1966 United States Senate election in Oregon

none March 2026 September 2023 1966 United States Senate election in Oregon Oregon presidential no 1960 United States Senate election in Oregon 1960 1972 United States Senate election in Oregon 1972 November 6, 1966 File:Mark Hatfield – 1967 (cropped).jpg Mark Hatfield Republican Party (United States) 354,391 51.75% File:Robert B. Duncan.jpg Robert B. Duncan Democratic Party (United States) 330,374 48.25% 1966 United States Senate election in Oregon results map by county.svg 260px County resultsHatfield: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Duncan: #7996e2 50–60% U.S. Senator Maurine Neuberger Democratic Party (United States) Mark Hatfield Republican Party (United States) The 1966 Oregon United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1966, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Oregon. Incumbent Senator Maurine Brown Neuberger did not seek re-election. Held during the escalation of United States involvement of the Vietnam War, the race was between Republican candidate and incumbent Governor of Oregon Mark Hatfield, who opposed the war, and Democratic congressman Robert B. Duncan, who supported the war. In an unusual move, Oregon's other Senator, Democrat Wayne Morse, who also opposed the war, crossed party lines to endorse Hatfield, who won in a close election, his first of five terms in the United States Senate. Background In March 1960, first-term U.S. Senator Richard L. Neuberger died in office. Despite calls to appoint his widow, Maurine Brown Neuberger, to the position, Governor Mark Hatfield instead appointed Oregon Supreme Court justice Hall S. Lusk to fill the position until a November special election. Hatfield stated that he intended to have appointed Neuberger, but that he wanted to appoint someone who would be focused on completing the remaining eight months of the term and not running in the regular-term Senate election as Neuberger had announced she would.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/03/16/99852789.pdf Oregon Justice, Democrat, gets Neuberger's seat in U. S. Senate The New York Times March 16, 1960 June 17, 2011 Some observers noted that Hatfield, a Republican, though required by state law to appoint someone of the same political party as the late Senator Neuberger, did not want to give the other party the political advantage of incumbency.http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=183#foot8 Women in Congress: Maurine B. Neuberger, Senator from Oregon United States Congress June 17, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110723034037/http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=183#foot8 July 23, 2011 dead Neuberger went on to win the special election over former Oregon governor Elmo Smith, but despite the urging of Oregon congressman Robert B. Duncan,http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2011/04/bob_duncan_and_his_three_losin.html Bob Duncan and his three losing—but history-making—U.S. Senate races Mapes Jeff April 30, 2011 June 17, 2011 The Oregonian she chose not to run for a second term in 1966, citing health issues, poor relations with Oregon's senior Senator Wayne Morse, and the burden of fundraising. Duncan also urged fellow Oregon congressperson Edith Green to run for the post, but Green also declined. Primaries Republican primary Campaign On the seventh anniversary of his inauguration as Oregon's 29th governor, Hatfield announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=06lVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6309%2C2097700 Hatfield seeks seat in Senate January 12, 1966 The Register-Guard June 17, 2011 In his announcement, Hatfield focused on the economic achievements in the state since his election, citing record-high employment and the creation of 138,000 jobs.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/01/13/79279209.pdf Hatfield announces his candidacy for the Senate The New York Times January 13, 1966 June 17, 2011 Hatfield was considered vulnerable on the subject of the Vietnam War, which he opposed, in contrast with 75% of Oregonians, who favored the war.Walth Brent Mark of distinction The Oregonian December 29, 1996 Hatfield's views on the war had been strongly affected by his own experiences: as a U.S. Navy ensign in World War II, he had been among the first to walk through the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; in a later assignment in Vietnam, he saw first-hand how imperialism led to incredible disparity, with countless Vietnamese living in poverty next to opulent French mansions. The war issue gave Hatfield competition from several minor candidates on the right, but Hatfield nonetheless won by a wide margin, besting his nearest competitor, conservative evangelist Walter Huss, by a nearly 6–1 margin.https://www.newspapers.com/image/301343564/ Oregon: one war foe loses, another wins The Miami News May 25, 1966 June 17, 2011 Results thumb|Results by county #e27f7f Hatfield #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% Republican primary for the United States Senate from Oregon, 1966https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9atVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6852%2C6173214 May 26, 1966 Unofficial Totals of Primary Election The Register-Guard June 17, 2011 Republican Party (US) Mark Hatfield 174,280 75.18 Republican Party (US) Walter Huss 31,368 13.53 Republican Party (US) Jim Bacaloff 19,547 8.43 Republican Party (US) George Altvater 6,637 2.86 231,832 100.00 Democratic primary Campaign In March 1966, Duncan announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination, which was quickly endorsed by Neuberger.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RigRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6083%2C79719 Duncan joins Senate race Abell Ron The Register-Guard March 2, 1966 June 17, 2011 In his speech announcing his candidacy, Duncan reiterated his strong support for President Lyndon B. Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War with its goal of stopping Communist expansion in Asia. Duncan's strong announcement exposed a rift among Oregon Democrats, including Oregon's senior Senator Wayne Morse, a leading anti-war voice, and Duncan's House colleague, Edith Green. Green had urged Duncan to run, but Duncan's hawkish statement troubled her.