United States Senate elections, 1954

November 2, 1954^[1]

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	47	48
Seats won	48	47
Seat change	2	2
Popular vote	11,402,106	8,839,779
Percentage	55.5%	43.0%
Swing	10.8%	8.9%
Seats up	22	16

	Third party

Party	Independent
Last election	1 seat
Seats before	1
Seats won	1^*
Seat change
Seats up	0

Democratic gain Democratic hold

Republican hold Republican gain
*1 Independent caucused with the Democrats.

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 would hold until 1980. Including independent Wayne L. Morse, who caucused with the Democrats, Democrats held a 49-47 majority.

The elections resulted in a divided government that continued to the end of Eisenhower's presidency.

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀	D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇
D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁	I₁
D₈	D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇
D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈
D₄₇	D₄₆	D₄₅	D₄₄	D₄₃	D₄₂	D₄₁	D₄₀	D₃₉	D₃₈
↓ Plurality (+ Vice President's tie-breaking vote)
R₄₈	R₄₇	R₄₆	R₄₅	R₄₄	R₄₃	R₄₂	R₄₁	R₄₀	R₃₉
R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃	R₃₄	R₃₅	R₃₆	R₃₇	R₃₈
R₂₈	R₂₇	R₂₆	R₂₅	R₂₄	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉
R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈
R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D₂₈√	D₂₉√	D₃₀√	D₃₁√	D₃₂√	D₃₃√	D₃₄√	D₃₅√	D₃₆√	D₃₇√
D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁	I₁*
D₈	D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇
D₂₇√	D₂₆√	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈
D₄₇+	D₄₆+	D₄₅+	D₄₄+	D₄₃O	D₄₂O	D₄₁√	D₄₀√	D₃₉√	D₃₈√
D₄₈+	← Majority
R₄₇+	R₄₆+	R₄₅+	R₄₄O	R₄₃O	R₄₂O	R₄₁O	R₄₀O	R₃₉√
R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃√	R₃₄√	R₃₅√	R₃₆√	R₃₇√	R₃₈√
R₂₈	R₂₇	R₂₆	R₂₅	R₂₄	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉
R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈
R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

*I₁: Wayne Morse of Oregon, who was not up for election this year, later changed parties from Independent to Democratic in the next Congress.

Key:

