The 1972 United States Senate election in Rhode Island took place on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator
Claiborne Pell successfully sought re-election, defeating Republican
John Chafee in the closest race of Pell's Senate career. Chafee was elected to Rhode Island's other Senate seat in
1976, and was colleagues with Pell until the latter's retirement in 1996. This was the only United States Senate election in Rhode Island that
Claiborne Pell won by a narrow margin and the only United States Senate election in Rhode Island in which
Claiborne Pell did not carry every county or all counties in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island was one of fifteen states alongside
Alabama,
Arkansas,
Colorado,
Delaware,
Georgia,
Iowa,
Louisiana,
Maine,
Minnesota,
Mississippi,
Montana,
New Hampshire,
South Dakota and
West Virginia that were won by Republican President
Richard Nixon in 1972 that elected Democrats to the United States Senate.