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UnszAAAAIBAJ&pg=2448,2619570 Oregon anti-war candidate gains Rep. Green's support Duscha Julius Julius Duscha May 24, 1966 June 17, 2011 The Spokesman-Review Soon after Duncan announced his candidacy, Howard Morgan, a former member of the Federal Power Commission, announced he was running as an anti-war option to Duncan. Morgan had the support of Morse and Green (though Green's endorsement did not come until the final week of the campaign),https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PatVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6180,2323355 Morgan joins Senate race Abell Ron The Register-Guard March 11, 1966 June 17, 2011https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nhxjAAAAIBAJ&pg=2924,5549980 Supporter of Viet war wins Oregon primary The Rochester Sentinel May 25, 1966 June 17, 2011 and Duncan had the endorsement of most of the party organization and the major newspapers in the state. When the results were announced, Duncan won by a nearly 2–1 margin in one of the first elections in which the Vietnam War was a central issue.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/05/25/82443589.pdf Vietnam critic defeated The New York Times Davies Lawrence E May 25, 1966 June 17, 2011 Results thumb|Results by county #7996e2 Duncan #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Democratic primary for the United States Senate from Oregon, 1966http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=497100 Oregon US Senate Democratic Primary Race, May 24, 1966 ourcampaigns.com June 17, 2011 Democratic Party (US) Robert B. Duncan 161,189 62.20 Democratic Party (US) Howard Morgan 89,174 34.41 Democratic Party (US) Gilbert L. Meyer 8,788 3.39 259,151 100.00 General election Campaign The general election was now set up between two participants whose views on the Vietnam War were in direct opposition to many in their party: Duncan, a pro-war Democrat and Hatfield, an anti-war Republican.Balmer Donald G. The 1966 Election in Oregon The Western Political Quarterly 20 2 June 1967 593–601 446088 10.1177/106591296702000211 220353709 With more than three-quarters of Oregonians sharing his view on the war, Duncan used the issue to attack Hatfield, stating that the outcome of the war would determine "whether Americans will die in the buffalo grass of Vietnam or the rye grass of Oregon."Congress and the Cold War Johnson Robert David Cambridge University Press https://books.google.com/books?id=dEYNTXxgcF8C&pg=PA134 New York 2006 978-0-521-82133-9 134 Duncan also stressed that his election was necessary to provide a pro-Government voice for Oregon to counteract the anti-war views of Senator Morse. Morse, who had strongly supported Duncan's rival in the primary, now went across party lines and threw his support to Hatfield, though he did not campaign for him. Hatfield, whose popularity as Governor had made him the favorite in the race, soon found his campaign in trouble. Morse's support backfired among many Republicans; Morse had left their party in 1952 to join the Democrats a few years later, and many worried that Hatfield would follow the same path.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/11/06/83550873.pdf Hatfield stages Oregon recovery Turner Wallace Wallace Turner The New York Times November 6, 1966 June 17, 2011https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FOBNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7080,396684 Evans Rowland Rowland Evans Robert Novak Robert Novak Oregon vote won't be Viet Nam referendum October 5, 1966 The Free Lance Star June 17, 2011 At a June conference of governors of all 50 states, Hatfield was the lone dissenter on a resolution expressing support for the war, calling the resolution a "blank check" for President Johnson's conduct of the war.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BOdVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4212%2C1366844 Governors back Viet action The Register-Guard July 8, 1966 June 17, 2011 By the middle of the summer, fueled by the departure of Republican hawks (such as former Oregon State Treasurer and 1962 Senate candidate Sig Unander who wholeheartedly endorsed Duncan), and with a strong majority of voters in the state already registered as Democrats, Duncan surged to a lead in most polls. While Hatfield did not back away from his war stance, he sought to focus his campaign on other issues, chiefly focusing on the Johnson administration's economic policies that, in Hatfield's view, had created a recession that was creating unemployment in Oregon's timber industry. As the election neared in early fall, Hatfield had pulled even with Duncan with momentum on his side. Hatfield won in 27 of Oregon's 36 counties en route to a solid but narrow 52%–48% victory.Hatfield, McCall win https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19661109&printsec=frontpage&hl=en The Register-Guard November 9, 1966 June 17, 2011https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/11/09/106221915.pdf Hatfield defeats Duncan in Oregon The New York Times November 9, 1966 June 17, 2011 In his victory speech, Hatfield maintained that the vote was not a referendum on the war and that "neither Hanoi nor Washington should misread the results." Results United States Senate election in Oregon, 1966http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=7066 Oregon US Senate Race, Nov 8, 1966 ourcampaigns.com June 17, 2011 Republican Party (US) Mark Hatfield 354,391 51.75% Democratic Party (US) Robert B. Duncan 330,374 48.25% 684,765 100.00% Republican Party (US) Democratic Party (US) Aftermath Hatfield would be re-elected to four more terms, most comfortably, before retiring from the Senate in 1996. Duncan sought revenge against Morse in the Democratic primary of the 1968 Senate election but came in second in a close three-way primary that he might have won had not a third candidate drawn off some anti-Morse votes. After Morse's loss to Bob Packwood in the 1968 general election, Duncan and Morse again squared off for the Democratic nomination in the 1972 Senate election to face Hatfield. Morse won again and lost to Hatfield in the general election. In 1974, Duncan was re-elected to the House of Representatives. He served three terms before being defeated in the Democratic primary by Ron Wyden in 1980.https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F0091FF6385C12728DDDAB0A94DD405B8084F1D3 The New York Times June 17, 2011 Five-Term Congressman is Defeated in Oregon May 21, 1980 See also 1966 United States Senate elections References 2 Oregon 1966 Senate