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. Possibly best known was the defeat of U.S. Sen. George S. McGovern, 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.
New Hampshire: John A. Durkin lost to Warren Rudman. Durkin resigned his seat in December and Rudman was appointed to fill out the remaining few days of Durkin's term.
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:
In Washington, Gorton was unseated by Democrat Brock Adams. Gorton returned to the Senate two years later in 1988, but was very narrowly unseated in 2000 by Maria Cantwell.
In Wisconsin, Kasten was reelected in 1986, but was defeated in 1992 by Democrat Russ Feingold. Feingold himself was defeated in 2010 by conservative businessman Ron Johnson.
In Florida, Hawkins lost her bid for reelection to Democrat Bob Graham, who held the seat until his retirement in 2004, when Republican Mel Martinez was elected to replace him.
In Alabama, Denton lost his reelection bid to Democrat Richard C. Shelby. However, after the Republicans retook the Senate in 1994, Shelby switched parties, returning the seat to Republican hands.
Democrats won three more seats in 1986, but these have since shown instability, alternating between the parties :
In Georgia, Mattingly lost to Democrat Wyche Fowler in 1986. Fowler then lost to Republican Paul D. Coverdell in 1992 and Coverdell won reelection in 1998. Upon Coverdell's death in 2000, Democrat Zell Miller was appointed to the seat and won a special election that year to finish the rest of the term. Miller did not seek reelection in 2004, and was succeeded by Republican Johnny Isakson.
In North Carolina, after East committed suicide in 1986, fellow Republican James T. Broyhill was appointed to fill out his term. This seat switched partisan hands in three consecutive elections. Broyhill was defeated by Democrat Terry Sanford in 1986, Sanford was unseated by Republican Lauch Faircloth in 1992, Democrat John Edwards defeated Faircloth in 1998, and Republican Richard Burr won it in 2004 after Edwards retired to become the Democratic nominee for Vice President.
In Indiana, Quayle won reelection in 1986, and after he resigned to become Vice President in 1988, fellow Republican Dan Coats was appointed to replace him. Coats won a special election in 1990 to fill the rest of Quayle's term, and then won a full term in 1992. In 1998, Coats declined to run for a second full term and Democrat Evan Bayh was elected to fill the seat. However, in 2010 Bayh also retired after two terms and was succeeded by Coats. In 2016, Coats did not seek reelection, and Bayh ran for his old seat, but lost the general election to Republican Todd Young.
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 StatesBill 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.
