1970 United States elections
The 1970 United States elections were held on November 3, and elected the members of the 92nd United States Congress. The election took place during the Vietnam War, in the middle of Republican President Richard Nixon's first term. Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew campaigned heavily for Republican candidates, with Nixon encouraging voters to respond to anti-war and civil rights activists by voting the Republican ticket. In an October speech he declared, "My friends, I say that the answer to those that engage in disruption--to those that shout their filthy slogans, to those that try to shout down speakers--is not to answer in kind, but go to the polls on election day, and in the quiet of that ballot box, stand up and be counted: the great silent majority of America." Despite these White House efforts, the Democratic Party retained its Senate majority and increased its majority in the House.
In the House of Representatives, the Democrats picked up twelve seats at the expense of the Republican Party.
In the Senate, Republicans picked up two seats and James L. Buckley won election as a member of the Conservative Party of New York. As of 2016, Buckley is the most recently elected third party member of Congress, although several independents have since won election to Congress.
Until 2018, this was the last midterm election cycle in which a sitting President's party made net gains in one chamber of Congress while suffering net losses in the other chamber.
