1974 United States Senate election in Vermont

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, attorney and prosecutor Patrick Leahy, defeated Republican nominee, then-Rep. Richard W. Mallary, to become Aiken's successor.

1974 United States Senate election in Vermont

November 5, 1974 (1974-11-05)

Nominee Patrick Leahy Richard Mallary Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 70,629 66,223 Percentage 49.5% 46.4%

County results Leahy:      40–50%      50–60% Mallary:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election George Aiken Republican Elected U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Democratic

Elections in Vermont
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This election featured future Mayor of Burlington, U.S. Representative, and Leahy's future U.S. Senate colleague, Bernie Sanders, who was the nominee for the Liberty Union Party. Sanders won only 4.1% of the vote and failed to win any counties but managed to obtain 5.6% of the vote in Chittenden County, where the city of Burlington is located, which he would later go on to become the mayor of.

This election marked the first time in the state's history that Vermont elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. Leahy, who still holds this seat as of 2022, remains the only Democrat ever elected to the Senate in the state. The last non-Republican elected to the Senate from Vermont at this point in time was Lawrence Brainerd, who was elected as a member of the Free Soil Party in 1854. Sanders would later be elected to Vermont's other U.S. Senate seat in 2006; he has caucused with the Democratic Party but serves as an independent.