United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1974

United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1974

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

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

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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.

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

References