United States Senate election in Florida, 1970

United States Senate election in Florida, 1970

1964 ← November 3, 1970 → 1976

Nominee Lawton Chiles Bill Cramer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 902,438 772,817 Percentage 53.9% 46.1%

U.S. Senator before election Spessard Holland Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles Democratic

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The 1970 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Spessard Holland decided to retire instead of seeking a fifth term. Democrat Lawton Chiles won the open seat.

Contents 1 Democratic primary 1.1 Candidates 1.2 Campaign 1.3 Results 2 Republican primary 2.1 Candidates 2.2 Campaign 2.3 Results 3 General election 3.1 Major candidates 3.2 Results 4 References

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Farris Bryant, former Governor of Florida
• Lawton Chiles, State Senator
• Joel Daves, State Representative
• Alcee Hastings, attorney
• Frederick H. Schultz, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives

Campaign

Initially Bryant, a well-known figure, was seen as a natural front-runner. Chiles was, despite 12-years career in Legislature, was largely unknown outside his district. To generate some media coverage across the state, Chiles embarked upon a 1,003-mile walk across Florida. The 91-day walk earned him the recognition he sought, and the nickname that would follow him throughout his political career – "Walkin' Lawton".

Results

Primary (September 1) resulted^[1]:

• Bryant - 240,222 (32.90%)
• Chiles - 188,300 (25.79%)
• Schultz - 175,745 (24.07%)
• Hastings - 91,948 (12.59%)
• Daves - 33,939 (4.65%)

Runoff between two leading candidates (September 29) resulted^[2]:

• Chiles - 474,420 (65.74%)
• Bryant - 247,211 (34.26%)

Republican primary

Candidates

• George Balmer, body shop owner^[3]
• Harold Carswell, federal judge
• Bill Cramer, U.S. Congressman

Campaign

A few months before the primary, Carswell was nominated by Republican President Richard Nixon to the United States Supreme Court, but was rejected by the United States Senate due to controversial statements. He later ran for public office, and was endorsed by Governor Claude Roy Kirk, Jr.. When Cramer was first elected in 1954, he was the first Republican member of Congress from Florida since Reconstruction. Cramer, being the only candidate with elected office experience, won the primary

Results

Primary results (September 1)^[4]:

• Cramer - 220,553 (62.52%)
• Carswell - 121,281 (34.38%)
• Balmer - 10,947 (3.10%)

General election

Major candidates

• Lawton Chiles (D), State Senator
• Bill Cramer (R), U.S. Congressman

Results

General election results[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Lawton Chiles	902,438	53.9
	Republican	Bill Cramer	772,817	46.1
	Write-In	Bill Fair	123	0.0

References