1970 United States Senate election in Virginia

1970 United States Senate election in Virginia

←  1966 (special) November 3, 1970 1976  →

Nominee Harry F. Byrd Jr. George Rawlings Ray L. Garland Party Independent Democratic Republican Popular vote 506,237 294,582 144,765 Percentage 53.54% 31.15% 15.31%

County and independent city results Byrd:     30-40%     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Rawlings:     30-40%     40-50%     50-60%     70-80% Garland:     30-40%     40-50%     50-60%

U.S. senator before election Harry F. Byrd Jr. Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. Independent

The 1970 United States Senate election in Virginia was held on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. was re-elected to his first full term after winning a race 4 years earlier to finish the remainder of his father's term.

Having switched from Democratic to an Independent shortly before the election, Byrd became the first non-Democrat to represent the state in the Senate since 1889. Byrd dominated the whole state except for the historic "antiorganization" strongholds in unionized coal counties of Southwest Virginia ^[1] and a few heavily black counties of the Tidewater.

General election

Candidates

• Harry F. Byrd Jr., incumbent U.S. Senator (Independent)
• Ray L. Garland, State Delegate from Roanoke (Republican)
• George C. Rawlings Jr. former State Delegate from Fredericksburg (Democratic)

Results

1970 United States Senate election in Virginia ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry F. Byrd Jr. (Incumbent)	506,237	53.54%	+53.54%
	Democratic	George C. Rawlings, Jr.	294,582	31.15%	−22.15%
	Republican	Ray L. Garland	144,765	15.31%	−22.07%
	Write-in		30	0.00%	-0.02%
Majority			211,655	22.38%	+6.46%
Turnout			945,614
	Independent gain from Democratic

