1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey
← 1966 November 7, 1972 1978 →
 
Nominee Clifford P. Case Paul J. Krebs
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,743,854 963,573
Percentage 62.46% 34.51%
County results
Case:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election

Clifford P. Case
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Clifford P. Case
Republican

Elections in New Jersey
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
State government
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
Senate elections
General Assembly elections
Newark
Mayoral elections
Jersey City
Mayoral elections
Hoboken
Mayoral elections
Atlantic City
Mayoral elections

The 1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Clifford P. Case defeated Democratic nominee Paul J. Krebs with 62.46% of the vote.

Primary elections were held on June 6.[1] Case turned away a challenge from James Ralph. Krebs won a large plurality in the Democratic primary over Daniel Gaby and Joseph Karcher.

As of 2023, this was the last time the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in New Jersey.[a]

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent) 187,268 70.13%
Republican James W. Ralph 79,766 29.87%
Total votes 267,034 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

Declined

Campaign

Krebs ran with the support of organized labor and the Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign, while Gaby ran as a reform candidate and aligned himself with George McGovern's campaign.[3]

Results

Although McGovern won the state's presidential preference primary easily, Krebs defeated Gaby by roughly 50,000 votes.

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Paul J. Krebs 135,000 43.16%
Democratic Daniel M. Gaby 86,213 27.56%
Democratic Joseph T. Karcher 51,321 16.41%
Democratic Henry Kielbasa 40,235 12.86%
Total votes 312,769 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

From the start of the post-primary campaign, Krebs faced "virtually insurmountable political odds."[3]

Results

1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Clifford P. Case (incumbent) 1,743,854 62.46% Increase2.44
Democratic Paul J. Krebs 963,573 34.51% Decrease2.47
American A. Howard Freund 40,980 1.47% N/A
Independent Charles W. Wiley 33,442 1.20% N/A
Socialist Labor Jules Levin 10,058 0.36% Decrease0.12
Majority 780,281
Turnout 2,791,907
Republican hold Swing

Notes

  1. ^ Nicholas F. Brady who would later be appointed in the Class 1 seat in 1982 following the resignation of Harrison A. Williams, while Jeffrey Chiesa was later then appointed in this same Class 2 seat in 2013 following the death of Frank Lautenberg.

References

  1. ^ a b c "1972 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f David Wildstein (September 2, 2019). "Labor Leader: Paul J. Krebs, last president of NJ CIO served one-term in Congress". Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, Ronald (June 8, 1972). "VICTORS IN JERSEY SEEK PARTY RULE". The New York Times. p. 39.
  4. ^ "1972 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
Categories