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 United States Senate from Democratic to Republican hands, producing a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954.
Possibly best known was the defeat of Democratic South Dakota Senator George McGovern, a prominent progressive Democrat who had been the party's nominee for president in 1972. McGovern lost his bid for a fourth term by a resounding 19-point margin to Republican Representative James Abdnor.
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, largely thanks to the defeat of several members of the Reagan class of 1980:
Democrats won three more seats in 1986, but these have since shown instability, alternating between the parties and in one case between senators:
One other freshmen Republican Senator, Mark Andrews of North Dakota, lost reelection in 1986, to Kent Conrad, but he had succeeded a retiring Republican, Milton Young.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan referred to the Republican majority in 2016's Senate and House elections as being "saved" by then-President-elect Donald Trump's coattails.[1]
Reagan's coattails also affected other elections in 1980, including gubernatorial ones, most prominently the defeat of first term Governor of Arkansas and future President of the United States Bill Clinton by Frank D. White.[2] 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. Other Democratic governors who lost were Joseph P. Teasdale of Missouri, who lost to former governor Kit Bond in a rematch of the 1976 election, and Arthur A. Link of North Dakota, who lost to Allen I. Olson, who only served one term before losing reelection to George A. Sinner. Another Democratic governor, Dixy Lee Ray of Washington, lost renomination to Jim McDermott, who lost the general election to John Spellman, who served one term until he lost reelection to Booth Gardner.