1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

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1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
Flag of Massachusetts (1908-1971).svg
  1964 November 3, 1970 1976  
  Edward Kennedy 1966 (cropped).jpg JosiahSpaulding.png
Nominee Ted Kennedy Josiah Spaulding
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,202,856715,978
Percentage62.16%37.00%

1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts results map by county.svg
1970 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts by Municipality.svg
Kennedy:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Spaulding:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election

Ted Kennedy
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ted Kennedy
Democratic

The 1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 3, 1970. The incumbent Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy defeated his challengers. This was Kennedy's first election run since the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident. Kennedy won 62.2% of the vote, down from the 74.3% that he won in the previous election in 1964, indicating that Chappaquiddick did affect his popularity.

Contents

This was the last election in which Ted Kennedy lost any Massachusetts county, as well as the only regularly scheduled one in which he did not sweep the commonwealth's counties. Spaulding carried Barnstable, Dukes, Franklin, and Nantucket Counties.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

1970 Republican U.S. Senate primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Josiah Spaulding 109,306 57.32%
Republican John J. McCarthy81,35642.66%
Total votes190,662 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Results

General election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Edward M. Kennedy (incumbent) 1,202,856 62.16% Decrease2.svg12.1
Republican Josiah Spaulding 715,97837.00%Increase2.svg11.58
Socialist Labor Lawrence Gilfedder10,3780.54%Increase2.svg0.33
Prohibition Mark R. Shaw 5,9440.31%Increase2.svg0.19

See also

References

  1. Josiah Spaulding at ourcampaigns.com
  2. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate- R Primary Race - Sep 15, 1970".