United States Senate elections, 1970

United States Senate elections, 1970

1968 ← November 3, 1970 → 1972

35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Mike Mansfield Hugh Scott Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania Last election 58 seats 42 seats Seats before 57 43 Seats won 54 44 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 25,402,791 19,326,064 Percentage 52.4% 39.9% Swing 3.1% 6.6%   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative (N.Y.) Last election 0 seats 0 seats Seats before 0 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 1

Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Conservative gain   Independent gain

Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

The United States Senate elections, 1970 was an election for the United States Senate, taking place in the middle of Richard Nixon's first term as President. The Democrats lost a net of three seats, while the Republicans and the Conservative Party of New York picked up one net seat each, and former Democrat Harry F. Byrd, Jr. was re-elected as an independent. This was the most recent election in which a third party won a seat in the Senate until Joe Lieberman was elected as a candidate of the Connecticut for Lieberman party in 2006.