1980Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1980 election for West Virginia's 2nd District
U.S. House · West Virginia
Cleve Benedict (R) won with 55.9% of the vote, defeating Pat R. Hamilton (D) by 11.9 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Cleve BenedictRepublican · winner
55.9%102,805
Pat R. HamiltonDemocrat
44.1%80,940
183,745 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
Pat R. HamiltonCleve Benedict
$316.6K
Raised by the campaign
$320K
$296.4K
Spent by the campaign
$316.9K
$0
Cash on hand
$0
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 1980.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 1980