Philip Hart - U.S. Senate

U.S. Senate

Hart was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1958, defeating one-term incumbent Republican Charles E. Potter by a 54% to 46% margin. He was reelected by overwhelming margins in 1964 and 1970. (His 1970 opponent was the wife of former Michigan governor George Romney.) There had been a call from conservatives in Michigan to recall Hart from office due to his stand on gun and busing, with bumper stickers reading "Recall cures Hart attacks." The recall effort never got off the ground, because the United States Constitution does not authorize the recall of federal officials.

Hart remained in office until his death. He had decided not to run for reelection to a fourth term in 1976. That year, the Senate voted to name its new Senate office building after him: The Hart Senate Office Building. It would have been the first federal government building named after someone still living. The vote was 99 to 0, with Hart abstaining. Hart died of cancer a few days later, just before his term would have expired and he would have retired. Donald W. Riegle, Jr., who had just been elected to the seat for the next term, was named to fill Hart's seat for the remaining days of the congressional session.