1972 United States Senate election in Tennessee

none related races 1972 United States Senate elections March 2026 September 2023 1972 United States Senate election in Tennessee Tennessee presidential no 1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1966 1978 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1978 November 7, 1972 150x150px Howard Baker photo.jpg Howard Baker Republican Party (United States) 716,539 61.55% Ray Blanton.jpg Ray Blanton Democratic Party (United States) 440,599 37.85% 300px County results 300px Congressional district results 300px Baker: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90%Blanton: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% Senator Howard Baker Republican Party (United States) Howard Baker Republican Party (United States) The 1972 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 7, 1972, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker won re-election to a second term, becoming the first Republican senator in the state to ever do so. Republican primary 9.1% of the voting age population participated in the Republican primary.Steed Moreland Baker 1980 22 Nominee Howard Baker, incumbent U.S. senator Republican primary results1972 Election Results for Tennessee -- RightDataUSA.com https://rightdatausa.com/election_results?y=1972&t=S2&r=N&s=TN&d=08&WhichMap=v3 2026-02-10 rightdatausa.com Republican Party (US) Howard Baker (incumbent) 242,733 97.0% Republican Party (US) Hubert Patty 7,581 3.0% 250,314 100.0% Democratic primary 13.9% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary.Steed Moreland Baker 1980 22 Nominee Ray Blanton, U.S. representative Democratic primary results1972 Election Results for Tennessee -- RightDataUSA.com https://rightdatausa.com/election_results?y=1972&t=S2&r=N&s=TN&d=08&WhichMap=v3 2026-02-10 rightdatausa.com Democratic Party (US) Ray Blanton 292,249 76.4% Democratic Party (US) Don Palmer 40,700 10.6% Democratic Party (US) Herman Frey 18,814 4.9% Democratic Party (US) Ron Stinnett 15,804 4.1% Democratic Party (US) Raymond Gibbs 14,941 3.9% Democratic Party (US) Other 12 0.0% 382,520 100.0% thumb|upright=0.8|Button for Don Palmer, Blanton's strongest opponentTN US Senate-D Primary https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=341079 ourcampaigns.com 17 July 2025 General election 1972 United States Senate election in Tennesseehttps://books.google.com/books?id=46A7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA421 America Votes 32: 2015-2016, Election Returns by State 9781506368993 Cook Rhodes 2017-10-26 CQ Press Republican Party (United States) Howard Baker (incumbent) 716,539 61.55% +5.85% Democratic Party (United States) Ray Blanton 440,599 37.85% +6.46% Independent politician Dan East 7,026 0.60% N/A Other 31 0.00% N/A 275,940 23.70% +12.30% 1,164,195 Republican Party (US) By county County2022-11-08 1972-11-07 Senatorial Election Results for Tennessee (Class 2) https://rightdatausa.com/election_results?y=1972&t=S2&r=N&s=TN&d=08&WhichMap=v3 2023-02-18 RightDataUSA en Howard Baker, Jr.Republican Ray BlantonDemocratic Other votes Totalvotes % # % # % #Anderson 62.8% 13,403 36.9% 7,868 0.3% 55 21,326Bedford 50.6% 3,600 48.5% 3,448 0.9% 65 7,113Benton 43.5% 1,848 56.0% 2,379 0.4% 19 4,246Bledsoe 60.4% 1,878 39.1% 1,217 0.5% 14 3,109Blount 69.2% 15,030 30.4% 6,601 0.4% 86 21,717Bradley 73.5% 9,776 26.0% 3,465 0.5% 63 13,304Campbell 64.7% 4,323 34.8% 2,329 0.5% 33 6,685Cannon 52.2% 1,381 47.2% 1,249 0.5% 14 2,644Carroll 50.3% 4,255 49.1% 4,153 0.5% 43 8,451Carter 78.0% 10,354 21.5% 2,858 0.5% 62 13,274Cheatham 44.4% 1,536 55.0% 1,905 0.6% 21 3,462Chester 44.5% 1,817 55.0% 2,244 0.4% 18 4,079Claiborne 64.5% 3,175 35.2% 1,731 0.3% 13 4,919Clay 52.5% 857 46.9% 766 0.6% 10 1,633Cocke 78.2% 4,735 21.5% 1,301 0.3% 18 6,054Coffee 54.7% 5,203 45.3% 4,309 0.0% 