Texas in 1970: Liberal Senator Ralph Yarborough was beaten by Lloyd Bentsen in the Democratic primary. In the general, Bentsen went on to face a Republican Congressman named George H. W. Bush. Bentsen won most of the rural counties, but HW kept the race relatively close by winning his home county of Harris, Dallas, and even Travis (!!!), though not Bexar. What's most interesting is that while HW won Dallas, Bentsen won Tarrant, Collin and Denton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_United_States_Senate_election_in_TexasIllinois in 1978: Senator Chuck Percy, a Rockefeller Republican (whose daughter is married Jay Rockefeller), won reelection by 8 points. His Democratic opponent carried a lot of downstate counties, but Percy swept Chicagoland, including Cook (!!!).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_United_States_Senate_election_in_Illinois
