1982 United States Senate election in New Mexico

1982 United States Senate election in New Mexico

November 2, 1982

Nominee Jeff Bingaman Harrison Schmitt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 217,682 187,128 Percentage 53.77% 46.23%

County results Bingaman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Schmitt:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Harrison Schmitt Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman Democratic

The 1982 United States Senate election in New Mexico took place on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt was running for re-election to a second term, but lost to Democrat Jeff Bingaman. As of 2022, this is the last time an incumbent senator lost re-election in New Mexico.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jeff Bingaman, Attorney General of New Mexico
• Jerry Apodaca, former Governor of New Mexico
• Virginia Keehan

Results

Democratic primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Bingaman	91,780	54.36
	Democratic	Jerry Apodaca	66,598	39.44
	Democratic	Virginia Keehan	10,466	6.20
Total votes			168,844	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Jeff Bingaman, Attorney General of New Mexico (Democratic)
• Harrison Schmitt, incumbent U.S. Senator first elected in 1976 and former astronaut (Republican)

Campaign

Bingaman ran advertisements that criticized Schmitt's views on a minimum Social Security and mining on federally protected land.^[2] Schmitt countered these ads by criticizing Bingaman's work as attorney general, citing the handling of the 1980 state prison riot and asking the governor to pardon an inmate that was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List.^[2] Another ad that Bingaman ran asked, "What on Earth has he done for you lately?"^[3]

The two negative ads that Schmitt ran were received poorly and later pulled.^[4]

Results

The turnout was approximately 70%.^[4]

United States Senate election in New Mexico, 1982^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jeff Bingaman	217,682	53.77%	+11.07%
	Republican	Harrison Schmitt (incumbent)	187,128	46.23%	−10.59%
Majority			30,554	7.55%	−6.57%
Turnout			404,810
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Aftermath

Schmitt thought the media was biased against him during the campaign.^[2]

See also

• 1982 United States Senate elections

References

1. "NM US Senate - D Primary". OurCampaigns.com. February 12, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
2. "Schmitt prepares to leave office". Manitowoc Herald-Times. Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Associated Press. November 29, 1982. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "The Astronauts Who Went to the Moon - The 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - TIME". TIME.com. July 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009.
4. Reinhold, Robert (November 3, 1982). "Schmitt Loses New Mexico Senate Seat". New York Times. p. A23. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
5. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1982" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 26.