 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Hatfield: 50-60% 60-70% Morse: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Oregon | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| ||
The1972 United States Senate election in Oregon took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican SenatorMark Hatfield was re-elected to a second term in office, defeating DemocratWayne Morse.
Primary elections were held on May 23, 1972.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark Hatfield (incumbent) | 171,594 | 61.16% | |
| Republican | Lynn Engdahl | 63,859 | 22.76% | |
| Republican | Kenneth A. Brown | 30,826 | 10.99% | |
| Republican | John E. Smets | 13,397 | 4.78% | |
| Write-in | All others | 913 | 0.33% | |
| Total votes | 280,589 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Wayne Morse | 173,147 | 43.70% | |
| Democratic | Robert B. Duncan | 130,845 | 33.03% | |
| Democratic | Don S. Willner | 74,060 | 18.69% | |
| Democratic | Ralph Wiser | 17,729 | 4.48% | |
| Write-in | All others | 423 | 0.11% | |
| Total votes | 396,204 | 100.00% | ||
According to theNew York Times, the election provided "a choice between two well-known personalities, not issues".[8] Morse, who had supported Hatfield's1966 campaign, was famously opposed to theVietnam War, as was Hatfield. Thus, the election was ultimately between two well-known anti-war liberals. Hatfield won a fairly comfortable 54-46 victory, winning all but 3 counties.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark Hatfield (Incumbent) | 494,671 | 53.72 | ||
| Democratic | Wayne Morse | 425,036 | 46.16 | ||
| None | Write-Ins | 1,126 | 0.12 | ||
| Majority | 69,635 | 7.56 | |||
| Turnout | 920,833 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
.jpg)