Results by county or independent city

1970 United States Senate election in Virginia by county or independent city ^[3]

	George C. Rawlings Jr. Democratic		Ray Lucian Garland Republican		Harry Flood Byrd Jr. Independent		Various candidates Write-ins		Margin [a]		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Accomack County	1,361	23.00%	748	12.64%	3,808	64.36%			-2,447	-41.36%	5,917
Albemarle County	1,184	18.60%	985	15.47%	4,198	65.93%			-3,014	-47.34%	6,367
Alleghany County	563	23.90%	515	21.86%	1,278	54.24%			-715	-30.35%	2,356
Amelia County	622	28.53%	123	5.64%	1,434	65.78%	1	0.05%	-812	-37.25%	2,180
Amherst County	931	21.72%	363	8.47%	2,993	69.82%			-2,062	-48.10%	4,287
Appomattox County	536	14.53%	191	5.18%	2,962	80.29%			-2,426	-65.76%	3,689
Arlington County	14,270	33.05%	7,607	17.62%	21,302	49.33%			-7,032	-16.29%	43,179
Augusta County	1,090	16.27%	1,668	24.90%	3,942	58.84%			-2,274 [b]	-33.94%	6,700
Bath County	186	18.25%	220	21.59%	613	60.16%			-393 [b]	-38.57%	1,019
Bedford County	761	16.83%	464	10.26%	3,296	72.90%			-2,535	-56.07%	4,521
Bland County	408	27.04%	351	23.26%	750	49.70%			-342	-22.66%	1,509
Botetourt County	733	20.46%	930	25.96%	1,917	53.52%	2	0.06%	-987 [b]	-27.56%	3,582
Brunswick County	1,291	35.78%	93	2.58%	2,224	61.64%			-933	-25.86%	3,608
Buchanan County	3,141	51.56%	1,753	28.78%	1,198	19.67%			1,388 [c]	22.78%	6,092
Buckingham County	863	27.57%	182	5.81%	2,085	66.61%			-1,222	-39.04%	3,130
Campbell County	811	11.68%	782	11.26%	5,351	77.06%			-4,540	-65.38%	6,944
Caroline County	1,505	46.29%	153	4.71%	1,593	49.00%			-88	-2.71%	3,251
Carroll County	1,530	31.16%	2,473	50.37%	907	18.47%			-943 [c]	-19.21%	4,910
Charles City County	1,074	72.76%	69	4.67%	333	22.56%			741	50.20%	1,476
Charlotte County	656	20.74%	189	5.98%	2,318	73.28%			-1,662	-52.55%	3,163
Chesterfield County	2,565	16.62%	1,592	10.31%	11,280	73.07%			-8,715	-56.46%	15,437
Clarke County	307	15.07%	123	6.04%	1,607	78.89%			-1,300	-63.82%	2,037
Craig County	240	24.95%	268	27.86%	453	47.09%	1	0.10%	-185 [b]	-19.23%	962
Culpeper County	795	23.82%	468	14.02%	2,075	62.16%			-1,280	-38.35%	3,338
Cumberland County	810	39.78%	69	3.39%	1,157	56.83%			-347	-17.04%	2,036
Dickenson County	2,654	42.48%	3,078	49.27%	515	8.24%			-424 [c]	-6.79%	6,247
Dinwiddie County	1,209	29.14%	193	4.65%	2,747	66.21%			-1,538	-37.07%	4,149
Essex County	560	33.61%	74	4.44%	1,032	61.94%			-472	-28.33%	1,666
Fairfax County	29,259	33.16%	19,707	22.33%	39,278	44.51%			-10,019	-11.35%	88,244
Fauquier County	1,266	26.12%	558	11.51%	3,023	62.37%			-1,757	-36.25%	4,847
Floyd County	478	21.59%	869	39.25%	867	39.16%			2 [b]	0.09%	2,214
Fluvanna County	332	22.30%	147	9.87%	1,010	67.83%			-678	-45.53%	1,489
Franklin County	1,565	33.80%	668	14.43%	2,397	51.77%			-832	-17.97%	4,630
Frederick County	1,172	20.06%	403	6.90%	4,268	73.04%			-3,096	-52.99%	5,843
Giles County	1,541	36.81%	1,016	24.27%	1,629	38.92%			-88	-2.10%	4,186
Gloucester County	904	31.16%	235	8.10%	1,762	60.74%			-858	-29.58%	2,901
Goochland County	1,045	36.93%	174	6.15%	1,611	56.93%			-566	-20.00%	2,830
Grayson County	1,743	41.54%	1,663	39.63%	790	18.83%			80 [c]	1.91%	4,196
Greene County	193	18.45%	252	24.09%	601	57.46%			-349 [b]	-33.37%	1,046
Greensville County	1,054	44.74%	68	2.89%	1,234	52.38%			-180	-7.64%	2,356
Halifax County	1,223	21.45%	380	6.66%	4,099	71.89%			-2,876	-50.44%	5,702
Hanover County	1,443	18.59%	567	7.30%	5,754	74.11%			-4,311	-55.53%	7,764
Henrico County	5,114	13.09%	3,408	8.73%	30,535	78.17%	3	0.01%	-25,421	-65.08%	39,060
Henry County	2,954	41.00%	1,036	14.38%	3,215	44.62%			-261	-3.62%	7,205
Highland County	56	7.41%	255	33.73%	445	58.86%			-190 [b]	-25.13%	756
Isle of Wight County	1,627	40.41%	269	6.68%	2,130	52.91%			-503	-12.49%	4,026
