United States Senate elections, 1960

United States Senate elections, 1960

1958 ← November 8, 1960 → 1962

35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate   Majority party Minority party   Leader Lyndon Johnson Everett Dirksen Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Texas Illinois Last election 65 seats 35 seats Seats won 64 36 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 18,547,250 14,894,867 Percentage 55.1% 44.2% Swing 0.1% 1.1%

Republican gains   Republican pickups   Democratic gains   Democratic pickups

Majority Leader before election Lyndon Johnson Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The U.S. Senate elections of 1960 coincided with the election of John F. Kennedy as president. Kennedy's victory was extremely narrow to the point it causes some controversy still today, and the opposition Republicans gained one seat at the expense of the Democrats. The Democrats nonetheless retained a commanding lead in the Senate with 64 seats to 36.

Gains and losses

The Republicans gained one open seat in Wyoming and the seat of incumbent J. Allen Frear (D-DE), while the Democrats gained an open seat in North Dakota.

The Democrats gained one more seat when Wyoming Senator-elect Keith Thomson died before taking his seat, being replaced by Democrat John J. Hickey. The Republicans gained a compensating seat in 1961 when John Tower (R-TX) was elected to fill the vacant seat of newly elected Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (D-TX).

Senate composition before and after elections

86th Congress Senate Composition																										87th Congress Senate Composition
Color Key:   = Republican   = Democratic

Complete list of races

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	Re-elected, 70.2 - 29.8	Julian Elgin (Republican)
Alaska	Bob Bartlett	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.4 - 36.6	Lee L. McKinley (Republican)
Arkansas	John L. McClellan	Democratic	Re-elected, unopposed
Colorado	Gordon Allott	Republican	Re-elected, 53.5 - 46.0	Robert L. Knous (Democratic)
Delaware	J. Allen Frear, Jr.	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain, 50.7 - 49.3	J. Caleb Boggs (Republican)
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected, unopposed
Idaho	Henry C. Dworshak	Republican	Re-elected, 52.3 - 47.7	R. F. Bob McLaughlin (Democratic)
Illinois	Paul Douglas	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.6 - 45.2	Samuel W. Witwer (Republican)
Iowa	Thomas E. Martin	Republican	Retired Republican hold, 51.9 - 48.1	Jack Miller (Republican) Herschel C. Loveless (Democratic)
Kansas	Andrew F. Schoeppel	Republican	Re-elected, 54.6 - 43.8	Frank Theis (Democratic)
Kentucky	John S. Cooper	Republican	Re-elected, 59.2 - 40.8	Keen Johnson (Democratic)
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Re-elected, 79.8 - 20.2	George W. Reese, Jr. (Republican)
Maine	Margaret Chase Smith	Republican	Re-elected, 61.7 - 38.4	Lucia M. Cormier (Democratic)
Massachusetts	Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	Re-elected, 56.2 - 43.5	Thomas J. O'Connor, Jr. (Democratic)
Michigan	Patrick V. McNamara	Democratic	Re-elected, 51.7 - 48.0	Alvin M. Bentley (Republican)
Minnesota	Hubert Humphrey	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.5 - 42.2	P. Kenneth Peterson (Republican)
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Re-elected, 91.8 - 8.2	Joe A. Moore (Republican)
Missouri Special: Class 1	Edward V. Long	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term, 53.2 - 46.8	Lon Hocker (Republican)
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold, 50.7 - 49.3	Lee Metcalf (Democratic) Orvin B. Fjare (Republican)
Nebraska	Carl T. Curtis	Republican	Re-elected, 58.9 - 41.1	Robert B. Conrad (Democratic)
New Hampshire	Styles Bridges	Republican	Re-elected, 60.4 - 39.7	Herbert W. Hill (Democratic)
New Jersey	Clifford P. Case	Republican	Re-elected, 55.7 - 43.2	Thorn Lord (Democratic)
New Mexico	Clinton P. Anderson	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.4 - 36.6	William Colwes (Republican)
North Carolina	B. Everett Jordan	Democratic	Re-elected, 61.4 - 38.6	Kyle Hayes (Republican)
North Dakota Special: Class 1	Clarence N. Brunsdale	Republican	Appointee retired Democratic gain, 49.7 - 49.2	Quentin N. Burdick (Democratic) John E. Davis (Republican)
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.8 - 44.6	B. Hayden Crawford (Republican)
Oregon	Hall S. Lusk	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold, 54.6 - 45.4	Maurine B. Neuberger (Democratic) Elmo Smith (Republican)
Rhode Island	Theodore F. Green	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold, 68.9 - 31.1	Claiborne Pell (Democratic) Raoul Archambault (Republican)
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Democratic	Re-elected, unopposed
South Dakota	Karl E. Mundt	Republican	Re-elected, 52.4 - 47.6	George S. McGovern (Democratic)
Tennessee	Estes Kefauver	Democratic	Re-elected, 71.8 - 28.3	A. Bradley Frazier (Republican)
Texas	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	Re-elected, 58.0 - 41.1 - 0.9	John G. Tower (Republican) Bard A. Logan (Constitution)
Virginia	A. Willis Robertson	Democratic	Re-elected, 81.3 - 14.2	Stuart D. Baker (Independent)
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	Re-elected, 55.3 - 44.7	Cecil H. Underwood (Republican)
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	Retired Republican gain, 56.4 - 43.6	Edwin Keith Thomson (Republican) Raymond B. Whitaker (Democratic)

See also

• United States presidential election, 1960
• United States House elections, 1960