1974 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Herb Denenberg, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner
• Pete Flaherty, Mayor of Pittsburgh
• Frank Mesaros
• James M. Quigley, former U.S. Representative from Camp Hill

General election

Candidates

• Pete Flaherty, Mayor of Pittsburgh (Democratic)
• Richard Schweiker, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican)
• George W. Shankey (Constitution)

Campaign

In the general election campaign, Schweiker faced popular Pittsburgh mayor Peter Flaherty. Both candidates, as highlighted by a New York Times article, "[took] firm stands against inflation, recession, big spending by the Federal Government and abortion on demand." Schweiker, who was endorsed by the AFL–CIO, distanced himself from the Richard Nixon administration, specifically the Watergate scandal, by emphasizing his early calls for Nixon's resignation and the fact that he was on Nixon's "enemies list."

In the end, Schweiker won re-election with 53% of the popular vote, with Flaherty winning 45.9%. Schweiker carried 53 of Pennsylvania's counties, a decrease from the 59 counties he carried in the 1968 election. Flaherty had a strong showing in Allegheny County, which contains his home town of Pittsburgh, which Schweiker had won in 1968. The final election results represented a political divide between the eastern and western portions of the state, Schweiker in the east and Flaherty in the west, with the exception of Flaherty's slim 4,491 vote victory in Philadelphia.

Results

References

References

1. Sundquist, Renée M. Lamis ; with a foreword by James L.. (2009). "The realignment of Pennsylvania politics since 1960 : two-party competition in a battleground state". Pennsylvania State University Press.
2. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974 [sic]". Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House.