34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Mike Mansfield
Hugh Scott
Party
Democratic
Republican
Leader since
January 3, 1961
September 24, 1969
Leader's seat
Montana
Pennsylvania
Seats before
57
41
Seats after
61[a]
37
Seat change
4[a]
4
Popular vote
22,544,761[1]
16,145,793[1][b]
Percentage
55.2%
39.6%
Seats up
20
14
Races won
24[a]
10
Third party
Fourth party
Party
Independent
Conservative
Seats before
1
1
Seats after
1[c]
1
Seat change
Popular vote
199,108[1]
822,584[1]
Percentage
0.5%
2.0%
Seats up
0
0
Races won
0
0
Results of the elections: Democratic gain Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold No election
Majority Leader before election
Mike Mansfield
Democratic
Elected Majority Leader
Mike Mansfield
Democratic
The 1974 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon's resignation from the presidency, and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon. Economic issues, specifically inflation and stagnation, were also a factor that contributed to Republican losses.[2] As an immediate result of the November 1974 elections, Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans, as they defeated Republican incumbents in Colorado and Kentucky and picked up open seats in Florida and Vermont, while Republicans won the open seat in Nevada. Following the elections, at the beginning of the 94th U.S. Congress, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats (as well as one independent), and the Republican caucus controlled 38 seats (as well as one Conservative).
Democrats gained an additional seat, bringing the net pick-up to four seats, in 1975, when Democrat John A. Durkin won a disputed election in New Hampshire that was unintentionally held after the 1974 election resulted in two recounts and an extended dispute in the Senate. Durkin's Senate term began in September 1975, following his victory in that election. As of 2023[update], this is the most recent election in which a Democrat has been elected Senator from Idaho.
Several other Republican incumbents won very close races; Milton Young of North Dakota won reelection against Democrat William L. Guy by only 186 votes and Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma won reelection against Democrat Ed Edmondson by half a percent of the vote. Bob Dole of Kansas survived the closest election of his career against Democratic Rep. William Roy, a race undoubtedly made close due to Dole's close association with Nixon as chairman of the Republican National Committee. It was the closest the Democrats have come to winning a Senate election in Kansas since George McGill won re-election in 1932.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^ abcdCite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^James M. Naughton (November 6, 1974). "Senate and House Margins Are Substantially Enlarged". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
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