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1980 United States House of Representatives elections in New Mexico

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1980 United States House of Representatives elections in New Mexico

← 1978 November 4, 1980 (1980-11-04) 1982 →

All 2 New Mexico seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Last election 1 1 0
Seats won 2 0 0
Seat change Increase1 Decrease1 Steady
Popular vote 187,474 175,988 45,343
Percentage 45.9% 43.0% 11.1%
Swing Increase4.4% Decrease15.5% Increase11.1%

District results

The 1980 United States House of Representatives election in New Mexico was held on Tuesday November 4, 1980 to elect the state's two representatives to serve in the 97th United States Congress. Primary elections were held on June 3, 1980.

Republicans held on to the 1st District and flipped the 2nd district. This was the first time republicans held both districts in New Mexico since 1968.

Overview

[edit]
United States House of Representatives elections in New Mexico, 1980[1]
Party Votes Percentage Seats +/–
Republican 187,474 45.86% 1 +1
Democratic 175,988 43.05% 0 -1
Independent 45,343 11.09% 0
Totals 408,805 100.00% 2

District 1

[edit]
New Mexico's 1st congressional district election, 1980
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Manuel Lujan Jr. (incumbent) 125,910 51.01
Democratic Bill Richardson 120,903 48.99
Total votes 246,813 100.00
Republican hold

District 2

[edit]
1980 New Mexico's 2nd congressional district election

← 1978
1982 →
 
Nominee Joe Skeen David W. King Dorothy Runnels
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Popular vote 61,564 55,085 45,343
Percentage 38.00% 34.01% 27.99%

County results
Skeen:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%
King:     40–50%      50–60%
Runnels:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election

Harold L. Runnels
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Joe Skeen
Republican

Democratic primary

[edit]

At the beginning of 1980, Harold Runnels was a popular five-term member of Congress. No Democrat had filed to run against him in the primary since 1970, and his support among Republicans was so strong that no Republican bothered to run against him in either 1978 or 1980. Runnels was sending out feelers about a possible candidacy for NM Governor in 1982.

In 1980, however, a Democrat chose to run against Runnels. The manager of Sierra County, Gil M. Olguin, announced his candidacy on February 2nd, 1980 and began to collect signatures. He filed his candidacy papers the same day as Runnels.[2] Harold Runnels in the end won the primary 80-20%.[3]

Candidates

[edit]

Gil M. Olguin

Harold L. Runnels, Incumbent Representative

Primary results

[edit]
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Harold L. Runnels (incumbent) 56,650 80.15
Democratic Gil M. Olguin 14,003 19.85
Total votes 70,653 100.0

Background

[edit]

US Rep. Harold Runnels was a popular Democrat who had severe health problems in his final two years of life. He had cancer surgery in 1979, and he only agreed to run for another term after tests showed he was cancer-free.[4] Just a week after defeating his only opponent in 1980 in the Democratic primary, however, Runnels began to suffer from lung congestion.[5] He went to the Sloane-Kettering Hospital in NYC twice to see specialists, and he died there on August 5th 1980. [6]

Replacement Candidate

[edit]

Speculation began immediately about a replacement candidate. The NM Attorney General issued an opinion that since no Republican filed for the primary, it was too late for them to list a nominee on the ballot. Dorothy Runnels, widow of the deceased congressman, was interested in running, and Republicans in general believed she would be to their liking[7] The Democrats scheduled a meeting to select their nominee on August 23rd. Dorothy Runnels announced her candidacy on August 9th.[8] The nephew of Gov Bruce King, David King (then serving as state finance secretary), changed his official residence to the second congressional district just after Rep. Runnels's funeral and announced his candidacy, which seemed inappropriate to many Democrats.[9] Democrats found this a good opportunity to increase the number of women in Congress, and on August 19th. more than half of Democrats in the US House, along with the entire party leadership, signed a letter endorsing her.[10] When the Democrats met, however, political pressure from the governor was too great; King was nominated with 55 votes to 27 for Runnels and 4 for Olguin.[11]

Campaign

[edit]

Dorothy runnels decided to run a Write in campaign as she had not expected to gain ballot access. Her attorney continued to seek ballot status through litigation but failed. A poll by KOAT-TV released on September 24th showed Runnels leading with 36% to Skeen 28%, King 18%, and State Sen. Aubrey Dunn with 7%. [12] However, in the end Republican Joe Skeen won the election with just 38% of the vote.[13]

Results

[edit]
New Mexico's 2nd congressional district election, 1980
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joe Skeen 61,564 38.00
Democratic David W. King 55,085 34.01
Independent Dorothy Runnels 45,343 27.99
Total votes 161,992 100.00
Republican gain from Democratic

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF).
  2. ^ Deming Headlight, 3/4/1980
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - NM District 2 - D Primary Race - Jun 03, 1980". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  4. ^ (Albuquerque Journal, 2/12/1980)
  5. ^ (Albuquerque Journal, 7/1/1980)
  6. ^ (Deming Headlight, 8/5/1980)
  7. ^ (Albuquerque Journal, 8/10/1980)
  8. ^ (Santa Fe New Mexican, 8/10/1980)
  9. ^ (Deming Headlight, 8/19/1980)
  10. ^ (Deming Headlight, 8/20/1980)
  11. ^ (Santa Fe New Mexican, 8/24/1980)
  12. ^ (Deming Headlight, 9/24/1980)
  13. ^ "Our Campaigns - NM District 02 Race - Nov 04, 1980". www.ourcampaigns.com.