1974 United States Senate elections

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 57 41 Seats after 61[lower-alpha 1] 37 Seat change 4[lower-alpha 1] 4 Popular vote 22,544,761[1] 16,145,793[1][lower-alpha 2] Percentage 55.2% 39.6% Seats up 20 14 Races won 24[lower-alpha 1] 10   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative Seats before 1 1 Seats after 1[lower-alpha 3] 1 Seat change Popular vote 199,108[1] 822,584[1] Percentage 0.5% 2.0% Seats up 0 0 Races won 0 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1974 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. They occurred 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] As an immediate result of the November 1974 elections, Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans, as they defeated Republican incumbents in Colorado and Kentucky and picked up open seats in Florida and Vermont, while Republicans won the open seat in Nevada. Following the elections, at the beginning of the 94th U.S. Congress, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats (as well as one independent), and the Republican caucus controlled 38 seats (as well as one Conservative).

Democrats gained an additional seat, bringing the net pick-up to four seats, in 1975, when Democrat John A. Durkin won a disputed election in New Hampshire that was unintentionally held after the 1974 election resulted in two recounts and an extended dispute in the Senate. Durkin's Senate term began in September 1975, following his victory in that election. As of 2023, this is the most recent election in which a Democrat has been elected Senator from Idaho.

Several other Republican incumbents won very close races; Milton Young of North Dakota won reelection against Democrat William L. Guy by only 186 votes and Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma won reelection against Democrat Ed Edmondson by half a percent of the vote. Bob Dole of Kansas 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.

Results summary

Parties							Total
		Democratic	Republican	Conservative	Independent	Other
Last elections (1972)		56	42	1	1	0	100
Before these elections		57	41	1	1	0	100
Not up		41	23	1	1	—	66
Up Class 3 (1968→1974)		20	14	0	0	—	34
Incumbent retired		3	4	—	—	—	7
	Held by same party	2	1	—	—	—	3
	Replaced by other party	3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats[lower-alpha 1] 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	4
	Result	5	2	0	0	0	7
Incumbent ran		17[lower-alpha 4]	10	—	—	—	27
	Won re-election	15	8	—	—	—	23
	Lost re-election	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats		—	—	—	2
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	2	0	—	—	—	2
	Result	19	8	0	0	0	27
Total elected		24	10	0	0	0	34
Net gain/loss		4	4				4
Nationwide vote		22,544,761	16,145,793[lower-alpha 2]	822,584	199,108	1,098,146	40,810,392
	Share	55.24%	39.56%	2.02%	0.49%	2.69%	100%
Result		61	37	1	1	0	100

Source: Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives^[1]

Gains, losses, and holds

Change in composition

Race summary

Closest races

In fourteen races the margin of victory was under 10%.

Illinois was the tipping point state with a margin of 25%.

Alabama

Alabama election

Nominee James B. Allen Alvin Abercrombie Party Democratic Prohibition Popular vote 572,584 21,749 Percentage 82.81% 4.16%

U.S. senator before election James B. Allen Democratic Elected U.S. Senator James B. Allen Democratic

Democratic United States senator James Allen won re-election to a second term, faced no Republican opponent in the general election, defeating Prohibition Party nominee Alvin Abercrombie.

Alaska

Alaska election

Nominee Mike Gravel C. R. Lewis Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 54,361 38,914 Percentage 58.28% 41.72%

U.S. senator before election Mike Gravel Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mike Gravel Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Mike Gravel won re-election to a second term over Republican State Senator Clyde "C.R." Lewis.

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 fourth 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

Arkansas election

Nominee Dale Bumpers John H. Jones Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 461,056 82,026 Percentage 84.90% 15.10%

County Results Bumpers:      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

U.S. senator before election J. William Fulbright Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers Democratic

Incumbent Democrat J. William Fulbright lost renomination to Governor of Arkansas Dale Bumpers. Bumpers then won the general election easily.

1974 U.S. Senate general election in Arkansas^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Dale Bumpers	461,056	84.90	25.75
	Republican	John H. Jones	82,026	15.10	25.75
Majority			379,030	69.80
Total votes			93,275	100.00
Turnout			543,082	28.24
	Democratic hold		Swing

California

California election

Nominee Alan Cranston H. L. Richardson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,693,160 2,210,267 Percentage 60.52% 36.22%

County results

U.S. senator before election Alan Cranston Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Alan Cranston Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Alan Cranston won re-election to a second term over Republican H. L. Richardson, California State Senator.

Colorado

Colorado election

Nominee Gary Hart Peter Dominick Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 471,691 325,508 Percentage 57.23% 39.50%

County results

U.S. senator before election Peter Dominick Republican Elected U.S. Senator Gary Hart Democratic

Incumbent Republican Peter H. Dominick ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Democratic challenger Gary Hart, the campaign manager for George McGovern in 1972.

