It was the closest the Democrats have come to winning a Senate election in Kansas since George McGill won re-election in 1932.

Source: Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives[1] Four Republicans and three Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

Democratic United States senator James Allen won re-election to a second term, faced no Republican opponent in the general election, defeating Prohibition Party nominee Alvin Abercrombie.

Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, U.S. Representative Bill Gunter and Secretary of State of Florida Richard Stone advanced to a run-off election.

Senator Birch Bayh was re-elected to a third consecutive term in office, defeating Mayor of Indianapolis Richard Lugar.

Dole himself even admitted he was "prepared to lose" the election to William R. Roy, a Topeka physician and two-term Representative from Kansas's 2nd Congressional District.

Roy's campaign to be the first Democratic Senator from Kansas in decades received an enthusiastic response, and he led in polling for months.

Still, Dole's campaign capitalized on the issue of abortion rights, which was fresh on voters minds in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision.

Senator Marlow Cook ran for a second term in office but was defeated by Democratic Governor of Kentucky Wendell Ford.

As a Republican representing heavily-Democratic Maryland, Mathias faced a potentially difficult re-election bid for the 1974 election.

[12] Mathias was renominated by Republicans, fending off a primary election challenge from conservative doctor Ross Pierpont.

[13][14] As an advocate for campaign finance reform, Mathias refused to accept any contribution over $100 to "avoid the curse of big money that has led to so much trouble in the last year".

On two issues, however, Mathias argued to reform Congress and the U.S. tax system to address inflation and corporate price fixing, contrary to Mikulski.

[12] In retrospect, The Washington Post felt the election was "an intelligent discussion of state, national, and foreign affairs by two smart, well-informed people".

Eagleton served as the initial vice presidential nominee for George McGovern's campaign against incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972.

[18] Despite negative publicity from his vice presidential nomination withdrawal, Eagleton cruised to re-election in a rematch over Curtis, taking over 60% of the vote.

The state ballot commission conducted its own partial recount and announced on December 24, 1974, that Wyman had won by just two votes.

Senator Cotton resigned on December 31, 1974, and Governor Thomson appointed Wyman to fill the remainder of the term, which would expire January 3, 1975.

[1] Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was William L. Guy of Bismarck, North Dakota, who had served as Governor of the state from 1961 to 1973; and had presumably left the office to seek the senate seat.

Betty Roberts was chosen to replace former U.S. senator Wayne Morse, who won the Democratic primary but died before the general election.

[31] The Oregon Democratic State Central Committee met on August 11, two days after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency.

[32] Outgoing Oregon governor Tom McCall, who had decided not to run in 1968, had pledged to Packwood a year earlier that he would not challenge him in 1974.

[33] But as his term as governor ended, McCall began reconsidering his decision, believing he would bring more integrity to the job.

[36][37] Roberts was also at a financial disadvantage, having entered the race late and facing debt from her failed gubernatorial run; Packwood was able to use money he had raised for a primary challenge that never materialized, and led in most polls by a double-digit margin.

In the Governor's race, Bob Straub, who beat Roberts in the Democratic primary, defeated Vic Atiyeh to become the first elected Democratic governor since 1956; in the U. S. House of Representatives races, Les AuCoin won an open seat in the 1st district and in the 4th district, Jim Weaver upset incumbent John Dellenback.

Both candidates, as highlighted by a New York Times article, "[took] firm stands against inflation, recession, big spending by the Federal Government and abortion on demand.

Incumbent Democratic senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican challenger Gwen Bush to win his third term.

Both Hollings and Bush faced no opposition in their party's primaries which allowed both candidates to concentrate solely on the general election.

The Watergate scandal caused the Republicans to perform poorly nationwide in 1974 and Gwen Bush was little more than a sacrificial lamb.

The main focus of the voters in South Carolina was on the competitive gubernatorial contest and Hollings easily cruised to a comfortable re-election.