United States Senate elections, 1972

United States Senate elections, 1972

November 7, 1972
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's seat Montana Pennsylvania Last election 54 seats 44 seats Seats won 56 42 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 17,199,567 19,821,203 Percentage 45.5% 52.4% Swing 6.9% 12.5%   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative (N.Y.) Last election 1 seat 1 seat Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 1 Seat change
Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Independent hold   Republican gain   Republican hold
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1972 United States Senate election was an election for the United States Senate coinciding with the landslide reelection of Republican Richard Nixon. Despite Nixon's victory, Democrats increased their majority by two seats. After the election, Democrats held 56 seats and Republicans held 42 seats, with 1 Conservative and 1 independent Senator.

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats									Popular Vote
		Incumbents	Not up	This election					Result	+/-	Vote	%
				Up	Re- elected	Held	Gained	Lost
	Democratic	54	40	14	8	2	6	4	56	2	17,199,567	45.49%
	Republican	44	24	20	13	1	4	6	42	2	19,821,203	52.42%
	Independent	1	1	0	0	0			1		318,238	0.84%
	Conservative	1	1	0	0	0			1		42,348	0.11%
	Others	0	0	0	0	0			0		470,090	1.24%
Total		100	66	34	21	3	10	10	100		37,809,098	100.0%

Source:

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D9	D8	D7	D6	D5	D4	D3	D2	D1	I1
D10	D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18	D19
D29	D28	D27	D26	D25	D24	D23	D22	D21	D20
D30	D31	D32	D33	D34	D35	D36	D37	D38	D39
D49	D48	D47	D46	D45	D44	D43	D42	D41	D40
D50	← Majority
	D51	D52	D53	D54	R44	R43	R42	R41	R40
R30	R31	R32	R33	R34	R35	R36	R37	R38	R39
R29	R28	R27	R26	R25	R24	R23	R22	R21	R20
R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	R19
R9	R8	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3	R2	R1	C1

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D9	D8	D7	D6	D5	D4	D3	D2	D1	I1
D10	D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18	D19
D29	D28	D27	D26	D25	D24	D23	D22	D21	D20
D30	D31	D32	D33	D34	D35	D36	D37	D38	D39
D49O	D48√	D47√	D46√	D45√	D44√	D43√	D42√	D41√	D40
D50O	← Majority
	D51+	D52+	D53+	D54+	D55+	D56+	R42+	R41+	R40+
R30√	R31√	R32√	R33√	R34√	R35√	R36√	R37√	R38O	R39+
R29√	R28√	R27√	R26√	R25√	R24	R23	R22	R21	R20
R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	R19
R9	R8	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3	R2	R1	C1

Key:	C# Conservative, caucusing with the Republicans D# Democratic I# Independent, caucusing with the Democrats R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator elected from same party + Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Gains and losses

Democratic pickups included open seats in Kentucky and South Dakota, and defeats of Senators Gordon L. 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.

Appointment

In 1974, William B. Saxbe of Ohio resigned to become Attorney General, and Democrat Howard Metzenbaum was appointed to replace him. This is not included in the party balances.

Complete list of races

All elections are class 2 unless otherwise indicated.

Bold states links to a separate article about that state's election.

Bold candidates indicates the winner.

