1972 United States Senate election in Colorado

The 1972 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Allott ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was narrowly defeated by Democratic former State Representative Floyd Haskell. This would be the last time until 2008 that a Democrat was elected to the Class 2 Senate seat from Colorado.

1972 United States Senate election in Colorado

November 7, 1972

Nominee Floyd Haskell Gordon Allott Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 457,545 447,957 Percentage 49.41% 48.37%

County results Haskell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Allott:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Gordon Allott Republican Elected U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Floyd Haskell, former Republican State Representative from Littleton
• Anthony Vollack, State Senator from Arvada

Results

Floyd Haskell, a former State Representative who had served as a Republican from 1965–67, but had left the party in 1970 over opposition to the Vietnam War, won the primary.

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Floyd Haskell	77,574	58.83%
	Democratic	Anthony Vollack	54,298	41.18%
Total votes			131,872	100.00%

General election

Results

General election results[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Floyd Haskell	457,545	49.41%	7.48
	Republican	Gordon Allott (incumbent)	447,957	48.37%	9.65
	Raza Unida	Secundino Salazar	13,228	1.43%	N/A
	American	Henry John Olshaw	7,353	0.79%	N/A
Total votes			926,083	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• 1972 United States Senate elections

References

1. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=225334
2. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=6483
3. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1973). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.