In the primary, Nunn emerged victorious from a crowded field of Democratic candidates, including Gambrell and former Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver.

[2][3] Georgia was one of fifteen states alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia that were won by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.

A total of fifteen candidates ran for the Democratic nomination, including incumbent Gambrell, Nunn, former governor Ernest Vandiver, segregationist J.

Nunn, for example, harshly criticized his own party's nominee for President, George McGovern, pledging not to vote for him in that year's presidential election.

[11][12] As Jon Nordheimer noted in the New York Times several weeks before the election, "This maneuvering has become so frenzied, in fact, that the relative popularity of the President, Senator McGovern and Governor Wallace might seem to be the only real issues of the campaign.

[11] Instead of Nixon, both Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, a former Republican presidential nominee, and Vice President Spiro Agnew threw their support behind Thompson.

[3] By defeating Thompson in the general election, Nunn became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Georgia despite losing the white vote.