1980 Arkansas gubernatorial election

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Bill Clinton, incumbent governor
• Monroe Schwarzlose, candidate for governor in 1978 and Republican candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1974

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

• Marshall Chrisman, former state representative
• Frank D. White, Savings and Loan executive and former head of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission

Results

Campaign

Schwarzlose's unexpected strong challenge in primaries and his 31 percent of the primary vote foreshadowed that Clinton could be in trouble for the upcoming general election.

Clinton's increase in the cost of automobile registration tags had been unpopular. He was also hurt by President Jimmy Carter's decision to send thousands of Cuban refugees, some unruly, to a detention camp at Fort Chaffee, outside Fort Smith in Sebastian County in western Arkansas. (See Mariel boatlift.)

The 1980 general election was marked by decisive Republican victories—the GOP won the White House, a majority in United States Senate and 34 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Clinton's narrow loss was viewed as part of Reagan's coattails.

Result

Frank White narrowly won the election.

Effect

After Clinton lost the election in 1980, Max Brantley said: "The guy was like a death in the family. He was really destroyed after that election". Rudy Moore also added: "He never blamed anybody else. He accepted the responsibility. He didn't whine about it. In fact, it was within days, we were trying to figure out what we could to do to improve his political life after that".

After Clinton was defeated, he was offered the chance to lead the Democratic National Committee, instead of seeking reelection as Governor of Arkansas. When he campaigned for election in 1982 against White, he said that he had learned the importance of adaptability and compromise from his defeat two years beforehand.

References

References

1. "Monroe Schwarzlose (1902–1990)".
2. (January 1982). "1980 Arkansas Elections". Arkansas Secretary of State.
3. "Frank Durward White (1933–2003)".
4. "Bill Clinton (1946–)".
5. Takiff, Michael. A Complicated Man : The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him. New Haven, US: Yale University Press, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 19 April 2017.
6. Clinton House Museum. CHM, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.