1954 Iowa Senate election

1954 Iowa Senate election
21 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate; 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority Leader before election; Ralph Zastrow; Republican	Elected Majority Leader ; Duane E. Dewel; Republican

The 1954 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1954 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 21 of the state senate's 50 districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate.

A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the 1954 elections is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.

The primary election on June 7, 1954 determined which candidates appeared on the November 2, 1954 general election ballot.^[1]^[2]

Following the previous election, Republicans had control of the Iowa state Senate with 46 seats to Democrats' 4 seats.

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to net 22 Senate seats.^[a]

Republicans maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1954 general election with the balance of power shifting to Republicans holding 44 seats and Democrats having 6 seats (a net gain of 2 seats for Democrats).

Summary of Results

Note: The 29 holdover Senators not up for re-election are not listed on this table.^[3]

State Senate District	Incumbent	Party		Incoming Senator	Party
1st	Stanley Lawrence Hart	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Edward Joseph McManus	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
7th	Earl C. Fishbaugh	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Frank Hoxie	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
9th	Thomas J. Dailey	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Thomas J. Dailey	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
10th	Carl T. Anderson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Carl T. Anderson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
12th	Wilbur Cleland Molison	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Wilbur Cleland Molison	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
13th	Elmer K. Bekman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Samuel H. Burton	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
18th	Jay C. Colburn	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	John David Shoeman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
20th	Herman B. Lord	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	George W. Weber	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
21st	Philip T. Hedin	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Jack Schroeder	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
22nd	Erwin A. Schoening	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	David O. Shaff	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
29th	James Harold Nesmith	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Jack Morris Wormley	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
30th	George E. O'Malley	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	George E. O'Malley	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
34th	Eli Clarence Myrland	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Albert Weiss	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
35th	Arnold Utzig	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Arnold Utzig	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
37th	Rex R. Bateson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	John A. Walker	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
38th	John Peter Berg	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Arch Wallace McFarlane	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
42nd	William Linnevold	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Frank D. Elwood	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
44th	Ralph W. Zastrow	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Robert R. Rigler	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
45th	Harry E. Weichman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Lawrence Putney	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
48th	Alan William Vest	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Alan William Vest	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
50th	R. J. Oltman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Guy G. Butler	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep

Source:^[4]

Detailed Results

NOTE: The 29 districts that did not hold elections in 1954 are not listed here.

District 1 • District 7 • District 9 • District 10 • District 12 • District 13 • District 18 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 29 • District 30 • District 34 • District 35 • District 37 • District 38 • District 42 • District 44 • District 45 • District 48 • District 50

Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).^[5]

District 1

Iowa Senate, District 1 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. McManus	8,356	55.4
	Republican	Stanley L. Hart (incumbent)	6,726	44.6
Total votes			15,082	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 7

Iowa Senate, District 7 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Hoxie	7,677	67.6
	Democratic	Jay Leeka	3,680	32.4
Total votes			11,357	100.0
	Republican hold

District 9

Iowa Senate, District 9 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John N. Calhoun	1,756	52.2
	Republican	Blythe C. Conn	1,609	47.8
Total votes			3,365	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 9 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Dailey (incumbent)	8,287	59.0
	Republican	John N. Calhoun	5,757	41.0
Total votes			14,044	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 10

Iowa Senate, District 10 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carl T. Anderson (incumbent)	7,629	59.5
	Democratic	James T. McCabe	5,189	40.5
Total votes			12,818	100.0
	Republican hold

District 12

Iowa Senate, District 12 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wilbur C. Molison (incumbent)	6,904	55.8
	Democratic	William W. Augustine	5,473	44.2
Total votes			12,377	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

Iowa Senate, District 13 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sam Burton	8,446	53.9
	Republican	Elmer K. Bekman (incumbent)	7,221	46.1
Total votes			15,667	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 18

Iowa Senate, District 18 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John D. Shoeman	7,815	65.9
	Democratic	J. Bruce Potter	4,046	34.1
Total votes			11,861	100.0
	Republican hold

