1980 United States Senate election in Indiana

The 1980 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 4, 1980, along with elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as the presidential election, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Birch Bayh ran for a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican nominee, U.S. Representative Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle's swearing-in marked the first time since 1959 that Republicans held both United States Senate seats from Indiana.

1980 United States Senate election in Indiana

November 4, 1980

Nominee Dan Quayle Birch Bayh Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,182,414 1,015,922 Percentage 53.79% 46.21%

County results Quayle:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Bayh:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Birch Bayh Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Dan Quayle Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

• Roger F. Marsh, author and activist
• Dan Quayle, U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Quayle	397,273	77.06%
	Republican	Roger Marsh	118,273	22.94%

General election

Candidates

• Birch Bayh (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Dan Quayle (R), U.S. Representative

Campaign

Birch Bayh, the incumbent Senator, faced no opposition from Indiana and avoided a primary election. Bayh was originally elected in 1962 and re-elected in 1968 and 1974. He was Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee and architect of 25th and 26th Amendments. This election was one of the key races in the country, and signaled a trend that would come to be known as Reagan's coattails, describing the influence Ronald Reagan had in congressional elections. Incumbent three-term Senator Birch Bayh was defeated by over 160,000 votes to Representative Dan Quayle, who would later go on to be Vice President of the United States. Birch's son Evan would be elected to this very same Senate seat 18 years later in 1998, after previously serving 2 terms as Governor.

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Quayle	1,182,414	53.79%
	Democratic	Birch Bayh (incumbent)	1,015,922	46.21%
Total votes			2,198,366	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1980 United States Senate elections
• List of United States senators from Indiana