United States Senate elections, 1958

United States Senate elections, 1958

November 4, 1958[1]

32 of the 98 seats in the United States Senate, plus 2 mid-term vacancies and 2 new seats 49 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Lyndon Johnson Everett Dirksen Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Texas Illinois Last election 49 seats 47 seats Seats won 64 34 Seat change 15 13 Popular vote 20,620,465 16,180,851 Percentage 55.0% 43.1% Swing 4.4% 5.4% Seats up 13 21

Democratic gain(s)   Democratic hold   Republican hold

Majority Leader before election Lyndon Johnson Democratic Elected Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic

The U.S. Senate election, 1958 was an election for the United States Senate which occurred in the middle of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. As is common in midterm elections, the party in the White House lost seats, but losses this year were on a huge scale, perhaps due to the high unemployment of the Recession of 1958. The Eisenhower Administration's position on right-to-work issues galvanized labor unions which supported Democrats. The launch of Sputnik may also have been a factor. The Democratic Party took thirteen Republican seats (10 of them by defeating incumbents), and also won both Senate seats in the new state of Alaska. Senate elections in 1959 in the new state of Hawaii were split between the two parties; combined with the 1958 results, this yielded an aggregate gain of 16 seats for the Democrats for a party balance of 65-35. This was the second-largest swing in the history of the Senate, only behind the Republican gains of 18 seats in 1866, and is only the third time in U.S.history that 10 or more Senate seats changed hands in a midterm election (after 1866 and 1946).

Change in Senate composition

These charts reflect the 1958 elections, including the two new seats for Alaska. They do not reflect the two new seats (which turned out to be one Democratic and one Republican) added during the new Congress for Hawaii.

Senate composition before the elections

Senate composition as a result of the elections

New seats

New Democratic seats

1. Alaska (class 2): won by Bob Bartlett
2. Alaska (class 3): won by Ernest Gruening

Incumbents retiring

Democrats

• None.

Republican seats held by Republicans

1. New York: Irving M. Ives, replaced by Kenneth B. Keating
2. Pennsylvania: Edward Martin, replaced by Hugh Scott
3. Vermont: Ralph E. Flanders, replaced by Winston L. Prouty

Republicans replaced by Democrats

1. California: William F. Knowland, replaced by Clair Engle
2. Indiana: William E. Jenner, replaced by Vance Hartke
3. New Jersey: H. Alexander Smith, replaced by Harrison A. Williams, Jr.

Incumbents who lost re-election (or appointee who lost election)

Democrats replaced by Republicans

• None.

Republicans replaced by Democrats

West Virginia's delegation changed from two Republicans to two Democrats.

1. Connecticut: William A. Purtell, lost to Thomas J. Dodd
2. Maine: Frederick G. Payne, lost to Edmund S. Muskie
3. Michigan: Charles E. Potter, lost to Philip A. Hart
4. Minnesota: Edward John Thye, lost to Eugene McCarthy
5. Nevada: George W. Malone, lost to Howard W. Cannon
6. Ohio: John W. Bricker, lost to Stephen M. Young
7. Utah: Arthur V. Watkins, lost to Frank E. Moss
8. West Virginia: William C. Revercomb, lost to Robert C. Byrd
9. West Virginia (Class 2): John D. Hoblitzell, Jr., lost to Jennings Randolph
10. Wyoming: Frank A. Barrett, lost to Gale McGee

Complete list of races

All races are for the Class 1 seat, unless otherwise indicated.

Key: Bold states indicate separate article on that election. Bold candidates indicate winner.

See also

• 86th United States Congress
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1958

References