1968 United States Senate elections

Parties						Total
		Democratic	Republican	Conservative	Other
Last elections (1966)		64	36	0	0	100
Before these elections		63	37	0	0	100
Not up		40	26	0	0	66
Up Class 3 (1962→1968)		23	11	0	0	34
Incumbent retired		3	3	—	—	6
	Held by same party	1	2	—	—	3
	Replaced by other party	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans		—	—	3
	Result	2	4	0	0	6
Incumbent ran		20	8	—	—	28
	Won re-election	13	7	—	—	20
	Lost re-election	4 Democrats replaced by 4 Republicans		—	—	4
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	2	0	—	—	2
	Lost renomination, and party lost	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	2
	Result	16	12	0	0	28
Total elected		18	16	0	0	34
Net gain/loss		5	5			5
Nationwide vote		24,976,660	23,588,832[lower-alpha 2]	1,139,402	989,058	50,693,952
	Share	49.27%	46.53%	2.25%	1.95%	100%
Result		58[lower-alpha 1]	42	0	0	100

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives[1]

Fifteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:

Arkansas was the tipping point state with a margin of 18.3%.

Alaska election

Nominee Mike Gravel Elmer Rasmuson Ernest Gruening (write-in) Party Democratic Republican Democratic Popular vote 36,527 30,286 14,118 Percentage 45.13% 37.42% 17.44%

U.S. senator before election Ernest Gruening Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mike Gravel Democratic

Democrat Ernest Gruening lost renomination to fellow Democrat Mike Gravel. Gruening then ran as an Independent, but lost again to Gravel in the general election, thereby keeping the seat in Democratic hands.

Two months after the election, on December 11, 1968, the other Alaskan senator, Democrat Bob Bartlett, died. Republican Ted Stevens was then appointed to that other seat.

Arizona election

Nominee Barry Goldwater Roy Elson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 274,607 205,338 Percentage 57.22% 42.78%

U.S. Senate election results map. Red denotes counties won by Goldwater. Blue denotes those won by Elson.

U.S. senator before election Carl Hayden Democratic Elected U.S. senator Barry Goldwater Republican

Incumbent Democrat Carl Hayden did not run for re-election to an eighth term, with his long-time staff member Roy Elson running as the Democratic Party nominee to replace him. Elson beat State Treasurer of Arizona Bob Kennedy in the primary.

Elson was defeated by a wide margin, however, by former U.S. senator and Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. Prior to Goldwater's election, the seat had been held for decades by the Democratic Party under Carl Hayden, and would remain under Republican Party control until 2020. Elson had previously challenged U.S. senator Paul Fannin in 1964, when Goldwater vacated his seat to run for President against Lyndon B. Johnson.

Georgia election

Nominee Herman Talmadge E. Earl Patton Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 885,093 246,865 Percentage 77.51% 22.49%

U.S. senator before election Herman Talmadge Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge Democratic

Talmadge sought another term to the Senate and was easily re-elected. The election was notable for the Georgia Republican Party, as it marked the first U.S. Senate election where it fielded a candidate. Patton lost by over 50% to Talmadge.

Illinois election

Nominee Everett Dirksen William G. Clark Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,358,947 2,073,242 Percentage 53.01% 46.59%

County results

U.S. senator before election Everett Dirksen Republican Elected U.S. senator Everett Dirksen Republican

Incumbent Republican and Minority Leader Everett Dirksen won re-election to his fourth term over William G. Clark (D), the Illinois Attorney General.

Senator Harold Hughes

Four-term Republican Bourke B. Hickenlooper retired. Two-term Democratic Governor of Iowa Harold Hughes was elected senator in a close race against Republican state senator David M. Stanley.

New York election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Jacob Javits Paul O'Dwyer James L. Buckley Party Republican Democratic Conservative Popular vote 3,269,772 2,150,695 1,139,402 Percentage 49.68% 32.68% 17.31%

County results

U.S. senator before election Jacob Javits Republican Elected U.S. senator Jacob Javits Republican

Incumbent Republican Jacob Javits won against Democratic challenger Paul O'Dwyer and Conservative Party challenger James L. Buckley in a three-way election.

