Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1980
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The Arkansas gubernatorial election of 1980 was only that state's second election since Reconstruction when a Republican candidate won governorship, and the first in which an incumbent was defeated.
Aside from being a very tortured sentence, the previous information is also incorrect. Winthrop Rockefeller had previously won two elections as governor in 1966 and 1968. Therefore, it is obvious that Frank White's election in 1980 was the third election since Reconstruction in which a Republican candidate won the Arkansas governor's office.
One-term Democratic Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton was narrowly defeated by Republican Frank D. White, which made him, as he joked, "the youngest ex-governor in the nation". He ran again two years later and regained the Governorship, continuing to serve until he was elected President of the United States in 1992.
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[edit] Democratic nomination
In primary (held on May 17) Clinton easily won renomination, gained 306,735 (68.87%) votes against 138,660 (31.13%) won by State Representative and former rival to 1978 nomination Monroe Schwarzlose.[1]
[edit] Republican nomination
In the Republican Party primaries (May 27), former head of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission under Winthrop Rockefeller and former Democrat Frank D. White earned 5,867 (71.75%) votes against former State Representative and millionaire Marshall N. Chrisman.[2]
[edit] 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 was also unpopular. He was also hurt by President Jimmy Carter's decision to sending 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.)
1980 general election was marked by great Republican victory - winning of White House, majority in United States Senate and some seats in the United States House of Representatives. Also Clinton's narrow lost was viewed as part of Reagan's coattails.
[edit] Result
Frank White narrowly won election.[3]
| Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1980 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Republican | Frank D. White | 435,684 | 51.98 | ||
| Democratic | Bill Clinton | 403,241 | 48.07 | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | ||||