District 20

Iowa Senate, District 20 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George W. Weber	2,488	57.6
	Republican	Kenneth R. Moore	1,834	42.4
Total votes			4,322	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 20 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George W. Weber	7,620	57.7
	Democratic	Charles E. Yoder	5,592	42.3
Total votes			13,212	100.0
	Republican hold

District 21

Iowa Senate, District 21 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Schroeder	17,285	55.8
	Democratic	Vernon B. Trevellyan	13,689	44.2
Total votes			30,974	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Iowa Senate, District 22 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David O. Shaff	2,201	51.6
	Republican	Erwin Schoening (incumbent)	2,067	48.4
Total votes			4,268	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 22 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David O. Shaff	9,621	62.3
	Democratic	John M. Yackshaw	5,810	37.7
Total votes			15,431	100.0
	Republican hold

District 29

Iowa Senate, District 29 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack M. Wormley	1,740	52.3
	Republican	Henry L. Kling	837	25.1
	Republican	William P. Gannon	753	22.6
Total votes			3,330	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 29 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack M. Wormley	5,768	51.8
	Democratic	Eugene M. Hill	5,376	48.2
Total votes			11,144	100.0
	Republican hold

District 30

Iowa Senate, District 30 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George E. O'Malley (incumbent)	39,709	55.6
	Republican	Milton W. Strickler	31,762	44.4
Total votes			71,471	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 34

Iowa Senate, District 34 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Albert Weiss	2,190	54.8
	Republican	E. C. Myrland (incumbent)	1,804	45.2
Total votes			3,994	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 34 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Albert Weiss	9,351	55.9
	Democratic	Elroy Maule	7,385	44.1
Total votes			16,736	100.0
	Republican hold

District 35

Iowa Senate, District 35 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Arnold Utzig (incumbent)	13,146	100.0
Total votes			13,146	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 37

Iowa Senate, District 37 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John A. Walker	11,198	64.6
	Democratic	Mrs. G. H. Maxon	6,123	35.4
Total votes			17,321	100.0
	Republican hold

District 38

Iowa Senate, District 38 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arch W. McFarlane	3,661	52.1
	Republican	Bernard R. Balch	3,364	47.9
Total votes			7,025	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 38 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arch W. McFarlane	14,734	51.5
	Democratic	Iver Christoffersen	13,869	48.5
Total votes			28,603	100.0
	Republican hold

District 42

Iowa Senate, District 42 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank D. Elwood	7,726	59.1
	Democratic	Henry P. Field	5,340	40.9
Total votes			13,066	100.0
	Republican hold

District 44

Iowa Senate, District 44 Republican Primary Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert R. Rigler	3,154	61.3
	Republican	Mark Eischeid	1,987	38.7
Total votes			5,141	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 44 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert R. Rigler	7,456	62.9
	Democratic	Bernard Speltz	4,389	37.1
Total votes			11,845	100.0
	Republican hold

District 45

Iowa Senate, District 45 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lawrence Putney	9,554	56.8
	Democratic	Chester Hagan	7,267	43.2
Total votes			16,821	100.0
	Republican hold

District 48

Iowa Senate, District 48 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alan Vest (incumbent)	9,310	56.5
	Democratic	Frank W. Mattes	7,170	43.5
Total votes			16,480	100.0
	Republican hold

District 50

Iowa Senate, District 50 General Election, 1954
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Guy G. Butler	9,557	100.0
Total votes			9,557	100.0
	Republican hold

^ It was impossible for Democrats to flip control of the Iowa state Senate in the 1954 election given that only 21 seats were up for election and 22 were needed for Democrats to take control.

References

^ "Primary Election 1954 For State Senator". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^ "General Election 1954 For State Senator". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^ "Holdover State Senators". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^ "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
^ "Primary Election for State Senator 1954". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[Flip-3] It was impossible for Democrats to flip control of the Iowa state Senate in the 1954 election given that only 21 seats were up for election and 22 were needed for Democrats to take control.

[1] "Primary Election 1954 For State Senator". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[2] "General Election 1954 For State Senator". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[4] "Holdover State Senators". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[5] "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[6] "Primary Election for State Senator 1954". Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

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[2]

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