1966 United States Senate election in Illinois

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1966 United States Senate election in Illinois
Flag of Illinois (1915-1969).svg
  1960 November 8, 1966 1972  
Turnout71.56%
  Charles Percy (Illinois Blue Book Portrait 1967-1968) (cropped).png Paul Douglas (Illinois Blue Book Portrait 1965-1966).png
Nominee Charles Percy Paul Douglas
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote2,100,4491,678,147
Percentage54.95%43.90%

1966 United States Senate election in Illinois results map by county.svg
County results

Percy:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

Douglas:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Paul Douglas
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Charles H. Percy
Republican

The 1966 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1966. [1] Incumbent Democratic United States Senator Paul Douglas, seeking a fourth term in the United States Senate, faced off against Republican Charles H. Percy, a businessman and the 1964 Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois. A competitive election ensued, featuring campaign appearances by former vice president Richard M. Nixon on behalf of Percy. [2] Ultimately, Percy ended up defeating Senator Douglas by a fairly wide margin, allowing him to win what would be the first of three terms in the Senate.

Contents

Background

The primary (held on June 14) and general election coincided with those for House and state elections. [1]

Turnout in the primaries was 27.13%, with 1,509,302 votes cast. [1] [3]

Turnout during the general election was 71.56%, with a total of 3,822,724 votes cast. [1] [3]

Democratic primary

Incumbent Paul Douglas was renominated, running unopposed.

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Paul H. Douglas (incumbent) 840,936 100
Write-in Others30.00
Total votes840,939 100

Republican primary

Businessman Charles H. Percy won the Republican primary by a large margin.

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Charles H. Percy 605,815 90.64
Republican Howard J. Doyle38,6365.78
Republican Lar "America First" Daly 23,8893.57
Write-in Others230.00
Total votes668,363 100

Write-in candidates

General election

Results

United States Senate election in Illinois, 1966 [1] [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Charles H. Percy 2,100,449 54.95% +9.75%
Democratic Paul H. Douglas (incumbent)1,678,14743.90%−10.73%
Write-in Robert Sabonjian 41,9651.10%
Write-in Maxwell Primack1,6930.04%
Write-in Others4700.01%
Majority422,30211.05%+1.61%
Turnout 3,822,72471.56
Republican gain from Democratic Swing

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 8, 1966 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, JUNE, 14, 1966" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved June 30, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. Perlstein, Rick. Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America . New York: Scribner, 2008. Print.
  3. 1 2 3 "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 10, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1966" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved April 5, 2015.