United States Senate elections, 1974

United States Senate elections, 1974 and 1975

November 5, 1974
34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Mike Mansfield Hugh Scott Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1961 September 24, 1969 Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania Seats before 56 42 Seats after 60 38 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 22,544,761 16,145,793 Percentage 55.2% 39.6% Swing 9.7% 12.8% Seats up 20 14 Races won 23 11   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative (N.Y.) Seats before 1 1 Seats after 1[1] 1 Seat change Popular vote 0 822,584 Percentage 0% 2% Seats up 0 0 Races won 0 0
Results      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1974 United States Senate elections were held in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon's resignation from the presidency, and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon. Economic issues, specifically inflation and stagnation, were also a factor that contributed to Republican losses.^[2] Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans. Following the 1974 elections, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats (including one independent) and the Republican caucus controlled 39 seats (including one Conservative).

Democrats gained an additional seat in 1975 when Democrat John A. Durkin won a special election in New Hampshire that was held after the 1974 election resulted in two recounts and an extended dispute in the Senate.

This was the last Senate election where the Democrat won Orange County, California in a race with Republican opposition.

Gains and losses

Democrats won open seats in Vermont and Florida and unseated incumbents Peter H. Dominick (R-CO) and Marlow Cook (R-KY). Republicans took an open seat in Nevada, where Republican Paul Laxalt defeated Harry Reid by 624 votes. The election also produced other close results; Milton Young (R-ND) won reelection against Democrat William L. Guy by only 186 votes and Henry Bellmon (R-OK) won reelection against Democrat Ed Edmondson by half a percent of the vote. Bob Dole (R-KS) survived the closest election of his career against Democratic Rep. William Roy, a race undoubtedly made close due to Dole's close association with Nixon as chairman of the Republican National Committee. It was the closest the Democrats have come to winning a Senate election in Kansas since George McGill won re-election in 1932 (McGill was defeated by Clyde M. Reed in 1938).

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats									Popular Vote
		Incum bents	Not up	This election					Result	+/-	Vote	%
				Up	Re- elected	Held	Gained	Lost
	Democratic	57	37	20	15	4	4	1	60	3	22,544,761	55.24%
	Republican	41	27	14	8	2	1	4	38	3	16,145,793	39.56%
	Conservative (N.Y.)	1	1	0					1		822,584	2.02%
	Independent	1	1	0					1		199,108	<0.01%
	Others	0							0		1,098,146	2.69%
Total		100	66	34	23	6	5	5	100		40,810,392	100.0%

Source: "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974 [sic]" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. 1975. Retrieved July 8, 2014.

Change in Senate composition

Race summary

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arizona election

Nominee Barry Goldwater Jonathan Marshall Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 320,396 229,523 Percentage 58.26% 41.74%

U.S. Senate election results map. Red denotes counties won by Goldwater. Blue denotes those won by Marshall.

U.S. Senator before election Barry Goldwater Republican Elected U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater Republican

Incumbent Republican Barry Goldwater decided to run for reelection to a second consecutive term, after returning to the U.S. Senate in 1968 following his failed Presidential run in 1964 against Lyndon B. Johnson. Goldwater defeated Democratic Party nominee philanthropist Jonathan Marshall in the general election.

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Florida election

Nominee Richard Stone Jack Eckerd Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 781,031 736,674 Percentage 43.38% 40.91%   Nominee John Grady Party American Independent Popular vote 282,659 Percentage 15.7%

U.S. Senator before election Edward Gurney Republican Elected U.S. Senator Richard Stone Democratic

Incumbent Republican Edward Gurney declined to seek a second term after being indicted for taking bribes in return for his influence with the Federal Housing Administration.

The primary for the Republican nomination pitted Eckerd drug store owner Jack Eckerd against Florida Public Service Commissioner Paula Hawkins. Eckerd won handily, receiving approximately 67.5% of the vote.

The Democratic primary, however, was a crowded field with eleven candidates vying for the nomination. Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, U.S. Representative Bill Gunter and Secretary of State of Florida Richard Stone advanced to a run-off election. Stone won by a small margin of 1.68%.

