1972Final results
1972 election for New York Senate District 51
New York State Senate · New York
William T. Smith (R) won with 53.7% of the vote, defeating John B. Schamel (D) by 7.5 points.
William T. SmithRepublican · winner · incumbent
53.7%60,546
John B. SchamelDemocrat
46.3%52,121
112,667 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1972
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET