1952 Iowa Senate election

1952 Iowa Senate election
30 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate; 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority Leader before election; Leo Elthon; Republican	Elected Majority Leader ; Ralph Zastrow; Republican

The 1952 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1952 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 30 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 year 1952 is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.

The primary election on June 2, 1952 determined which candidates appeared on the November 4, 1952 general election ballot.^[1]^[2]

Following the previous election, Republicans had control of the Iowa state Senate with 41 seats to Democrats' 9 seats.

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to net 17 Senate seats.

Republicans maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1952 general election with the balance of power shifting to Republicans holding 46 seats and Democrats having 4 seats (a net gain of 5 seats for Republicans).

Summary of Results

Note: The 20 holdover Senators not up for re-election are not listed on this table.^[3]

State Senate District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
2nd	Alden Loring Doud	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Charles W. Nelson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
3rd	Sherman West	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Ted D. Clark	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
4th	Ray Fletcher	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	William C. Stuart	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
5th	Xavier Thomas Prentis	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Xavier Thomas Prentis	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
6th	Ernest L. Humbert	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Thomas C. Larson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
8th	Oscar N. Hultman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Henry W. Washburn	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
11th	Loyd Van Patten	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	George Donald Bellman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
14th	Albert Earl Augustine	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Charles Emory Stewart	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
15th	Francis M. Roberts	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Leon N. Miller	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem
16th	Raymond R. Gillespie	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Lorin B. Sayre	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
17th	Glenn Edwin Whitehead	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Glenn Edwin Whitehead	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
19th	De Vere Watson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	De Vere Watson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
22nd	Otto H. Henningsen	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Erwin A. Schoening	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
23rd	John Milton Tudor	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	David Earl Elijah	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
24th	Jans T. "J. T." Dykhouse	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Jans T. "J. T." Dykhouse	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
25th	Leroy Samuel Mercer	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Daniel Clifford "D. C." Nolan	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
26th	Frank C. Byers	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Frank C. Byers	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
27th	Paul E. McCarville	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Henry Emil Heideman	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
28th	Warren Eldon Walter	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Warren Eldon Walter	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
31st	John R. Hattery	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Janious G. Lucas	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
32nd	Charles S. Van Eaton	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Charles S. Van Eaton	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
33rd	Donald Alexander Risk	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Donald Alexander Risk	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
36th	Fern Eugene Sharp	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Art J. Johnson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
39th	J. Kendall Lynes	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	J. Kendall Lynes	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
40th	Arthur H. Jacobson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	George Lindsey Scott	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
41st	Leo Elthon	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Jacob Grimstead	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
43rd	Herman M. Knudson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Herman M. Knudson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
46th	Edward S. Parker	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Laurence M. Boothby	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
47th	Harry E. Watson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep	Harry E. Watson	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep
49th	Burl Nelson Ridout	style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Dem	Duane E. Dewel	style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|	Rep

Source:^[4]

Detailed Results

NOTE: The 20 districts that did not hold elections in 1952 are not listed here.

District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 8 • District 11 • District 14 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 19 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 36 • District 39 • District 40 • District 41 • District 43 • District 46 • District 47 • District 49

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 2

Iowa Senate, District 2 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles W. Nelson	1,988	41.3
	Republican	Walter E. Williams	1,450	30.2
	Republican	Roy W. Hinson	1,373	28.5
Total votes			4,811	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 2 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles W. Nelson	9,360	100.0
Total votes			9,360	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

Iowa Senate, District 3 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ted D. Clark	8,049	54.7
	Democratic	Sherman West (incumbent)	6,655	45.3
Total votes			14,704	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 4

Iowa Senate, District 4 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. C. Stuart	8,059	100.0
Total votes			8,059	100.0
	Republican hold

District 5

Iowa Senate, District 5 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	X. T. Prentis (incumbent)	3,298	52.5
	Republican	John E. Young	2,985	47.5
Total votes			6,283	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 5 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	X. T. Prentis (incumbent)	12,638	100.0
Total votes			12,638	100.0
	Republican hold

District 6

Iowa Senate, District 6 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas C. Larson	2,065	Unreported
	Republican	Ralph C. Jones	Unreported	Unreported
Total votes			Unreported	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 6 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas C. Larson	7,457	100.0
Total votes			7,457	100.0
	Republican hold

District 8

Iowa Senate, District 8 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry W. Washburn	9,445	70.5
	Democratic	Herbert R. Patterson	3,950	29.5
Total votes			13,395	100.0
	Republican hold

District 11

Iowa Senate, District 11 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	G. D. Bellman	2,995	58.3
	Republican	Fred Stiffler	2,145	41.7
Total votes			5,140	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 11 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	G. D. Bellman	9,030	100.0
Total votes			9,030	100.0
	Republican hold

District 14

Iowa Senate, District 14 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	C. Emory Stewart	6,036	56.1
	Democratic	A. E. Augustine (incumbent)	4,721	43.9
Total votes			10,757	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 15

Iowa Senate, District 15 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	A. M. Wilson	1,602	55.6
	Republican	C. R. Sandifer	1,279	44.4
Total votes			2,881	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 15 Democratic Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leon N. Miller	959	52.9
	Democratic	Frank L. Bell	853	47.1
Total votes			1,812	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 15 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leon N. Miller	9,415	54.1
	Republican	A. M. Wilson	7,999	45.9
Total votes			17,414	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 16

Iowa Senate, District 16 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lorin B. Sayre	7,214	52.9
	Democratic	Raymond R. Gillespie (incumbent)	6,429	47.1
Total votes			13,643	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 17

