1980 United States Senate election in Idaho

General election

Candidates

• Frank Church, incumbent U.S. Senator (Democratic)
• Larry Fullmer (Libertarian)
• Steve Symms, U.S. Representative from Caldwell (Republican)

Campaign

Entering the election, Church was seen as vulnerable because he was a liberal Senator representing one of the most conservative states. Nevertheless, Church was considered by many to be the favorite, with even prominent Republicans in the state not giving his opponent, 1st congressional district Representative Steve Symms much of a chance to unseat Church.

However, due to a variety of factors, the dynamic of the race would soon shift. For one, the race was affected by the concurrent Presidential Election, in which Ronald Reagan's coattails were anticipated to have an effect. Another factor was an influx of out-of-state money affecting the campaigns. Church and Symms both raised considerable sums from out of state donors from states such as Texas and Florida, and by the campaigns end, both had spent close to $3.5 million, a state record.

Moreover, groups such as the ABC (Anybody But Church), which was affiliated with the NCPAC (National Conservative Political Action Committee), spent big on advertisements and mailers to damage Church's standing. Church criticized these efforts as using the big lie. These factors, plus criticism over his stance on the Panama Canal Treaties, made this a difficult campaign for the Senator.

Polling

Polls throughout the election showed Church up by small margins, highlighting the race's closeness. Even in the final days, it had been believed that a large number of voters remained undecided.

Results

In the end, Church lost by a margin of 4,262 votes or 0.96%. Many reasons were attributed to Church's defeat. One reason was that Ronald Reagan's landslide victory caused a coattail effect that Church couldn't overcome. Another one was Jimmy Carter's early concession. Because Carter had conceded before polls closed in the Panhandle (which is in Pacific Time as opposed to the rest of the state, which is in Mountain Time), this was believed to have depressed voters in one of Church's strongest regions. There was also the factor of shifts among Mormon voters, who due to a focus on moral issues such as abortion, turned away from Church in the Eastern part of the state.

References

References

1. AP. (August 14, 1979). "Sen. Church Termed Vulnerable". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
2. MIller, Judith. (November 6, 1980). "TimesMachine: Thursday November 6, 1980 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times.
3. AP. (April 22, 1979). "GOP Leaders Doubt Symms Could Beat Church". Lewiston Morning Tribune.
4. (July 19, 1980). "Church/Can Conservative Tide Wash Him Out?". The Bulletin.
5. AP. (April 16, 1980). "Symms, Church get 'big' $". Lewiston Morning Tribune.
6. AP. (January 31, 1981). "Church won the spending battle". The Spokesman-Review.
7. Riordan, Patrick. (May 18, 1980). "Frank Church: A Man Under Fire". Boca Raton News.
8. (August 15, 1979). "Church: They're using the big lie". Lewiston Morning Tribune.
9. Sinclair, Ward. (1979-10-12). "Church Perceived as Apostate Fearful of Election Disaster". Washington Post.
10. "It's 'Frank' vs. 'Steve' as Idaho's Church seeks re-election to Senate". Christian Science Monitor.
11. Wilson, Marc. (October 28, 1980). "How many undecided in Idaho?". The Spokesman-Review.
12. (February 1987). "Why Church Lost: A Preliminary Analysis of the Church-Symms Election of 1980". Pacific Historical Review.
13. Leahy, Patrick. (2022). "The Road Taken: A Memoir". Simon & Schuster.
14. Hatzenbuehler, Ronald L.. (January 2020). "Dissent among Mormons in the 1980 Senatorial Election in Idaho". International Journal of Religion.
15. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1980".