The 1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Clifford P. Case defeated Democratic nominee Paul J. Krebs with 62.46% of the vote.
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County results Case: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Primary elections were held on June 6.[1] Case turned away a challenge from James Ralph. Krebs won a large plurality in the Democratic primary over Daniel Gaby and Joseph Karcher.
As of 2023[update], this was the last time the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in New Jersey.[a]
Senator Clifford Philip Case outperformed President Richard Nixon in terms of popular vote percentage by winning 0.89% more than Richard Nixon had won New Jersey with in the concurrent presidential election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Clifford P. Case (incumbent) | 187,268 | 70.13% | |
Republican | James W. Ralph | 79,766 | 29.87% | |
Total votes | 267,034 | 100.00% |
Krebs ran with the support of organized labor and the Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign, while Gaby ran as a reform candidate and aligned himself with George McGovern's campaign.[3]
Although McGovern won the state's presidential preference primary easily, Krebs defeated Gaby by roughly 50,000 votes.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Paul J. Krebs | 135,000 | 43.16% | |
Democratic | Daniel M. Gaby | 86,213 | 27.56% | |
Democratic | Joseph T. Karcher | 51,321 | 16.41% | |
Democratic | Henry Kielbasa | 40,235 | 12.86% | |
Total votes | 312,769 | 100.00% |
From the start of the post-primary campaign, Krebs faced "virtually insurmountable political odds."[3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Clifford P. Case (incumbent) | 1,743,854 | 62.46% | 2.44 | |
Democratic | Paul J. Krebs | 963,573 | 34.51% | 2.47 | |
American | A. Howard Freund | 40,980 | 1.47% | N/A | |
Independent | Charles W. Wiley | 33,442 | 1.20% | N/A | |
Socialist Labor | Jules Levin | 10,058 | 0.36% | 0.12 | |
Majority | 780,281 | ||||
Turnout | 2,791,907 | ||||
Republican hold | Swing |