1972 United States Senate election in Georgia
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The 1972 United States Senate election in Georgia took place on November 7, 1972, as one of that year's United States Senate elections. It was held concurrently with the 1972 presidential election. This seat had opened up following the death of Richard B. Russell in 1971. Shortly thereafter,
Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...
Jimmy Carter appointed David H. Gambrell to fill Russell's vacant seat. The
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
nominee was Sam Nunn, a
conservative Democrat In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with conservative political views, or with views that are conservative compared to the positions taken by other members of the Democratic Party. Traditionally, co ...
and member of the Georgia House of Representatives, and the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
nominated
Fletcher Thompson Standish Fletcher Thompson (February 5, 1925 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer, World War II veteran and Republican politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1973 from the 5th Congr ...
, the Representative from the Atlanta-area 5th congressional district of Georgia. In the primary, Nunn emerged victorious from a crowded field of Democratic candidates, including Gambrell and former Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver. Despite President Richard Nixon defeating
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...
in Georgia in the presidential election on the same day, Nunn defeated Thompson in the general election 54% to 46%.


Timeline

*March 15: Nunn announces his candidacy at a rally in Perry, Georgia. Nunn's great-uncle, Carl Vinson, was among the approximately 1,500 in attendance, and he went on to give $500 to Nunn's campaign. *March 17: Thompson announces his candidacy at a gas station in Albany, Georgia. *August 8: Gambrell comes in first in the Democratic primary, with Nunn in second. Both candidates advance to a
runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
because neither received over 50 percent of the vote. On the same day, Thompson decisively wins the Republican primary, receiving over 92 percent of the vote in total. In doing so, he defeated three opponents: Howard Tucker, Clarence I. Porter, and Darrell Runyan (the latter of whom also ran in the Democratic primary). *August 29: The Democratic runoff is held; Nunn defeats Gambrell with 54% of the vote. ''The New York Times'' refers to Nunn's victory as an "upset". *November 7: Nunn defeats Thompson in the general election.


Primaries

A total of fifteen candidates ran for the Democratic nomination, including incumbent Gambrell, Nunn, former governor Ernest Vandiver, segregationist
J.B. Stoner Jesse Benjamin Stoner Jr. (April 13, 1924 – April 23, 2005) was an American lawyer, white supremacist, Neo-Nazism, neo-nazi, Racial segregation in the United States, segregationist politician, and a Domestic terrorism in the United States, ...
, and civil rights activist Hosea Williams. In the initial round of voting on August 8, 1972, Gambrell finished first with 31.4% of the vote, followed by Nunn with 23.1%. Because no candidate received an outright majority, a runoff was held on August 29, which Nunn won.


General election


Campaign

The 1972 race focused more on candidates than on issues. Both Nunn and Thompson tried to align themselves with politicians who were viewed favorably in Georgia, and to dissociate themselves from those who were viewed unfavorably. Nunn, for example, harshly criticized his own party's nominee for President,
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...
, pledging not to vote for him in that year's presidential election. Nunn suggested he might cast a write-in vote for
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
instead. Thompson, by contrast, tried to associate himself with President Richard Nixon, who was polling far ahead of McGovern in Georgia; he also distributed posters across the state linking Nunn to McGovern. As Jon Nordheimer noted in '' the New York Times'' several weeks before the election, "This maneuvering has become so frenzied, in fact, that the relative popularity of the President, Senator McGovern and Governor Wallace might seem to be the only real issues of the campaign." Among the issues that the candidates focused on during the campaign was
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
's controversial visit to Vietnam. Thompson, then a member of the House Internal Security Committee, tried unsuccessfully to persuade his colleagues on the Committee to issue a subpoena against Fonda to answer his accusation that she had committed treason. Fonda did not testify, but A. William Olson did, to the effect that the United States Department of Justice had found no reason to prosecute Fonda for either treason or for violating the
Logan Act The Logan Act (, , enacted ) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized nego ...
. Nunn's campaign was much more organized than was Thompson's. Nunn had support from numerous prominent Democrats from his state, including Gambrell, Carter, and Vandiver. By contrast, Thompson's campaign was "almost literally a one-man effort", and he started the race with virtually no footprint outside of his own district.


Endorsements

Nunn was endorsed by almost every establishment Democrat in Georgia, with the notable exception of Lieutenant Governor Lester Maddox, who did not endorse a candidate in the general election. Maddox did, however, support Nunn in his primary challenge to Gambrell. Thompson tried to tie himself to Nixon, in the hopes of benefiting from Nixon's expected strong performance in Georgia. Nevertheless, Nixon declined to endorse Thompson when he visited Atlanta several weeks before the election. Some speculated that this may have been because the Nixon campaign was pessimistic about Thompson's chances. Instead of Nixon, both Arizona Senator
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
, a former Republican presidential nominee, and Vice President Spiro Agnew threw their support behind Thompson.


Results


Aftermath

By defeating Thompson in the general election, Nunn became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Georgia despite losing the white vote. Nunn's narrow victory over Thompson reflected a continuing decline in the Democratic Party's influence in Georgia, despite Nixon's landslide victory over McGovern there in the same year.
Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
further reduced the party's popularity in the state in 1974, and in that year's gubernatorial election, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ronnie Thompson lost with only 30% of the vote. When
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
first ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1974, he tried to model his campaign on Nunn's successful one in 1972.


References

{{1972 United States elections
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
Georgia United States Senate