1948 United States Senate elections

United States Senate elections, 1948
32 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate; 49 seats needed for a majority
	Results including special elections; Democratic gains Democratic holds; Republican holds
Majority Leader before election; Wallace White; Republican	Elected Majority Leader ; Scott Lucas; Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1948 were elections which coincided with the election of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. Truman had campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and in addition the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–47 by election day. Thus Truman was rewarded with a Democratic gain of nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber.^[1]^[2]

Gains and losses

In addition to gaining an open seat in Oklahoma, the Democrats defeated eight Republican incumbents:

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

		D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈
D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉
D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈
D₃₈ Ran	D₃₇ Ran	D₃₆ Ran	D₃₅ Ran	D₃₄ Ran	D₃₃ Ran	D₃₂ Ran	D₃₁	D₃₀	D₂₉
D₃₉ Ran	D₄₀ Ran	D₄₁ Ran	D₄₂ Ran	D₄₃ Ran	D₄₄ Retired	D₄₅ Retired	R₅₁ Retired	R₅₀ Retired	R₄₉ Retired
Majority →									R₄₉ Retired
R₃₉ Ran	R₄₀ Ran	R₄₁ Ran	R₄₂ Ran	R₄₃ Ran	R₄₄ Ran	R₄₅ Ran	R₄₆ Ran	R₄₇ Retired	R₄₈ Retired
R₃₈ Ran	R₃₇ Ran	R₃₆ Ran	R₃₅ Ran	R₃₄ Ran	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁	R₃₀	R₂₉
R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈
R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Election results

		D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈
D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉
D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈
D₃₈ Re-elected	D₃₇ Re-elected	D₃₆ Re-elected	D₃₅ Re-elected	D₃₄ Re-elected	D₃₃ Re-elected	D₃₂ Re-elected	D₃₁	D₃₀	D₂₉
D₃₉ Re-elected	D₄₀ Re-elected	D₄₁ Re-elected	D₄₂ Hold	D₄₃ Hold	D₄₄ Hold	D₄₅ Hold	D₄₆ Gain	D₄₇ Gain	D₄₈ Gain
Majority →									D₄₉ Gain
R₃₉ Hold	R₄₀ Hold	R₄₁ Hold	R₄₂ Hold	D₅₄ Gain	D₅₃ Gain	D₅₂ Gain	D₅₁ Gain	D₅₀ Gain	D₄₉ Gain
R₃₈ Re-elected	R₃₇ Re-elected	R₃₆ Re-elected	R₃₅ Re-elected	R₃₄ Re-elected	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁	R₃₀	R₂₉
R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈
R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Key:

D_#	Democratic
R_#	Republican

Race summaries

Special elections during the 80th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1948 or before January 3, 1949; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Louisiana (Class 3)	William C. Feazel	Democratic	1948 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected November 2, 1948. Democratic hold.	√ Russell B. Long (Democratic) 74.9% Clem S. Clarke (Republican) 25.1%
North Carolina (Class 2)	William Umstead	Democratic	1946 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected November 2, 1948. Democratic hold.	√ Melville Broughton (Democratic) 70.7% John A. Wilkinson (Republican) 28.8% William T. Brown (Progressive) 0.5%

