1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

none March 2026 September 2023 1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania presidential no 1976 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania 1976 1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania 1988 November 2, 1982 File:JohnHeinz.png 150x150px John Heinz Republican Party (United States) 2,136,418 59.28% Cyril Wecht 2020.png Cyril Wecht Democratic Party (United States) 1,412,965 39.20% 1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania results map by county.svg 260px County resultsHeinz: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Wecht: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% U.S. Senator John Heinz Republican Party (United States) John Heinz Republican Party (United States) The 1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Heinz successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Democratic nominee Cyril Wecht. General election Candidates H. John Heinz III, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican) Barbara I. Karkutt (Libertarian) Liane Norman (Consumer) William H. Thomas (Socialist Workers) Cyril Wecht, member of the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners (Democratic) Campaign John Heinz's Democratic opponent in the 1982 election was Allegheny County commissioner and former coroner Cyril Wecht, who lacked significant name recognition outside of Pittsburgh, his home town. Although the 1982 elections were a setback nationally for incumbent President Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party, neither Heinz nor incumbent Republican governor Dick Thornburgh, who was also up for re-election in 1982, were challenged by Democrats with statewide prominence. Wecht ran a low-budget campaign, lacking the assets to boost his name recognition; The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a headline dubbing the contest, "The Race for Senator No One Seemed to Notice."Lamis Renée M. Foreword by James L. Sundquist The realignment of Pennsylvania politics since 1960 : two-party competition in a battleground state 2009 Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pa. 978-0271034195 109 https://books.google.com/books?id=auk11Pa59U4C&q=1982+heinz+wecht&pg=PA109 Despite this, Heinz ran a cautious campaign, running as a moderate due to Pennsylvania's unemployment, 11%, one of the highest in the nation at the time, as well as the declining health of Pennsylvania's coal mining, manufacturing and steel industries. In the end, Heinz won the election by a wide margin, winning 59.3% of the popular vote. Wecht won 39.2% of the popular vote. Results General election resultsStatistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1982 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1982election.pdf Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House 9 July 2014 Republican Party (United States) H. John Heinz III (Incumbent) 2,136,418 59.28% +6.89% Democratic Party (United States) Cyril Wecht 1,412,965 39.20% -7.59% Libertarian Party (United States) Barbara I. Karkutt 19,244 0.53% +0.53% Socialist Workers Party (United States) William H. Thomas 18,951 0.53% +0.41% Consumer Liane Norman 16,530 0.46% +0.46% 723,453 20.08% +14.48% 3,604,108 100.00% Republican Party (United States) See also 1982 United States Senate elections References Pennsylvania 1982 Category:1982 Pennsylvania elections