1981 United States elections

Elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 1981, comprising 2 gubernatorial races, 5 congressional special elections, and a plethora of other local elections across the United States. No Senate special elections were held.

Federal elections

In 1981, five special elections were held to fill vacancies to the 97th United States Congress. They were for,,,, and.

District	Date	Predecessor	Winner	Cause of vacancy
	April 21, 1981	David Stockman	Mark D. Siljander	Resigned January 27, 1981, to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
	May 19, 1981	Gladys Spellman	Steny Hoyer	Incapacitated since last Congress and seat declared vacant February 24, 1981.
	June 25, 1981	Tennyson Guyer	Mike Oxley	Died April 12, 1981.
	July 7, 1981	Jon Hinson	Wayne Dowdy	Resigned April 13, 1981.
	July 21, 1981	Raymond F. Lederer	Joseph F. Smith	Convicted of bribery in the Abscam sting operation, resigned.

Several statewide elections were held this year, most notably the gubernatorial elections in two U.S. States.

Two gubernatorial elections were held in 1981 in New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Virginia and both states flipped parties.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing candidates
[1981 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election\|New Jersey gubernatorial election\|New Jersey]	Brendan Byrne	Democratic	Term-limited, Republican victory	Thomas Kean 49.5% James Florio 49.4%
[1981 1981 Virginia gubernatorial election\|Virginia gubernatorial election\|Virginia]	John N. Dalton	Republican	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Chuck Robb 53.6% Marshall Coleman 46.4%

Note: Candidates' vote percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent. Candidates earning 0.05% or more of the vote are included.

Elections took place in the New Jersey Senate and Virginia House of Delegates. The Democrats maintained control of the New Jersey Senate but lost 2 seats. In Virginia, Democrats maintained control of the House of Delegates but lost 8 seats.