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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Short description|Election in the United States}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1972 United States Senate election in Delaware
| country = Delaware
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1966 United States Senate election in Delaware
| previous_year = 1966
| next_election = 1978 United States Senate election in Delaware
| next_year = 1978
| election_date = November 7, 1972
| image_size = 124x135px
| image1 = Joe Biden first official photo.jpg
| nominee1 = '''[[Joe Biden]]'''
| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
| popular_vote1 = '''116,006'''
| percentage1 = '''50.5%'''
| image2 = BoggsCaleb.jpg
| nominee2 = [[J. Caleb Boggs]]
| party2 = Republican Party (United States)
| popular_vote2 = 112,844
| percentage2 = 49.1%
| map_size = 100px
| map_caption = Results:
'''Biden:'''
{{legend0|#a5b0ff|40–50%}}
{{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}}
{{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}}
{{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}}
<br/>
'''Boggs:''' {{legend0|#ffb2b2|40–50%}} {{legend0|#e27f7f|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}}
| title = U.S. Senator
| before_election = [[J. Caleb Boggs]]
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = [[Joe Biden]]
| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| map = {{switcher |[[File:1972 United States Senate election in Delaware results map by county.svg|100px]] |County results |[[File:US Senate 1972 Delaware by State House District.svg|200px]] |State House district results |default=2 }}
}}
{{Elections in Delaware sidebar}}
The '''1972 United States Senate election in Delaware''' was held November 7, 1972. Incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States Senator]] [[J. Caleb Boggs]] ran for a third term in the [[United States Senate]]. Boggs faced off against [[Joe Biden]], a [[New Castle County, Delaware|New Castle County]] Councilman. Though Boggs was expected to easily win a third term over Biden, the election ended up being the closest [[1972 United States Senate elections|Senate election of the year]]. Biden narrowly defeated Boggs by 3,162 votes, winning his first of seven U.S. Senate elections. This is the only time Biden lost [[Sussex County, Delaware|Sussex County]] in his seven elections to the Senate. Biden would later be elected [[2008 United States presidential election|vice president in 2008]] and [[2020 United States presidential election|president in 2020]]. Biden became the youngest senator since [[Rush Holt Sr.|Rush Holt]] won in [[West Virginia]] in [[1934 United States Senate elections#West Virginia|1934]].

==General election campaign==
Longtime Delaware political figure and incumbent Republican Senator J. Caleb Boggs was considering retirement, which would likely have left [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Pete du Pont]] and Wilmington Mayor [[Harry G. Haskell Jr.]] in a divisive [[primary election|Senate primary]] fight. To avoid a potential primary, [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Richard Nixon]] helped convince Boggs to run again with full party support.

Aside from Biden, a [[New Castle County, Delaware|New Castle County]] Councilman, no Democrats wanted to challenge Boggs.<ref name="cby-43">{{cite book | editor=Moritz, Charles| title=Current Biography Yearbook 1987 | publisher=[[H. W. Wilson Company]] | location=New York | year=1987 | title-link=Current Biography Yearbook }}, p. 43.</ref> Biden's campaign had virtually no money and was given no chance of winning.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/us/politics/24biden.html | title=Father's Tough Life an Inspiration for Biden | author=Broder, John M. | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=October 23, 2008 | access-date=October 24, 2008}}</ref> The campaign was managed by Biden's sister, [[Valerie Biden Owens]] (who would go on to manage his future campaigns), was staffed by other members of the Biden family, and relied upon handed-out newsprint position papers.<ref name="npr-72">{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14999603 | title=Biden's Road to Senate Took Tragic Turn | author=Naylor, Brian | publisher=[[NPR]] | date=October 8, 2007 | access-date=September 12, 2008}}</ref> Biden did receive some assistance from the [[AFL–CIO]] and from Democratic pollster [[Patrick Caddell]].<ref name="cby-43"/> Biden's campaign focused on withdrawal from Vietnam, the environment, civil rights, mass transit, more equitable taxation, health care, the public's dissatisfaction with politics-as-usual, and "change".<ref name="cby-43"/><ref name="npr-72"/>

