1976_United_States_Senate_elections

1976 United States Senate elections

1976 United States Senate elections

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The 1976 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with Democrat Jimmy Carter's presidential election and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democratic Party. Each party flipped seven Senate seats, although, one of the seats flipped by Democrats was previously held by a Conservative.

Quick Facts 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party competed, running candidates in 9 of the 33 contested seats. As of 2024 this is the first and so far only time both party leaders retired from the Senate in the same election cycle since the creation of the positions. This is the last time Democrats or any party won a 60% supermajority via direct elections (although Democrats briefly held one in the summer of 2009).

Results summary

61 1 38
Democratic I Republican
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Source: "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved February 25, 2013.

Gains, losses, and holds

Retirements

Four Republicans and four Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

Defeats

Three Republicans, five Democrats, and one Conservative sought re-election but lost in the general election.

Post-election changes

Five Democrats either resigned or died between at the end of 93rd Congress and during the 94th Congress. All were initially replaced by Democratic appointees.

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Change in composition

Before 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
Ca.
Ran
D42
Fla.
Ran
D43
Ind.
Ran
D44
Maine
Ran
D45
Mass.
Ran
D46
Mich.
Retired
D47
Minn.
Ran
D48
Miss.
Ran
D49
Mo.
Retired
D50
Mont.
Retired
Majority → D51
Nev.
Ran
D60
Wis.
Ran
D59
W.Va.
Ran
D58
Wa.
Ran
D57
Utah
Ran
D56
Texas
Ran
D55
R.I.
Retired
D54
N.D.
Ran
D53
N.M.
Ran
D52
N.J.
Ran
D61
Wy.
Ran
I1
Va.
Ran
C1
N.Y.
Ran
R37
Vt.
Ran
R36
Tenn.
Ran
R35
Pa.
Retired
R34
Ohio
Ran
R33
Neb.
Retired
R32
Md.
Ran
R31
Hawaii
Retired
R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28
Ariz.
Retired
R29
Conn.
Ran
R30
Del.
Ran
R20 R19 R18 R17 R16 R15 R14 R13 R12 R11
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10

Elections results

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
Fla.
Re-elected
D42
Maine
Re-elected
D43
Mass.
Re-elected
D44
Mich.
Hold
D45
Minn.
Re-elected
D46
Miss.
Re-elected
D47
Mont.
Hold
D48
Nev.
Re-elected
D49
N.J.
Re-elected
D50
N.D.
Re-elected
Majority → D51
Texas
Re-elected
D60
Ohio
Gain
D59
N.Y.
Gain
D58
Neb.
Gain
D57
Md.
Gain
D56
Hawaii
Gain
D55
Ariz.
Gain
D54
Wis.
Re-elected
D53
W.Va.
Re-elected
D52
Wa.
Re-elected
D61
Tenn.
Gain
I1
Va.
Re-elected
R38
Wy.
Gain
R37
Utah
Gain
R36
R.I.
Gain
R35
N.M.
Gain
R34
Mo.
Gain
R33
Ind.
Gain
R32
Ca.
Gain
R31
Vt.
Re-elected
R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28
Conn.
Re-elected
R29
Del.
Re-elected
R30
Pa.
Hold
R20 R19 R18 R17 R16 R15 R14 R13 R12 R11
R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10
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Race summaries

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1977; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

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Closest races

9 races had a margin of victory under 10%:

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Nevada was the tipping point state with a margin of 31.6%.

Arizona

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Paul Fannin retired instead of seeking a third term. Democratic attorney and businessman Dennis DeConcini won the open seat over Sam Steiger, U.S. Congressman of Arizona's 3rd congressional district.

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California

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat John Tunney ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Republican Sam Hayakawa, President emeritus of San Francisco State University.

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Connecticut

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Lowell Weicker won re-election to a second term over Gloria Schaffer, Connecticut Secretary of State[2]

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Delaware

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican William Roth won reelection to a second term over Thomas Maloney, Mayor of Wilmington[3]

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Florida

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Lawton Chiles won re-election to a second term over John Grady, Mayor of Belle Glade[4]

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Hawaii

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Hiram Fong retired instead of seeking re-election to a fourth term. Democrat Spark Matsunaga won the open seat over Republican William Quinn, Former Governor of Hawaii.

