1976 United States Senate election in Nevada

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1976 United States Senate election in Nevada
Flag of Nevada (1929-1991).svg
  1970 November 2, 1976 1982  
  Howard Cannon.jpg David Towell.jpg
Nominee Howard Cannon David Towell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote127,21463,471
Percentage63.01%31.44%

1976 United States Senate election in Nevada results map by county.svg
County results
Cannon:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Towell:     40–50%

U.S. senator before election

Howard Cannon
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Howard Cannon
Democratic

The 1976 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howard Cannon won re-election to a fourth term despite Republican President Gerald Ford winning the state in the concurrent presidential election in Nevada.

Contents

General election

Candidates

Campaign

In the Senate, Cannon was known as a moderate in the Democratic Party. He served as chairman of several committees, including the rules committee and the inaugural arrangements committee. Cannon was nearly defeated for re-election in 1964 by Republican Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt in one of the closest elections in history. However, he became more popular over the next few years and won re-election in 1970 with nearly 58% of the vote. In 1976, he faced former U.S. Representative David Towell, who served just one term in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing reelection, then running for the Senate. Cannon won re-election with 63% of the vote, one of his best election performances of his career. He won every county in the state, except for Eureka County, which Towell won with just 51% of the vote.

Results

General election results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Howard Cannon (incumbent) 127,214 63.01% +5.36%
Republican David Towell 63,47131.44%-9.73%
None of These Candidates 5,2882.62%
Independent American Byron D. Young3,6191.79%
Libertarian Dan Becan2,3071.14%
Majority63,74331.57%+15.09%
Turnout 201,899
Democratic hold Swing

See also

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References

  1. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 28.