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1949; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	1946 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John Sparkman (Democratic) 84.0% Paul G. Parsons (Republican) 16.0%
Arkansas	John L. McClellan	Democratic	1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John L. McClellan (Democratic) 93.3% R. Walter Tucker (Independent) 6.7%
Colorado	Edwin C. Johnson	Democratic	1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) 66.8% Will F. Nicholson (Republican) 32.4%
Delaware	Clayton D. Buck	Republican	1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ J. Allen Frear, Jr. (Democratic) 50.9% Clayton D. Buck (Republican) 48.3%
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	1933 (Special) 1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Richard Russell, Jr. Unopposed
Idaho	Henry C. Dworshak	Republican	1946 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Bert H. Miller (Democratic) 50.0% Henry C. Dworshak (Republican) 48.5%
Illinois	C. Wayland Brooks	Republican	1940 (Special) 1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Paul Douglas (Democratic) 55.1% C. Wayland Brooks (Republican) 44.6%
Iowa	George A. Wilson	Republican	1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Guy M. Gillette (Democratic) 57.8% George A. Wilson (Republican) 41.6%
Kansas	Arthur Capper	Republican	1918 1924 1930 1936 1942	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ Andrew F. Schoeppel (Republican) 54.9% George McGill (Democratic) 42.7%
Kentucky	John S. Cooper	Republican	1946 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Virgil Chapman (Democratic) 51.4% John S. Cooper (Republican) 48.3%
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Allen J. Ellender Unopposed
Maine	Wallace H. White Jr.	Republican	1930 1936 1942	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ Margaret C. Smith (Republican) 71.3% Adrian H. Scolten (Democratic) 28.7%
Massachusetts	Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	1944 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) 53.0% John I. Fitzgerald (Democratic) 46.4%
Michigan	Homer Ferguson	Republican	1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Homer Ferguson (Republican) 50.7% Frank E. Hook (Democratic) 48.5%
Minnesota	Joseph H. Ball	Republican	1940 (Appointed) 1942 (Retired) 1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) 59.9% Joseph H. Ball (Republican) 39.7%
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	1941 (Appointed) 1941 (Retired) 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James O. Eastland Unopposed
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	1934 (Special) 1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James E. Murray (Democratic) 56.7% Tom J. Davis (Republican) 42.7%
Nebraska	Kenneth S. Wherry	Republican	1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Kenneth S. Wherry (Republican) 56.7% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 43.3%
New Hampshire	Styles Bridges	Republican	1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Styles Bridges (Republican) 58.1% Alfred E. Fortin (Democratic) 41.2%
New Jersey	Albert W. Hawkes	Republican	1942	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ Robert C. Hendrickson (Republican) 50.0% Archibald S. Alexander (Democratic) 47.3%
New Mexico	Carl A. Hatch	Democratic	1933 (Appointed) 1934 (Special) 1936 1942	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Clinton P. Anderson (Democratic) 57.2% Patrick J. Hurley (Republican) 42.4%
North Carolina	William B. Umstead	Democratic	1946 (Appointed)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic hold. Winner also elected to finish the term, see above.	√ J. Melville Broughton (Democratic) 70.7% John A. Wilkinson (Republican) 28.8%
Oklahoma	Edward H. Moore	Republican	1942	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	√ Robert S. Kerr (Democratic) 62.3% Ross Rizley (Republican) 37.4%
Oregon	Guy Cordon	Republican	1944 (Appointed) 1944 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Guy Cordon (Republican) 60.0% Manley J. Wilson (Democratic) 40.0%
Rhode Island	Theodore F. Green	Democratic	1936 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Theodore F. Green (Democratic) 59.3% Thomas P. Hazard (Republican) 40.7%
South Carolina	Burnet R. Maybank	Democratic	1941 (Special) 1942	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Burnet R. Maybank Unopposed
South Dakota	Vera C. Bushfield	Republican	1948 (Appointee)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Republican hold. Incumbent resigned December 26, 1948 and winner appointed December 31, 1948 to finish the term.	√ Karl E. Mundt (Republican) 59.3% John A. Engel (Democratic) 40.7%
Tennessee	Tom Stewart	Democratic	1938 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-nomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Estes Kefauver (Democratic) 65.3% B. Carroll Reece (Republican) 33.5%
Texas	W. Lee O'Daniel	Democratic	1941 (Special) 1942	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) 66.2% Jack Porter (Republican) 32.9% Samuel N. Morris (Prohibition) 0.8%
Virginia	A. Willis Robertson	Democratic	1946 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ A. Willis Robertson (Democratic) 65.6% Robert H. Woods (Republican) 30.8%
West Virginia	Chapman Revercomb	Republican	1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 57.0% Chapman Revercomb (Republican) 43.0%
Wyoming	Edward V. Robertson	Republican	1942	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Lester C. Hunt (Democratic) 57.1% Edward V. Robertson (Republican) 42.9%

