which subsequently led to it being put out by a publishing house.[2]
Gravel faced a challenging bid for reelection, complicated by the fact that his triumph overErnest Gruening years prior had made him a pariah in theAlaska Democratic Party. Though Gravel had campaigned to be selected asGeorge McGovern's running mate in the1972 presidential election and had easily won reelection to the Senate in 1974, he had never established a strong political base in Alaska.[3]
The passage of a controversial land bill earlier in the year, as opposed to a compromise bill worked out by fellow SenatorTed Stevens that failed thanks to Gravel two years earlier, further harmed his reelection bid.[4][5] A group of Democrats, including future governorSteve Cowper, campaigned against Gravel on the land bill issue.[6]
Gravel's campaign funds, some of which came frompolitical action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest.[5] Another factor may have been Alaska'sblanket primary system, which allowed unlimited cross-over voting across parties and from its large unaffiliated electorate;[6] Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election.[5] The blanket primary had first been used in the 1968 election, and was something Gravel himself was able to capitalize on that year.
Gravel later said that by the time of his primary defeat, he had alienated "almost every constituency in Alaska."[4] In the August 26 primary Gruening defeated Gravel by 11 percentage points.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Clark Gruening | 39,719 | 54.88% | |
| Democratic | Mike Gravel (incumbent) | 31,504 | 43.53% | |
| Democratic | Michael J. Beasley | 1,145 | 1.58% | |
| Total votes | 72,368 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Frank Murkowski | 16,262 | 58.92% | |
| Republican | Art Kennedy | 5,527 | 20.02% | |
| Republican | Morris Thompson | 3,635 | 13.17% | |
| Republican | Don Smith | 896 | 3.25% | |
| Republican | Don Wright | 824 | 2.99% | |
| Republican | Dave Moe | 458 | 1.66% | |
| Total votes | 27,602 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Frank Murkowski | 84,159 | 53.69% | +11.97% | |
| Democratic | Clark Gruening | 72,007 | 45.93% | −12.35% | |
| Write-in | 596 | 0.38% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 156,762 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||
