1976 United States Senate election in New York

The 1976 United States Senate election in New York was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator James L. Buckley ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic diplomat Pat Moynihan. As of 2024, this is the last time an incumbent Senator from New York lost re-election to this seat.

1976 United States Senate election in New York

← 1970 November 2, 1976 1982 →
 
Nominee Pat Moynihan James Buckley
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance Liberal Conservative
Popular vote 3,422,594 2,836,633
Percentage 54.17% 44.89%

County results
Moynihan:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Buckley:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

James L. Buckley
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Pat Moynihan
Democratic

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Convention

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Democratic Party Convention results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Paul O'Dwyer 32.50%
Democratic Pat Moynihan 31.10%
Democratic Bella Abzug 28.70%
Democratic Ramsey Clark 7.00%
Democratic Abraham Hirschfeld 0.70%
Total votes 100.00%

Primary results

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1976 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Moynihan 333,697 36.41%
Democratic Bella Abzug 323,705 35.32%
Democratic Ramsey Clark 94,191 10.28%
Democratic Paul O'Dwyer 82,689 9.02%
Democratic Abraham Hirschfeld 82,331 8.98%
Total votes 916,613 100.00%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1976 Republican U.S. Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican James L. Buckley (incumbent) 242,257 70.45
Republican Peter Peyser 101,629 29.55
Total votes 343,886 100.00

Results

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Candidates

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Results

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1976 U.S. Senate election in New York[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Pat Moynihan 3,238,511 51.26%
Liberal Pat Moynihan 184,083 2.91%
Total Pat Moynihan 3,422,594 54.17%
Republican James L. Buckley (incumbent) 2,525,139 39.96%
Conservative James L. Buckley (incumbent) 311,494 4.93%
Total James L. Buckley (incumbent) 2,836,633 44.89% N/A
Communist Herbert Aptheker 25,141 0.40%  0.37
Socialist Workers Marcia Gallo 16,350 0.26%  0.20
Libertarian Martin E. Nixon 10,943 0.17%  0.17
U.S. Labor Elijah C. Boyd 6,716 0.11%  0.11
Total votes 6,318,377 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 14, 1976". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - R Primary". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1976". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.

Further reading

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  • Andelic, Patrick. “Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the 1976 New York Senate Race, and the Struggle to Define American Liberalism.” Historical Journal 57#4 (2014), Pp. 1111–33. online.