# 1974 United States Senate election in Idaho

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
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vte :
The 1974 United States Senate election in Idaho took place on Tuesday, November 5. Democratic incumbent Frank Church was re-elected to a fourth term in office, defeating Republican Bob Smith.
Church announced his presidential campaign in March 1976, off the strength of his victory as well as his high-profile chairmanship of the select Church Commission investigating American intelligence activity.
As of 2024, this was the last time the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Idaho.

## Primary elections

The primary was held on Tuesday, August 6.

### Democratic primary
#### Candidates

* Frank Church, Boise, incumbent since 1957
* Leon Olson, Boise

#### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Frank Church (incumbent) | 53,659 | 85.77% |
| | Democratic | Leon Olson | 8,904 | 14.23% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 62,563 | 100.00% |

### Republican primary
#### Candidates

* Charles Bolstridge, Nampa
* Bob Smith, Nampa, attorney
* Donald L. Winder, Boise

#### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Bob Smith | 45,553 | 71.98% |
| | Republican | Donald L. Winder | 13,406 | 21.18% |
| | Republican | Charles Bolstridge | 4,331 | 6.84% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 63,290 | 100.00% |

## General election

Democratic candidates did extraordinarily well in 1974, in response to the Watergate scandal. This was true even in Republican leaning states and districts, leading commentators to call Church and other Democratic candidates elected that year, "Watergate babies."

### Results

1974 United States Senate election in Idaho :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Frank Church (incumbent) | 145,140 | 56.07% | 4.19 |
| | Republican | Bob Smith | 109,072 | 42.14% | 2.40 |
| | American Independent | Jean L. Stoddard | 4,635 | 1.79% | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 36,068 | 13.93% | −6.59% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 258,847 | 100.00% | +10.09% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |