Did Buckley only win because of the vote split? What would the race have looked like otherwise, say Buckley wins the GOP nomination and runs against Ottinger?
Did Buckley only win because of the vote split? What would the race have looked like otherwise, say Buckley wins the GOP nomination and runs against Ottinger?
Yep. (Like D'Amato in '80 when Javits ran on the Lib ticket) He could possibly have won a straight fight in '76 with Bella Abzug as his opponent but not against Pat Moynihan. If Goodell runs third party then he has a shot. In a 2-way race against Ottinger Buckley's toast.
New York wasn't as Democrat then as it is now. Remember, they had Nelson Rockefeller, a Republican, as their Governor and two Republican Senators at that time. I wonder how a Goodell vs. Goodell or Ottinger vs. Buckley race would have turned out, or a two-way race in 1980 with D'Amato or Javits against the Democratic candidate would have turned out like.