1972 United States Senate elections
Elections leading to the next Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1973; ordered by state. All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

1972 United States Senate elections

Section Title: Elections leading to the next Congress
Table Section Text: In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1973; ordered by state. All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State (linked to summaries below)	Incumbent	Results	Candidates

Senator	Party	Electoral history

Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	1946 (Special) 1948 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John Sparkman (Democratic) 62.3% Winton M. Blount (Republican) 33.1% John L.

Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	1968 (Appointed) 1970 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Ted Stevens (Republican) 77.3% Gene Guess (Democratic) 22.7%

Arkansas	John McClellan	Democratic	1942 1948 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John McClellan (Democratic) 60.8% Wayne H. Babbitt (Republican) 39.1%

Colorado	Gordon L. Allott	Republican	1954 1960 1966	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Floyd K. Haskell (Democratic) 49.4% Gordon L. Allott (Republican) 48.4% Secundion Salazar (Raza Unida) 1.4% Henry Olshaw (American) 0.8%

Delaware	J. Caleb Boggs	Republican	1960 1966	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Joe Biden (Democratic) 50.5% J. Caleb Boggs (Republican) 49.1%

Georgia	David H. Gambrell	Democratic	1971 (Appointed)	Incumbent lost nomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold. Winner also elected to finish the term, see above.	√ Sam Nunn (Democratic) 54.0% Fletcher Thompson (Republican) 46.0%

Idaho	Leonard B. Jordan	Republican	1962 (Appointed) 1962 (Special) 1966	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ James A. McClure (Republican) 52.3% William E. Davis (Democratic) 45.5%

Illinois	Charles H. Percy	Republican	1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Charles H. Percy (Republican) 62.2% Roman Pucinski (Democratic) 37.4%

Iowa	Jack Miller	Republican	1960 1966	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Dick Clark (Democratic) 55.1% Jack Miller (Republican) 44.1%

Kansas	James B. Pearson	Republican	1962 (Appointed) 1962 (Special) 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James B. Pearson (Republican) 71.4% Arch Tetzlaff (Democratic) 23.0%

Kentucky	John Sherman Cooper	Republican	1946 (Special) 1948 (Lost) 1952 (Special) 1954 (Lost) 1956 (Special) 1960 1966	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Walter D. Huddleston (Democratic) 50.9% Louie B. Nunn (Republican) 47.6%

Louisiana	Elaine Edwards	Democratic	1972 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected.	√ Bennett Johnston (Democratic) 55.2% John McKeithen (Independent) 23.1% Ben Toledano (Republican) 16.1% Hall M. Lyons (American Party), 2.7%

Maine	Margaret Chase Smith	Republican	1948 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ William Hathaway (Democratic) 53.2% Margaret Chase Smith (Republican) 46.8%

Massachusetts	Edward Brooke	Republican	1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Edward Brooke (Republican) 63.5% John J. Droney (Democratic) 34.7% Donald Gurewitz (Socialist Workers) 1.7%

Michigan	Robert P. Griffin	Republican	1966 (Appointed) 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Robert P. Griffin (Republican) 52.3% Frank J. Kelley (Democratic) 46.3%

Minnesota	Walter Mondale	Democratic	1964 (Appointed) 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Walter Mondale (Democratic) 56.7% Phil Hansen (Republican) 42.9%

Mississippi	James Eastland	Democratic	1942 1948 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James Eastland (Democratic) 58.1% Gil Carmichael (Republican) 38.7%

Montana	Lee Metcalf	Democratic	1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Lee Metcalf (Democratic) 52.0% Henry S. Hibbard (Republican) 48.1%

Nebraska	Carl Curtis	Republican	1954 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Carl Curtis (Republican) 53.1% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 46.8%

New Hampshire	Thomas J. McIntyre	Democratic	1962 (Special) 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Thomas J. McIntyre (Democratic) 56.9% Wesley Powell (Republican) 43.1%

New Jersey	Clifford P. Case	Republican	1954 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Clifford P. Case (Republican) 62.5% Paul J. Krebs (Democratic) 34.5%

New Mexico	Clinton P. Anderson	Democratic	1948 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Pete Domenici (Republican) 54.0% Jack Daniels (Democratic) 46.0%

North Carolina	B. Everett Jordan	Democratic	1958 (Appointed) 1958 (Special) 1960 1966	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Jesse Helms (Republican) 54.0% Nick Galifianakis (Democratic) 46.0%

Oklahoma	Fred R. Harris	Democratic	1964 (Special) 1966	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Dewey F. Bartlett (Republican) 51.4% Ed Edmondson (Democratic) 47.6%

Oregon	Mark Hatfield	Republican	1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Mark Hatfield (Republican) 53.7% Wayne Morse (Democratic) 46.2%

Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Claiborne Pell (Democratic) 53.7% John Chafee (Republican) 45.7%

South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	1954 1954 (Appointed) 1956 (Resigned) 1956 (Special) 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Strom Thurmond (Republican) 63.3% Eugene N. Zeigler (Democratic) 36.7%

South Dakota	Karl Earl Mundt	Republican	1948 1948 (Appointed) 1954 1960 1966	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ James Abourezk (Democratic) 57.0% Robert W. Hirsch (Republican) 42.9%

Tennessee	Howard Baker	Republican	1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Howard Baker (Republican) 61.6% Ray Blanton (Democratic) 37.9%

Texas	John Tower	Republican	1961 (Special) 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John Tower (Republican) 53.4% Barefoot Sanders (Democratic) 44.3%

Virginia	William B. Spong Jr.	Democratic	1966	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ William L. Scott (Republican) 51.5% William B. Spong Jr. (Democratic) 46.1%

West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	1958 (Special) 1960 1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Jennings Randolph (Democratic) 66.5% Louise Leonard (Republican) 33.6%

Wyoming	Clifford Hansen	Republican	1966	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Clifford Hansen (Republican) 71.3% Mike Vinich (Democratic) 28.7%

Sentence(s)

Incumbent Republican Margaret Chase Smith was defeated by Democrat William Hathaway.

final_sentence: Incumbent Republican Margaret Chase Smith was defeated by Democrat William Hathaway.