1976 United States Senate election in Nevada
The 1976 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howard Cannon won re-election to a fourth term.
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 County results Cannon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Howell: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||
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Major candidates
Democratic
- Howard Cannon, incumbent U.S. Senator
Republican
- David Towell, U.S. Representative from Nevada's At-large congressional district
Campaign
In the Senate, Cannon was known as a moderate in the Democratic Party. He served as chairman of several committees, including the rules committee and the inaugural arrangements committee. Cannon was nearly defeated for re-election in 1964 by Republican Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt in one of the closest elections in history. However, he became more popular over the next few years and won re-election in 1970 with nearly 58% of the vote. In 1976, he faced U.S. Representative David Towell, who served just one term in the U.S. House of Representatives before running for the U.S. Senate. Cannon won re-election with 63% of the vote, one of his best election performances of his career. He won every county in the state, except for Eureka County, which Towell won with just 51% of the vote.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
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| Democratic | Howard Cannon (incumbent) | 127,214 | 63.01% | +5.36% | |
| Republican | David Towell | 63,471 | 31.44% | -9.73% | |
| None of These Candidates | 5,288 | 2.62% | |||
| Independent American | Byron D. Young | 3,619 | 1.79% | ||
| Libertarian | Dan Becan | 2,307 | 1.14% | ||
| Majority | 63,743 | 31.57% | +15.09% | ||
| Turnout | 201,899 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||