1980 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

The 1980 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Bob Kasten, a Republican.[1]

1980 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

November 4, 1980

Nominee Bob Kasten Gaylord Nelson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,106,311 1,065,487 Percentage 50.2% 48.3%

County results Kasten:      50–60%      60–70% Nelson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Gaylord Nelson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Bob Kasten Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

• Doug Cofrin, publisher of Milwaukee Magazine
• Bob Kasten, former U.S. Representative
• Terry Kohler, businessman
• Russell Olson, Lieutenant Governor

Results

Republican primary results[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Kasten	134,586	36.77%
	Republican	Terry Kohler	106,270	29.03%
	Republican	Doug Cofrin	84,355	23.05%
	Republican	Russell Olson	40,823	11.15%
Total votes			366,034	100.00%

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Kasten	1,106,311	50.44%
	Democratic	Gaylord Nelson (incumbent)	1,065,487	48.34%
style="background-color: CC0C2F; width: 2px;" |	Constitution	James P. Wickstrom	16,156	0.73%
	Libertarian	Bervin J. Larson	9,679	0.44%
	Socialist Workers	Susan Hagen	6,502	0.30%
Total votes			2,204,135	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1980 United States Senate elections

References

1. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf
2. "WI US Senate - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved January 2, 2020.