The 1972 United States Senate election in Rhode Island took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell successfully sought re-election, defeating Republican John Chafee in the closest race of Pell's Senate career. Chafee was elected to Rhode Island's other Senate seat in 1976, and was colleagues with Pell until the latter's retirement in 1996. This was Pell's only Senate election in which he won by single digits, and the only election in which he did not carry every county in Rhode Island. That same year, Rhode Island was one of fifteen states that voted for Republican President Richard Nixon in his landslide re-election victory, while simultaneously electing Democrats to the United States Senate.
Democratic primary Candidates Claiborne Pell, incumbent U.S. senator
Republican primary Candidates John Chafee, former governor of Rhode Island and former United States secretary of the Navy
General election Results
References