The 1972 United States Senate election in Montana took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent United States Senator Lee Metcalf, who was first elected to the Senate in 1960 and was re-elected in 1966, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he moved on to the general election, where he faced Hank Hibbard, a State Senator and the Republican nominee. Following a close campaign, Metcalf managed to narrowly win re-election to his third term in the Senate over Hibbard. Montana was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia that were won by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.
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 County results Metcalf: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Hibbard: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic primary
editCandidates
edit- Lee Metcalf, incumbent United States Senator
- Jerome Peters
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lee Metcalf (incumbent) | 106,491 | 86.42% | |
| Democratic | Jerome Peters | 16,729 | 13.58% | |
| Total votes | 123,220 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
editCandidates
edit- Hank Hibbard, State Senator
- Harold E. Wallace, 1970 Republican nominee for the Senate
- Norman C. Wheeler
- Merrill K. Riddick
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Hank Hibbard | 43,028 | 49.70% | |
| Republican | Harold E. Wallace | 26,463 | 30.57% | |
| Republican | Norman C. Wheeler | 13,826 | 15.97% | |
| Republican | Merrill K. Riddick | 3,259 | 3.76% | |
| Total votes | 86,576 | 100.00% | ||
General election
editResults
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lee Metcalf (incumbent) | 163,609 | 51.95% | −1.22% | |
| Republican | Hank Hibbard | 151,316 | 48.05% | +1.22% | |
| Majority | 12,293 | 3.90% | −2.43% | ||
| Turnout | 314,925 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Report of the Official Canvass of the Vote Cast at the Primary Election Held in the State of Montana and of the Vote Cast at the Separate Election for Ratification or Rejection of the Proposed Constitution, June 6, 1972" (PDF). Montana Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved July 2, 2014.