Thus, Eckerd and Stone faced off in the general election. John Grady, a family physician and member of George Wallace's American Independent Party, performed exceptionally well for a third party candidate. Grady may have split the conservative vote, allowing for Stone to win. On election day, Stone received 43.38% of the vote, Eckerd garnered 40.91% of the vote, and Grady acquired 15.7% of the vote.

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Maryland election

Nominee Charles Mathias, Jr. Barbara Mikulski Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 503,223 374,663 Percentage 57.32% 42.68%

U.S. Senator before election Charles Mathias, Jr. Republican Elected U.S. Senator Charles Mathias, Jr. Republican

Incumbent Republican Charles Mathias won re-election to a second term. As a Republican representing heavily-Democratic Maryland, Mathias faced a potentially difficult re-election bid for the 1974 election. State Democrats nominated Barbara Mikulski, then a Baltimore City Councilwoman who was well-known to residents in her city as a social activist, but with limited name recognition in the rest of the state.^[5] Mathias was renominated by Republicans, fending off a primary election challenge from conservative doctor Ross Pierpont. Pierpont was never a substantial threat to Mathias, whose lack of competition was due in part to fallout from the Watergate scandal.^[6][7]

As an advocate for campaign finance reform, Mathias refused to accept any contribution over $100 to "avoid the curse of big money that has led to so much trouble in the last year".^[8] However, he still managed to raise over $250,000, nearly five times Mikulski's total. Ideologically, Mikulski and Mathias agreed on many issues, such as closing tax loopholes and easing taxes on the middle class. On two issues, however, Mathias argued to reform Congress and the U.S. tax system to address inflation and corporate price fixing, contrary to Mikulski.^[5] In retrospect, The Washington Post felt the election was "an intelligent discussion of state, national, and foreign affairs by two smart, well-informed people".^[9]

Missouri

Nevada

Nevada election

Nominee Paul Laxalt Harry Reid Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 79,605 78,981 Percentage 47.0% 46.6%   Nominee Jack C. Doyle Party Independent American Popular vote 10,887 Percentage 6.42%

U.S. Senator before election Alan Bible Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt Republican

Incumbent Democrat Alan Bible decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth full term. Republican nominee Paul Laxalt won the open seat.

Former Governor Paul Laxalt won by less than 700 votes, becoming one of the few bright spots in a bad year for Republicans. He beat Lieutenant Governor Harry Reid. Reid would succeed Laxalt twelve years later.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire election

Nominee Louis C. Wyman John A. Durkin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 110,926 110,924 Percentage 49.6618% 49.6609%

U.S. Senator before election Norris Cotton Republican Elected U.S. Senator Louis C. Wyman (Disputed) Republican

The New Hampshire election resulted in the longest contested election for the U.S. Congress in United States history.

In 1973, then-incumbent Senator Norris Cotton announced he would not seek re-election. Republican strategists admitted that it would be tough for their party to hold on to the seat.^[12]

The campaign of 1974 pitted Democrat John A. Durkin, who had served as New Hampshire's Insurance Commissioner and as Attorney General, against Republican Louis C. Wyman, a conservative, widely known member of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district. As Wyman was the more experienced politician, he was predicted by many to win handily.^[13]

On election day, Wyman won with a margin of just 355 votes. Durkin immediately demanded a recount, which, completed November 27, 1974, declared Durkin the winner by a margin of 2 votes. Republican Governor Meldrim Thomson, Jr. awarded Durkin a provisional certificate of election.

Wyman promptly appealed to the New Hampshire State Ballot Law Commission. Durkin tried to defeat the appeal in the New Hampshire courts. The state ballot commission conducted its own partial recount and announced on December 24, 1974, that Wyman had won by just two votes. Governor Thomson rescinded Durkin’s certificate, and awarded a new credential to Wyman.

Senator Cotton resigned December 31, 1974, and Governor Thomson appointed Wyman to fill the remainder of the term, which would expire January 3, 1975.

The election contest was not settled, however, and eventually a new election would be called, see below.

