1970 United States Senate special election in Alaska

Summary

The 1970 United States Senate special election in Alaska was held on November 3, 1970, to fill a seat in the United States Senate following the December 1968 death of Democrat Bob Bartlett, who had been Alaska's senior Senator since statehood in 1959. Republican Ted Stevens was appointed to the seat temporarily on December 24, 1968, to serve until the election could be held.

1970 United States Senate special election in Alaska

← 1966 November 3, 1970 1972 →
 
Candidate Ted Stevens Wendell P. Kay
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 47,908 32,456
Percentage 59.61% 40.39%

Results by state house district
Stevens:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Kay:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Ted Stevens
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

Ted Stevens
Republican

Stevens faced-off against Democrat Wendell P. Kay for the right to serve the remainder of Bartlett's term, which expired on January 3, 1973. Stevens won the special election, receiving 59.6% of the vote versus 40.4% won by Kay. Stevens would go on to win re-election to six full terms, winning easily, until his defeat in 2008.

Campaign edit

Stevens spent most of the campaign in Washington D.C., Kay angrily trying to convince Stevens to debate, with Stevens portraying himself as a busy legislator who was taking care of Alaska's interests in the Capitol while Kay flung accusations. Stevens was noted for his solid organization, with many suborganizations such as 'Women for Stevens', and hosting frequent strategy meetings with supporters in nearly every community in the state. To encourage support from small business owners, Stevens asked the Small Business Administration to hold development conferences throughout the state.

Stevens had lost the 1962 Senate race and 1968 Republican Senate primary, there were concerns about Stevens' electability in the campaign. Kay attacked Stevens on his support of the Nixon administration, calling on him to publicly defend his record, in an attempt to overcome Stevens' large lead in support. Kay attacked Stevens & Nixon on failing to handle unemployment, the high cost of living, inflation, native land claims, the pipeline permit, continued war and pollution control. Kay released detailed "position papers" on each of these issues, in one of which he demanded a "substantial reordering of national priorities", placing local community issues ahead of financing the Vietnam War or the construction of supersonic transport.

Kay's loss was quite stark, especially considering Bill Egan's reclaiming of the governor's office and Nick Begich's election in the 1970 U.S. House race, as well as similar Democratic gains in local offices. Many Democrats quietly supported Stevens over concerns that Kay was too liberal, and Stevens had cultivated constituent issues quite skillfully while in office. Most importantly, Kay's primary challenge to Governor Egan was seen as a major factor in his re-election loss for a third term in 1966 to Republican Walter Hickel.[1]

Primary election edit

Candidates edit

Republican edit

  • Fritz Singer
  • Ted Stevens, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1968, former Solicitor of the Interior & U.S. Attorney

Democratic edit

Results edit

Open primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ted Stevens (incumbent) 39,062 55.91
Democratic Wendell P. Kay 16,729 23.94
Democratic Joe Josephson 12,730 18.22
Republican Fritz Singer 1,349 1.93
Total votes 69,870 100.00

General election edit

 
The Stevens Steamer, a raft commissioned by supporters of the Stevens campaign, which participated in the 1970 Great Tanana River Raft race.

Results overview edit

Special election results[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Ted Stevens (incumbent) 47,908 59.61% +35.15
Democratic Wendell P. Kay 32,456 40.39% –35.15
Total votes 80,364 100.00%
Republican hold

Results by district edit

District results[4]
District Ted Stevens (incumbent)

Republican

Wendell P. Kay

Democratic

Total votes
# % # %
District 1 2,299 51.6% 2,160 48.4% 4,459
District 2 995 60.2% 659 39.8% 1,654
District 3 1,104 47.9% 1,203 52.1% 2,307
District 4 3,053 52.3% 2,790 47.7% 5,843
District 5 686 52.6% 617 47.4% 1,303
District 6 1,016 58.7% 714 41.3% 1,730
District 7 1,780 73.1% 656 26.9% 2,436
District 8 20,502 64.9% 11,104 35.1% 31,606
District 9 592 62.6% 354 37.4% 946
District 10 2,535 61.2% 1,604 38.8% 4,139
District 11 1,028 57.0% 777 43.0% 1,805
District 12 389 54.9% 319 45.1% 708
District 13 660 57.3% 492 42.7% 1,152
District 14 828 45.4% 994 54.6% 1,822
District 15 1,068 57.8% 781 42.2% 1,849
District 16 7,432 58.9% 5,181 41.1% 12,613
District 17 701 44.6% 871 55.4% 1,572
District 18 835 49.8% 841 50.2% 1,676
District 19 405 54.4% 339 45.6% 744
Totals 47,908 59.6% 32,456 40.4% 80,364

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Chinn, Ronald E. “The 1970 Election in Alaska.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2, 1971, pp. 234–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/446868. Accessed 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ State of Alaska Official Returns by Election Precinct: Primary Election August 25, 1970 (PDF). Juneau: Alaska Division of Elections. 1970. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  3. ^ State of Alaska Official Returns by Election Precinct: General Election November 3, 1970 (PDF). Juneau: Alaska Division of Elections. 1970. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  4. ^ Scammon, Richard M. (1972). America Votes 9: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-87187-033-9.