1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania
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 County results Heinz: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Wecht: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Pennsylvania |
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 Government |
The 1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Heinz successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Democratic nominee Cyril Wecht.
General election
Candidates
- H. John Heinz III, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican)
- Barbara I. Karkutt (Libertarian)
- Liane Norman (Consumer)
- William H. Thomas (Socialist Workers)
- Cyril Wecht, member of the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners (Democratic)
Campaign
John Heinz's Democratic opponent in the 1982 election was Allegheny County commissioner and former
up for re-election
in 1982, were challenged by Democrats with statewide prominence.
Wecht ran a low-budget campaign, lacking the assets to boost his name recognition; The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a headline dubbing the contest, "The Race for Senator No One Seemed to Notice."[1]
Despite this, Heinz ran a cautious campaign, running as a
moderate due to Pennsylvania's unemployment, 11%, one of the highest in the nation at the time, as well as the declining health of Pennsylvania's coal mining, manufacturing and steel industries. In the end, Heinz won the election by a wide margin, winning 59.3% of the popular vote. Wecht won 39.2% of the popular vote.[1]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | H. John Heinz III (Incumbent)
|
2,136,418 | 59.28% | +6.89% | |
| Democratic | Cyril Wecht | 1,412,965 | 39.20% | -7.59% | |
| Libertarian | Barbara I. Karkutt | 19,244 | 0.53% | +0.53% | |
| Socialist Workers | William H. Thomas | 18,951 | 0.53% | +0.41% | |
| Consumer | Liane Norman | 16,530 | 0.46% | +0.46% | |
| Majority | 723,453 | 20.08% | +14.48% | ||
| Total votes | 3,604,108 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0271034195.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1982" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Retrieved July 9, 2014.