During the summer, Biden trailed Boggs by almost 30 percentage points;<ref name="cby-43"/> however, Biden's energy level, attractive young family, and ability to connect with voters' emotions gave him an advantage over the ready-to-retire Boggs.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Almanac of American Politics |last = Barone |first = Michael | author-link=Michael Barone (pundit) |author2=Cohen, Richard E. |author-link2=Richard E. Cohen |year = 2008 |publisher = [[National Journal Group]] |location = Washington |isbn=978-0-89234-117-7|title-link = The Almanac of American Politics }}, p. 364.</ref> One notable prop used by the Biden campaign was a brochure printed in newspaper format that contrasted the world view of the two candidates, e.g., (full page) "To Cale Boggs an unfair tax was the 1948 poll tax"; (opposite page) "To Joe Biden an unfair tax is the 1972 income tax."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/when-a-young-joe-biden-used-his-opponents-age-against-him/" | author=Erickson, Bo | title=When a young Joe Biden used his opponent's age against him}}</ref> On November 7, 1972, Biden upset Boggs by a margin of 3,162 votes.<ref name="npr-72"/>

A few weeks later on December 18, 1972, [[Neilia Hunter Biden|Biden’s wife]] and daughter died in a car crash which injured his sons. Biden was contemplating resigning the Senate and told his brother to talk with governor-elect [[Sherman W. Tribbitt]] on his successor. Senate Majority Leader [[Mike Mansfield]] persuaded Biden to stay in the Senate for at least six months. Biden was sworn in at the hospital where his sons were recovering. Biden would hold the seat up until his election as Vice President 36 years later.

At the time of the 1972 election, Biden was 29 years old. He turned 30—the minimum age for a U.S. senator—on November 20, 1972, in time for the Senate term beginning January 3, 1973. At the commencement of his Senate term, Biden was the sixth-youngest U.S. Senator in history.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Youngest_Senator.htm | title=U.S. Senate: Youngest Senator}}</ref>

A 2004 book contained a story, allegedly from [[Frank Sheeran]], that in the week prior to Election Day an unidentified lawyer approached Sheeran about preventing the distribution of the local paper because Senator Boggs was running an advertisement unflattering to Biden. Sheeran claimed that he organized a work stoppage, and that Teamsters truck drivers refused to cross a picket line, so the papers were not deilvered.<ref>{{Cite book|isbn = 978-1586422387|title = "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa|last1 = Brandt|first1 = Charles|date = June 29, 2016}}</ref> The credibility of Sheeran's account has been called into serious question. It conflicts directly with articles in the ''Wilmington News Journal'' on the strike, published on November 6 and November 22, 1972. The paper was not printed on the days in question because the Printers Union briefly joined the strike. The paper's deliveries were not shut down for a week, but for two days. The picket line did not come down on the day after the election; rather, the Guild remained on strike until November 22.{{cn|date=March 2020}}

Biden was elected [[President of the United States]] in November 2020 at age 77. Because of mail-in voting his victory was not official until November 7, 5 days after conventional voting began and the 48th anniversary of his Senate election over Boggs.

==Results==
{{Election box begin | title=1972 United States Senate election in Delaware<ref>http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1972election.pdf</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
| party = Democratic Party (US)
| candidate = [[Joe Biden]]
| votes = 116,006
| percentage = 50.48%
| change = +9.59%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Republican Party (US)
| candidate = [[J. Caleb Boggs]] (incumbent)
| votes = 112,844
| percentage = 49.10%
| change = −10.02%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = American Party (1969)
| candidate = Henry Majka
| votes = 803
| percentage = 0.35%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
| party = Prohibition Party (US)
| candidate = Herbert B. Wood
| votes = 175
| percentage = 0.07%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box total
| votes = 229,828
| percentage = 100.00%
| change = N/A
}}
{{Election box gain with party link no swing
| winner = Democratic Party (US)
| loser = Republican Party (US)
| swing =
}}
{{Election box end}}

== See also ==
* [[1972 United States Senate elections]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Joe Biden}}
{{1972 United States elections}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=1972 Delaware elections
|description=
}}

[[Category:United States Senate elections in Delaware|1972]]
[[Category:1972 United States Senate elections|Delaware]]
[[Category:1972 Delaware elections]]
[[Category:Joe Biden|s]]

1972 United States Senate election in Delaware - Revision history

MetaBOT at 11:45, 13 July 2023