1970 United States Senate election in Michigan

none 1970 Michigan Senate election March 2026 September 2023 1970 United States Senate election in Michigan Michigan presidential no 1964 United States Senate election in Michigan 1964 1976 United States Senate election in Michigan 1976 November 3, 1970 150x150px File:Philip Hart (D-MI) (cropped).jpg Philip Hart Democratic Party (United States) 1,744,672 66.84% File:Lenore Romney (cropped).jpg Lenore Romney Republican Party (United States) 858,438 32.89% 1970 United States Senate election in Michigan results map by county.svg 300px County resultsHart: #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Romney: #e27f7f 50–60% U.S. Senator Philip Hart Democratic Party (United States) Philip Hart Democratic Party (United States) The 1970 United States Senate election in Michigan took place on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Philip Hart was re-elected to a third term in office over former First Lady of Michigan Lenore Romney. Republican primary Candidates Robert J. Huber, State Senator from Troy Lenore Romney, former First Lady of Michigan (1963–1969) Withdrew Donald W. Riegle, Jr., U.S. Representative from Flint Declined William Milliken, incumbent Governor of Michigan since 1969 George W. Romney, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former Governor of Michigan (1963–1969)https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/01/31/78086507.pdf A Romney May Enliven Michigan Election Year Jerry M. Flint The New York Times January 31, 1970 25 Campaign George W. Romney was an early favorite for the Republican nomination. President Richard Nixon, who never had good relations with George Romney either personally or on policy grounds, and whom Romney had run against for president in 1968, promoted him for Senate to get Romney out of his cabinet.Kranish; Helman, The Real Romney, pp. 93–95.Kotlowski, Nixon's Civil Rights, p. 53. However, George came up with the idea of his wife Lenore running, and sprung this proposal on Lenore and the children at the end of 1969.http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2115636,00.html https://archive.today/20130105011809/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2115636,00.html dead January 5, 2013 Dreams from His Mother Barton Gellman Barton Gellman Time June 4, 2012 Lenore's professed no desire to run unless no other candidate could be found.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-mitt-romney-mothers-failed-run-offers-cautionary-tale/2012/02/23/gIQAXtQAYR_story.html For Mitt Romney, mother's failed run offers cautionary tale Brady Dennis The Washington Post February 24, 2012 U.S. House Minority Leader Gerald Ford (from Grand Rapids) thought Lenore Romney could unite the state party's different factions, but Governor William Milliken opposed her candidacy. Some suspected that her Senate candidacy was just a stalking horse for keeping George's options open.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/02/22/452128762.pdf Mrs. Romney Fails to Get Senate Nod Donald Janson The New York Times February 22, 1970 52https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oW8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5406,1340282&dq=michigan+consensus+candidate&hl=en Romney Refuses To Indicate His Plans for 1970 United Press International Ludington Daily News January 26, 1970 1 thumb|left|A Romney for Senate campaign button. At a February 21, 1970 meeting of the Michigan Republican Party, convened to declare a "consensus" candidate, liberal U.S. Representative Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (who would be Hart's successor after switching to the Democratic Party) and conservative State Senator Robert J. Huber joined Milliken in opposition, blocking Lenore Romney from reaching the three-fourths majority required for the consensus declaration. On February 23, Lenore Romney formally entered the contest for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/02/24/78099597.pdf Mrs. Romney Enters Contest for Senate Jerry M. Flint The New York Times February 24, 1970 1 George successfully pressured Milliken to endorse her, though this may have backfired when The Detroit News exposed the pressure campaign. At the next party meeting, on March 7, Lenore gained the consensus candidate position, and talk of George running ended.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/03/08/129339182.pdf Michigan G.O.P Leaders Back Mrs. Romney for Senate Contest Jerry M. Flint The New York Times March 8, 1970 36 Riegle also ended his campaign. In the ensuing primary, Romney's campaign emphasized her sex as a campaign theme, arguing, "Never before has the voice and understanding of a concerned woman been more needed."https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/08/02/355731882.pdf Michigan To Vote On Two G.O.P. Rivals The New York Times August 2, 1970 Billboards featuring her face, captioned only "Lenore" and omitting any reference to political party, were common throughout the state. She was considered photogenic but was so thin that she was sometimes described as "frail" or "waiflike."https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BjgiAAAAIBAJ&pg=771,5799635 Candidates' Wives Hard at Work in New Hampshire Joy Miller Associated Press The Owosso Argus-Press February 26, 1968 9 Romney issued a half-hour campaign film that featured endorsements from many national and state party leaders as well as from celebrities Bob Hope and Art Linkletter, and showcased her family and her concern for disadvantaged people. Huber, in contrast, emphasized his edge in political experience, derided her "motherly concern", and criticized the "bossism" of the Romney family. Romney called for the withdrawal of all American troops from Vietnam by the end of 1971 and characterized the Vietnam War as "disastrous."https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/06/02/121525655.pdf Mrs. Romney Urges U.S. Pullout By '71 The New York Times June 2, 1970 6 She expressed concern over the Cambodian Incursion and proposed an end to congressional funding if Nixon did not abide by his pledge to withdraw from there by the end of the month. On other issues, Romney sometimes took overly broad stances that appeared to come down on multiple sides.