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1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

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1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 1964 November 3, 1970 1976 →
 
Nominee Ted Kennedy Josiah Spaulding
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,202,856 715,978
Percentage 62.16% 37.00%

Kennedy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Spaulding:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election

Ted Kennedy
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ted Kennedy
Democratic

The 1970 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 3, 1970. The incumbent Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy defeated his challengers. This was Kennedy's first election run since the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident. Kennedy won 62.2% of the vote, down from the 74.3% that he won in the previous election in 1964, indicating that Chappaquiddick did affect his popularity.

This was the last election in which Ted Kennedy lost any Massachusetts county. Spaulding carried Barnstable, Dukes, Franklin, and Nantucket Counties.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1970 Republican U.S. Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Josiah Spaulding 109,306 57.32%
Republican John J. McCarthy 81,356 42.66%
Total votes 190,662 100.00%

General election

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Candidates

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  • Ted Kennedy, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1962 (Democratic)
  • Lawrence Gilfedder (Socialist Labor)
  • Mark R. Shaw, perennial candidate and Prohibition nominee for vice president in 1964 (Prohibition)
  • Josiah Spaulding, businessman (Republican)

Results

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Results by county
  Republican ≥ 50%
  Democrat ≥ 50%
  Democrat ≥ 60%
  Democrat ≥ 70%
General election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Edward M. Kennedy (incumbent) 1,202,856 62.16% Decrease12.1
Republican Josiah Spaulding 715,978 37.00% Increase11.58
Socialist Labor Lawrence Gilfedder 10,378 0.54% Increase0.33
Prohibition Mark R. Shaw 5,944 0.31% Increase0.19

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Josiah Spaulding at ourcampaigns.com
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate- R Primary Race - Sep 15, 1970".