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| Turnout | 51.24% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Percy: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1972 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 7, 1972.[1] IncumbentRepublicanUnited States SenatorCharles H. Percy sought re-election to theUnited States Senate. Percy was opposed byDemocratic nomineeRoman Pucinski, aUnited States Representative from theNorthwest Side ofChicago, whom he was able to defeat handily to win a second term. As of 2022[update], this was the last time a Republican was elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois during a presidential election year, the last time an Illinois Republican won a Senate election by double digits, and the last time any candidate has swept every county in the state.
Theprimary (held on March 21) and general election coincided with those forHouse andstate elections.[1]
Turnout in the primaries was 31.40%, with a total of 1,753,727 votes cast.[1] Turnout during the general election was 51.24%, with 3,184,764 votes cast.[1] Turnout in both the primary and general election was significantly less than those for coinciding statewide races.[1]
CongressmanRoman Pucinski defeated Dakin Williams in the Democratic primary. Williams was a prosecutor who was the younger brother of playwrightTennessee Williams.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roman C. Pucinski | 859,890 | 70.62 | |
| Democratic | W. Dakin Williams | 357,744 | 29.38 | |
| Democratic | Write Ins | 71 | 0 | |
| Total votes | 1,217,705 | 100 | ||
IncumbentCharles H. Percy was renominated without opposition in the Republican primary.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Charles H. Percy (incumbent) | 535,911 | 99.98 | |
| Write-in | Others | 111 | 0.02 | |
| Total votes | 536,022 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Charles H. Percy (incumbent) | 2,867,078 | 62.21% | +7.27% | |
| Democratic | Roman Pucinski | 1,721,031 | 37.35% | −6.55% | |
| Socialist Labor | Edward C. Gross | 13,384 | 0.29% | ||
| Communist | Arnold Becchetti | 6,103 | 0.13% | ||
| Write-in | 784 | 0.02% | |||
| Majority | 1,146,047 | 24.87% | +13.82% | ||
| Turnout | 3,822,724 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
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