Elections during the 81st Congress

In this special election, the winner was seated after January 3, 1949.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
New York (Class 3)	John Foster Dulles	Republican	1949 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost election to finish the term. Winner elected November 8, 1949. Democratic gain.	√ Herbert H. Lehman (Democratic) 52% John Foster Dulles (Republican) 48%

Complete list of races

Massachusetts

General election
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Republican	Leverett Saltonstall	1,088,475	52.95%	−11.34%
Democratic	John I. Fitzgerald	954,398	46.43%	+11.53%
Socialist Labor	Henning A. Blomen	9,266	0.44%	−0.20%
Prohibition	E. Tallmadge Root	3,652	0.18%	+0.01%

Montana

Incumbent United States Senator James E. Murray, who was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 1934 and was re-elected in 1936 and 1942, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he faced Tom J. Davis, an attorney and the Republican nominee, in the general election. Following a narrow re-election in 1936, Murray significantly expanded his margin of victory and comfortably won re-election over Davis, winning his fourth term and his third full term in the Senate.

United States Senate election in Montana, 1948^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James E. Murray (inc.)	125,193	56.65%	+7.58%
	Republican	Tom S. Davis	94,458	42.74%	−5.62%
	Prohibition	C. S. Hanna	1,352	0.61%
Majority			30,735	13.91%	+13.20%
Turnout			221,003
	Democratic hold		Swing

New York (Special)

A special election was held on November 8, 1949, to elect U.S. Senator to finish a term.

On June 28, 1949, incumbent senator Robert F. Wagner resigned due to ill health. On July 7, John Foster Dulles was appointed by Governor Thomas Dewey to fill the vacancy temporarily.^[4]

The Republican State Committee nominated Dulles to succeed himself. The Democratic State Committee nominated former Governor Herbert H. Lehman. The Liberal Party endorsed Lehman. The American Labor Party made no nominations and urged its members not to vote for any candidate. The Democratic/Liberal ticket was elected and Dulles was defeated.^[5]

Democratic	Herbert H. Lehman	2,149,347
Republican	John Foster Dulles	2,377,641
Liberal	Herbert H. Lehman	426,351

South Carolina

Senator Burnet R. Maybank was opposed in the Democratic primary by U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan Dorn and three other candidates. Maybank obtained over 50% in the primary election on August 10 to avoid a runoff election.

Democratic Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Burnet R. Maybank	161,608	51.5
W.J. Bryan Dorn	76,749	24.4
Neville Bennett	43,068	13.7
Alan Johnstone	17,689	5.6
Marcus A. Stone	14,904	4.8

Since the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Democratic Party dominated the politics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Maybank did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.

#3333FF

General election, 1948
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Burnet R. Maybank (incumbent)	135,998	96.4	−3.6
	Republican	J. Bates Gerald	5,008	3.6	+3.6
Majority			130,990	92.8	−7.2
Turnout			141,006
Democratic hold

65+% won by Maybank

Virginia

Incumbent Democratic Senator Absalom Willis Robertson defeated Republican Robert H. Woods and was re-elected to his first full term in office.

United States Senate election in Virginia, 1948^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Absalom Willis Robertson (inc.)	253,865	65.74%	−2.41%
	Republican	Robert H. Woods	118,546	30.70%	+1.68%
	Independent	Howard Carwile	6,788	1.76%
	Progressive	Virginia Foster Durr	5,347	1.38%	+1.38%
	Socialist	Clarke T. Robb	1,627	0.42%	−2.40%
	Write-ins		5	<0.01%
Majority			135,319	35.04%	−4.09%
Turnout			386,168
	Democratic hold

References

^ William S. White (November 4, 1948). "SWEEP IN CONGRESS – Democrats Obtain 54-42 Margin in Senate by Winning 9 G.O.P. Seats". New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
^ "Truman Sweep". New York Times. November 7, 1948. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1948" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
^ "Dulles Appointed Senator". The New York Times. July 8, 1949. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
^ "THE OFFICIAL COUNT: LEHMAN BY 198,057". The New York Times. December 15, 1949. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)

v t e Lyndon B. Johnson
36th President of the United States (1963–1969) 37th Vice President of the United States (1961–1963) U.S. Senator from Texas (1949–1961) U.S. Representative for TX-10 (1937–1949)
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