1974 United States Senate election in Ohio
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November 5, 1974
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 County results Glenn: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Ohio |
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The 1974 United States Senate election in Ohio took place on November 5, 1974.
Senator Howard Metzenbaum, who had been appointed to the seat in 1974 by Ohio governor John J. Gilligan, lost the Democratic primary election to famed astronaut John Glenn. In the general election, Glenn won every county in the state against Cleveland mayor Ralph Perk.
Metzenbaum would later be elected to Ohio's other U.S. Senate seat in 1976 and worked with Glenn as the state's junior senator until he retired in 1994.
Background
[edit]Incumbent senator William B. Saxbe resigned from office on January 3, 1974 to become United States Attorney General. Saxbe was the permanent replacement for Elliot Richardson, who had resigned during the Saturday Night Massacre in response to the ongoing Watergate scandal. Governor of Ohio John J. Gilligan appointed Howard Metzenbaum, who had been the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Ohio's other Senate seat in 1970, to fill the vacant seat for the remainder of Saxbe's unexpired term, which was due to end on January 3, 1975.
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- John Glenn, retired astronaut and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1964 and 1970
- Howard Metzenbaum, interim U.S. Senator and nominee for U.S. Senate in 1970
Campaign
[edit]The Democratic primary was a rematch of the 1970 election, in which Metzenbaum had narrowly defeated Glenn. Glenn had also run for the Democratic nomination unsuccessfully in 1964 before withdrawing from the race due to health problems following a fall.
Results
[edit]
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Glenn | 571,871 | 54.36% | |
| Democratic | Howard Metzenbaum (incumbent) | 480,123 | 45.64% | |
| Write-in | 33 | 0.00% | ||
| Total votes | 1,052,027 | 100.00% | ||
General election
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- John Glenn, retired astronaut and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1964 and 1970 (Democratic)
- K. G. Harroff (Independent)
- Richard B. Kay, perennial candidate (Independent)
- Ralph Perk, mayor of Cleveland since 1971 (Republican)
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Glenn | 1,930,670 | 64.62% |  16.15 | |
| Republican | Ralph Perk | 918,133 | 30.73% |  20.80 | |
| Independent | Kathleen G. Harroff | 76,882 | 2.57% | N/A | |
| Independent | Richard B. Kay | 61,921 | 2.07% | N/A | |
| Independent | John O'Neill (write-in) | 257 | 0.01% | N/A | |
| Independent | Ronald E. Girkins (write-in) | 88 | 0.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 2,987,951 | 100.00% | |||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1974 (sic)" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 31, 2020.