Iowa Senate, District 17 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	G. E. Whitehead (incumbent)	3,760	58.1
	Republican	Raymond L. Pollock	2,712	41.9
Total votes			6,472	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 17 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	G. E. Whitehead (incumbent)	16,022	100.0
Total votes			16,022	100.0
	Republican hold

District 19

Iowa Senate, District 19 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	DeVere Watson (incumbent)	17,815	59.5
	Democratic	James F. Leslie	12,126	40.5
Total votes			29,941	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Iowa Senate, District 22 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Erwin Schoening	1,908	50.1
	Republican	Leo P. McEleney	1,897	49.9
Total votes			3,805	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 22 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Erwin Schoening	14,642	64.7
	Democratic	John M. Yackshaw	7,994	35.3
Total votes			22,636	100.0
	Republican hold

District 23

Iowa Senate, District 23 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Earl Elijah	2,883	43.2
	Republican	D. A. Donohue	1,959	29.4
	Republican	Willard Ingalls	1,827	27.4
Total votes			6,669	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 23 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Earl Elijah	17,101	100.0
Total votes			17,101	100.0
	Republican hold

District 24

Iowa Senate, District 24 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. T. Dykhouse (incumbent)	17,732	100.0
Total votes			17,732	100.0
	Republican hold

District 25

Iowa Senate, District 25 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	D. C. Nolan	13,906	54.8
	Democratic	Leroy S. Mercer (incumbent)	11,472	45.2
Total votes			25,378	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 26

Iowa Senate, District 26 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank C. Byers (incumbent)	29,481	57.3
	Democratic	L. M. Hullinger	21,941	42.7
Total votes			51,422	100.0
	Republican hold

District 27

Iowa Senate, District 27 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Heideman	6,210	68.4
	Republican	Paul E. McCarville (incumbent)	2,864	31.6
Total votes			9,074	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 27 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Heideman	14,611	56.3
	Democratic	C. Joseph Coleman	11,340	43.7
Total votes			25,951	100.0
	Republican hold

District 28

Iowa Senate, District 28 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. Eldon Walter (incumbent)	2,478	57.5
	Republican	John Knudson	1,829	42.5
Total votes			4,307	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 28 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. Eldon Walter (incumbent)	10,947	100.0
Total votes			10,947	100.0
	Republican hold

District 31

Iowa Senate, District 31 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. G. Lucas	6,598	64.0
	Republican	Clifford N. Nystrom	3,708	36.0
Total votes			10,306	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 31 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. G. Lucas	16,892	58.4
	Democratic	Ray Eveland	12,043	41.6
Total votes			28,935	100.0
	Republican hold

District 32

Iowa Senate, District 32 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles S. Van Eaton (incumbent)	24,864	55.3
	Democratic	Emlin L. Bergeson	20,092	44.7
Total votes			44,956	100.0
	Republican hold

District 33

Iowa Senate, District 33 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don Risk (incumbent)	11,361	66.2
	Democratic	James C. Cloud	5,792	33.8
Total votes			17,153	100.0
	Republican hold

District 36

Iowa Senate, District 36 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	A. J. Johnson	1,702	54.6
	Republican	Melvin Beimfohr	1,416	45.4
Total votes			3,118	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 36 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	A. J. Johnson	5,637	52.1
	Democratic	Adolph Elvers	5,189	47.9
Total votes			10,826	100.0
	Republican hold

District 39

Iowa Senate, District 39 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. Kendall Lynes (incumbent)	3,684	63.1
	Republican	Roger Jennings	2,153	36.9
Total votes			5,837	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 39 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. Kendall Lynes (incumbent)	11,252	69.5
	Democratic	Mrs. Marie Buss	4,927	30.5
Total votes			16,179	100.0
	Republican hold

District 40

Iowa Senate, District 40 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George L. Scott	2,774	40.8
	Republican	J. C. Davis	2,140	31.5
	Republican	L. C. Surfus	1,882	27.7
Total votes			6,796	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 40 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George L. Scott	13,299	64.0
	Democratic	Mrs. Doris Gorman	7,485	36.0
Total votes			20,784	100.0
	Republican hold

District 41

Iowa Senate, District 41 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jacob Grimstead	3,503	48.0
	Republican	Allert G. Olson	2,263	31.0
	Republican	A. T. Brookins	1,538	21.0
Total votes			7,304	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 41 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jacob Grimstead	12,935	100.0
Total votes			12,935	100.0
	Republican hold

District 43

Iowa Senate, District 43 Republican Primary Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Herman M. Knudson (incumbent)	6,116	60.7
	Republican	Al K. Carstens	3,963	39.3
Total votes			10,079	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 43 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	H. M. Knudson (incumbent)	20,965	61.5
	Democratic	Dorothy Dunn	13,101	38.5
Total votes			34,066	100.0
	Republican hold

District 46

Iowa Senate, District 46 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Laurence M. Boothby	16,548	100.0
Total votes			16,548	100.0
	Republican hold

District 47

Iowa Senate, District 47 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Harry E. Watson (incumbent)	14,083	66.7
	Democratic	W. A. Yager	7,045	33.3
Total votes			21,128	100.0
	Republican hold

District 49

Iowa Senate, District 49 General Election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Duane E. Dewel	14,755	62.2
	Democratic	Burl N. Ridout (incumbent)	8,970	37.8
Total votes			23,725	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

References

^ "Primary Election 1952 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "General Election 1952 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "Holdover State Senators" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
^ "Primary Election for State Senator 1952" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[1] "Primary Election 1952 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[2] "General Election 1952 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[3] "Holdover State Senators" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[4] "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[5] "Primary Election for State Senator 1952" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

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