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1980 United States House of Representatives elections

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 electionofRonald Reaganaspresident, 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.

Overall results[edit]

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

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		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%	-

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Special elections[edit]

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

Alabama[edit]

Alaska[edit]

American Samoa[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Arizona[edit]

Arkansas[edit]

California[edit]

Colorado[edit]

Connecticut[edit]

Delaware[edit]

District of Columbia[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Florida[edit]

Georgia[edit]

Hawaii[edit]

Guam[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Idaho[edit]

Illinois[edit]

Indiana[edit]

Iowa[edit]

Kansas[edit]