United States Senate election in North Carolina, 1972

United States Senate election in North Carolina, 1972
1966 ←
 7 November 1972
 → 1978
 
Nominee Jesse Helms Nick Galifianakis
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 795,247 677,293
Percentage 54.0% 46.0%
Senator before election

B. Everett Jordan
Democratic

 Elected Senator

Jesse Helms
Republican

The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1972 was held on 7 November 1972 as part of the nation-wide elections to the Senate, and coinciding with the 1972 presidential election. The general election was fought between the Republican nominee Jesse Helms and the Democrat nominee Rep. Nick Galifianakis. Helms won the election, taking a Senate seat in North Carolina from the Democrats for the first time in the twentieth century.

Three-term Representative Nick Galifianakis defeated two-term incumbent Senator B. Everett Jordan in the second ballot in the Democratic primary. Galifianakis was seen as an anti-establishment liberal in North Carolina;[1][2] although an opponent of busing, Galifianakis was not as conservative as the segregationist Jordan.

Contents

Result

1972 North Carolina U.S. Senate election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jesse Helms 795,247 54.01 +9.61
Democratic Nick Galifianakis 677,293 45.99 -9.60
Turnout 1,472,540

Primaries

Democratic primary

1972 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – First round [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Nick Galifianakis 377,993 49.25 N/A
Democratic B. Everett Jordan (incumbent) 340,391 44.35 -34.91
Democratic J. R. Brown 27,009 3.52 N/A
Democratic Eugene Grace (politician) 22,156 2.89 N/A
Turnout 767,549
1972 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election – Second round [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Nick Galifianakis 338,558 55.82 +6.57
Democratic B. Everett Jordan (incumbent) 267,997 44.18 -0.17
Turnout 606,555

Republican primary

1972 North Carolina U.S. Senate Republican primary election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jesse Helms 92,496 60.13 N/A
Republican James Johnson (North Carolina politician) 45,303 29.45 N/A
Republican William Booe 16,032 10.42 N/A
Turnout 153,831

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hunter, Marjorie (5 June 1972). "Defeat of Jordan by Rep. Galifianakis In Carolina is Linked to 'New Politics'". The New York Times. p. 26. 
  2. ^ Hunter, Marjorie (28 October 1972). "Major Races in North Carolina Seem Close". The New York Times. p. 14. 
  3. ^ a b c d "North Carolina DataNet #46". University of North Carolina. April 2008. http://southnow.org/southnow-publications/nc-datanet/DataNet%20April08.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-12. 
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