University of Virginia Library

Low Voter Turnout Results
In Smith, Marijuana Defeats

By CINDI STUART

CD/Walter Bardenwerper

Nixon Supporters Celebrate Victory In Crowded Shoreham Hotel Tuesday Night

Despite the size of the
Republican landslide victory,
the coattail effect was
insignificant, and in some cases
nonexistent.

In the House, Republicans
needed to pick up 39 seats in
order to gain control.
Obtaining only 13, the
Republican party now has 191
representatives compared to
243 Democrats.

Democratic Gains

Democrats gained two seats
in the Senate, increasing their
advantage over Republicans to
57-43. The defeat of Maine
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R)
makes this the first all-male
Senate in 24 years.

In the gubernatorial races,
the Democrats picked up one
governorship, bringing their
total to 31 states. Republicans
now govern 19 states.

In addition to the election
races, voters decided several
referenda of national interest
Tuesday. Californians voted
two to one to restore the death
penalty, despite state and
federal Supreme Court
decisions that the penalty is
"impermissibly cruel."

"Free-backyard marijuana"
was the subject of a second
controversial referendum in
California. The final vote
showed a two to one favor for
maintaining legal penalties for
the individual use or growing
of marijuana.

Legal abortion for anyone
pregnant up to 20 weeks was
rejected Tuesday by a vote of
two to one in Michigan.
Supporters of the proposal
claim they will continue to
encourage liberalization of
Michigan state abortion laws
through court battles.

Because of a lack of tax
dollars, the International
Olympic Committee has been
practically forced to change
the home of the 1976 Winter
Olympics to a location other
than Colorado. Citizens of
Colorado Tuesday voted to cut
off public funds for the
Olympics.

Mr. Nixon led Sen. George
S. McGovern by a 62 per cent
to 37 per cent margin,
according to yesterday's
mid-afternoon returns of 98
per cent of the precincts.
Minor party candidates
captured one per cent. The
President obtained an
overwhelming popular vote of
45,861,960, representing 61
per cent.

Mr. McGovern received
28,402,465 popular votes and
38 per cent. American Party
candidate John G. Schmitz
obtained 1,047,030 votes,
taking one per cent and Dr.
Benjamin Spock of the
People's Party collected 73,678
votes and no per cent.

Electoral Totals

A total of 270 electoral
votes were necessary to win the
election. Mr. Nixon took 49
states, giving him 521 electoral
votes. Mr. McGovern carried
Massachusetts and Washington,
D.C., raising his total electoral
votes to 17. The senator took
only one Virginia locality, that
of Charles City County. In
Charlottesville, each major
party candidate took four
precincts.

Virginia election returns
resulted in the surprise
Senatorial upset of incumbent
Sen. William B. Spong Jr. (D)
to Republican Rep. William B.
Scott. One Republican party
official remarked that the most
that had been hoped for was
"to lose gracefully."

With 98 per cent of the
state's precinct tallied, Mr.
Scott netted 711,687 popular
votes while his opponents Mr.
Spong and Horace (Hunk)
Henderson (Ind.) obtained
628,195 and 33,710 votes
respectively.

Although Mr. Spong took
10 precincts of Albemarle
County to Mr. Scott's five, the
incumbent senator received
only 6,113 votes to Mr. Scott's
6,136. In Charlottesville, Sen.
Spong took five of the eight
precincts, for a total of 7281
to 5309 popular votes.