The 1972 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland won re-election to his sixth term. To date, this was the last time that the Democrats won the Class 2 Senate seat in Mississippi. Mississippi was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, 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 Eastland: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Carmichael: 40-50% 50-60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic primary
editCandidates
editDeclared
edit- James Eastland, incumbent Senator
- Louis Fondren, State Representative[1]
- Taylor Webb, president of the Mississippi Economic Council[1]
Withdrew
edit- C. L. McKinley, pipefitter[1] (to run as an independent candidate)
Results
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | James Eastland (inc.) | 203,847 | 70.23% | |
Democratic | Taylor Webb | 67,656 | 23.21% | |
Democratic | Louis Fondren | 18,753 | 6.46% | |
Total votes | 290,256 | 100.00% |
Republican primary
editCandidates
edit- Gil Carmichael, businessman
- James Meredith, Civil Rights Movement icon
Campaign
editMeredith ran as an anti-Nixon candidate, while Carmichael supported President Nixon's re-election.[1]
Results
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Gil Carmichael | 18,369 | 79.08% | |
Republican | James Meredith | 4,859 | 20.92% | |
Total votes | 23,228 | 100.00% |
General election
editCandidates
edit- Gil Carmichael, businessman (Republican)
- James Eastland, incumbent Senator since 1943 (Democratic)
- C.L. McKinley, pipefitter[1] (Independent)
- Prentiss Walker, former Congressman and Republican nominee for Senate in 1966 (Independent)
Results
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | James Eastland (inc.) | 375,102 | 58.09% | 7.47 | |
Republican | Gil Carmichael | 249,779 | 38.68% | 11.98 | |
Independent | Prentiss Walker | 14,662 | 2.27% | N/A | |
Independent | C.L.McKinley | 6,203 | 0.96% | N/A |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "Eastland to Face 3 Rivals in Primary". The New York Times. April 9, 1972. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ "MS US Senate - D Primary". OurCampaigns. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "MS US Senate - R Primary". OurCampaigns. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - MS US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1972".