1974 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1974 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker won re-election, defeating Democratic nominee Peter F. Flaherty.

1974 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

November 5, 1974

Nominee Richard Schweiker Peter Flaherty Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,843,317 1,596,121 Percentage 53.0% 45.9%

County Results Schweiker:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Flaherty:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Richard Schweiker Republican Elected U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker Republican

Major candidates

Democratic

• Pete Flaherty, Mayor of Pittsburgh

Republican

• Richard Schweiker, incumbent U.S. Senator

Campaign

In the general election campaign, Schweiker faced popular Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty. Both candidates, as highlighted by a New York Times article, "[took] firm stands against inflation, recession, big spending by the Federal Government and abortion on demand."[1] Schweiker, who was endorsed by the AFL–CIO, distanced himself from the Richard Nixon administration, specifically the Watergate scandal, by emphasizing his early calls for Nixon's resignation and the fact that he was on Nixon's "enemies list."[1]

In the end, Schweiker won re-election with 53% of the popular vote, with Flaherty winning 45.9%. Schweiker carried 53 of Pennsylvania's counties, a decrease from the 59 counties he carried in the 1968 election. Flaherty had a strong showing in Allegheny County, which contains his home town of Pittsburgh, which Schweiker had won in 1968. The final election results represented a political divide between the eastern and western portions of the state, Schweiker in the east and Flaherty in the west, with the exception of Flaherty's slim 4,491 vote victory in Philadelphia.[1]

Results

Pennsylvania United States Senate Election, 1974[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Richard Schweiker (Incumbent)	1,843,317	53.00%
	Democratic	Peter F. Flaherty	1,596,121	45.89%
	Constitution	George W. Shankey	38,004	1.09%
	N/A	Other	370	0.01%
Majority			247,196	7.11%
Turnout			3,477,812
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1974 and 1975

References

1. Sundquist, Renée M. Lamis ; with a foreword by James L. (2009). The realignment of Pennsylvania politics since 1960 : two-party competition in a battleground state. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 100–102. ISBN 027103419X.
2. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974 [sic]" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Retrieved July 8, 2014.