United States Senate election in Florida, 1970

The Florida United States Senate election of 1970 took place on November 3 and coincided with the 1970 Florida gubernatorial election.

Democratic Party nomination

Longtime Democratic incumbent and former Governor Spessard Holland decided to retire. This made Democratic primary an open race.

Candidates:
* Former Governor C. Farris Bryant
* State Senator Lawton Chiles of Lakeland
* Joel Daves
* Alcee Hastings
* State Representative Fred Schultz

Initially Bryant, a well-known figure, was seen as a natural front-runner. Chiles was, despite 12-years career in Legislature, was largely unknown outside his district.

To generate some media coverage across the state, Chiles embarked upon a 1,003-mile walk across Florida. The 91-day walk earned him the recognition he sought, and the nickname that would follow him throughout his political career – "Walkin' Lawton".

Daves (future West Palm Beach), Hastings (future U.S. Representative) and Schultz were minor candidates. Schultz, however, finished strong third just after Chiles.

Primary (September 1) resulted [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=236084 Our Campaigns - FL US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 01, 1970 ] ] :
* Bryant - 240,222 (32.90%)
* Chiles - 188,300 (25.79%)
* Schultz - 175,745 (24.07%)
* Hastings - 91,948 (12.59%)
* Daves - 33,939 (4.65%)

Runoff between two leading candidates (September 29) resulted [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=236085 Our Campaigns - FL US Senate - D Runoff Race - Sep 29, 1970 ] ] :
* Chiles - 474,420 (65.74%)
* Bryant - 247,211 (34.26%)

Republican Party nomination

The Republicans, who won one Senate seat from Florida in 1968, hoped to gain other.

Candidates:
* Federal Judge and President Richard Nixon failed Supreme Court nominee G. Harold Carswell
* U.S. Representative Bill Cramer
* George Balmer

Carswell was endorsed by Governor Claude Roy Kirk, Jr. However, he was unable to death Cramer.

Primary results (September 1) [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=269746 Our Campaigns - FL US Senate - R Primary Race - Sep 01, 1970 ] ] :
* Cramer - 220,553 (62.52%)
* Carswell - 121,281 (34.38%)
* Balmer - 10,947 (3.10%)

General election

The Democrats retained their seat.

* Lawton Chiles (D) - 902,438 (53.87%)
* Bill Cramer (R) - 772,817 (46.13%)
* Jim Fair (write-in) - 123 (0.01%)

Chiles was re-elected in 1976 and 1982, retired after three-terms in 1987. He served as a Budget Committee chairman during his last term. After brief retirement, he returned to the politics, as he was elected Governor in 1990 and 1994.

The same day as Chiles was elected first time, Governor Kirk lost to Democrat Reubin O'Donovan Askew.

References