April 22, 1975:
Sen. Stuart Symington, a Missouri Democrat, announces he will not seek a fifth term in 1976.
Symington, 73, was first elected in 1952 and was a candidate for his party's presidential nomination in 1960.
The Democratic nominee to replace Symington in '76, Rep. Jerry Litton, will die in a plane crash the night of his primary win. Disarray in the Democratic camp will lead to the victory in November by state Attorney General John Danforth, who narrowly lost to Symington in 1970, and who becomes the first Missouri Republican to win a Senate seat since 1946.
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