1976 United States Senate election in Indiana

1976 United States Senate election in Indiana

←  1970 November 2, 1976 1982  →

Nominee Richard Lugar Vance Hartke Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,275,833 868,522 Percentage 59.03% 40.19%

County results Lugar:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Hartke:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Vance Hartke Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Richard Lugar Republican

The 1976 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Vance Hartke ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican challenger, Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar, who defeated Hartke in a landslide.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Vance Hartke, Incumbent U.S. Senator since 1959
• Philip H. Hayes, U.S. Representative from Evansville

Results

1976 Democratic Senate primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Vance Hartke (incumbent)	304,076	53.08%
	Democratic	Philip H. Hayes	268,790	46.92%
Total votes			572,866	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• William P. Costas, businessman from Valparaiso
• Richard Lugar, former Mayor of Indianapolis and nominee for Senate in 1974
• Edgar Whitcomb, former governor of Indiana

Results

1976 Republican Senate primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Lugar	393,064	65.45%
	Republican	Edgar Whitcomb	179,203	29.84%
	Republican	William P. Costas	28,329	4.72%
Total votes			600,596	100.00%

Results

General election results ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Lugar	1,275,833	59.03%
	Democratic	Vance Hartke (incumbent)	868,522	40.19%
	Independent politician	Don L. Lee	14,321	0.66%
	U.S. Labor	David Lee Hoagland	2,511	0.12%
Majority			407,311	18.85%
Turnout			2,161,187
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1976 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Our Campaigns - IN US Senate- D Primary Race - May 04, 1976".
2. "Our Campaigns - IN US Senate- R Primary Race - May 04, 1976".
3. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 14.