New Hampshire (Special)

New Hampshire election

September 16, 1975

Nominee John A. Durkin Louis C. Wyman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 140,778 113,007 Percentage 53.62% 43.04%

U.S. Senator before election Norris Cotton Republican Elected U.S. Senator John A. Durkin Democratic

As a last option to the disputed election above, Durkin petitioned the Senate, which had a 60-vote Democratic majority, to review the case, based on the Constitutional provision that each house of Congress is the final arbiter of elections to that body.

On January 13, 1975, the day before the new Congress convened, the Senate Rules Committee tried unsuccessfully to resolve the matter. Composed of five Democrats and three Republicans, the Rules Committee deadlocked 4–4 on a proposal to seat Wyman pending further review. Democrat James Allen voted with the Republicans on grounds that Wyman had presented proper credentials.

The full Senate took up the case on January 14, with Wyman and Durkin seated at separate tables at the rear of the chamber. Soon, the matter was returned to the Rules Committee, which created a special staff panel to examine 3,500 questionable ballots that had been shipped to Washington. Following this review, the Rules Committee sent a report of 35 disputed points in the election to the full Senate, which spent the next six weeks debating the issue, but resolved only one of the 35 points in dispute. Republicans successfully filibustered the seating of Durkin.^[13]

Facing deadlock with the August recess approaching, The Washington Post ran an editorial on July 28 charging that it would be "incredible" if the Senate were to "go on vacation for a month without settling the New Hampshire Senate election case."^[14] The Post suggested that Wyman and Durkin themselves should try to reach some agreement to settle the matter. Following up on the suggestion, Louis Wyman wrote to Durkin that day, urging him to support a new, special election. Durkin initially refused, but then on July 29, reversed his earlier position, and announced to a New Hampshire television audience his intention to agree to the new election.^[15] The next morning, July 30, he reported this change to the Democratic leadership, thus relieving the Senate from further deliberations on the topic.

Later that same day, the Senate voted 71–21 to declare the seat vacant as of August 8. Governor Thomson this time appointed former Senator Norris Cotton to hold the seat temporarily. New Hampshire then arranged to hold a special election.

The special election was held on September 16, 1975. Widespread attention in the media resulted in a record-breaking turnout, which gave the election to Durkin by a 27,000-vote margin.^[13][16]

New York

North Carolina

North Carolina election

November 5, 1974

Nominee Robert Morgan William Stevens Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 633,647 386,720 Percentage 61.6% 37.6%

U.S. Senator before election Sam Ervin Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Robert Morgan Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Sam Ervin chose to retire. The general election was fought between the Democratic nominee Robert Morgan and the Republican nominee William Stevens.

North Dakota

North Dakota election

Nominee Milton R. Young William L. Guy Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 114,852 114,675 Percentage 48.45% 48.37%

U.S. Senator before election Milton R. Young Republican Elected U.S. Senator Milton R. Young Republican

Incumbent Republican Milton Young was re-elected to his sixth term, defeating North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party candidate William L. Guy, a former Governor of North Dakota.^[11]

Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was William L. Guy of Bismarck, North Dakota, who had served as Governor of the state from 1961 to 1973; and had presumably left the office to seek the senate seat. Young and Guy won the primary elections for their respective parties. Guy, who was very popular as governor throughout the state, and Young, who had a high approval rating as senator for the state, created the closest ever election for one of North Dakota's senate seats. Young won the election by only 177 votes, and Guy retired from politics.

Two independent candidates, James R. Jungroth and Kenneth C. Gardner, also filed before the deadline. Jungroth's platform was based on his opposition to strip mining the state's coal reserves.^[18] Gardner would later run for the state's other seat in 1988 against then incumbent Quentin Burdick.

Ohio

Ohio election

Nominee John Glenn Ralph Perk Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,930,670 918,133 Percentage 64.6% 30.7%

U.S. Senator before election Howard Metzenbaum Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Glenn Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Howard Metzenbaum was running for re-election his first full term after he was appointed in 1970 by Ohio governor John J. Gilligan to fill out the Senate term of William B. Saxbe, who had resigned to become United States Attorney General. Metzenbaum lost the primary election to retired astronaut John Glenn, who went on to win the general election and win every county in the state over Republican Ralph Perk, Mayor of Cleveland

Oklahoma

Oklahoma election

Nominee Henry Bellmon Ed Edmondson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 390,997 387,162 Percentage 49.4% 48.9%

U.S. Senator before election Henry Bellmon Republican Elected U.S. Senator Henry Bellmon Republican

Incumbent Republican Henry Bellmon narrowly won re-election to a second term, beating Representative Ed Edmondson by nearly 4,000 votes.

