Robert W. Kasten Jr. won with 50.2% of the vote (1,106,311 votes), ahead of Gaylord A. Nelson with 48.3% (1,065,487 votes).
The margin between the first two candidates was 1.9 percentage points (40,824 votes). The party margin (Republican share minus Democratic share) was a Republican lead of 1.9 points.
Compared with the previous comparable race in the same area, the party margin moved 47.5 points toward Republicans. The winning party changed.
2,204,202 votes were counted in this race, for 5 candidates or options.
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