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United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1962

United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1962
Pennsylvania
← 1956 November 6, 1962 1968 →
  JosephSClark.jpg James E. Van Zandt (Pennsylvania Congressman).jpg
Nominee Joseph S. Clark, Jr. James E. Van Zandt
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 2,238,383 2,134,649
Percentage 51.1% 48.7%

Pennsylvania Senatorial Election Results by County, 1962.svg
County results

U.S. Senator before election

Joseph S. Clark, Jr.
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Joseph S. Clark, Jr.
Democratic


Joseph S. Clark, Jr.
Democratic

Joseph S. Clark, Jr.
Democratic

The 1962 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 6, 1962. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joseph S. Clark, Jr. successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Republican nominee James E. Van Zandt. A Democratic U.S. Senator would not be re-elected in Pennsylvania again until 2012.

The 1962 Senate race took place alongside a gubernatorial race that garnered most of the media's attention. Van Zandt criticized Clark for being an idealistic liberal and stressed an anti-communist platform. He also attacked Clark for Clark's support of the Kennedy administration's foreign policy towards both China and Cuba. In return, Clark portrayed Van Zandt as a proponent of McCarthyism who would be "trigger happy" as a Senator.

In the end, Clark was re-elected to the United States Senate, winning his second term. He beat Van Zandt in the nine-county area of Southwestern Pennsylvania surrounding Pittsburgh by nearly 200,000 votes, but lost Central Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia suburbs to Van Zandt. Clark increased his margin of victory in the Southwest from 1956, and his 108,000 vote margin in Allegheny County was an important factor in his victory.


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