1972 United States Senate election in Texas

The 1972 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Tower won re-election to a third term. Tower won 14% of the African American vote.

1972 United States Senate election in Texas

← 1966 November 7, 1972 1978 →

Nominee John Tower Barefoot Sanders Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,822,877 1,511,985 Percentage 53.41% 44.30%

County results Tower:      40–50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Sanders:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Amaya:      30–40%

U.S. senator before election John Tower Republican Elected U.S. Senator John Tower Republican

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Thomas M. Cartlidge
• Barefoot Sanders, former state representative and Johnson administration official.
• Alfonso Veloz, candidate for governor in 1968
• Hugh Wilson, candidate for Senate in 1957 and 1961
• Ralph Yarborough, former U.S. Senator (1957–1971)

Results

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ralph Yarborough	1,032,606	49.99%
	Democratic	Barefoot Sanders	787,504	38.12%
	Democratic	Hugh Wilson	125,460	6.07%
	Democratic	Thomas M. Cartlidge	66,240	3.21%
	Democratic	Alfonso Veloz	53,938	2.61%
Total votes			2,065,748	100.00%

Although he received over one million votes, Yarborough was 269 short of a majority. He and Sanders advanced to a runoff election held June 3.

Runoff campaign

1972 Democratic U.S. Senate runoff^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Barefoot Sanders	1,008,499	52.08%	13.96
	Democratic	Ralph Yarborough	928,132	47.93%	2.06
Total votes			1,936,631	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• John G. Tower, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1961

Results

General election results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Tower (incumbent)	1,822,877	53.41%	−2.98%
	Democratic	Barefoot Sanders	1,511,985	44.30%	+1.15%
	Raza Unida	Flores Amaya	63,543	1.86%	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Tom Leonard	14,464	0.42%	N/A