While Javits did not face any challengers for the Republican nomination, he did face a minor one when seeking the Liberal Party of New York's nomination.

North Carolina election

Nominee Sam Ervin Robert Somers Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 870,406 566,834 Percentage 60.6% 39.4%

County results

U.S. senator before election Sam Ervin Democratic Elected U.S. senator Sam Ervin Democratic

The general election was fought between the Democratic incumbent Sam Ervin and the Republican nominee Robert Somers. Ervin won re-election to a third full term, with over 60% of the vote.

The first round of the Primary Election was held on May 4, 1968.[12] The runoff for the Republican Party candidates took place on June 1.[13]

North Dakota election

Nominee Milton R. Young Herschel Lashkowitz Party Republican Democratic–NPL Popular vote 154,968 80,815 Percentage 64.79% 33.79%

County results

U.S. senator before election Milton R. Young Republican Elected U.S. senator Milton R. Young Republican

North Dakota Republican Milton Young, sought and received re-election to his fifth term, defeating North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party candidate Herschel Lashkowitz, the mayor of Fargo, North Dakota since 1954.[1][14]

Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was Herschel Lashkowitz of Fargo, North Dakota, who was serving as the mayor of the city since 1954. Young and Lashkowitz won the primary elections for their respective parties.

One independent candidate, Duane Mutch of Larimore, North Dakota, also filed before the deadline. Mutch was later a state senator for the North Dakota Republican Party in the North Dakota Senate from 1959 to 2006 for District 19. He ran as an independent when he did not receive his party's nomination.

Oklahoma election

Nominee Henry Bellmon Mike Monroney Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 470,120 419,658 Percentage 51.7% 46.2%

U.S. senator before election Mike Monroney Democratic Elected U.S. senator Henry Bellmon Republican

Incumbent Democratic U.S. senator Mike Monroney was running for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican former Governor Henry Bellmon.

Oregon election

Nominee Bob Packwood Wayne Morse Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 408,646 405,353 Percentage 50.2% 49.8%

County results

U.S. senator before election Wayne Morse Democratic Elected U.S. senator Bob Packwood Republican

Incumbent Democrat Wayne Morse was seeking a fifth term, but narrowly lost re-election to 36-year-old Republican State Representative Bob Packwood race.[16]

The Democratic primary was held May 28, 1968.[17] Morse defeated former Representative Robert B. Duncan, former U.S. Congressman from Oregon's 4th congressional district (1963–1967), and Phil McAlmond, millionaire and former aide to opponent Robert B. Duncan.

Pennsylvania election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Richard Schweiker Joseph Clark Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,399,762 2,117,662 Percentage 51.9% 45.8%

County results

U.S. senator before election Joseph Clark Democratic Elected U.S. senator Richard Schweiker Republican

Incumbent Democrat Joseph Clark sought re-election to another term, but was defeated by Republican nominee Richard Schweiker, member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

South Carolina election

Nominee Ernest Hollings Marshall Parker Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 404,060 248,780 Percentage 61.9% 38.1%

U.S. senator before election Ernest Hollings Democratic Elected U.S. senator Ernest Hollings Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican state senator Marshall Parker in a rematch of the election two years earlier, to win his second (his first full) term.

Hollings faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats, and avoided a primary election. Marshall Parker, the state senator from Oconee County in the Upstate, was persuaded by South Carolina Republicans to enter the race, and he did not face a primary challenge.

After a close election loss to Fritz Hollings in 1966, the Republicans felt that Parker might have a chance at defeating Hollings by riding Nixon's coattails in the general election. However, the Republicans did not provide Parker with the financial resources to compete, and he subsequently lost by a bigger margin to Hollings than two years prior.

Vermont election

Nominee George Aiken Party Republican Popular vote 157,197 Percentage 99.9%

U.S. senator before election George Aiken Republican Elected U.S. senator George Aiken Republican

Incumbent Republican George Aiken ran successfully for re-election to another term in the United States Senate; he was unopposed.