Oregon

Oregon election

Nominee Bob Packwood Betty Roberts Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 420,964 338,591 Percentage 54.9% 44.2%

U.S. Senator before election Bob Packwood Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Packwood Republican

Incumbent Republican Bob Packwood won re-election to a second term. Betty Roberts was chosen to replace former U.S. Senator Wayne Morse, who won the Democratic primary but died before the general election.^[21][22]

Wayne Morse won the Democratic primary, but died prior to the general election.

The Democratic primaries were held on May 28, 1974. Incumbent Senator Bob Packwood was running for re-election after his upset victory against popular incumbent Democrat Wayne Morse in 1968 made him the youngest member of the Senate.^[23]

In the Democratic primary, former Senator Morse, trying to win back the seat he had for 24 years before losing to Packwood six years earlier, faced Oregon State Senate President Jason Boe and several other candidates for a chance to take back his Senate seat.^[24] Boe, who was 45, made Morse's age, 73, an issue in the race while Morse said his experience in the Senate made him a stronger candidate.^[25] Boe called for a series of debates around the state, but Morse refused. He went on to defeat Boe 49% to 39%, and planned to use the same strategy in the general election against Packwood, whose narrow victory over Morse 6 years earlier was attributed to Packwood's superior performance at a debate in Portland late in the campaign.^[21]

In July, Morse was hospitalized in Portland with what was originally described as a serious urinary tract infection. His condition deteriorated and he died on July 22.^[22] The death was originally reported to have been caused by kidney failure, but it was later revealed that Morse died of leukemia; Boe apparently knew of the diagnosis during the campaign but did not make it a campaign issue.^[27]

The Oregon Democratic State Central Committee met on August 11, two days after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency. They chose State Senator Betty Roberts over Boe to replace Morse as the Democratic nominee.^[28] Roberts, an Oregon State Senator, had run for the Democratic nomination for Governor that year, but lost in the May primary to eventual general election winner Robert W. Straub.^[28]

Outgoing Oregon governor Tom McCall, who had decided not to run in 1968, had pledged to Packwood a year earlier that he would not challenge him in 1974.^[29] But as his term as governor ended, McCall began reconsidering his decision, believing he would bring more integrity to the job. In March 1974, at a dinner party held at Packwood's Washington D.C. home in McCall's honor, McCall informed Packwood that he would challenge him.^[29] The news of McCall's change of plans soon reached the media. Eventually, McCall decided that he had little chance against Packwood, who had similar positions to his own and had a reputation for ruthless campaigning that McCall did not share.^[29][30] McCall did not run, and Packwood was unopposed in the Republican primary.^[24]

Strong Democratic gains were predicted, giving Roberts a good chance at an upset. In addition, the Senate had no female members and Roberts was one of three women (along with Barbara Mikulski in Maryland and Gwenyfred Bush in South Carolina) seeking a Senate seat.^[31] But on the issues, Packwood and Roberts shared many positions, such as on abortion, military spending, and the environment.^[32] Moreover, Packwood had distanced himself from Watergate, calling for Nixon's impeachment and denouncing Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon.^[32][33] Roberts was also at a financial disadvantage, having entered the race late and facing debt from her failed gubernatorial run; Packwood was able to use money he had raised for a primary challenge that never materialized, and led in most polls by a double-digit margin.^[32]

Roberts lost the election to Packwood 54% to 44%.^[34] Packwood was the only Oregon Republican up for re-election to keep his seat: Democrats won every other available seat. In the Governor's race, Bob Straub, who beat Roberts in the Democratic primary, defeated Vic Atiyeh to become the first Democrat elected governor since 1956; in the U. S. House of Representatives races, Les AuCoin won an open seat in the 1st district and in the 4th district, Jim Weaver upset incumbent John Dellenback.^[35]

After the election, Roberts, whose criticism of Packwood's ethics was a theme in her campaign, considered filing a lawsuit against Packwood for misrepresenting her positions on gun control, abortion, and Social Security in campaign advertisements, but later dropped the idea.^[36]

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania election

Nominee Richard Schweiker Peter Flaherty Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,843,317 1,596,121 Percentage 53.0% 45.9%

County results

U.S. Senator before election Richard Schweiker Republican Elected U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker Republican

Incumbent Republican Richard Schweiker won re-election, defeating Democratic nominee Peter F. Flaherty, Mayor of Pittsburgh.

