1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey

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1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey
Flag of New Jersey.svg
←  1966 November 7, 1972 1978  →
  Clifford P Case.jpg Paul J. Krebs.jpg
Nominee Clifford P. Case Paul J. Krebs
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,743,854963,573
Percentage62.46%34.51%
1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey results map by county.svg
County results
Case:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
U.S. senator before election

Clifford P. Case
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Clifford P. Case
Republican

The 1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Clifford P. Case defeated Democratic nominee Paul J. Krebs with 62.46% of the vote.

Contents

Primary elections were held on June 6. [1] Case turned away a challenge from conservative doctor James Ralph. [2] Krebs won a large plurality in the Democratic primary over Daniel Gaby and Joseph Karcher.

As of 2025, this was the last time the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in New Jersey, [a] the second longest such drought for Republicans in any state after Hawaii (since 1970).

Case outperformed Richard Nixon's vote share in the concurrent presidential election by 0.89%.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent) 187,268 70.13%
Republican James W. Ralph79,76629.87%
Total votes267,034 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

Declined

Campaign

Krebs ran with the support of organized labor and the Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign, as well as the party establishment in Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties, while Gaby ran as a reform candidate and aligned himself with George McGovern's campaign. [2] [3] [5]

Results

Although McGovern won the state's presidential delegate primary easily over Hubert Humphrey, Krebs defeated Gaby by roughly 50,000 votes.

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Paul J. Krebs 135,000 43.16%
Democratic Daniel M. Gaby86,21327.56%
Democratic Joseph T. Karcher51,32116.41%
Democratic Henry Kielbasa40,23512.86%
Total votes312,769 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

From the start of the post-primary campaign, Krebs faced "virtually insurmountable political odds." [5]

Results

1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent) 1,743,854 62.46% Increase2.svg2.44
Democratic Paul J. Krebs 963,57334.51%Decrease2.svg2.47
American A. Howard Freund40,9801.47%N/A
Independent Charles W. Wiley33,4421.20%N/A
Socialist Labor Jules Levin 10,0580.36%Decrease2.svg0.12
Majority780,281
Turnout 2,791,907
Republican hold Swing

Notes

  1. ↑ Nicholas F. Brady who would later be appointed in the Class 1 seat in 1982 following the resignation of Harrison A. Williams, while Jeffrey Chiesa was later then appointed in this same Class 2 seat in 2013 following the death of Frank Lautenberg.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1972 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Insurgents' Victory Is Likely in Jersey". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "4 DEMOCRATS SEEK TO OPPOSE CASE; But Jersey Senator Is Rated as Virtually Unbeatable". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 David Wildstein (September 2, 2019). "Labor Leader: Paul J. Krebs, last president of NJ CIO served one-term in Congress" . Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Sullivan, Ronald (June 8, 1972). "VICTORS IN JERSEY SEEK PARTY RULE". The New York Times . p. 39.
  6. ↑ "1972 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
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