1980 United States Senate election in Alaska
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska
| country = Alaska
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1974 United States Senate election in Alaska
| previous_year = 1974
| next_election = 1986 United States Senate election in Alaska
| next_year = 1986
| election_date = November 4, 1980
| image_size = 125x136px
| image1 = Frankmurkowskibttr.jpg
| nominee1 = Frank Murkowski
| party1 = Republican Party (United States)
| popular_vote1 = 84,159
| percentage1 = 53.69%
| image2 = Clark Gruening.jpg
| nominee2 = Clark Gruening
| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
| popular_vote2 = 72,007
| percentage2 = 45.93%
| map_image = 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska by State House District.svg
| map_size = 350px
| map_caption = Results by state house district
Murkowski: {{legend0|#e27f7f|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}}
Gruening: {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}}
| title = U.S. Senator
| before_election = Mike Gravel
| before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| after_election = Frank Murkowski
| after_party = Republican Party (United States)
}}
{{Elections in Alaska sidebar}}
The 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Democratic United States Senator Mike Gravel ran for a third term in the United States Senate, but lost in the Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, a former state representative who was the grandson of Ernest Gruening, whom Gravel had defeated twelve years prior in an election for the same seat. Gruening later went on to lose the general election to Republican nominee Frank Murkowski, a banker.
After the loss of Gravel's seat, no Alaska Democrat would win a congressional race again until Mark Begich's narrow victory in Alaska's 2008 Senate election.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803227.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR | title=Ted Stevens Loses Battle For Alaska Senate Seat | author=Kane, Paul | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=November 19, 2008 | access-date=November 19, 2008}}
Democratic primary
= Candidates =
- Clark Gruening, former Alaska State Representative
- Mike Gravel, incumbent United States Senator
- Michael J. Beasley, perennial candidate
= Campaign =
First elected in 1968, the two-term Democratic incumbent Mike Gravel had become known nationally for a filibuster that attempted to end the draft during the Vietnam War and for including the full text of the Pentagon Papers in the Congressional Record, an act which subsequently led to it being put out by a publishing house.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/26/archives/fame-travels-with-senator-gravel-the-man-who-read-pentagon-papers.html |title=Fame Travels With Senator Gravel, the Man Who Read Pentagon Papers Into the Record |author-first=David E. |author-last=Rosenbaum |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 26, 1971 | page=29 |access-date=June 10, 2023 |format=fee required}}
Gravel faced a challenging bid for reelection, complicated by the fact that his triumph over Ernest Gruening years prior had made him a pariah in the Alaska Democratic Party. Though Gravel had campaigned to be selected as George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election and had easily won reelection to the Senate in 1974, he had never established a strong political base in Alaska.Robert KC Johnson, [http://hnn.us/articles/28947.html "Not Many Senators Have Found Themselves in Joe Lieberman's Predicament"], History News Network, August 7, 2006. Accessed July 7, 2007.
The passage of a controversial land bill earlier in the year, as opposed to a compromise bill worked out by fellow Senator Ted Stevens that failed thanks to Gravel two years earlier, further harmed his reelection bid.Alex Koppelman, [http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/07/mike_gravel/index.html "Don't worry, be Mike Gravel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627105316/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/07/mike_gravel/index.html |date=2009-06-27 }}, Salon.com, May 7, 2007. Accessed July 4, 2007.{{cite news | url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf | title=Gravel Loses a Bitter Fight In Senate Primary in Alaska | author=Wallace Turner | newspaper=The New York Times | date=August 28, 1980 | access-date=December 10, 2007 | format=fee required}} A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, campaigned against Gravel on the land bill issue.Wallace Turner, [https://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FB0613F9385F0C758CDDAE0894DA484D81 "Side Issues Figure in Tricky Alaska Primary"], The New York Times, July 6, 1982. Accessed July 7, 2007.
Gravel's campaign funds, some of which came from political action committees outside the state, also became an issue in the contest. Another factor may have been Alaska's blanket primary system, which allowed unlimited cross-over voting across parties and from its large unaffiliated electorate; Republicans believed Gruening would be an easier candidate to defeat in the general election. 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." In the August 26 primary Gruening defeated Gravel by 11 percentage points.
= Results =
{{Election box begin no change
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Clark Gruening
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 39,719
| percentage = 54.88%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Mike Gravel (incumbent)
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 31,504
| percentage = 43.53%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Michael J. Beasley
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 1,145
| percentage = 1.58%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 72,368
| percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}
Republican primary
= Candidates =
== Announced ==
- Frank Murkowski, president of the Alaska National Bank of the North and former Commissioner of Economic Development
- Art Kennedy, land manager
- Morris Thompson, former Bureau of Indian Affairs official
- Don Smith, Anchorage assemblyman
- Don Wright, former president of the Alaska Federation of Natives
- Dave Moe
== Declined ==
- Tony Motley, former Commissioner for the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1979/09/30/the-great-alaska-feud/58a42ecf-d387-4815-9b1b-4afd3ae120c9/|first=Nicholas|last=Lemann|date=September 30, 1979|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=The Great Alaska Feud}}
= Results =
{{Election box begin no change
| title = Republican primary results
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Frank Murkowski
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 16,262
| percentage = 58.92%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Art Kennedy
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 5,527
| percentage = 20.02%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Morris Thompson
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 3,635
| percentage = 13.17%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Don Smith
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 896
| percentage = 3.25%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Don Wright
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 824
| percentage = 2.99%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Dave Moe
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 458
| percentage = 1.66%
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 27,602
| percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}
General election
= Results =
{{Election box begin | title=United States Senate election in Alaska, 1980{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf|title=Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1980|website=clerk.house.gov|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320200405/https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf|archive-date=March 20, 2022}}
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| candidate = Frank Murkowski
| votes = 84,159
| percentage = 53.69%
| change = +11.97%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| candidate = Clark Gruening
| votes = 72,007
| percentage = 45.93%
| change = −12.35%
}}
{{Election box write-in with party link
| votes = 596
| percentage = 0.38%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box total
| votes = 156,762
| percentage = 100.00%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box gain with party link no swing
| winner = Republican Party (United States)
| loser = Democratic Party (United States)
| swing =
}}
{{Election box end}}