1972 United States Senate election in Colorado

1972 United States Senate election in Colorado

November 7, 1972

Nominee Floyd Haskell Gordon Allott Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 457,545 447,957 Percentage 49.41% 48.37%

County results Haskell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Allott:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Gordon Allott Republican Elected U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell Democratic

The 1972 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Allott ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was narrowly defeated by Democratic former State Representative Floyd Haskell. This would be the last time until 2008 that a Democrat was elected to the Class 2 Senate seat from Colorado. Colorado was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia that were won by Republican president Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Floyd Haskell, former Republican State Representative from Littleton
• Anthony Vollack, State Senator from Arvada

Results

Floyd Haskell, a former State Representative who had served as a Republican from 1965 to 1967, but had left the party in 1970 over opposition to the Vietnam War, won the primary.

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Floyd Haskell	77,574	58.83%
	Democratic	Anthony Vollack	54,298	41.18%
Total votes			131,872	100.00%

General election

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Floyd Haskell	457,545	49.41%	7.48
	Republican	Gordon Allott (incumbent)	447,957	48.37%	9.65
	Raza Unida	Secundino Salazar	13,228	1.43%	N/A
	American	Henry John Olshaw	7,353	0.79%	N/A
Total votes			926,083	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• 1972 United States Senate elections