1980 United States Senate election in North Carolina

The 1980 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 4, 1980, as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Morgan ran for reelection to a second term, but narrowly lost to Republican John East.

1980 United States Senate election in North Carolina

November 4, 1980

Nominee John East Robert Morgan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 898,064 887,653 Percentage 49.96% 49.38%

East:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Morgan:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Robert Morgan Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John East Republican

This was the first time Republicans won this seat since 1897, and the inauguration of John East marked the first time since 1871 that they held both Senate seats simultaneously.

Primaries

Democratic

Robert Morgan was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republican

John East was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

General election

Candidates

• John East (R), Professor at East Carolina University
• Robert Morgan (D), incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

1980 North Carolina U.S. Senate election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John East	898,064	49.96%	+12.18%
	Democratic	Robert Morgan (incumbent)	887,653	49.38%	−12.39%
	Libertarian	F.W. (Rick) Pasotto	7,602	0.04%	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Rebecca Finch	4,346	0.02%	N/A
Total votes			1,797,655	100.00%	N/A
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1980 United States Senate elections