Election to the United States Senate in 1974
The 1974 election to the United States Senate for the 94th United States Congress took place on November 5. She was part of the elections in the United States on that day and it was half-time choice (Engl. Midterm election ) in the middle of President Richard Nixon's second term. However, Nixon had resigned in August because of the Watergate affair , after which his successor Gerald Ford had pardoned him , which, in addition to economic problems in the wake of the 1973 oil price crisis, led to heavy losses for the Republicans.
The 34 Class III seats were up for election, there were no by-elections for senators who left office prematurely. Twenty of these senators were from the Democratic Party and 14 from the Republicans . 23 incumbents were able to defend their seats, 15 Democrats and 8 Republicans. The Democrats won 4 seats from the Republicans, the Republicans one from the Democrats. In New Hampshire, the election was contested, so this previously Republican seat was initially vacant. This allowed the Democrats to increase their majority in the Senate from 57 to 60 seats, while the Republicans fell from 41 to 37. The Conservative Senate seat and the independent Senator had not stood for election.
In New Hampshire, the very narrow election was challenged, which dragged on to July 1975 without result (see below ). In a by-election in September , the Democratic candidate John A. Durkin won the previously Republican seat. This gave the Democrats 61 seats.
Results
The winners of these elections were admitted to the Senate on January 3, 1975, when the 94th Congress met . All seats of these senators belong to class III .
- re-elected: an elected incumbent was re-elected
States
New Hampshire
In New Hampshire the election was extremely close. After the initial vote count, Republican Louis C. Wyman and Democrat John A. Durkin each had 49.7 percent of the vote, with Wyman 355 votes ahead. Durkin requested a new vote count, which resulted in a majority of 10 votes for him. Wyman then requested a recount, after which he had 2 more votes than Durkin. On December 31, 1974, the former Senator Norris Cotton resigned to give Wyman a higher seniority , a practice that is widely used in the United States. Governor Meldrim Thomson then named Wyman a senator for the remaining three days of Cotton's tenure.
Durkin then challenged the election before the Senate, which under the constitution has the final say on the election of its members. There was a stalemate in the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration , and the case went back and forth several times between the committee and the entire Senate. In July , when the blockade threatened to drag on beyond the summer recess, the Washington Post urged Wyman and Durkin to somehow come to an agreement. Thereupon Wyman suggested a repetition of the election, which Durkin accepted after an initial rejection.
The Senate declared the seat vacant with effect from July 8, and Governor Thomson appointed Norris Cotton for the period leading up to the election as Senator. The election took place on September 16. With a significantly higher turnout, Durkin won with 53.6% against Wyman, who received 43% of the vote, his absolute lead was more than 27,000 votes.