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| Turnout | 67.43% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Stevenson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Smith: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1970 United States Senate special election in Illinois was held on November 3, 1970,[1] to fill the remainder of the term of RepublicanEverett Dirksen, who haddied in office. RepublicanRalph Tyler Smith had been appointed to fill the seat after Dirksen's death, and he lost the special election to DemocratAdlai Stevenson III. This election was the third consecutive time in which a United States Senate election in Illinois took place two years after a previous United States Senate election in Illinois after1966 and1968.
The primaries and general election coincided with those forHouse andstate elections.
Primaries were held on March 17.[1][2] Turnout in the primary elections was 26.28%, with a total of 1,381,147 votes cast.[1] Turnout during the general election was 67.43%, with 3,599,272 votes cast.[1]
Rentschler accused Smith of acquiring the Senate seat through a corrupt deal with GovernorRichard Ogilvie. Smith himself denied the charge, pointing out that Ogilvie declined to support him in the primary.[3]
Rentschler also criticized Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew and SenatorCharles Percy for endorsing Smith, arguing that party leaders should stay out of the primary race.[3] Rentschler had previously worked on campaigns for Percy and Agnew in 1964 and 1968, respectively.[4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ralph Tyler Smith (incumbent) | 414,489 | 58.84 | |
| Republican | William H. Rentschler | 271,648 | 38.57 | |
| Republican | Lar "America First" Daly | 18,244 | 2.59 | |
| Write-in | Others | 16 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 704,397 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Adlai E. Stevenson, III | 676,689 | 99.99 | |
| Write-in | Others | 61 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 676,750 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Adlai Stevenson III | 2,065,054 | 57.37% | |
| Republican | Ralph Tyler Smith (incumbent) | 1,519,718 | 42.22% | |
| Socialist Workers | Lynn Henderson | 8,859 | 0.25% | |
| Socialist Labor | Louis Fisher | 5,564 | 0.15% | |
| None | Scattering | 77 | 0.00% | |
| Majority | 545,336 | 15.15% | ||
| Turnout | 3,599,272 | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
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