1970 United States Senate elections

United States Senate elections, 1970

November 3, 1970
35 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 58 seats 42 seats Seats before 57 43 Seats won 54 44 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 25,402,791 19,326,064 Percentage 52.4% 39.9% Swing 3.1% 6.6%   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative Last election 0 seats 0 seats Seats before 0 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 1
Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Conservative gain   Indepedent gain
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The United States Senate elections, 1970 was an election for the United States Senate, taking place in the middle of Richard Nixon's first term as President. The Democrats lost a net of three seats, while the Republicans and the Conservative Party of New York picked up one net seat each, and former Democrat Harry F. Byrd, Jr. was re-elected as an independent. This was the most recent election in which a third party won a seat in the Senate until Joe Lieberman was elected as a candidate of the Connecticut for Lieberman party in 2006.

Results summary

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Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
		1968	1970	+/-	Vote	%
Democratic	57	54	4	25,402,791	52.40%
Republican	43	44	2	19,326,064	39.87%
Conservative	0	1	1	2,183,572	4.50%
	Others	0	1	1	1,566,033	3.23%
Total		100	100		48,478,460	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18	D19	D20
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48	D49	D50
Majority →									D51
R41	R42	R43	D57	D56	D55	D54	D53	D52
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

As a result of the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40√	D39√	D38√	D37√	D36√	D35√	D34√	D33√	D32	D31
D41√	D42√	D43√	D44√	D45√	D46√	D47√	D48√	D49√	D50O
Majority →									D51O
R41+	R42+	R43+	R44+	Template:Party shading/Conservative active | C1+	I1@	D54+	D53+	D52O
R40O	R39√	R38√	R37√	R36√	R35√	R34√	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic align=center width=35px Template:Party shading/Conservative active | C# Conservative I# Independent 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 @ Party gain: Incumbent elected from a different party

Retirements

Democratic holds

1. Florida: Spessard Holland (D) retired and was replaced by Lawton Chiles (D).
2. Minnesota: Eugene McCarthy (D) retired and was replaced by former Vice President (and former Senator) Hubert Humphrey (D).

Republican hold

1. Delaware: John J. Williams (R) retired and was replaced by William Roth (R). He subsequently (December 31, 1970) resigned to give Roth additional seniority in the next term.

Republican gain

1. Ohio: Stephen M. Young (D) retired and was replaced by Robert Taft, Jr. (R).

Incumbents who lost their seats

Democratic hold

1. Texas: Ralph Yarborough (D) lost renomination to Lloyd Bentsen (D).

Democratic gains

1. California: George Murphy (R) lost re-election to John V. Tunney (D).
2. Illinois (Special- Class 3): Ralph Tyler Smith (R) lost re-election to Adlai Stevenson III (D).

Conservative gain

1. New York: Charles Goodell (R), who was appointed in September 1969 to finish the term of the late Robert Kennedy, lost election to James L. Buckley (C).

Republican gains

1. Connecticut: Thomas J. Dodd (D) dropped out of the Democratic primary, ran as an independent, and lost re-election to Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R).
2. Maryland: Joseph Tydings (D) lost re-election to John Glenn Beall, Jr. (R).
3. Tennessee: Al Gore, Sr. (D) lost re-election to Bill Brock (R).

Other changes

Independent gain

1. Virginia: Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (D) won re-election as an Independent. He broke with the Democratic Party because they asked him to sign an oath of loyalty to the party. Instead of signing the restrictive contract, Byrd ran as an independent. He continued to caucus with the Democrats, and maintained his Democratic seniority.

Getting out the vote

President Nixon said that rather than violent protests, the best way for the American public to get their opinion heard was by voting:

The most powerful four letter word is a clean word, it’s the most powerful four letter word in the history of men, it's called vote. V-O-T-E. 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, it's not to answer in kind, but go to the polls in election day, and in the quiet of that ballot box, stand up and be counted, the great silent majority of America.

— Richard Nixon, "1970 Election: 1970 Year in Review". UPI.com.

