1972 United States Senate election in South Dakota

1972 United States Senate election in South Dakota

← 1966 November 7, 1972 1978 →
 
Nominee James Abourezk Robert W. Hirsch
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 174,773 131,613
Percentage 57.04% 42.96%

County results
Abourezk:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90%
Hirsch:      50–60%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Karl E. Mundt
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

James Abourezk
Democratic

The 1972 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 7, 1972, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Karl E. Mundt, who had suffered a severe stroke in 1969, did not run for re-election to a fifth term and was succeeded by Democratic nominee James Abourezk.

Despite Abourezk's 14 percentage point win, Democratic presidential nominee and future fellow South Dakota Senator George McGovern lost his home state by a margin of 8.6 points in the concurrent presidential election.[1]

South Dakota was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginia that were won by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.

  1. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved September 6, 2021.