1980 United States Senate election in Florida explained

Election Name:1980 United States Senate election in Florida
Country:Florida
Flag Year:1900
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1974 United States Senate election in Florida
Previous Year:1974
Election Date:November 4, 1980
Next Election:1986 United States Senate election in Florida
Next Year:1986
Image1:File:Paula Hawkins.jpg
Nominee1:Paula Hawkins
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,822,460
Percentage1:51.66%
U.S. Senator
Before Election:Richard Stone
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Paula Hawkins
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Nominee2:Bill Gunter
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,705,409
Percentage2:48.34%
Map Size:300px

The 1980 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 4, 1980, alongside other elections for President of the United States as well as to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Stone ran for re-election to a second term, but lost the Democratic primary election to Bill Gunter. Republican Paula Hawkins defeated Gunter in the general election.[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Stone, a freshman senator, had a reputation for changing his mind. In 1980, the AFL-CIO actively campaigned against him, and Stone was deemed vulnerable in his re-election bid.[2] Six Democrats entered the race for Stone's seat including his 1974 runoff opponent Bill Gunter who was Florida State Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner in 1980. As was the case in 1974, Stone and Gunter were forced into a runoff but, unlike 1974, Gunter won the nomination.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Results

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 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.
  2. Book: Abramowitz , Alan I. . Segal, Jeffrey Allan . Senate Elections . University of Michigan Press . 1992 . January 31, 2007 . registration . bill gunter richard stone. . 0-472-08192-6 . 78.