1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas

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1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas
Flag of Arkansas (1924-2011).svg
  1966 November 7, 1972 1978  
  John L McClellan.png No image.svg
Nominee John L. McClellan Wayne Babbitt
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote386,398248,238
Percentage60.88%39.12%

1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas results map by county.svg
County results
McClellan:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Babbitt:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

John L. McClellan
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

John L. McClellan
Democratic

The 1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent U.S. Senator John L. McClellan was re-elected to a sixth term in office, defeating U.S. Representative David Pryor in a hotly contested primary. In the general election, McClellan easily defeated Republican physician Wayne Babbitt. This was McClellan's final campaign; he died in his sleep in 1977. Pryor was elected Governor of Arkansas in 1974 and won the race to succeed McClellan in 1978.

Contents

This would also mark the last time a Democrat was elected to this seat who was not a member of the Pryor family. Arkansas was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia that were won by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected a Democrat to the United States Senate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John L. McClellan (inc.) 220,588 44.70%
Democratic David Pryor 204,058 41.35%
Democratic Ted Boswell62,49612.66%
Democratic Foster Johnson6,3581.29%
Total votes493,500 100.00%

Run-off results

Since no candidate received a majority in the initial primary, a run-off election was held on June 13 between McClellan and Pryor.

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate run-off results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John L. McClellan (inc.) 242,983 52.00%
Democratic David Pryor224,26248.00%
Total votes467,245 100.00%

General election

Results

General election results [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic John L. McClellan (inc.) 386,398 60.88% Decrease2.svg39.11
Republican Wayne H. Babbitt248,23839.12%N/A
Total votes634,636 0.02%

See also

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References

  1. "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate - D Primary Race - May 16, 1972".
  2. "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate - D Runoff Race - Jun 13, 1972".
  3. "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1972".
  4. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1973). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.