56 seats 42 seats 60 38 22,544,761 16,145,793 Start date November 5, 1974 | 56 42 4 4 55.2% 39.6% | |
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Winner Mike Mansfield | ||
The United States Senate elections, 1974 were held 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 the Republican losses. Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans. Following the election, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats (including one independent) and the Republican caucus controlled 39 seats (including one Conservative). Democrats would gain an additional seat when Democrat John A. Durkin (D-NH) won a 1975 special election that was held after the 1974 election resulted in two recounts and an extended dispute in the Senate. This was the last election to date where a member of a political party other than the Democrats or Republicans had one or more seats in the chamber. This is also the last Senate election where the Democrat won Orange County, California in a race with Republican opposition.
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Results summary
Source: Election Statistics - U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk
Gains and losses
Democrats won open seats in Vermont and Florida and unseated incumbents Peter H. Dominick (R-CO) and Marlow Cook (R-KY). Republicans took an open seat in Nevada, where Republican Paul Laxalt defeated Harry Reid by 624 votes. The election also produced other close results; Milton Young (R-ND) won reelection against Democrat William L. Guy by only 186 votes and Henry Bellmon (R-OK) won reelection against Democrat Ed Edmondson by half a percent of the vote.
Complete list of races
A bolded state indicates an article about that election.
A bolded candidate indicates the winner.