In the general election campaign, Schweiker faced popular Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty. Both candidates, as highlighted by a New York Times article, "[took] firm stands against inflation, recession, big spending by the Federal Government and abortion on demand."^[38] Schweiker, who was endorsed by the AFL–CIO, distanced himself from the Richard Nixon administration, specifically the Watergate scandal, by emphasizing his early calls for Nixon's resignation and the fact that he was on Nixon's "enemies list."^[38]

In the end, Schweiker won re-election with 53% of the popular vote, with Flaherty winning 45.9%. Schweiker carried 53 of Pennsylvania's counties, a decrease from the 59 counties he carried in the 1968 election. Flaherty had a strong showing in Allegheny County, which contains his home town of Pittsburgh, which Schweiker had won in 1968. The final election results represented a political divide between the eastern and western portions of the state, Schweiker in the east and Flaherty in the west, with the exception of Flaherty's slim 4,491 vote victory in Philadelphia.^[38]

South Carolina

South Carolina election

Nominee Ernest Hollings Gwen Bush Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 355,107 146,649 Percentage 69.4% 28.7%

U.S. Senator before election Ernest Hollings Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Ernest Hollings Democratic

The 1974 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1974 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican challenger Gwen Bush to win his second full term. Both Hollings and Bush faced no opposition in their party's primaries which allowed both candidates to concentrate solely on the general election. The Watergate scandal caused the Republicans to perform poorly nationwide in 1974 and Gwen Bush was little more than a sacrificial lamb. The main focus of the voters in South Carolina was on the competitive gubernatorial contest and Hollings easily cruised to a comfortable re-election.

South Dakota

South Dakota Senate election, 1974

Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 147,929 130,955 Percentage 53.04% 46.96%

U.S. Senator before election George McGovern Democratic Elected U.S. Senator George McGovern Democratic

Utah

Vermont

Vermont election

Nominee Patrick Leahy Richard W. Mallary Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 70,629 66,223 Percentage 49.5% 46.4%

U.S. Senator before election George Aiken Republican Elected U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Democratic

Incumbent Republican George Aiken did not run for re-election to another term in the United States Senate. Democratic candidate, attorney and prosecutor Patrick Leahy defeated the Republican candidate, congressman Richard W. Mallary to succeed him.

Washington

Wisconsin

Wisconsin election

Nominee Gaylord Nelson Tom Petri Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 740,700 429,327 Percentage 61.8% 35.8%

U.S. Senator before election Gaylord Nelson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Gaylord Nelson won re-election to a third term over Tom Petri, State Senator since 1973.

See also

• United States elections, 1974
  • United States gubernatorial elections, 1974
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1974
• United States elections, 1975
• 93rd United States Congress
• 94th United States Congress
• Watergate Babies
• Watergate Scandal

Notes

References

• Butler, Anne M., and Wendy Wolff. United States Senate Election, Expulsion and Censure Cases, 1793-1990. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1995.
• Tibbetts, Donn. The Closest U.S. Senate Race in History, Durkin v. Wyman. [Manchester, N.H.]: J.W. Cummings Enterprises, 1976.
• Minnesota Senate race echoes N.H. election in 1974
• Closest Election in Senate History
• The Election Case of John A. Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman of New Hampshire (1975)
• Senate Rules Committee Report
• Candidates Clash in New Hampshire Senate Contest The Bryan Times, Sept 15, 1975
• State Election Commission (1975). Report of the South Carolina State Election Commission. Columbia, SC: State Election Commission. p. 37.
• "12 Men, One Woman Aspire to Post In Washington". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. September 1, 1974. pp. 4–6. Retrieved September 6, 2017.