
          Conservative Republicans Take Washington Seats
          By StaffStaff
          Vol. 3, No. 1, 1980, p. 14
          
          Nine of the more than thirty new Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will come from the South as a result of the November general election. While maintaining their 24 present House seats among the Southern delegations, Republicans also have gained four U.S. Senate seats from North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
          Southern Democrats suffered a hard right swing from voters who aimed their harshest blows at moderate Democratic representatives. One-third of the South's Democratic representatives whose voting records in any way favored civil rights, civil liberties, labor, and liberal groups was defeated by the conservative Republicans. In all congressional elections where Southern Democratic incumbents were not to return to Congress because of defeat in the primary or retirement, Republicans won. All newly elected congressmen ran on a platform more conservative than their predecessor's.
          Those U.S. Representatives who served in the last Congress and won't be returning to Washington from the South because of defeat at the polls are listed below with ratings on their voting records from 1978 and 1980 by civil rights, civil liberties, labor, and liberal groups.
          
            Defeated Southern Congressmen and Their Voting
RecordU.S. House of Representatives
            
              
              
              Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
              ACLU*
              ADA*
              COPE*
            
            
              
              
              1980
              1980
              1978
              1978
            
            
              
              ALABAMA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              John H. Buchanan (R)
              57%
              50%
              30%
              44%
            
            
              
              FLORIDA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Richard Kelly (R)
              0%
              3%
              5%
              0%
            
            
              
              Edward J. Stack (D) +
              100%
              77%
              —
              —
            
            
              
              LOUISIANA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Claude Leach (D) +
              14%
              23%
              —
              —
            
            
              
              NORTH CAROLINA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Richardson Preyer (D)
              57%
              57%
              55%
              60%
            
            
              
              Lamar Gudger (D)
              29%
              27%
              25%
              30%
            
            
              
              SOUTH CAROLINA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              John W. Jenrette (D)
              71%
              33%
              40%
              74%
            
            
              
              TEXAS
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Ray Roberts (D)
              0%
              23%
              15%
              22%
            
            
              
              Bob Eckhardt (D)
              86%
              83%
              75%
              89%
            
            
              
              Joe Wyatt, Jr. (D) +
              29%
              10%
              —
              —
            
            
              
              VIRGINIA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Herbert E. Harris, II (D)
              100%
              80%
              70%
              90%
            
            
              
              Joseph L. Fisher (D)
              100%
              87%
              60%
              65%
            
          
          
            U.S. Senate
            
              
              
              Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
              ACLU*
              ADA*
              COPE*
            
            
              
              
              1980
              1980
              1978
              1978
            
            
              
              ALABAMA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Donald Stewart (D) +
              75%
              47%
              —
              —
            
            
              
              FLORIDA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Richard Stone (D)
              75%
              37%
              25%
              50%
            
            
              
              GEORGIA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Herman E. Talmadge (D)
              38%
              20%
              40%
              42%
            
            
              
              NORTH CAROLINA
              
              
              
              
            
            
              
              Robert Morgan (D)
              38%
              20%
              25%
              35%
            
          
          
            * ACLU is the rating of the American Civil
Liberties Union; ADA is Americans for Democratic Action; COPE is the
ratings of the AFL-CIO political arm. + Not serving in Congress
in 1978 session.
          
        