claim: the last time republican u.s. senate candidates "beat more than two (incumbents) was 1980."
author: sean spicer
evidence_1: the 1980 united states senate elections coincided with ronald reagan's victory  in the presidential election. reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent  jimmy carter pulled in many democratic voters and gave a huge boost to  republican senate candidates. ... this election marked the first time since 1954  that the republican party ...
evidence_2: home / politicians & elections / election overview / reelection rates over the  years ... life are more predictable than the chances of an incumbent member of  the u.s. ... senate races still overwhelmingly favor the incumbent, but not by as  reliable a ... long time office-holders, as happened with the reagan revolution in  1980.
evidence_3: brown withdrew on april 2. carter and kennedy faced off in 34 primaries. this  was the most tumultuous primary race that an elected incumbent president had ...
evidence_4: sep 12, 2017 ... 4, 1980, in which republican ronald reagan defeated incumbent ... last  updated: ... and by the time of the 1980 election he had been stumping in one  forum or ... as the campaign developed, reagan's most serious opposition ... he  then left the stage with the other candidates, ostensibly in protest at bush.
evidence_5: nov 6, 2016 ... the fight for control of the united states senate is really close. ... that's because  the last time these seats were up for reelection was in 2010, ... defending those  seats — that is, they have more incumbents on the ballot. ... and indeed,  republican incumbents are generally polling better than donald trump.