1970 United States elections

The 1970 United States elections were held on November 3, and elected the members of the 92nd United States Congress. The election took place during the Vietnam War, in the middle of Republican President Richard Nixon's first term. Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew campaigned heavily for Republican candidates, with Nixon encouraging voters to respond to anti-war and civil rights activists by voting the Republican ticket. In an October speech he declared, "My friends, I say that the answer to those that engage in disruption--to those that shout their filthy slogans, to those that try to shout down speakers--is not to answer in kind, but go to the polls on election day, and in the quiet of that ballot box, stand up and be counted: the great silent majority of America."[2][3] Despite these White House efforts, the Democratic Party retained its Senate majority and increased its majority in the House.

1970 United States elections
Midterm elections
Election dayNovember 3
Incumbent presidentRichard Nixon (Republican)
Next Congress92nd
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contested35 of 100 seats
(33 seats of Class 1 + 2 special elections)
Net seat changeRepublican +1[1]
1970 Senate election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold

  Conservative gain   Independent gain
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting seats
Popular vote marginDemocratic +8.7%
Net seat changeDemocratic +12
1970 House of Representatives election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested37 (35 states, 2 territories)
Net seat changeDemocratic +11
1970 gubernatorial election results
Territorial races not shown

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold

In the House of Representatives, the Democrats picked up twelve seats at the expense of the Republican Party.[4]

In the Senate, Republicans picked up two seats and James L. Buckley won election as a member of the Conservative Party of New York. As of 2020, Buckley is the most recent individual to win election to the Senate as a member of a third party and remain affiliated with that party after the election.

Until 2018, this was the last midterm election cycle in which a sitting president's party made net gains in one chamber of Congress while suffering net losses in the other chamber.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. Republicans gained two seats in the regularly-scheduled elections but lost one seat in a special election.
  2. "1970 Election, Nixon's Nominations". United Press International. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  3. Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Richard Nixon; Remarks in Kansas City, Missouri; October 19, 1970". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  4. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  5. Kane, Paul (13 October 2018). "Stark political divide points to a split decision in midterm elections". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  6. Shapiro, Ben. "8 Big Takeaways From The Midterm Elections". The Daily Wire. Forward Publishing LLC. Retrieved 1 June 2020.


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