1980 United States Senate election in Alaska

none March 2026 September 2023 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska Alaska presidential no 1974 United States Senate election in Alaska 1974 1986 United States Senate election in Alaska 1986 November 4, 1980 125x136px Frankmurkowskibttr.jpg Frank Murkowski Republican Party (United States) 84,159 53.69% Clark Gruening.jpg Clark Gruening Democratic Party (United States) 72,007 45.93% 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska by State House District.svg 350px Results by state house districtMurkowski: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70%Gruening: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator Mike Gravel Democratic Party (United States) Frank Murkowski Republican Party (United States) 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. 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 until Mark Begich's narrow victory in Alaska's 2008 Senate election.https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803227.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR Ted Stevens Loses Battle For Alaska Senate Seat Kane, Paul The Washington Post November 19, 2008 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.https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/26/archives/fame-travels-with-senator-gravel-the-man-who-read-pentagon-papers.html Fame Travels With Senator Gravel, the Man Who Read Pentagon Papers Into the Record David E. Rosenbaum The New York Times October 26, 1971 29 June 10, 2023 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, "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, "Don't worry, be Mike Gravel" https://web.archive.org/web/20090627105316/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/07/mike_gravel/index.html 2009-06-27 , Salon.com, May 7, 2007. Accessed July 4, 2007.https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf Gravel Loses a Bitter Fight In Senate Primary in Alaska Wallace Turner The New York Times August 28, 1980 December 10, 2007 fee required A group of Democrats, including future governor Steve Cowper, campaigned against Gravel on the land bill issue.Wallace Turner, "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 Democratic primary resultshttps://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/80PRIM/80prim.pdf State of Alaska Official Returns by Election Precinct www.elections.alaska.gov live https://web.archive.org/web/20170919234201/http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/80PRIM/80prim.pdf September 19, 2017 Clark Gruening Democratic Party (United States) 39,719 54.88% Mike Gravel (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 31,504 43.53% Michael J. Beasley Democratic Party (United States) 1,145 1.58% 72,368 100.00% 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 Developmenthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1979/09/30/the-great-alaska-feud/58a42ecf-d387-4815-9b1b-4afd3ae120c9/ Nicholas Lemann September 30, 1979 The Washington Post The Great Alaska Feud Results Republican primary results Frank Murkowski Republican Party (United States) 16,262 58.92% Art Kennedy Republican Party (United States) 5,527 20.02% Morris Thompson Republican Party (United States) 3,635 13.17% Don Smith Republican Party (United States) 896 3.25% Don Wright Republican Party (United States) 824 2.99% Dave Moe Republican Party (United States) 458 1.66% 27,602 100.00% General election Results United States Senate election in Alaska, 1980https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1980 clerk.house.gov live https://web.archive.org/web/20220320200405/https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf March 20, 2022 Republican Party (United States) Frank Murkowski 84,159 53.69% +11.97% Democratic Party (United States) Clark Gruening 72,007 45.93% −12.35% 596 0.38% N/A 156,762 100.00% N/A Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) See also 1980 United States Senate elections References 1980 Alaska Category:1980 Alaska elections Category:Mike Gravel