0 9,512Crockett 59.0% 2,016 41.0% 1,399 0.0% 0 3,415Cumberland 66.1% 4,137 33.5% 2,094 0.4% 24 6,255Davidson 56.2% 73,272 43.3% 56,472 0.5% 627 130,371Decatur 44.2% 1,715 55.5% 2,150 0.3% 11 3,876DeKalb 49.5% 1,620 49.5% 1,621 0.9% 31 3,272Dickson 44.8% 2,789 54.4% 3,389 0.8% 51 6,229Dyer 61.1% 4,657 37.9% 2,889 0.9% 71 7,617Fayette 49.4% 2,756 50.0% 2,791 0.6% 35 5,582Fentress 67.5% 1,930 32.0% 915 0.5% 13 2,858Franklin 48.1% 3,508 51.6% 3,765 0.3% 24 7,297Gibson 52.7% 7,117 46.7% 6,309 0.7% 89 13,515Giles 40.8% 2,028 58.4% 2,902 0.7% 36 4,966Grainger 71.4% 2,635 28.1% 1,038 0.4% 15 3,688Greene 71.1% 9,003 28.4% 3,604 0.5% 64 12,671Grundy 46.1% 1,187 53.4% 1,375 0.5% 13 2,575Hamblen 67.3% 7,769 32.3% 3,726 0.4% 44 11,539Hamilton 71.2% 55,129 28.3% 21,932 0.5% 403 77,464Hancock 72.4% 1,603 26.3% 583 1.3% 28 2,214Hardeman 42.1% 2,378 57.0% 3,214 0.9% 51 5,643Hardin 49.7% 2,985 50.2% 3,019 0.1% 6 6,010Hawkins 69.8% 7,322 27.7% 2,907 2.5% 257 10,486Haywood 47.1% 2,501 51.9% 2,756 1.1% 56 5,313Henderson 60.0% 4,159 39.6% 2,744 0.3% 23 6,926Henry 45.5% 3,430 53.8% 4,058 0.8% 57 7,545Hickman 36.2% 1,284 63.1% 2,236 0.7% 24 3,544Houston 39.1% 644 59.7% 983 1.2% 20 1,647Humphreys 41.5% 1,699 57.2% 2,340 1.3% 54 4,093Jackson 38.2% 807 61.2% 1,293 0.6% 12 2,112Jefferson 68.6% 4,986 31.0% 2,255 0.4% 30 7,271Johnson 82.2% 3,089 16.5% 620 1.3% 47 3,756Knox 68.7% 61,478 30.8% 27,573 0.5% 442 89,493Lake 48.3% 757 50.6% 793 1.1% 18 1,568Lauderdale 48.1% 2,627 51.0% 2,784 1.0% 53 5,464Lawrence 52.1% 5,115 47.2% 4,631 0.7% 67 9,813Lewis 35.5% 847 64.5% 1,539 0.0% 0 2,386Lincoln 45.6% 2,407 53.8% 2,836 0.6% 31 5,274Loudon 65.1% 4,794 34.7% 2,555 0.2% 15 7,364Macon 67.4% 2,099 32.6% 1,015 0.0% 0 3,114Madison 54.9% 11,569 45.1% 9,499 0.0% 6 21,074Marion 56.5% 3,294 42.8% 2,499 0.7% 40 5,833Marshall 45.8% 2,043 53.8% 2,401 0.4% 19 4,463Maury 58.8% 6,335 40.7% 4,387 0.5% 54 10,776McMinn 65.3% 6,878 34.2% 3,603 0.5% 49 10,530McNairy 43.1% 2,962 56.4% 3,869 0.5% 34 6,865Meigs 61.7% 966 37.8% 592 0.4% 7 1,565Monroe 61.8% 5,414 37.9% 3,318 0.3% 22 8,754Montgomery 50.9% 6,694 48.6% 6,388 0.5% 68 13,150Moore 46.5% 491 52.9% 559 0.7% 7 1,057Morgan 56.5% 2,109 43.1% 1,610 0.4% 15 3,734Obion 48.2% 3,454 50.9% 3,652 0.9% 63 7,169Overton 47.0% 1,683 52.6% 1,886 0.4% 15 3,584Perry 38.1% 747 61.5% 1,206 0.4% 8 1,961Pickett 66.9% 920 33.0% 454 0.1% 2 1,376Polk 55.6% 2,091 44.1% 1,657 0.3% 11 3,759Putnam 53.7% 5,416 45.7% 4,602 0.6% 63 10,081Rhea 64.0% 3,351 36.0% 1,881 0.0% 0 5,232Roane 61.9% 7,691 37.7% 4,680 0.4% 45 12,416Robertson 46.1% 3,182 53.2% 3,676 0.7% 51 6,909Rutherford 57.0% 9,500 42.0% 7,010 1.0% 164 16,674Scott 74.6% 2,641 25.2% 891 0.2% 6 3,538Sequatchie 54.9% 1,091 44.5% 884 0.7% 13 1,988Sevier 80.4% 7,461 18.9% 1,750 0.7% 65 9,276Shelby 65.2% 148,117 33.9% 77,127 0.9% 1,946 227,190Smith 47.3% 1,503 51.8% 1,645 0.9% 30 3,178Stewart 34.4% 658 64.7% 1,237 0.8% 16 1,911Sullivan 68.3% 26,282 31.1% 11,949 0.6% 225 38,456Sumner 54.8% 8,055 44.5% 6,531 0.7% 106 14,692Tipton 60.9% 4,804 38.3% 3,025 0.8% 60 7,889Trousdale 42.1% 529 57.7% 726 0.2% 3 1,258Unicoi 75.5% 3,512 24.3% 1,130 0.3% 12 4,654Union 68.1% 1,745 31.5% 806 0.4% 11 2,562Van Buren 47.0% 515 52.1% 570 0.9% 10 1,095Warren 49.1% 2,898 50.0% 2,951 0.9% 51 5,900Washington 73.2% 16,571 26.1% 5,914 0.7% 158 22,643Wayne 67.4% 2,422 32.4% 1,166 0.2% 6 3,594Weakley 49.3% 4,066 50.7% 4,185 0.0% 0 8,251White 49.8% 1,951 49.4% 1,936 0.7% 29 3,916Williamson 64.5% 6,444 34.5% 3,444 1.1% 108 9,996Wilson 53.1% 5,034 46.1% 4,375 0.8% 73 9,482Total 61.5% 716,539 37.8% 440,599 0.6% 7,057 1,164,195 See also 1972 United States presidential election in Tennessee 1972 United States Senate elections References Works cited Steed Robert Moreland Laurence Baker Tod Party Politics in the South Praeger Publishers 1980 0030565863 1972 Tennessee United States Senate