1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas

1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas
	County results; McClellan: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Babbitt: 50–60%
U.S. senator before election; John L. McClellan; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator ; John L. McClellan; Democratic

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^[1]
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			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^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John L. McClellan (inc.)	242,983	52.00%
	Democratic	David Pryor	224,262	48.00%
Total votes			467,245	100.00%

General election

Results

General election results^[3]^[4]
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			634,636	0.02%

References

[1] "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate - D Primary Race - May 16, 1972".

[2] "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate - D Runoff Race - Jun 13, 1972".

[3] "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1972".

[4] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1973). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.

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1972 United States Senate election in Arkansas

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Run-off results

General election

Results

See also

References

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