Connecticut

Connecticut election

Nominee Abraham Ribicoff James Brannen III Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 690,820 372,055 Percentage 63.68% 34.29%

County results

U.S. senator before election Abraham Ribicoff Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Abraham Ribicoff won re-election to a third term over Republican challenger James Brannen III.

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 15.70%

County results Stone:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Eckerd:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Grady:      40–50%

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

Georgia election

Nominee Herman Talmadge Jerry R. Johnson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 627,376 246,865 Percentage 71.76% 28.24%

County results

U.S. senator before election Herman Talmadge Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Herman Talmadge won re-election to a fourth term over Republican challenger Jerry Johnson.

Hawaii

Hawaii election

Nominee Daniel Inouye James Kimmel Party Democratic People's Popular vote 207,454 42,767 Percentage 82.91% 17.09%

County results Inouye:      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Daniel Inouye Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Inouye won re-election to a third term over Republican challenger James D. Kimmel.

Idaho

Idaho election

Nominee Frank Church Robert L. Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 145,140 109,072 Percentage 56.07% 42.14%

County results Church:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Smith:      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. senator before election Frank Church Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Frank Church Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Frank Church won re-election to a fourth term in office, defeating Republican Bob Smith.

Illinois

Illinois election

Turnout	49.35%
Nominee Adlai Stevenson III George Burditt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,811,496 1,084,884 Percentage 62.15% 37.22%
County Results Stevenson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Burditt:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Adlai Stevenson III Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III Democratic

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III, who was first elected in a special election in 1970, was re-elected to a second term in office, defeating Republican George Burditt by a large margin of nearly 800,000 votes.

Indiana

Indiana election

Nominee Birch Bayh Richard Lugar Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 889,269 814,117 Percentage 50.73% 46.44%

Results by county Bayh:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70% Lugar:      40–50%      50–60%      60-70%

U.S. senator before election Birch Bayh Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Birch Bayh Democratic

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Birch Bayh was re-elected to a third consecutive term in office, defeating Mayor of Indianapolis Richard Lugar.

Iowa

Iowa election

Nominee John Culver David M. Stanley Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 426,947 420,546 Percentage 50.02% 49.27%

County results Culver:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Stanley:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

U.S. senator before election Harold E. Hughes Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John C. Culver Democratic

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Harold E. Hughes retired instead of seeking a second term. This open seat was won by five-term U.S. Representative John C. Culver, defeating Republican State Representative David M. Stanley. Culver just like Hughes six years prior, defeated Stanley by a margin of less than one point.

Kansas

Kansas election

Nominee Bob Dole William R. Roy Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 403,983 390,451 Percentage 50.85% 49.15%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Bob Dole Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Dole Republican

In what would be the closest election of his 35-year Congressional career, Bob Dole won his second term by 15,533 votes over William R. Roy, a Topeka physician and two-term Representative from Kansas's 2nd Congressional District. Dole suffered due to his close association with President Nixon as chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1971 and 1972.

Kentucky

Kentucky election

Nominee Wendell Ford Marlow Cook Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 398,887 328,260 Percentage 53.56% 44.08%

County results

U.S. senator before election Marlow Cook Republican Elected U.S. Senator Wendell Ford Democratic

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Marlow Cook ran for a second term in office but was defeated by Democratic Governor of Kentucky Wendell Ford.

Louisiana

Louisiana election

Nominee Russell B. Long Party Democratic Popular vote 434,643 Percentage 100.00%

U.S. senator before election Russell Long Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Russell Long Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Senator Russell B. Long was unopposed for re-election to a sixth term in office.

Maryland

Maryland election

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

County results

U.S. senator before election Charles Mathias Republican Elected U.S. Senator Charles Mathias 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.^[9] 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.^[10][11]

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".^[12] 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.^[9] In retrospect, The Washington Post felt the election was "an intelligent discussion of state, national, and foreign affairs by two smart, well-informed people".^[13]

Missouri

Missouri election

Nominee Thomas Eagleton Thomas B. Curtis Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 735,433 480,900 Percentage 60.07% 39.28%

County Results Eagleton:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Curtis:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. senator before election Thomas Eagleton Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton Democratic

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 Party (Nevada) Popular vote 10,887 Percentage 6.42%

County results

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 fifth 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.^[15]

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.^[16]

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 10 votes. Republican Governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. awarded Durkin a provisional certificate of election. However, Wyman demanded another recount in which he prevailed by two votes.

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 on 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 in 1975.

New York

New York election

Nominee Jacob Javits Ramsey Clark Barbara A. Keating Party Republican Democratic Conservative Alliance Liberal Popular vote 2,340,188 1,973,781 822,584 Percentage 45.32% 38.23% 15.93%

County results Javits:      40–50%      50–60% Clark:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Jacob Javits Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jacob Javits Republican

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jacob Javits won against Democratic challenger Ramsey Clark in a three way election.

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%

County results

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%

County results

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.^[1]

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%

County results

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

Incumbent Democrat Howard Metzenbaum was running for election to a full term after he was appointed in 1974 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%

County results

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.