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/08/06/78799822.pdf Mrs. Romney Scores Narrow Victory The New York Times August 6, 1970 The conservative wing of the party, which had never trusted her husband, had the same reaction to her.https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/us/politics/political-lessons-from-a-mothers-losing-run.html?pagewanted=all Political Lessons, From a Mother's Losing Run Sheryl Gay Stolberg The New York Times February 23, 2012 1 The largely male press corps tended to deal with her in a paternalistic way, and she was often identified as "Mrs. George Romney" in stories and photo captions.https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=%22mrs.+george+romney%22&aql=&gs_nf=1#q=%22mrs.+george+romney%22&hl=en&safe=off&gl=us&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1970,cd_max:1970&tbm=nws&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=nj6RT8rBCOeN6QG797CABA&ved=0CBcQpwUoBg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=cf3843c8efd6c605 'Mrs. George Romney' Google Search April 20, 2012 Initially heavily favored over Huber, her campaign failed to gain momentum and polls showed a close race; in response, she shifted her ads to focus more on her stands on issues. In the August 4, 1970, primary, Lenore Romney won a narrow victory, with 52 percent of the vote compared to Huber's 48 percent.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RDc_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2043,1685584 Lenore comes out a winner United Press International The Windsor Star August 5, 1970 1 thumb|Republican primary results by county: #d02923 Romney #ed8783 Romney—50–60% #e55651 Romney—60–70% #d02923 Romney—70–80% #b95107 Huber #dc8c53 Huber—50–60% Results 1970 Republican U.S. Senate primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=349148 Our Campaigns - MI US Senate - R Primary Race - Aug 04, 1970 Republican Party (United States) Lenore Romney 277,086 51.31% Republican Party (United States) Robert J. Huber 262,938 48.69% 540,024 100.00% General election Campaign In the general election, with diminished prestige, a divided party, and with campaign resources drained by the primary fight, Romney was behind incumbent Democrat Hart from the beginning. Romney issued position papers and emphasized crime and social permissiveness, advocated a national healthcare plan, and expressed opposition to environmental damage caused by industry. She never made any personal attacks against Hart. As the only woman running for the U.S. Senate that year,http://www.ssldl.info/gsdl/collect/slh/index/assoc/DSLH1970/1029N026.dir/doc.pdf Voter's Guide: U.S. Congress South Lyon Herald October 28–29, 1970 5 July 13, 2012 December 27, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20120713015322/http://www.ssldl.info/gsdl/collect/slh/index/assoc/DSLH1970/1029N026.dir/doc.pdf dead she was a tireless campaigner, traveling around the state in a chartered Cessna and making as many as twelve stops a day. Nevertheless, the perception grew that she did not have any vision for what she would do as a senator and was only in the race because she was George Romney's wife. In response, she said at one point, "I'm not a stand-in or a substitute for anyone." Her campaign material continued to just refer to "Lenore." She also was negatively impacted, in both the primary and general election, by fallout from her husband's effort as HUD Secretary to enforce housing integration in Warren, Michigan. The Romney children campaigned for her, including Mitt, who took student leave to work as a driver and advance man at schools and county fairs during the summer.http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695236445/Fortunate-Son-Mitt-Romneys-life-is-his-fathers-legacy.html Fortunate Son: Mitt Romney's life is his father's legacy LeBlanc, Steve Associated Press Deseret Morning News Salt Lake City December 16, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20080626075029/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C695236445%2C00.html June 26, 2008 dead Together, Lenore and Mitt visited all 83 Michigan counties. George was in Washington most of the time and did not publicly campaign for her until the campaign's final day.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/11/04/78220060.pdf Senator Hart Defeats Mrs. Romney in Michigan Jerry M. Flint The New York Times November 4, 1970 23 Consistently far ahead in polls, Hart staged a low-key campaign with few public appearances; he mostly ignored her and sometimes acted condescendingly towards her in private. Results General election resultsStatistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1970election.pdf Clerk of the House of Representatives 15 Democratic Party (United States) Philip Hart (incumbent) 1,744,672 66.84% 3.46 Republican Party (United States) Lenore Romney 858,438 32.89% 2.46 Socialist Workers Party (United States) Paul Ludien 3,861 0.15% 0.06 Socialist Labor Party of America James Sim 3,254 0.13% 0.08 2,610,225 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Hart handily won a third term with 67 percent of the vote to Romney's 33 percent. Romney made an unusual election-night visit to congratulate Hart in person, and in saying "I hope all good things will be his," gave what the victor termed "the most graceful and really moving concession speech I've ever heard."https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oF8iAAAAIBAJ&pg=836,299592 Lenore 'Gracious in Defeat' Associated Press The Owosso Argus-Press November 4, 1970 7 In her election night remarks, Romney said, "I thought [running as a woman] would be an asset. It was disappointing to find that many people closed their minds just because I was a woman." The following year, Romney published an article in Look magazine describing the openly dismissive reaction she had gotten from both men and women. She wrote that, "In factories, I encountered men in small groups, laughing, shouting, 'Get in the kitchen. George needs you there. What do you know about politics?'" To a friend she wrote, "[I had no idea] how open and bare and wide my own vulnerability would be ... the body wounds are deep." She told one of her children that she wished she had not run, and concluded that "It's the most humiliating thing I know of to run for office." See also 1970 United States Senate elections References Michigan 1970 United States Senate election Category:Philip Hart