1970 United States Senate election in Washington

None March 2026 September 2023 1970 United States Senate election in Washington Washington Presidential no 1964 United States Senate election in Washington 1964 1976 United States Senate election in Washington 1976 November 3, 1970 File:HenryJackson.jpg 150x150px Henry M. Jackson Democratic Party (United States) 879,385 82.43% File:Charles Elicker.jpg Charles Elicker Republican Party (United States) 170,790 16.01% File:1970 United States Senate election in Washington results map by county.svg 275px County resultsJackson: #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson Democratic Party (US) Henry M. Jackson Democratic Party (US) The 1970 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 3, 1970. The Democratic incumbent Henry M. Jackson won a fourth term in office with a landslide victory over Republican state senator Charles Elicker. Blanket primary In the Democratic Party primary, Henry M. Jackson, who had served in the United States Senate since 1953, faced criticism for his support of military spending and the Vietnam War. This position caused members of the national party involved in peace activism, including Eugene McCarthy, Allard K. Lowenstein, and John Kenneth Galbraith, to petition state politicians to challenge Jackson. They found Carl Maxey, the first African American in Eastern Washington to qualify as an attorney, who resigned his position as chair of the Washington Democratic Council, an anti-war organization, to run for office. Maxey had previously worked for Jackson on his Senate campaigns but he publicly opposed the Vietnam War, particularly in relation to the drafting of African Americans at disproportionate rates.Oldham Kit October 29, 2003 Senator Henry Jackson overwhelmingly defeats peace candidate Carl Maxey in the Democratic primary on September 15, 1970. https://www.historylink.org/File/5585 April 14, 2023 HistoryLink In May 1970, Maxey won the endorsement of the King County Democratic Convention. During the same month, President Richard Nixon announced an escalation to the Vietnam War as American forces invaded Cambodia. This decision led to protests across the country and the shooting of four anti-war protests at Kent State University in Ohio. Two months later, at the state party convention held in Spokane, Washington, supporters of Maxey disturbed the speech given by Jackson. The opposition pushed Jackson to the center of his party and he frequently said, "I'm proud of the fact that during my term in the Senate I opposed both McCarthys", comparing Eugene McCarthy and Joe McCarthy. Jackson had support from state Republicans, who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his primary campaign. Montgomery Johnson, the state party chairman, and Governor Dan Evans had difficulty finding a Republican challenger as the national party, including Nixon, discouraged any strong opposition. They finally recruited state senator, Charles Elicker, who beat four other candidates to win the party nomination.Oldham Kit Tate Cassandra October 29, 2003 Washington voters re-elect Senator Henry Jackson by a record margin, retain six of seven U.S. Representatives, and legalize abortion on November 3, 1970. https://www.historylink.org/File/5586 April 14, 2023 HistoryLink In the primary on September 15, 1970, Jackson won the Democratic nomination with 497,309 votes and sweeping every county in the state. Maxey won second place in the blanket primary, with 79,201 votes and Elicker came in third with 33,262 votes. The other candidates were two Democrats, John "Hugo Frye" Patric and Clarice Privette, and four Republicans, R. J. "Bob" Odman, William H. Davis, Howard S. Reed and Bill Patrick.September 9, 1970 Tuesday is Primary Election Day The Concrete Herald https://www.concreteheritagemuseum.org/uploads/2/2/3/4/22348866/19700909.pdf April 14, 2023 Results thumb|275px|Results by county #7996e2 Jackson #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% 1970 U.S. Senate primary election in WashingtonElections Search Results - September 1970 Primary https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/results_report.aspx?e=76&c=&c2=&t=&t2=&p=&p2=&y= 2022-06-25 Washington Secretary of State Henry M. Jackson (incumbent) Democratic Party (US) 497,309 73.18% Carl Maxey Democratic Party (US) 79,201 11.65% Charles W. Elicker Republican Party (US) 33,262 4.89% Howard S. Reed Republican Party (US) 22,293 3.28% Robert J. "Big Bob" Odman Republican Party (US) 14,856 2.19% Paul Gumbell Democratic Party (US) 24,559 3.05% William H. Davis Republican Party (US) 11,207 1.65% Bill Patrick Republican Party (US) 7,976 1.17% John Patric Republican Party (US) 7,267 1.07% Clarice L.R. Privette Democratic Party (US) 6,240 0.92% 679,611 100.00% General election Jackson was announced as the winner on November 3, 1970, three minutes after polls closed on election night. He had set the previous Washington record in 1964, which he broke by receiving 82% to Elicker's 16%, with two third party candidates sharing the remainder of the vote. The landslide victory prompted Elicker to say about his percentage, "I'm thinking of asking for a recount".Beers Carole August 18, 1995 Charles W. Elicker, Who Made Quixotic Run For The U.S. Senate https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19950818&slug=2136954 April 14, 2023 The Seattle Times Results 1970 U.S. Senate election in WashingtonStatistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1970 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1970election.pdf U.S. Government Printing Office 2 Mar 2021 Democratic Party (US) Henry M. Jackson (incumbent) 879,385 82.43% 10.22 Republican Party (US) Charles W. Elicker 170,790 16.01% 11.78 Socialist Workers Party (US) Karl Bermann 9,255 0.87% N/A Buffalo Edison Fink 7,377 0.69% N/A 1,066,807 100.00% Democratic Party (US) Republican Party (US) See also 1970 United States Senate elections References Further reading Bone Hugh A. 1971 The 1970 Election in Washington https://www.jstor.org/stable/446879 Western Political Quarterly 24 2 350–361 10.2307/446879 446879 0043-4078 subscription https://archive.org/details/stayingcoursehen0000unse/ Staying the course: Henry M. Jackson and national security University of Washington Press 1987 9780295965017 Fosdick Dorothy Ognibene Peter J. https://archive.org/details/scooplifepolitic0000ogni/ Scoop: the life and politics of Henry M. Jackson Stein and Day 1975 9780812818840 Prochnau William W. https://archive.org/details/certaindemocrats0000proc/ A certain Democrat: Senator Henry M. Jackson; a political biography Larsen Richard W. Prentice-Hall 1972 9780131231580 1970 Washington United States Senate