# 1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas

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vte :
The 1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent U.S. Senator John L. McClellan was re-elected to a sixth term in office, defeating U.S. Representative David Pryor in a hotly contested primary. In the general election, McClellan easily defeated Republican physician Wayne Babbitt. This was McClellan's final campaign; he died in his sleep in 1977. Pryor was elected Governor of Arkansas in 1974 and won the race to succeed McClellan in 1978.
This would also mark the last time a Democrat was elected to this seat who was not a member of the Pryor family. Arkansas was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia that were won by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Ted Boswell
* Foster Johnson
* David Pryor, U.S. Representative from Camden
* John L. McClellan, incumbent Senator

### Results

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John L. McClellan (inc.) | 220,588 | 44.70% |
| | Democratic | David Pryor | 204,058 | 41.35% |
| | Democratic | Ted Boswell | 62,496 | 12.66% |
| | Democratic | Foster Johnson | 6,358 | 1.29% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 493,500 | 100.00% |

### Run-off results

Since no candidate received a majority in the initial primary, a run-off election was held on June 13 between McClellan and Pryor.
1972 Democratic U.S. Senate run-off results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John L. McClellan (inc.) | 242,983 | 52.00% |
| | Democratic | David Pryor | 224,262 | 48.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 467,245 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Results

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | John L. McClellan (inc.) | 386,398 | 60.88% | 39.11 |
| | Republican | Wayne H. Babbitt | 248,238 | 39.12% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 634,636 | 0.02% |