1972 United States Senate election in Texas

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1972 United States Senate election in Texas
Flag of Texas.svg
  1966 November 7, 1972 1978  
  John Tower (R-TX) (croppedmore).jpg Barefoot Sanders.jpg
Nominee John Tower Barefoot Sanders
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,822,8771,511,985
Percentage53.41%44.30%

1972 United States Senate election in Texas results map by county.svg
County results
Tower:     40–50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%
Sanders:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
     70–80%     80–90%
Amaya:     30–40%

U.S. senator before election

John Tower
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John Tower
Republican

The 1972 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Tower won re-election to a third term. Tower won 14% of the African American vote.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ralph Yarborough1,032,60649.99%
Democratic Barefoot Sanders787,50438.12%
Democratic Hugh Wilson125,4606.07%
Democratic Thomas M. Cartlidge66,2403.21%
Democratic Alfonso Veloz53,9382.61%
Total votes2,065,748 100.00%

Although he received over one million votes, Yarborough was 269 short of a majority. He and Sanders advanced to a runoff election held June 3.

Runoff campaign

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate runoff [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Barefoot Sanders 1,008,499 52.08% Increase2.svg13.96
Democratic Ralph Yarborough 928,13247.93%Decrease2.svg2.06
Total votes1,936,631 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican John Tower(incumbent)1,822,87753.41%−2.98%
Democratic Barefoot Sanders1,511,98544.30%+1.15%
Raza Unida Flores Amaya63,5431.86%N/A
Socialist Workers Tom Leonard14,4640.42%N/A

References

  1. "US Senate - D Primary". OurCampaigns.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  2. "US Senate - D Runoff". OurCampaigns.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. "Our Campaigns - TX US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1972".