1968 United States Senate election in California

none March 2026 September 2023 1968 United States Senate election in California California Presidential no 1962 United States Senate election in California 1962 1974 United States Senate election in California 1974 November 5, 1968 Alan Cranston, 1963.jpg Alan Cranston Democratic Party (United States) 3,680,352 51.82% Max Rafferty, 1967.jpg Max Rafferty Republican Party (United States) 3,329,148 46.87% 1968 United States Senate election in California results map by county.svg 300px County resultsCranston: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70%Rafferty: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% U.S. senator Thomas Kuchel Republican Party (US) Alan Cranston Democratic Party (US) The 1968 United States Senate election in California was held on November 5, 1968. Republican incumbent Thomas Kuchel ran for a fourth term in office but was defeated in the Republican primary by state superintendent of public instruction Max Rafferty. In the general election, Rafferty was defeated by former state controller Alan Cranston. Primary elections were held on June 4. Rafferty defeated Kuchel by about three percent of the total vote, emphasizing his conservative positions against the more moderate incumbent. In the Democratic primary, Cranston easily defeated state senator Anthony Beilenson. Republican primary Candidates Phil Cammack W. C. Jones Thomas Kuchel, incumbent U.S. senator since 1953 and assistant Senate minority leader Max Rafferty, state superintendent of public instruction since 1963 James A. Ware, Los Angeles businessman and perennial candidateArchives L. A. Times 1999-06-18 Obituaries - June 18, 1999 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-18-mn-47835-story.html 2026-08-22 Los Angeles Times en-US Results 1968 Senate Republican primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=386014 Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 04, 1968 Max Rafferty Republican Party (United States) 1,112,947 50.05% Thomas Kuchel (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 1,043,315 46.92% James A. Ware Republican Party (United States) 28,311 1.27% Phil Cammack Republican Party (United States) 20,767 0.93% W.C. Jones Republican Party (United States) 18,442 0.83% 2,223,782 100.00 Democratic primary Candidates Anthony Beilenson, state senator from Beverly Hills William M. Bennett, member of the California Public Utilities Commissionhttps://www.marinij.com/2010/02/22/william-m-bennett-former-jfk-campaign-chief-and-state-political-heavyweight-dies-at-91/ William M. Bennett, former JFK campaign chief and state political heavyweight, dies at 91 22 February 2010 Walter Buchanan, Venice teacher and perennial candidate Charles Crail Alan Cranston, former state controller Results Democratic primary resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=236031 Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race - Jun 04, 1968 Alan Cranston Democratic Party (United States) 1,681,825 58.99% Anthony Beilenson Democratic Party (United States) 644,844 22.62% Walter R. Buchanan Democratic Party (United States) 227,798 7.99% William M. Bennett Democratic Party (United States) 207,720 7.29% Charles Crail Democratic Party (United States) 89,023 3.12% 2,851,210 100.00 General election Candidates Alan Cranston, former state controller (Democratic) Paul Jacobs (Peace & Freedom) Max Rafferty, state superintendent of public instruction since 1963 (Republican) Results 1968 United States Senate election in Californiahttp://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1968election.pdf Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1968 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives March 31, 2019 Democratic Party (United States) Alan Cranston 3,680,352 51.82% 8.38 Republican Party (United States) Max Rafferty 3,329,148 46.87% 9.46 Peace and Freedom Party Paul Jacobs 92,965 1.31% N/A 7,102,465 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) right 300px Shift by county 300px Trend by county Legend #d40000 Republican — >15% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5−15% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5−10% #ff8080 Republican — +5−7.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5−5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0−2.5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0−2.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5−5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5−7.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #09ceff Democratic — +10−12.5% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5−15% #00a1c8 Democratic — >15% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold References 1968 California United States Senate