# 1976 United States Senate election in Tennessee

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Government :
vte :
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.

## Primary

18.1% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary.

## 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 :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 77,949 | 5.45 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,432,046 | |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | |