1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey

The 1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Clifford P. Case defeated Democratic nominee Paul J. Krebs with 62.46% of the vote. As of 2020, this is the last U.S. Senate Race in New Jersey won by a Republican.

1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey

November 7, 1972

Nominee Clifford P. Case Paul J. Krebs Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,743,854 963,573 Percentage 62.46% 34.51%

County results Case:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

U.S. senator before election Clifford P. Case Republican Elected U.S. Senator Clifford P. Case Republican

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 6, 1972.[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Daniel M. Gaby, advertising executive and chair of the Democratic Policy Council[2]
• Joseph T. Karcher, Sayreville Borough Attorney and former State Assemblyman[2]
• Henry Kielbasa, railroad worker[2]
• Paul J. Krebs, former U.S. Representative[2]

Withdrawn

• Patrick McGahn, chair of the Atlantic County Democratic Committee[2]

Declined

• Edward Crabiel, Minority Leader of the New Jersey Senate[2]

Results

Democratic primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paul J. Krebs	135,000	43.16
	Democratic	Daniel M. Gaby	86,213	27.56
	Democratic	Joseph T. Karcher	51,321	16.41
	Democratic	Henry Kielbasa	40,235	12.86
Total votes			312,769	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Clifford P. Case, incumbent United States Senator
• James W. Ralph

Results

Republican primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Clifford P. Case	187,268	70.13
	Republican	James W. Ralph	79,766	29.87
Total votes			267,034	100.00

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Clifford P. Case, Republican
• Paul J. Krebs, Democratic

Other candidates

• A. Howard Freund, American
• Charles W. Wiley, Independent
• Jules Levin, Socialist Labor

Results

1972 United States Senate election in New Jersey[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Clifford P. Case	1,743,854	62.46%
	Democratic	Paul J. Krebs	963,573	34.51%
	American	A. Howard Freund	40,980	1.47%
	Independent	Charles W. Wiley	33,442	1.20%
	Socialist Labor	Jules Levin	10,058	0.36%
Majority			780,281
Turnout			2,791,907
	Republican hold		Swing

References

1. "1972 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
2. David Wildstein (2 Sep 2019). "Labor Leader: Paul J. Krebs, last president of NJ CIO served one-term in Congress". Retrieved 20 Jan 2020.
3. "1972 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1972. Retrieved March 20, 2019.