 Although Nixon beat Shell in the primary, 1,285,151 votes (65.4 percent) to Shell's 656,542 (33.4 percent), the contest was bitter, and Nixon did not reach out to conservative Shell supporters, which weakened him in the general election.In a bitter and expensive campaign, Brown and Nixon campaigned with great zeal and effort.Nixon had a lead in the polls early on, but Brown lessened the margin as time went on.