1980 United States Senate election in New York

1980 United States Senate election in New York
	County results ; D'Amato: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Holtzman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
U.S. senator before election; Jacob Javits; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Al D'Amato; Republican

The 1980 United States Senate election in New York was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jacob Javits was defeated in the primary, and Republican Al D'Amato won the three-way election. It is speculated by some that Elizabeth Holtzman would have won the election had Javits not ran after his defeat in the Republican primary.

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

Al D'Amato, Presiding Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead
Jacob Javits, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1957

Results[]

Republican primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Al D'Amato	323,468	55.68%
	Republican	Jacob Javits (incumbent)	257,433	44.32%
Total votes			580,901	100.00%

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Elizabeth Holtzman, U.S. Representative
John Lindsay, former Mayor of New York City; former Republican U.S. Representative
Bess Myerson, Miss America 1945; former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
John J. Santucci, Queens County District Attorney

Campaign[]

The Democratic field included four major candidates. Despite receiving the support of Governor Hugh Carey, Bess Myerson lost the Democratic primary to Elizabeth Holtzman.^[2]

During the campaign, Holtzman boasted that she was "never been hand-picked by the bosses. I have never been hand-picked by anyone.", in a thinly-veiled dig to her opponents. Holtzman touted her support for women's rights, having secured an extension for the Equal Rights Amendment's 1979 ratification.^[3]

Results[]

New York Senate Democratic primary election, 1980^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elizabeth Holtzman	378,567	40.74%
	Democratic	Bess Myerson	292,767	31.51%
	Democratic	John Lindsay	146,815	15.80%
	Democratic	John J. Santucci	36,770	11.96%
Total votes			854,919	100.00%

Liberal nomination[]

Jacob Javits, incumbent U.S. Senator (registered Republican)

General election[]

Campaign[]

Javits's refusal to adjust politically to the rightward movement of his party, as well as his 1979 diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), led to a primary challenge. Javits was defeated in the primary by Hempstead Presiding Supervisor Al D'Amato on September 9.

D'Amato, also running on the Conservative line, proceeded to defeat Democratic U.S. Representative Elizabeth Holtzman and Javits, who ran on the Liberal Party ticket. In the traditionally liberal state of New York, Javits split the Democratic vote with Holtzman, to give D'Amato a close victory.^[5]

Results[]

General election results^[6]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Al D'Amato	2,272,082	37.77%
	Conservative	Al D'Amato	275,100	4.57%	11.36
	Right to Life	Al D'Amato	152,470	2.53%	N/A
	Total	Al D'Amato	2,699,652	44.88%	N/A
	Democratic	Elizabeth Holtzman	2,618,661	43.54%	5.31
	Liberal	Jacob Javits (incumbent)	664,544	11.05%
	Libertarian	Richard Savadel	21,465	0.36%	N/A
	Communist	William R. Scott	4,161	0.07%	0.01
	Workers World	Thomas Soto	3,643	0.06%
	Socialist Workers	Victor A. Nieto	2,715	0.05%	0.10
	Write-in		73	0.00%
Majority			80,991	1.34%
Total votes			6,014,914	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

References[]

^ "Syracuse Mayoral Primary Results - 9wsyr.com". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
^ Lynn, Frank (24 Sep 1982). "CUOMO BEATS KOCH IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 8 Aug 2021.
^ "HOLTZMAN, Elizabeth | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
^ "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 09, 1980".
^ Abramowitz, Alan; Segal, Jeffrey Allan (January 1, 1992). Senate Elections. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081926.
^ "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1980".
^ http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf

This New York elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[primary-1] "Syracuse Mayoral Primary Results - 9wsyr.com". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2013-06-26.

[timesresults-2] Lynn, Frank (24 Sep 1982). "CUOMO BEATS KOCH IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 8 Aug 2021.

[3] "HOLTZMAN, Elizabeth | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-11.

[4] "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 09, 1980".

[5] Abramowitz, Alan; Segal, Jeffrey Allan (January 1, 1992). Senate Elections. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472081926.

[6] "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1980".

[7] ttp://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf

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1980 United States Senate election in New York

Contents

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

Results[]

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Campaign[]

Results[]

Liberal nomination[]

General election[]

Campaign[]

Results[]

See also[]

References[]