Reagan's coattails

Reagan’s coattails refers to the influence of Ronald Reagan’s popularity in elections other than his own, after the American political expression to “ride in on another’s coattails.” Chiefly, it refers to the “Reagan Revolution” accompanying his 1980 election to the U.S. Presidency. This victory was accompanied by the change of twelve seats in the U.S. Senate from Democratic to Republican hands, producing a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954.

The most stunning defeat was that of U.S. Sen. George S. McGovern (D-S.D.), a prominent Progressive Democrat who had been the party’s nominee for president in 1972. McGovern lost his bid for a fourth term in the Senate by a resounding 58% to 39% margin to U.S. Rep. James Abdnor (R-S.D.).

The Democratic losses in the Senate in 1980 were:

Notably, the bulk of the 1980 class of Senate Republicans failed to hold their seats for the Republican party beyond one term. In the 1986 election, the Democrats managed to recapture the majority in the Senate, partly thanks to the defeat of several members of the Reagan class of 1980:

They won three more seats in 1986, but these have since shown instability, alternating between the parties (and in one case between senators):

This not only affected Senate races in 1980, which resulted in many Republicans replacing incumbent Democrats, were considered as a part of Reagan's coattails. Most prominently defeat of first term Governor of Arkansas and future President of the United States Bill Clinton by Frank D. White. Nevertheless, Clinton regained Governorship in a 1982 rematch and held until his election to the Presidency in 1992. In a speech delivered at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Clinton referenced the effect of Reagan as the reason for his defeat in 1980.

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