United States Senate elections, 1954

United States Senate elections, 1954

1952 ← November 2, 1954 → 1956

38 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Lyndon Johnson Bill Knowland Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Texas California Last election 47 seats 48 seats Seats before 46 49 Seats won 48 47 Seat change +2 -2

Republican holds   Republican pickups   Democratic holds   Democratic pickups

Majority Leader before election Bill Knowland Republican Elected Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson Democratic

The U.S. Senate election of 1954 was a midterm election in the first term of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency. Eisenhower's Republican party lost a net of two seats to the Democratic opposition. This small change was enough to give Democrats control of the chamber, which they went on to hold until 1980.

Democrats defeated incumbents John S. Cooper (R-KY), Homer Ferguson (R-MI), Ernest S. Brown (R-NV), and Guy Cordon (R-OR), and took an open seat in Wyoming. Republicans took the seats of incumbents Guy M. Gillette (D-IA) and Thomas A. Burke (D-OH), and took an open seat in Colorado.

Complete list of contests

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Other candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	Re-elected	John Sparkman (D), 82.5% J. Foy Guin, Jr. (R), 17.5%
Arkansas	John L. McClellan	Democratic	Re-elected	John L. McClellan (D), unopposed
California Class 3: Special	Thomas Kuchel, (appointee)	Republican	Elected to full term	Thomas Kuchel (R), 53.2% Samuel W. Yorty (D), 45.5% Isobel M. Cerney (Independent-Progressive), 1.2%
Colorado	Edwin C. Johnson	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Gordon Allott (R), 51.3% John A. Carroll (D), 48.7%
Delaware	J. Allen Frear, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	J. Allen Frear, Jr. (D), 56.9% Herbert B. Warburton (R), 43.1%
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	Richard Russell, Jr. (D), unopposed
Idaho	Henry C. Dworshak	Republican	Re-elected	Henry C. Dworshak (R), 62.8% Glen H. Taylor (D), 37.2%
Illinois	Paul Douglas	Democratic	Re-elected	Paul Douglas (D), 53.6% Joseph T. Meek (R), 46.4%
Iowa	Guy M. Gillette	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Thomas E. Martin (R), 52.2% Guy M. Gillette (D), 47.5% Ernest Seemann (Republicsons), 0.3%
Kansas	Andrew F. Schoeppel	Republican	Re-elected	Andrew F. Schoeppel (R), 56.3% George McGill (D), 41.8% David C. White (Prohibition), 1.8%
Kentucky	John S. Cooper	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Alben W. Barkley (D), 54.5% John S. Cooper (R), 45.5%
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Re-elected	Allen J. Ellender (D), unopposed
Maine	Margaret C. Smith	Republican	Re-elected	Margaret C. Smith (R), 58.6% Paul A. Fullam (D), 41.4%
Massachusetts	Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	Re-elected	Leverett Saltonstall (R), 50.5% Foster Furcolo (D), 49.0%
Michigan	Homer Ferguson	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Patrick V. McNamara (D), 50.8% Homer Ferguson (R), 48.9%
Minnesota	Hubert Humphrey	Democratic	Re-elected	Hubert Humphrey (D), 56.4% Val Bjornson (R), 42.1%
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Re-elected	James O. Eastland (D), unopposed
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	Re-elected	James E. Murray (D), 50.4% Wesley A. D'Ewart (R), 49.6%
Nebraska Class 1: Special	Samuel W. Reynolds, (appointee)	Republican	Appointee retired Republican hold	Roman L. Hruska (R), 60.9% James F. Green (D), 39.1%
Nebraska Class 2	Hazel H. Abel	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Carl T. Curtis (R), 61.1% Keith Neville (D), 38.9%
Nevada Class 3: Special	Ernest S. Brown, (appointee)	Republican	Lost election to full term Democratic gain	Alan Bible (D), 58.1% Ernest S. Brown (R), 41.9%
New Hampshire Class 2	Styles Bridges	Republican	Re-elected	Styles Bridges (R), 60.2% Gerard L. Morin (D), 39.8%
New Hampshire Class 3: Special	Robert W. Upton, (appointee)	Republican	Lost nomination to full term Republican hold	Norris Cotton (R), 60.2% Stanley J. Betley (D), 39.8%
New Jersey	Robert C. Hendrickson	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Clifford P. Case (R), 48.7% Charles R. Howell (D), 48.5%
New Mexico	Clinton P. Anderson	Democratic	Re-elected	Clinton P. Anderson (D), 57.3% Edwin L. Mechem (R), 42.7%
North Carolina Class 2	Alton Asa Lennon	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	William Kerr Scott (D), 65.9% Paul C. West (R), 34.1%
North Carolina Class 3: Special	Sam Ervin, (appointee)	Democratic	Elected to full term	Sam Ervin (D), unopposed
Ohio Class 3: Special	Thomas A. Burke, (appointee)	Democratic	Lost election to full term Republican gain	Thomas A. Burke (D), 50.1% George H. Bender (R), 49.9%
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Re-elected	Robert S. Kerr (D), 55.8% Fred M. Mock (R), 43.7% George V. Fried (Independent), 0.3% George H. Brasier (Independent), 0.2%
Oregon	Guy Cordon	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Richard L. Neuberger (D), 50.2% Guy Cordon (R), 49.8%
Rhode Island	Theodore F. Green	Democratic	Re-elected	Theodore F. Green (D), 59.3% Walter I. Sundlun (R), 40.7%
South Carolina	Charles E. Daniel, (appointee)	Democratic	Appointee retired Democratic hold	Strom Thurmond (ID), 63.1%, write-in Edgar A. Brown (D), 36.8%
South Dakota	Karl E. Mundt	Republican	Re-elected	Karl E. Mundt (R), 57.3% Kenneth Holum (D), 42.7%
Tennessee	Estes Kefauver	Democratic	Re-elected	Estes Kefauver (D), 70.0% Tom Wall (R), 30.0%
Texas	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	Re-elected	Lyndon B. Johnson (D), 84.6% Carlos G. Watson (R), 14.9% Fred Spangler (Constitution Party), 0.5%
Virginia	A. Willis Robertson	Democratic	Re-elected	A. Willis Robertson (D), 79.9% Charles W. Lewis, Jr. (Independent-Democrat), 10.7% Clarke T. Robb (Virginia Social Democrat), 9.4%
West Virginia	Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	Re-elected	Matthew M. Neely (D), 54.8% Thomas Sweeney (R), 45.2%
Wyoming	Edward D. Crippa	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D), 51.5% William H. Harrison (R), 48.5%

Senate composition before and after elections

Senate Composition at the end of the 83rd Congress											Senate Composition at the beginning of the 84th Congress
		D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D				D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D		D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D		D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D		D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	I		D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R		I	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R		R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R		R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R		R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R				R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Color Key:	D	= Democratic	I	= Independent	R	= Republican

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 1954