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IA US Senate

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > Iowa > Senate Class II

Office

Senate

Honorific

Senator - Abbr: Sen.

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

June 01, 1978 - 12:00pm Central

Polls Open

November 07, 1978 - 06:00am Central

Polls Close

November 07, 1978 - 11:00pm Central

Term Start

January 03, 1979 - 12:00pm

Term End

January 03, 1985 - 12:00pm

Contributor

*crickets chirp*

Last Modified

RBH August 25, 2019 02:05am

Data Sources

Description

By most standards, Richard Clark was a popular Senator. Despite a generally liberal record, he had voted consistently with agricultural interests and had strong relations with his constituencies. He was popular enough such that the strongest Republicans all gave him a pass in 1978.

Enter his opponent, former Lt. Governor Roger Jepsen. By most accounts, Jepsen was an awful candidate -- he was a religious right true believer, a devious man with connections to South African money, and he had been engaged in a feud with popular Governor Robert Ray, who offered him no support in the General.

No one expected Jepsen to win, but right-to-life groups took up his cause, relentlessly attacking Clark's strong support for government funded abortions. Jepsen also attacked the incumbent over the Panama Canal Treaty, which resonated well with older voters. And making matters worse for Clark, Democratic turnout was depressed because low support for the Carter administration.

Jepsen's narrow win was a major upset. Following the elections, commentators suggested that the abortion issue alone took down one of the best Senators and replaced him with one of the worst. This claim was reinforced both by Jepsen's blocking of a federal appointment for Clark, and by the results of the 1984 election.