1976 United States Senate election in Tennessee

For related races, see 1976 United States Senate elections.

1976 United States Senate election in Tennessee

←  1970 November 2, 1976 1982  →

Nominee Jim Sasser Bill Brock Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 751,180 673,231 Percentage 52.46% 47.01%

County results Sasser:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Brock:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Bill Brock Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jim Sasser Democratic

The 1976 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bill Brock ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Democratic challenger Jim Sasser.

Several prominent Democrats ran in the Democratic primary. The most prominent was probably 1970 gubernatorial nominee John Jay Hooker; somewhat surprisingly to most observers however, the winner of the primary was Jim Sasser, who had managed Albert Gore Sr.'s 1970 re-election campaign.

Prior to his Senate re-election run, Brock was among those considered to replace Nelson Rockefeller as President Gerald Ford's running mate in the 1976 election. ^{[1] [2]}

Primary

18.1% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary. ^[3]

Major Candidates

Republican

• Bill Brock, Incumbent U.S. Senator since 1971

Democratic

• Jim Sasser, attorney and Democratic activist
• John Jay Hooker, attorney and candidate for governor in 1966 and nominee in 1970

Results

General election Results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Sasser	751,180	52.46
	Republican	Bill Brock (Incumbent)	673,231	47.01
	Independent	Mark Clark Bates	5,137	0.36
	Independent	Willie C. Jacox	1,406	0.10
	Independent	Arnold Joseph Zandie	1,061	0.07
	None	Write-Ins	31	0.00
Majority			77,949	5.45
Turnout			1,432,046
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

See also

• 1976 United States Senate elections
• 1976 United States presidential election in Tennessee

References

1. "Again, Connally for Veep?". Time . August 2, 1976. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
2. United Press International, Ford Lists Possible 1976 Running Mates, Bangor Daily News, January 23, 1976.
3. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1980, p. 22.
4. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 46.

Works cited

• Steed, Robert; Moreland, Laurence; Baker, Tod, eds. (1980). Party Politics in the South. Praeger Publishers. ISBN   0030565863.