D	Democratic
R	Republican
I	Independent

√	Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Gains and losses

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

All elections are for the Class 2 seat, unless otherwise indicated.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Other candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	Re-elected	John Sparkman (Democratic) 82.5% J. Foy Guin, Jr. (Republican) 17.5%
Arkansas	John L. McClellan	Democratic	Re-elected	John L. McClellan (Democratic) Unopposed
California Class 3: Special	Thomas Kuchel	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1957	Thomas Kuchel (Republican) 53.2% Samuel W. Yorty (Democratic) 45.5% Isobel M. Cerney (Independent-Progressive) 1.2%
Colorado	Edwin C. Johnson	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Gordon Allott (Republican) 51.3% John A. Carroll (Democratic) 48.7%
Delaware	J. Allen Frear, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	J. Allen Frear, Jr. (Democratic) 56.9% Herbert B. Warburton (Republican) 43.1%
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	Richard Russell, Jr. (Democratic) Unopposed
Idaho	Henry C. Dworshak	Republican	Re-elected	Henry C. Dworshak (Republican) 62.8% Glen H. Taylor (Democratic) 37.2%
Illinois	Paul Douglas	Democratic	Re-elected	Paul Douglas (Democratic) 53.6% Joseph T. Meek (Republican) 46.4%
Iowa	Guy M. Gillette	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Thomas E. Martin (Republican) 52.2% Guy M. Gillette (Democratic) 47.5% Ernest Seemann (Republicsons) 0.3%
Kansas	Andrew F. Schoeppel	Republican	Re-elected	Andrew F. Schoeppel (Republican) 56.3% George McGill (Democratic) 41.8% David C. White (Prohibition) 1.8%
Kentucky	John S. Cooper	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Alben W. Barkley (Democratic) 54.5% John S. Cooper (Republican) 45.5%
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Re-elected	Allen J. Ellender (Democratic) Unopposed
Maine	Margaret C. Smith	Republican	Re-elected	Margaret C. Smith (Republican) 58.6% Paul A. Fullam (Democratic) 41.4%
Massachusetts	Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	Re-elected	Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) 50.5% Foster Furcolo (Democratic) 49.0%
Michigan	Homer Ferguson	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Patrick V. McNamara (Democratic) 50.8% Homer Ferguson (Republican) 48.9%
Minnesota	Hubert Humphrey	Democratic	Re-elected	Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) 56.4% Val Bjornson (Republican) 42.1%
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Re-elected	James O. Eastland (Democratic) Unopposed
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	Re-elected	James E. Murray (Democratic) 50.4% Wesley A. D'Ewart (Republican) 49.6%
Nebraska Class 1: Special	Samuel W. Reynolds	Republican	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1959 Republican hold	Roman L. Hruska (Republican) 60.9% James F. Green (Democratic) 39.1%
Nebraska	Eva Bowring	Republican	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1955 Republican hold	Hazel H. Abel (Republican) 57.8% William H. Meier (Democratic) 42.2%
Nebraska	Eva Bowring	Appointee retired Winner elected to next term starting January 3, 1955 Republican hold	Carl T. Curtis (Republican) 61.1% Keith Neville (Democratic) 38.9%
Nevada Class 3: Special	Ernest S. Brown	Republican	Appointee lost election to finish term ending January 3, 1957 Democratic gain	Alan Bible (Democratic) 58.1% Ernest S. Brown (Republican) 41.9%
New Hampshire	Styles Bridges	Republican	Re-elected	Styles Bridges (Republican) 60.2% Gerard L. Morin (Democratic) 39.8%
New Hampshire Class 3: Special	Robert W. Upton	Republican	Appointee lost nomination to finish term ending January 3, 1957 Republican hold	Norris Cotton (Republican) 60.2% Stanley J. Betley (Democratic) 39.8%
New Jersey	Robert C. Hendrickson	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Clifford P. Case (Republican) 48.7% Charles R. Howell (Democratic) 48.5%
New Mexico	Clinton P. Anderson	Democratic	Re-elected	Clinton P. Anderson (Democratic) 57.3% Edwin L. Mechem (Republican) 42.7%
North Carolina	Alton Asa Lennon	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	William Kerr Scott (Democratic) 65.9% Paul C. West (Republican) 34.1%
North Carolina Class 3: Special	Sam Ervin	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1957	Sam Ervin (Democratic) Unopposed
Ohio Class 3: Special	Thomas A. Burke	Democratic	Appointee lost election to finish term ending January 3, 1957 Republican gain	George H. Bender (Republican) 49.9% Thomas A. Burke (Democratic) 50.1%
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Re-elected	Robert S. Kerr (Democratic) 55.8% Fred M. Mock (Republican) 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 (Democratic) 50.2% Guy Cordon (Republican) 49.8%
Rhode Island	Theodore F. Green	Democratic	Re-elected	Theodore F. Green (Democratic) 59.3% Walter I. Sundlun (Republican) 40.7%
South Carolina	Charles E. Daniel	Democratic	Appointee retired Democratic hold	Strom Thurmond (ID) 63.1% Edgar A. Brown (Democratic) 36.8%
South Dakota	Karl E. Mundt	Republican	Re-elected	Karl E. Mundt (Republican) 57.3% Kenneth Holum (Democratic) 42.7%
Tennessee	Estes Kefauver	Democratic	Re-elected	Estes Kefauver (Democratic) 70.0% Tom Wall (Republican) 30.0%
Texas	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	Re-elected	Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) 84.6% Carlos G. Watson (Republican) 14.9% Fred Spangler (Constitution Party) 0.5%
Virginia	A. Willis Robertson	Democratic	Re-elected	A. Willis Robertson (Democratic) 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 (Democratic) 54.8% Thomas Sweeney (Republican) 45.2%
Wyoming	Edward D. Crippa	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Democratic) 51.5% William H. Harrison (Republican) 48.5%

References

↑ September 13, 1954 in Maine

United States Senate elections

1788/89 1790/91 1792/93 1794/95 1796/97 1798/99 1800/01 1802/03 1804/05 1806/07 1808/09 1810/11 1812/13 1814/15 1816/17 1818/19 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912/13 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

Special elections Election disputes List of elections in the United States House elections Presidential elections Gubernatorial elections