In 1968, Packwood was nominated to run for the U.S. Senate as the Oregon Republican candidate against Democrat Wayne Morse. Morse had been elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1944 and 1950, then switched parties due to his liberal views, and was easily reelected as a Democrat in 1956 and 1962. The relatively unknown Packwood was given little chance, but after an 11th-hour debate with the incumbent before the City Club of Portland, which Packwood was generally considered to have won, and a statewide recount in which over 100,000 ballots were challenged by both parties, Packwood was declared the winner by 3,500 votes. He then replaced Senator Ted Kennedy as the youngest senator. Packwood was reelected in 1974, 1980, 1986, and 1992. He became "one of the country's most powerful elected officials". His voting record was moderate. He supported restrictions on gun owners and liberal civil rights legislation. Packwood voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well to override President Reagan's veto).