1970 United States Senate elections

1970 United States Senate elections

← 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 since January 3, 1961 September 24, 1969 Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania Seats before 57 43 Seats after 54 44 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 25,435,247[1] 19,373,972[1][a] Percentage 52.4% 39.9% Seats up 24 10 Races won 22 11   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Independent Seats before 0 0 Seats after 1 1[2] Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 2,183,572[1] 516,149[1] Percentage 4.5% 1.1% Seats up 0 1 Races won 1 1
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      Independent gain      Conservative gain      No election
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1970 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. It took place on November 3, with the 33 seats of Class 1 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. These races occurred 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 first time that Republicans gained Senate seats while losing House seats, which also occurred in 2018. This also occurred for Democrats in 1914, 1962, and 2022.^[3]

This was the most recent election in which a third party won a seat in the Senate until 2006. As of 2025^[update], this is also the most recent cycle in which Democrats won Senate elections in Utah and Wyoming, and the most recent in which Republicans won a Senate election in Hawaii.

Since the deaths of Lowell Weicker and James L. Buckley in 2023, this is the latest Senate election cycle where all first-elected members are deceased.

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