United States Senate election in Florida, 1970

United States Senate election in Florida, 1970
Florida
November 3, 1970
 
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

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Initially, Bryant, a well-known figure, was seen as a natural front-runner. Chiles, despite a twelve-year 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 election

Democratic Party primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic C. Farris Bryant 240,222 32.90
Democratic Lawton Chiles 188,300 25.79
Democratic Frederick H. Schultz 175,745 24.07
Democratic Alcee Hastings 91,948 12.59
Democratic Joel Daves 33,939 4.65
Total votes 730,154 100.00

Runoff primary election

Democratic Party primary runoff results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lawton Chiles 474,420 65.74
Democratic Farris Bryant 247,211 34.26
Total votes 721,631 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

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

Republican Primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Cramer 220,553 62.52
Republican G. Harrold Carswell 121,281 34.38
Republican George Balmer 10,947 3.10
Total votes 352,781 100.00

General election

Major candidates

Results

United States Senate election in Florida, 1970[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lawton Chiles 902,438 53.87% -10.09%
Republican Bill Cramer 772,817 46.13% +10.09%
Majority 129,621 7.74% -20.17%
Turnout 1,675,255
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Tabulation of Official Votes, Florida Primary Election, Democratic and Republican, September 8, 1970 and September 29, 1970" (PDF). Florida Secretary of State. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved March 13, 2015.