James City County	1,079	38.59%	347	12.41%	1,370	49.00%			-291	-10.41%	2,796
King and Queen County	575	42.81%	51	3.80%	717	53.39%			-142	-10.57%	1,343
King George County	571	32.15%	323	18.19%	882	49.66%			-311	-17.51%	1,776
King William County	617	31.85%	113	5.83%	1,207	62.31%			-590	-30.46%	1,937
Lancaster County	760	25.38%	267	8.92%	1,967	65.70%			-1,207	-40.31%	2,994
Lee County	3,024	45.39%	2,325	34.90%	1,313	19.71%			699 [c]	10.49%	6,662
Loudoun County	1,941	26.58%	945	12.94%	4,417	60.48%			-2,476	-33.90%	7,303
Louisa County	757	25.38%	212	7.11%	2,014	67.52%			-1,257	-42.14%	2,983
Lunenburg County	704	25.42%	128	4.62%	1,938	69.96%			-1,234	-44.55%	2,770
Madison County	314	16.66%	349	18.51%	1,222	64.83%			-873 [b]	-46.32%	1,885
Mathews County	443	23.60%	170	9.06%	1,264	67.34%			-821	-43.74%	1,877
Mecklenburg County	1,502	24.63%	301	4.94%	4,296	70.44%			-2,794	-45.81%	6,099
Middlesex County	273	17.44%	145	9.27%	1,147	73.29%			-874	-55.85%	1,565
Montgomery County	1,823	22.48%	1,973	24.32%	4,315	53.20%			-2,342 [b]	-28.88%	8,111
Nelson County	369	19.39%	172	9.04%	1,362	71.57%			-993	-52.18%	1,903
New Kent County	493	38.46%	76	5.93%	713	55.62%			-220	-17.16%	1,282
Northampton County	994	33.73%	225	7.63%	1,728	58.64%			-734	-24.91%	2,947
Northumberland County	622	25.98%	169	7.06%	1,603	66.96%			-981	-40.98%	2,394
Nottoway County	1,093	27.87%	224	5.71%	2,605	66.42%			-1,512	-38.55%	3,922
Orange County	504	18.80%	305	11.38%	1,871	69.79%	1	0.04%	-1,367	-50.99%	2,681
Page County	1,071	21.38%	1,630	32.54%	2,308	46.08%			-678 [b]	-13.54%	5,009
Patrick County	796	27.99%	685	24.09%	1,363	47.93%			-567	-19.94%	2,844
Pittsylvania County	2,981	26.61%	642	5.73%	7,579	67.66%			-4,598	-41.05%	11,202
Powhatan County	674	34.46%	95	4.86%	1,186	60.63%	1	0.05%	-512	-26.18%	1,956
Prince Edward County	1,224	29.21%	230	5.49%	2,736	65.30%			-1,512	-36.09%	4,190
Prince George County	1,015	32.16%	229	7.26%	1,912	60.58%			-897	-28.42%	3,156
Prince William County	4,030	29.52%	3,204	23.47%	6,418	47.01%			-2,388	-17.49%	13,652
Pulaski County	1,730	29.63%	1,468	25.15%	2,640	45.22%			-910	-15.59%	5,838
Rappahannock County	275	23.19%	107	9.02%	804	67.79%			-529	-44.60%	1,186
Richmond County	253	18.77%	104	7.72%	991	73.52%			-738	-54.75%	1,348
Roanoke County	2,426	16.42%	3,396	22.98%	8,955	60.59%	2	0.01%	-5,559 [b]	-37.61%	14,779
Rockbridge County	451	17.99%	428	17.07%	1,627	64.90%	1	0.04%	-1,176	-46.91%	2,507
Rockingham County	1,262	15.32%	2,291	27.81%	4,685	56.86%	1	0.01%	-2,394 [b]	-29.05%	8,239
Russell County	2,927	41.74%	2,710	38.64%	1,376	19.62%			217 [c]	3.10%	7,013
Scott County	2,875	38.32%	3,039	40.51%	1,588	21.17%			-164 [c]	-2.19%	7,502
Shenandoah County	881	12.70%	2,566	37.00%	3,489	50.30%			-923 [b]	-13.30%	6,936
Smyth County	2,329	29.19%	2,214	27.74%	3,437	43.07%			-1,108	-13.88%	7,980
Southampton County	1,305	33.05%	165	4.18%	2,479	62.78%			-1,174	-29.73%	3,949
Spotsylvania County	2,097	52.16%	326	8.11%	1,597	39.73%			500	12.44%	4,020
Stafford County	2,091	38.81%	723	13.42%	2,574	47.77%			-483	-8.96%	5,388
Surry County	850	45.50%	85	4.55%	933	49.95%			-83	-4.44%	1,868
Sussex County	1,419	39.59%	99	2.76%	2,066	57.65%			-647	-18.05%	3,584
Tazewell County	3,054	41.99%	1,545	21.24%	2,674	36.77%			380	5.22%	7,273
Warren County	1,276	31.68%	493	12.24%	2,259	56.08%			-983	-24.40%	4,028
Washington County	2,683	29.77%	2,525	28.02%	3,804	42.21%			-1,121	-12.44%	9,012
Westmoreland County	671	26.90%	170	6.82%	1,653	66.28%			-982	-39.37%	2,494
Wise County	4,703	45.78%	3,757	36.58%	1,811	17.63%	1	0.01%	946 [c]	9.20%	10,272
Wythe County	1,099	22.66%	1,463	30.16%	2,287	47.15%	1	0.02%	-824 [b]	-16.99%	4,850
York County	1,598	28.41%	725	12.89%	3,302	58.70%			-1,704	-30.29%	5,625
Alexandria City	8,091	38.50%	3,645	17.34%	9,280	44.16%			-1,189	-5.66%	21,016
