1972 United States Senate elections
The 1972 United States Senate elections coincided with the landslide re-election of Republican President Richard Nixon. Despite Nixon's victory, Democrats increased their majority by two seats. After the elections, Democrats held 56 seats and Republicans held 42 seats, with 1 Conservative and 1 independent Senator. These were the first elections in which all citizens at least 18 years of age could vote due to the 1971 passage of the 26th Amendment.
Results summary
Source:Gains and losses
Democratic pickups included open seats in Kentucky and South Dakota, and defeats of Senators Gordon Allott of Colorado, J. Caleb Boggs of Delaware, Jack Miller of Iowa, and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.Republican pickups included open seats in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, and the defeat of incumbent William B. Spong Jr. of Virginia.
Change in Senate composition
Before the elections
After the January 7, 1972 Vermont special election.After the general elections
After the November special elections
| Key: | Race summariesSpecial elections during the 92nd CongressIn these special elections, the winner was seated during 1972 or before January 3, 1973; ordered by election date, then state.Elections leading to the next CongressIn these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1973; ordered by state.All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats. AlabamaAlaskaArkansasIncumbent Democrat John Little McClellan was re-elected.ColoradoDelawareIncumbent Republican J. Caleb Boggs, running for a third term, faced off against future Vice President Joe Biden, then a New Castle County Councilman. Though Boggs was expected to easily win a third term over the then-unknown Biden, it ended up being the closest Senate election in 1972, and Biden narrowly beat out Boggs by a little over three thousand votes, winning what would be his first of seven terms.Boggs, a longtime Delaware political figure, was considering retirement which would likely have led to a primary campaign between two Republicans, U.S. Representative Pete du Pont and Wilmington Mayor Harry G. Haskell Jr.. To avoid the anticipated divisive primary fight, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon helped convince Boggs to run again with full party support. No other Democrat wanted to run against Boggs besides Biden. Biden's campaign had virtually no money and was given no chance of winning. It was managed by his sister Valerie Biden Owens and staffed by other members of his family, and relied upon handed-out newsprint position papers. Biden did receive some assistance from the AFL-CIO and Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell. Biden's campaign issues focused on withdrawal from Vietnam, the environment, civil rights, mass transit, more equitable taxation, health care, the public's dissatisfaction with politics-as-usual, and "change". During the summer Biden trailed by almost 30 percentage points, but his energetic campaign, his attractive young family, and his ability to connect with voters' emotions gave the surging Biden an advantage over the ready-to-retire Boggs. Biden won the November 7, 1972 election in an upset by a margin of 3,162 votes. At the time of the election Biden was a little less than 30 years old; age 30 is a constitutional requirement for the U.S. Senate, and he reached that on November 20, in time for the Senate term beginning January 3. After his election he became the sixth-youngest Senator in history. GeorgiaGeorgia (Special)IdahoIllinoisIncumbent Republican Charles H. Percy sought re-election. Percy was opposed by: Democratic nominee Roman Pucinski, a Congressman from Illinois's 11th congressional district, Edward C. Gross and Arnold Becchetti. Percy handily won a second term.IowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineIncumbent Republican Margaret Chase Smith ran for re-election to a fifth term, but was defeated by Democrat William Hathaway, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from.MassachusettsIncumbent Republican Edward Brooke, first elected in 1966 as the first African-American elected to the Senate by popular vote, defeated his challengers, among them: John J. Droney, the Middlesex County District Attorney.MichiganMinnesotaIncumbent Democrat Walter Mondale, who was originally appointed in 1964 and elected to a full term in 1966, defeated Republican challenger Phil Hansen.MississippiMontanaIncumbent Democrat Lee Metcalf, who was first elected to the Senate in 1960 and was re-elected in 1966, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he moved on to the general election, where he faced Hank Hibbard, a State Senator and the Republican nominee. Following a close campaign, Metcalf managed to narrowly win re-election to his third term in the Senate over Hibbard.NebraskaIncumbent Republican Carl Curtis won re-election over former congressman Terry Carpenter.New HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNorth CarolinaOklahomaOregonRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina (Special)South DakotaTennesseeOne-term Republican Senator Howard Baker was re-elected. He defeated Democrat Ray Blanton.TexasIncumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Tower was re-elected.Vermont (Special)The special election was held January 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Robert Stafford, appointed in September 1971 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Winston L. Prouty, successfully ran for re-election to the remainder of Prouty's term in the United States Senate. Stafford defeated Democratic candidate Randolph T. Major. Bernie Sanders, the Liberty Union candidate, was later elected to this seat in 2006, serving as an Independent.VirginiaWest VirginiaWyoming |