Complete list of races

A bold state name indicates an article about that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Alaska Special (Class 2)	Ted Stevens	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1973	Ted Stevens (Republican) 59.6% Wendell P. Kay (Democratic) 40.4%
Arizona	Paul Fannin	Republican	Re-elected	Paul Fannin (Republican) 56.0% Sam Grossman (Democratic) 44.0%
California	George Murphy	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John V. Tunney (Democratic) 53.9% George Murphy (Republican) 44.3% Robert Scheer (Peace and Freedom) 0.9% Charles C. Ripley (American Independent) 0.9%
Connecticut	Thomas J. Dodd	Democratic	Lost re-election as an Independent Republican gain	Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (Republican) 41.7% Joseph Duffey (Democratic) 33.8% Thomas J. Dodd (independent) 24.5%
Delaware	John J. Williams	Republican	Retired Republican hold	William V. Roth, Jr. (Republican) 58.8% Jacob Zimmerman (Democratic) 40.1%
Florida	Spessard Holland	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Lawton Chiles (Democratic) 53.9% William C. Cramer (Republican) 46.1%
Hawaii	Hiram Fong	Republican	Re-elected	Hiram Fong (Republican) 51.6% Cecil Heftel (Democratic) 48.4%
Illinois Special (Class 3)	Ralph Tyler Smith	Republican	Appointee lost election to finish term ending January 3, 1975 Democratic gain	Adlai Stevenson III (Democratic) 57.4% Ralph Tyler Smith (Republican) 42.2%
Indiana	Vance Hartke	Democratic	Re-elected	Vance Hartke (Democratic) 50.1% Richard L. Roudebush (Republican) 49.9%
Maine	Edmund Muskie	Democratic	Re-elected	Edmund Muskie (Democratic) 61.9% Neil S. Bishop (Republican) 38.3%
Maryland	Joseph Tydings	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	John Glenn Beall, Jr. (Republican) 50.7% Joseph Tydings (Democratic) 48.1%
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy	Democratic	Re-elected	Ted Kennedy (Democratic) 62.1% Josiah A. Spaulding (Republican) 37.0%
Michigan	Philip Hart	Democratic	Re-elected	Philip Hart (Democratic) 66.8% Lenore Romney (Republican) 32.9%
Minnesota	Eugene McCarthy	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) 57.8% Clark MacGregor (Republican) 41.6%
Mississippi	John C. Stennis	Democratic	Re-elected	John C. Stennis (Democratic) 88.4% William R. Thompson (Independent) 11.6%
Missouri	Stuart Symington	Democratic	Re-elected	Stuart Symington (Democratic) 51.1% John Danforth (Republican) 48.1% Gene Chapman (American Independent) 0.8% E. J. DiGirolamo (Independent) 0.04%
Montana	Mike Mansfield	Democratic	Re-elected	Mike Mansfield (Democratic) 60.5% Harold E. Wallace (Republican) 39.5%
Nebraska	Roman Hruska	Republican	Re-elected	Roman Hruska (Republican) 52.5% Frank B. Morrison (Democratic) 47.5%
Nevada	Howard Cannon	Democratic	Re-elected	Howard Cannon (Democratic) 57.7% William J. Raggio (Republican) 41.2%
New Jersey	Harrison A. Williams	Democratic	Re-elected	Harrison A. Williams (Democratic) 54.0% Nelson G. Gross (Republican) 42.2%
New Mexico	Joseph Montoya	Democratic	Re-elected	Joseph Montoya (Democratic) 52.3% Anderson Carter (Republican) 46.6%
New York	Charles Goodell	Republican	Appointee lost election to term beginning January 3, 1971 Conservative gain	James L. Buckley (Conservative) 38.8% Richard Ottinger (Democratic) 36.8% Charles Goodell (Republican) 24.3%
North Dakota	Quentin N. Burdick	Democratic	Re-elected	Quentin N. Burdick (Democratic) 61.3% Thomas S. Kleppe (Republican) 37.8%
Ohio	Stephen M. Young	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Robert A. Taft, Jr. (Republican) 49.7% Howard Metzenbaum (Democratic) 47.5%
Pennsylvania	Hugh Scott	Republican	Re-elected	Hugh Scott (Republican) 51.4% William G. Sesler (Democratic) 45.4%
Rhode Island	John O. Pastore	Democratic	Re-elected	John O. Pastore (Democratic) 67.5% John McLaughlin (Republican) 31.5%
Tennessee	Al Gore, Sr.	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Bill Brock (Republican) 51.3% Al Gore, Sr. (Democratic) 47.4%
Texas	Ralph Yarborough	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) 53.5% George H. W. Bush (Republican) 46.4%
Utah	Frank Moss	Democratic	Re-elected	Frank Moss (Democratic) 56.2% Laurence J. Burton (Republican) 42.5% Clyde B. Freeman (American Independent) 1.4%
Vermont	Winston L. Prouty	Republican	Re-elected	Winston L. Prouty (Republican) 58.9% Philip H. Hoff (Democratic) 40.2%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected as an Independent Independent gain	Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (Independent) 53.5% George Rawlings (Democratic) 31.2% Ray Garland (Republican) 15.3%
Washington	Henry M. Jackson	Democratic	Re-elected	Henry M. Jackson (Democratic) 82.4% Charles W. Elicker (Republican) 16.0% Bill Massey (Socialist Workers) 0.9% E.S. "Pinky" Fisk (Buffalo) 0.7%
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Democratic	Re-elected	Robert Byrd (Democratic) 77.6% Elmer H. Dodson (Republican) 22.4%
Wisconsin	William Proxmire	Democratic	Re-elected	William Proxmire (Democratic) 70.8% John E. Erickson (Republican) 28.5%
Wyoming	Gale W. McGee	Democratic	Re-elected	Gale W. McGee (Democratic) 55.8% John S. Wold (Republican) 44.2%

See also

• United States elections, 1970
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1970
• 91st United States Congress
• 92nd United States Congress