1972_United_States_Senate_election_in_Oregon Knowpia

1972 United States Senate election in Oregon
	County results ; Hatfield: 50-60% 60-70% ; Morse: 50–60%
U.S. senator before election; Mark Hatfield; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Mark Hatfield; Republican

The 1972 United States Senate election in Oregon took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Senator Mark Hatfield was re-elected to a second term in office, defeating Democrat Wayne Morse.

Primary elections edit

Primary elections were held on May 23, 1972.

Republican primary edit

Candidates edit

Kenneth A. Brown, farmer,^[1] unsuccessful candidate for Republican nomination for Oregon's 1st congressional district in 1952
Lynn Engdahl, professor at Pacific University^[2]
Mark Hatfield, incumbent Senator
John E. Smets, manufacturer^[3]

Results edit

Republican primary results^[4]^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Hatfield (incumbent)	171,594	61.16%
	Republican	Lynn Engdahl	63,859	22.76%
	Republican	Kenneth A. Brown	30,826	10.99%
	Republican	John E. Smets	13,397	4.78%
	Write-in	All others	913	0.33%
Total votes			280,589	100.00%

Democratic primary edit

Candidates edit

Robert B. Duncan, former U.S. Congressman for Oregon's 4th congressional district, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 1966
Wayne Morse, former U.S. Senator
Don S. Willner, state senator
Ralph Wiser, businessman^[3]

Results edit

Results by county (Democratic primary):

Wayne Morse

  50–55%
  45–50%
  40–45%
  35–40%

Robert Duncan

45–50%
35–40%

Democratic primary results^[4]^[5]^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Morse	173,147	43.70%
	Democratic	Robert B. Duncan	130,845	33.03%
	Democratic	Don S. Willner	74,060	18.69%
	Democratic	Ralph Wiser	17,729	4.48%
	Write-in	All others	423	0.11%
Total votes			396,204	100.00%

General election edit

Campaign edit

According to the New York Times, the election provided "a choice between two well‐known personalities, not issues."^[8] Morse, who had supported Hatfield's 1966 campaign, was famously opposed to the Vietnam War, as was Hatfield. Thus, the election was ultimately between two well-known anti-war liberals. Hatfield won a fairly comfortable 54-46 victory, winning all but 3 counties.

Results edit

1972 United States Senate election in Oregon^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Hatfield (Incumbent)	494,671	53.72
	Democratic	Wayne Morse	425,036	46.16
	None	Write-Ins	1,126	0.12
Majority			69,635	7.56
Turnout			920,833
	Republican hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}

References edit

^ "Record number of candidates file for election". Albany Democrat-Herald. Albany, Oregon. March 15, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ "Gov. McCall of Oregon Won't Oppose Hatfield". New York Times. New York, NY. March 8, 1972. p. 86. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Morse will oppose Hatfield". The Capital Journal. Salem, Oregon. May 24, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 147.
^ ^a ^b America Votes 10, p. 312.
^ "OR US Senate, 1972 - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ "OR US Senate, 1972 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ "THE 1972 CAMPAIGN". The New York Times. October 2, 1972.
^ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 95.
^ America Votes 10, p. 307.
^ "OR US Senate, 1972". Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved April 4, 2015 – via Clerk.house.gov.

Bibliography edit

Congressional Elections, 1946-1996. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-248-4.
Scammon, Richard M., ed. (1973). America Votes 10: a handbook of contemporary American election statistics, 1972. Washington, D.C.: Governmental Affairs Institute.