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Indiana

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Vance Hartke ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican challenger Richard Lugar, Mayor of Indianapolis.

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Maine

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Edmund Muskie won re-election to a fourth term over Republican Robert A. G. Monks, shareholder activist.

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Maryland

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican J. Glenn Beall Jr. ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic challenger Paul Sarbanes, member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Massachusetts

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy won re-election to his fourth (his third full) term over Republican businessman, Michael Robertson.[7]

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Michigan

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Philip Hart retired instead of seeking a fourth term. Democrat Donald Riegle, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, won the open seat over fellow congressman Republican Marvin Esch.

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Minnesota

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Hubert Humphrey won re-election to a fifth term over Republican Gerald Brekke, college professor[9]

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Mississippi

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis won re-election to his sixth term.

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Missouri

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Stuart Symington retired, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican John Danforth, Attorney General of Missouri, won the open seat, defeating Democrat Warren Hearnes, former Governor of Missouri. (Jerry Litton had won the Democratic nomination earlier, but was killed in a plane crash, and Hearnes was chosen by the party committee.)

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Montana

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Rather than seek a fifth term, Democratic incumbent Mike Mansfield opted to retire, creating an open seat. United States Congressman John Melcher, who had represented Montana's 2nd congressional district from 1969 to 1977, won the Democratic nomination and defeated Stanley C. Burger, the Republican nominee and former executive officer of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, by a wide margin in the general election.

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Nebraska

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Roman Hruska retired instead of seeking another term. Democrat Edward Zorinsky, Mayor of Omaha, won the open seat over Republican John Y. McCollister, U.S. Congressman of Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

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Nevada

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Howard Cannon won re-election to a fourth term over Republican David Towell, U.S. Representative from Nevada's At-large congressional district.

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 election 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.

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New Jersey

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Harrison A. Williams, the incumbent originally elected in 1958, elected to run for a fourth term. He defeated anti-abortion activist Stephen J. Foley handily in the Democratic primary with 85% of the vote. David A. Norcross won the Republican primary with the endorsement of the New Jersey Republican Party with 68% of the vote.

In the general election, Williams soundly won re-election to a fourth term over Norcross. He won 60% of the vote, winning every county in the state. This would be Williams' last election to the U.S. Senate, as he would resign in 1981 following his involvement in the Abscam scandal.

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New Mexico

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Joseph Montoya ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Republican former Astronaut Harrison Schmitt.

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New York

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Conservative James Buckley ran for re-election to a second term as a Republican, but was defeated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

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North Dakota

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent North Dakota Democratic NPL Party Democrat Quentin Burdick, sought and received re-election to his fourth term to the United States Senate, defeating Republican candidate Robert Stroup.[1] Only Burdick filed as a Dem-NPLer, and the endorsed Republican candidate was Robert Stroup, as state senator from Hazen, North Dakota. Burdick and Stroup won the primary elections for their respective parties. One independent candidate, Clarence Haggard, also filed before the deadline under the American Party.

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Ohio

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Robert Taft Jr. ran for re-election to second term, but was defeated by Democratic former senator Howard Metzenbaum.

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Pennsylvania

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican and Minority Leader Hugh Scott retired. Republican John Heinz won the open seat over Democrat Bill Green, United States Representative[16][1]

In December 1975, U.S. senator Hugh Scott announced that he would not seek re-election in 1976 at the age of 75 after serving in Congress for 33 years. Scott listed personal reasons and several "well-qualified potential candidates" for the seat among the reasons of his decision to retire. Other reasons, including his support for Richard Nixon and accusations that he had illegally obtained contributions from Gulf Oil were alleged to have contributed to the decision.[17]

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Heinz was the victor in all but nine counties, defeating opponent William Green, who had a 300,000 vote advantage in his native Philadelphia area. Heinz and Green spend $2.5 million and $900,000, respectively, during the ten-month campaign. Much of the money Heinz spent on his campaign was his own, leading to accusations from Green that he was "buying the seat". Heinz replied to this by claiming that the spending was necessary to overcome the Democratic voter registration advantage.[20]

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Rhode Island

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat John O. Pastore did not seek re-election. Republican John Chafee won the seat, defeating Democrat Richard P. Lorber.

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Tennessee

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Bill Brock ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic challenger James Sasser.

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Texas

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Lloyd Bentsen won re-election to a second term over Republican Alan Steelman, U.S. Representative from Texas's 5th district.

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Utah

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Democrat Frank Moss ran for re-election to a fourth term but was defeated by his Republican opponent Orrin Hatch.

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Vermont

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Incumbent Republican Robert Stafford successfully ran for re-election to another term in the United States Senate, defeating Democratic candidate Governor Thomas P. Salmon.

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Virginia

Quick Facts Turnout, Nominee ...

Incumbent Independent Harry F. Byrd Jr. was re-elected to a second term over retired Admiral Elmo Zumwalt and state legislator Martin H. Perper.

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Washington

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...
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West Virginia

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

For most of the state's history, West Virginia has been a solidly Democratic state. Often, winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to winning the general election in the state. Despite West Virginia occasionally electing a Republican governor (Arch A. Moore Jr. and Cecil H. Underwood both served as governor) and voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower twice in presidential elections, West Virginia has only elected Democratic Senators since 1956. Byrd had faced Republican opposition every term since he defeated Chapman Revercomb in 1958, but the Republicans chose not to mount a nominee in 1976.[31] Freshman Congressman Cleve Benedict would serve as the Republican nominee in 1982.

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Wisconsin

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

Originally elected in 1957 to fill the seat of Joseph McCarthy, William Proxmire had won re-election three times prior to 1976. He only faced significant Republican opposition twice during his re-election years, winning 70% of the vote and every county in 1970. Clergyman Stanley York was the Republican nominee. Proxmire ultimately defeated York and increased his margin of victory by 4%. Proxmire would serve two more terms, ultimately retiring in 1989.

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Wyoming

Gale W. McGee, the incumbent senator and former professor at the University of Wyoming, was originally elected in 1958 over Frank A. Barrett. He subsequently won two more elections to the senate over John S. Wold. McGee, who managed to become re-elected several times in a heavily Republican-leaning state, faced headwinds from Gerald Ford's popularity in the state. State senator Malcolm Wallop was the Republican nominee.

In the general election, Wallop comfortably defeated McGee, who won just four counties in the state. To date, McGee is the last Democratic senator from the state of Wyoming.

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See also

Notes

  1. The Liberal Party and Conservative Party in New York respectively endorsed Daniel Patrick Moynihan and James L. Buckley, but the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives did not tabulate their votes, respectively totaling 184,083 and 311,494, into the national Democratic and Republican total.[1]
  2. Harry F. Byrd Jr. (VA) was an Independent who caucused with the Democrats. In some circles he is called an "Independent Democrat," but his registration was listed as "Independent." See, e.g., United States Congress. "Harry Flood Byrd Jr. (id: B001209)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  3. Byrd was appointed to the US Senate in 1965 and elected to finish his father's term in 1966 as a Democrat; he was re-elected in 1970 as an independent.

References

  1. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  2. "Los Angeles Times: Archives - Stateby-State Roundup of Major Election Races". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. November 3, 1976. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  3. "Candidate - John Grady". Our Campaigns. August 19, 1976. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  4. "FL US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  5. "HI US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  6. "MS US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  7. "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 14, 1976". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  8. "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - C Convention Race - Apr 07, 1970". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  9. "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  10. "GREEN, William Joseph, (born 1938)". Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  11. "Senate Republican leader Hugh Scott won't run in 1976". St. Petersburg Times. December 5, 1975. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  12. "PA US Senate - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  13. "PA US Senate - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  14. "John Heinz". Gettysburg Times. November 3, 1976. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  15. "RI US Senate - D Primary". OurCampaigns. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  16. "RI US Senate". OurCampaigns. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  17. "TX US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  18. "UT US Senate, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  19. "Abstract of the returns of the general election held in the State of Utah November 2, 1976" (PDF). vote.utah.gov. State of Utah. p. 2. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  20. "Primary Election Results" (PDF). Office of the Vermont Secretary of State. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  21. "General Election Results - U.S. Senator - 1914-2014" (PDF). Office of the Vermont Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2015.

Sources

  • Congressional Elections, 1946-1996. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-248-4.
  • Scammon, Richard M.; McGillivray, Alice V. (1977). America Votes 12: a handbook of contemporary American election statistics, 1976. Washington, D.C.: Elections Research Center.

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