The 1974 United States Senate election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1974. The incumbent Republican Senator, George Aiken, did not run for re-election to another term in the United States Senate. The Democratic nominee, Patrick Leahy, the state's attorney of Chittenden County, defeated Republican nominee Rep. Richard W. Mallary to become Aiken's successor. This election also included Liberty Union Party candidate Bernie Sanders, who won 4.1% of the vote.
This election marked the first time in Vermont's history that it elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. Leahy remained the only Democrat ever elected to the Senate from Vermont until 2022, when he retired and was succeeded by Peter Welch. The last non-Republican elected to the Senate from Vermont before 1974 was Lawrence Brainerd, a Free Soil Party member chosen in 1854 by an anti-slavery coalition of the Vermont General Assembly to fill a brief vacancy in this same seat.
Leahy and Sanders would later serve together in the Senate from Sanders's election in 2006 until Leahy's retirement in 2023.
Republican primary Candidates T. Serse Ambrosini, former Vice President of the Chase Manhattan Bank Charles R. Ross, former member of the Burlington City Council and Professor of Economics at the University of Vermont Richard W. Mallary, U.S. Representative from Vermont's at-large congressional district
Results
Democratic primary Candidates Nathaniel Frothingham, former teacher Patrick Leahy, State Attorney for Chittenden County Results
General election Candidates Patrick Leahy (D), State's Attorney for Chittenden County Richard W. Mallary (R), U.S. Representative from Vermont's at-large congressional district Bernie Sanders (LU), carpenter and social worker
Results
See also 1974 United States Senate elections
References