Bedford City	294	19.10%	208	13.52%	1,037	67.38%			-743	-48.28%	1,539
Bristol City	957	31.89%	384	12.80%	1,660	55.31%			-703	-23.43%	3,001
Buena Vista City	170	18.78%	173	19.12%	562	62.10%			-389 [b]	-42.98%	905
Charlottesville City	2,691	32.02%	976	11.61%	4,736	56.36%			-2,045	-24.34%	8,403
Chesapeake City	6,555	39.10%	1,401	8.36%	8,808	52.54%			-2,253	-13.44%	16,764
Clifton Forge City	269	19.81%	171	12.59%	918	67.60%			-649	-47.79%	1,358
Colonial Heights City	459	12.13%	351	9.28%	2,974	78.59%			-2,515	-66.46%	3,784
Covington City	631	26.27%	454	18.90%	1,317	54.83%			-686	-28.56%	2,402
Danville City	2,631	25.69%	735	7.18%	6,874	67.13%			-4,243	-41.44%	10,240
Emporia City	479	29.57%	105	6.48%	1,036	63.95%			-557	-34.38%	1,620
Fairfax City	1,309	30.98%	878	20.78%	2,038	48.24%			-729	-17.26%	4,225
Falls Church City	1,112	35.60%	553	17.70%	1,459	46.70%			-347	-11.11%	3,124
Franklin City	489	32.38%	71	4.70%	950	62.91%			-461	-30.53%	1,510
Fredericksburg City	1,771	43.50%	387	9.51%	1,913	46.99%			-142	-3.49%	4,071
Galax City	681	41.78%	382	23.44%	567	34.79%			114	6.99%	1,630
Hampton City	8,307	41.13%	2,018	9.99%	9,873	48.88%			-1,566	-7.75%	20,198
Harrisonburg City	457	14.42%	664	20.95%	2,048	64.61%	1	0.03%	-1,384 [b]	-43.66%	3,170
Hopewell City	1,286	27.29%	382	8.11%	3,045	64.61%			-1,759	-37.32%	4,713
Lexington City	406	27.68%	261	17.79%	799	54.46%	1	0.07%	-393	-26.79%	1,467
Lynchburg City	2,589	21.92%	1,130	9.57%	8,094	68.52%			-5,505	-46.60%	11,813
Martinsville City	1,818	37.79%	560	11.64%	2,433	50.57%			-615	-12.78%	4,811
Newport News City	9,622	40.51%	2,177	9.17%	11,948	50.31%	3	0.01%	-2,326	-9.79%	23,750
Norfolk City	20,816	45.38%	4,683	10.21%	20,372	44.41%	1	0.00%	444	0.97%	45,872
Norton City	410	39.08%	327	31.17%	312	29.74%			83 [c]	7.91%	1,049
Petersburg City	4,025	47.84%	335	3.98%	4,053	48.17%	1	0.01%	-28	-0.33%	8,414
Portsmouth City	10,592	41.34%	2,179	8.50%	12,853	50.16%			-2,261	-8.82%	25,624
Radford City	754	27.25%	768	27.76%	1,245	44.99%			-477 [b]	-17.23%	2,767
Richmond City	20,487	35.50%	3,479	6.03%	33,740	58.47%			-13,253	-22.97%	57,706
Roanoke City	4,443	22.32%	4,016	20.18%	11,443	57.49%	1	0.01%	-7,000	-35.17%	19,903
Salem City	864	18.29%	1,016	21.50%	2,843	60.17%	2	0.04%	-1,827 [b]	-38.67%	4,725
South Boston City	319	17.56%	167	9.19%	1,330	73.20%	1	0.06%	-1,011	-55.64%	1,817
Staunton City	1,104	21.11%	1,081	20.67%	3,043	58.19%	1	0.02%	-1,939	-37.08%	5,229
Suffolk City	617	28.03%	147	6.68%	1,437	65.29%			-820	-37.26%	2,201
Virginia Beach City	8,434	36.02%	3,192	13.63%	11,787	50.34%	1	0.00%	-3,353	-14.32%	23,414
Waynesboro City	732	19.15%	1,042	27.26%	2,048	53.58%			-1,006 [b]	-26.32%	3,822
Williamsburg City	613	36.29%	234	13.85%	842	49.85%			-229	-13.56%	1,689
Winchester City	648	17.55%	157	4.25%	2,887	78.20%			-2,239	-60.64%	3,692
Totals	294,582	31.15%	144,765	15.31%	506,237	53.54%	30	0.00%	-211,655	-22.38%	945,614

See also

• 1970 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Because Byrd won the election as an Independent and Rawlings ran second behind him, all county and city results are Rawlings vote minus Byrd vote unless states otherwise for the county or city in question
2. In this county or city where Rawlings ran third behind both Byrd and Garland, margin given is Garland vote minus Byrd vote and percentage margin Garland percentage minus Byrd percentage.
3. In this county or city where Byrd ran third behind Garland and Rawlings, margin given is Rawlings vote minus Garland vote and percentage margin Rawlings percentage minus Garland percentage.

References

1. Key, Valdimer Orlando (1949). Southern Politics in State and Nation. New York City: A.A. Knopf. pp. 27–31.
2. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 35.
3. "VA US Senate – General Election, November 03, 1970". Our Campaigns.