State	Incumbent	Party	Results	Candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	Re-elected	John Sparkman (Democratic) 62.3% Winton M. Blount (Republican) 33.1% John L. LeFlore (Nat'l Democratic) 3.0% Jerome Couch (AL Prohibition) 1.0% Herbert Stone (AL Conservative) 0.6%
Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	Re-elected	Ted Stevens (Republican) 77.3% Gene Guess (Democratic) 22.7%
Arkansas	John Little McClellan	Democratic	Re-elected	John Little McClellan (Democratic) 60.8% Wayne H. Babbitt (Republican) 39.1%
Colorado	Gordon L. Allott	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Floyd K. Haskell (Democratic) 49.4% Gordon L. Allott (Republican) 48.4% Secundion Salazar (Raza Unida) 1.4% Henry Olshaw (American) 0.8%
Delaware	J. Caleb Boggs	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Joe Biden (Democratic) 50.5% J. Caleb Boggs (Republican) 49.1%
Georgia	David H. Gambrell	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Sam Nunn (Democratic) 54.0% Fletcher Thompson (Republican) 46.0%
Idaho	Leonard B. Jordan	Republican	Retired Republican hold	James A. McClure (Republican) 52.3% William E. Davis (Democratic) 45.5%
Illinois	Charles H. Percy	Republican	Re-elected	Charles H. Percy (Republican) 62.2% Roman Pucinski (Democratic) 37.4%
Iowa	Jack Miller	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Dick Clark (Democratic) 55.1% Jack Miller (Republican) 44.1%
Kansas	James B. Pearson	Republican	Re-elected	James B. Pearson (Republican) 71.4% Arch Tetzlaff (Democratic) 23.0%
Kentucky	John Sherman Cooper	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Walter D. Huddleston (Democratic) 50.9% Louie B. Nunn (Republican) 47.6%
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender (died July 27, 1972) Elaine S. Edwards	Democratic	Appointee did not run for full term Democratic hold	J. Bennett Johnston (Democratic) 55.2% John McKeithen (Independent) 23.1% Ben C. Toledano (Republican) 16.1% Hall M. Lyons (American Party), 2.7%
Maine	Margaret Chase Smith	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	William Hathaway (Democratic) 53.2% Margaret Chase Smith (Republican) 46.8%
Massachusetts	Edward Brooke	Republican	Re-elected	Edward Brooke (Republican) 63.5% John J. Droney (Democratic) 34.7% Donald Gurewitz (Socialist Workers) 1.7%
Michigan	Robert P. Griffin	Republican	Re-elected	Robert P. Griffin (Republican) 52.3% Frank J. Kelley (Democratic) 46.3%
Minnesota	Walter Mondale	Democratic	Re-elected	Walter Mondale (Democratic) 56.7% Phil Hansen (Republican) 42.9%
Mississippi	James Eastland	Democratic	Re-elected	James Eastland (Democratic) 58.1% Gil Carmichael (Republican) 38.7%
Montana	Lee Metcalf	Democratic	Re-elected	Lee Metcalf (Democratic) 52.0% Henry S. Hibbard (Republican) 48.1%
Nebraska	Carl Curtis	Republican	Re-elected	Carl Curtis (Republican) 53.1% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 46.8%
New Hampshire	Thomas J. McIntyre	Democratic	Re-elected	Thomas J. McIntyre (Democratic) 56.9% Wesley Powell (Republican) 43.1%
New Jersey	Clifford P. Case	Republican	Re-elected	Clifford P. Case (Republican) 62.5% Paul J. Krebs (Democratic) 34.5%
New Mexico	Clinton Presba Anderson	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Pete Domenici (Republican) 54.0% Jack Daniels (Democratic) 46.0%
North Carolina	B. Everett Jordan	Democratic	Lost renomination Republican gain	Jesse Helms (Republican) 54.0% Nick Galifianakis (Democratic) 46.0%
Oklahoma	Fred R. Harris	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Dewey F. Bartlett (Republican) 51.4% Ed Edmondson (Democratic) 47.6%
Oregon	Mark Hatfield	Republican	Re-elected	Mark Hatfield (Republican) 53.7% Wayne Morse (Democratic) 46.2%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Re-elected	Claiborne Pell (Democratic) 53.7% John Chafee (Republican) 45.7%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	Re-elected	Strom Thurmond (Republican) 63.3% Eugene N. Zeigler (Democratic) 36.7%
South Dakota	Karl Earl Mundt	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	James Abourezk (Democratic) 57.0% Robert W. Hirsch (Republican) 42.9%
Tennessee	Howard Baker	Republican	Re-elected	Howard Baker (Republican) 61.6% Ray Blanton (Democratic) 37.9%
Texas	John Tower	Republican	Re-elected	John Tower (Republican) 53.4% Barefoot Sanders (Democratic) 44.3%
Vermont Special: Class 1	Robert Stafford	Republican	Elected to finish term	Robert Stafford (Republican) 64.3% Randolph T. Major (Democratic) 33.4%
Virginia	William B. Spong, Jr.	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	William L. Scott (Republican) 51.5% William B. Spong, Jr. (Democratic) 46.1%
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	Re-elected	Jennings Randolph (Democratic) 66.5% Louise Leonard (Republican) 33.6%
Wyoming	Clifford Hansen	Republican	Re-elected	Clifford Hansen (Republican) 71.3% Mike Vinich (Democratic) 28.7%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1972
• United States House elections, 1972