1974 United States Senate elections

1974 United States Senate elections

← 1972 November 5, 1974 1976 →

34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Mike Mansfield Hugh Scott
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 3, 1961 September 24, 1969
Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania
Seats before 57 41
Seats after 61[a] 37
Seat change Increase 4[a] Decrease 4
Popular vote 22,544,761[1] 16,145,793[1][b]
Percentage 55.2% 39.6%
Seats up 20 14
Races won 24[a] 10

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Independent Conservative
Seats before 1 1
Seats after 1[c] 1
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 199,108[1] 822,584[1]
Percentage 0.5% 2.0%
Seats up 0 0
Races won 0 0

1974 United States Senate election in Alabama1974 United States Senate election in Alaska1974 United States Senate election in Arizona1974 United States Senate election in Arkansas1974 United States Senate election in California1974 United States Senate election in Colorado1974 United States Senate election in Connecticut1974 United States Senate election in Florida1974 United States Senate election in Georgia1974 United States Senate election in Hawaii1974 United States Senate election in Idaho1974 United States Senate election in Illinois1974 United States Senate election in Indiana1974 United States Senate election in Iowa1974 United States Senate election in Kansas1974 United States Senate election in Kentucky1974 United States Senate election in Louisiana1974 United States Senate election in Maryland1974 United States Senate election in Missouri1974 United States Senate election in Nevada1974 United States Senate election in New Hampshire1974 United States Senate election in New York1974 United States Senate election in North Carolina1974 United States Senate election in North Dakota1974 United States Senate election in Ohio1974 United States Senate election in Oklahoma1974 United States Senate election in Oregon1974 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1974 United States Senate election in South Carolina1974 United States Senate election in South Dakota1974 United States Senate election in Utah1974 United States Senate election in Vermont1974 United States Senate election in Washington1974 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     No election

Majority Leader before election

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

The 1974 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon's resignation from the presidency, and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon. Economic issues, specifically inflation and stagnation, were also a factor that contributed to Republican losses.[2] As an immediate result of the November 1974 elections, Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans, as they defeated Republican incumbents in Colorado and Kentucky and picked up open seats in Florida and Vermont, while Republicans won the open seat in Nevada. Following the elections, at the beginning of the 94th U.S. Congress, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats (as well as one independent), and the Republican caucus controlled 38 seats (as well as one Conservative).

Democrats gained an additional seat, bringing the net pick-up to four seats, in 1975, when Democrat John A. Durkin won a disputed election in New Hampshire that was unintentionally held after the 1974 election resulted in two recounts and an extended dispute in the Senate. Durkin's Senate term began in September 1975, following his victory in that election. As of 2023, this is the most recent election in which a Democrat has been elected Senator from Idaho.

Several other Republican incumbents won very close races; Milton Young of North Dakota won reelection against Democrat William L. Guy by only 186 votes and Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma won reelection against Democrat Ed Edmondson by half a percent of the vote. Bob Dole of Kansas survived the closest election of his career against Democratic Rep. William Roy, a race undoubtedly made close due to Dole's close association with Nixon as chairman of the Republican National Committee. It was the closest the Democrats have come to winning a Senate election in Kansas since George McGill won re-election in 1932.


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  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ James M. Naughton (November 6, 1974). "Senate and House Margins Are Substantially Enlarged". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2014.