1972 United States Senate election in Nebraska

The 1972 Nebraska United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Senator Carl Curtis ran for re-election to a fourth term. He was challenged by State Senator and former Congressman Terry Carpenter, the Democratic nominee. Despite President Richard Nixon's landslide victory over Democratic challenger George McGovern in the presidential election in Nebraska, Curtis only defeated Carpenter with 53% of the vote, a narrower margin than many observers predicted.^[1] This was the last time until 1996 that a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in Nebraska.

1972 United States Senate election in Nebraska

← 1966 November 7, 1972 1978 →

Nominee Carl Curtis Terry Carpenter Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 301,841 265,922 Percentage 53.09% 46.77%

County results Curtis:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Carpenter:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Carl Curtis Republican Elected U.S. Senator Carl Curtis Republican

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Terry Carpenter, State Senator, former U.S. Representative from Nebraska's 5th congressional district
• Wallace C. Peterson, University of Nebraska–Lincoln economics professor^[2]
• Wayne W. Ziebarth, State Senator^[3]
• Don Searcy, Kearney State College geography professor^[4]
• John DeCamp, State Senator^[3]
• Phillys Person Lyons, housewife^[5]

Results

Democratic primary results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Terry Carpenter	52,779	28.97%
	Democratic	Wallace C. Peterson	49,569	27.21%
	Democratic	Wayne W. Ziebarth	42,181	23.15%
	Democratic	Don Searcy	25,854	14.19%
	Democratic	John DeCamp	7,582	4.16%
	Democratic	Phillys Person Lyons	4,121	2.26%
	Democratic	Write-ins	90	0.05%
Total votes			182,176	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Carl Curtis, incumbent Senator
• Ronald L. Blauvelt, Thedford rancher^[7]
• Christine Millard Kneifl, former schoolteacher, widow of former State Attorney General Philip R. Kneifl^[8]
• Otis Glebe, Lincoln landlord^[9]

Results

Republican primary results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carl T. Curtis (inc.)	141,213	74.04%
	Republican	Ronald L. Blauvelt	30,138	15.80%
	Republican	Christine Millard Kneifl	10,941	5.74%
	Republican	Otis Glebe	8,143	4.27%
	Republican	Write-ins	286	0.15%
Total votes			190,721	100.00%

General election

1972 United States Senate election in Nebraska^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Carl Curtis (inc.)	301,841	53.09%	−7.95%
	Democratic	Terry Carpenter	265,922	46.77%	+8.02%
	Write-in		817	0.14%	—
Majority			35,919	6.32%	−15.98%
Total votes			568,580	100.00%
	Republican hold