United States Senate elections, 1946 and 1947

United States Senate elections, 1946 and 1947

November 5, 1946[1]
32 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate (as well as special elections) 49 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Wallace White Alben Barkley Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine Kentucky Seats before 39 56 Seats won 50 46 Seat change 11 10 Popular vote 14,984,498 11,369,078 Percentage 54.5% 41.4% Swing 8.4% 8.9% Seats up 10 21 Races won 21 11   Third party   Party Progressive Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seat change 1 Seats up 1 Races won 0
Results including special elections      Republican holds      Republican gains      Democratic holds
Majority Leader before election Alben Barkley Democratic Elected Majority Leader Wallace White Republican

The United States Senate elections of 1946 were held November 5, 1946,^[1] in the middle of Democratic President Harry S. Truman's first term. There was also a special election in November 1947.^[1]

The Republicans took control of the Senate by picking up twelve seats, mostly from the Democrats.

The vote was largely seen as a referendum on Truman, whose approval rating had sunk to 32%^[2] over the president's controversial handling of a wave of post-war labor strikes, such as a nationwide railroad strike in May, at a time when Americans depended on train service for both commuter and long-distance travel. Just as damaging was Truman's back-and-forth over whether to end unpopular wartime price controls to handle shortages, particularly in foodstuffs. For example, price controls on beef had led to a "hamburger famine", but when Truman, in a surprise move, lifted the controls on October 14 — just weeks before the election — meat prices shot up to record levels.

Republican wave

The president's lack of popular support is widely seen as the reason for the Democrats' congressional defeat, the largest since they were trounced in the 1928 pro-Republican wave that brought Herbert Hoover to power. And for the first time since before the Great Depression, Republicans were seen as the party which could best handle the American economy.

However, the Republicans also benefited from what today would be called "a good map," meaning that of the one-third of Senate seats up for election, the majority were held by Democrats.

Besides the Republicans being able to hold onto all of their seats, this was the party's largest senate gain since 1920.

Gains and losses

In addition to a net Republican gain by appointment before the election, the Republicans picked up twelve seats, eleven of them from Democrats, and one from Progressive Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (P-WI). This gave them a Senate majority for the first time since Hoover's administration.

In addition to capturing open seats in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and New York, the Republicans defeated seven Democratic incumbents:

• James M. Tunnell (D-DE)
• David I. Walsh (D-MA)
• Frank P. Briggs (D-MO), seat was previously held by President Truman himself.
• James W. Huffman (D-OH)
• Joseph F. Guffey (D-PA)
• Abe Murdock (D-UT)
• Hugh B. Mitchell (D-WA)

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	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39 Ran	D40 Ran	D41 Ran	D42 Ran	D43 Ran	D44 Ran	D45 Ran	D46 Ran	D47 Ran	D48 Ran
Majority →									D49 Ran
R39 Retired	P1 Ran	D56 Retired	D55 Retired	D54 Retired	D53 Ran	D52 Ran	D51 Ran	D50 Ran
R38 Retired	R37 Ran	R36 Ran	R35 Ran	R34 Ran	R33 Ran	R32 Ran	R31 Ran	R30 Ran	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

Result of the general 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 Re-elected	D37 Re-elected	D36 Re-elected	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39 Re-elected	D40 Re-elected	D41 Re-elected	D42 Re-elected	D43 Re-elected	D44 Hold	D45 Hold	D46 Hold	R50 Gain	R49 Gain
Majority →									R48 Gain
R39 Hold	R40 Gain	R41 Gain	R42 Gain	R43 Gain	R44 Gain	R45 Gain	R46 Gain	R47 Gain
R38 Hold	R37 Hold	R36 Re-elected	R35 Re-elected	R34 Re-elected	R33 Re-elected	R32 Re-elected	R31 Re-elected	R30 Re-elected	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

Result of the special 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	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44 Hold	D45 Hold	R51 Gain	R50 Gain, same as general	R49 Hold
Majority →									R48 Hold
R39	R40	R41	R42	R43	R44	R45	R46 Appointee elected	R47 Appointee elected
R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	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 P# Progressive R# Republican V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 79th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1946 or before January 3, 1947; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama (Class 2)	George R. Swift	Democratic	1946 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Democratic hold.	√ John Sparkman (Democratic) Unopposed
California (Class 1)	William F. Knowland	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 5, 1946. Winner also elected to next term, see below.	√ William F. Knowland (Republican) 55.8% Will Rogers Jr. (Democratic) 15.9% Frederic C. Smedley 3.2% George H. McLain (Democratic) 3.12%[3]
Connecticut (Class 1)	Thomas C. Hart	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Republican hold. Winner also elected to next term, see below.	√ Raymond E. Baldwin (Republican) 55.8% Joseph M. Tone (Democratic) 40.5% Frederic C. Smedley 3.2%[4]
Idaho (Class 2)	Charles C. Gossett	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost nomination. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Republican gain.	√ Henry C. Dworshak (Republican) 58.6% George E. Donart (Democratic) 41.4%
Kentucky (Class 2)	William A. Stanfill	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Republican hold.	√ John S. Cooper (Republican) 53.3% John Y. Brown (Democratic) 46.5%
North Dakota (Class 3)	Milton R. Young	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 5, 1946.	√ Milton R. Young (Republican) 55.5% William Lanier (Democratic) 27.4% Gerald P. Nye (Independent) 15.2%
Ohio (Class 1)	James W. Huffman	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Republican gain. Winner was not elected to the next term, see below.	√ Kingsley A. Taft (Republican) 56.2% Henry P. Webber (Democratic) 43.8%[5]
Virginia (Class 2)	Thomas G. Burch	Democratic	1946 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 5, 1946. Democratic hold.	√ A. Willis Robertson (Democratic) 68.2% Robert H. Woods (Republican) 29.0%

Races leading to the 80th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1947; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Arizona	Ernest W. McFarland	Democratic	1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Ernest W. McFarland (Democratic) 69.2% Ward S. Powers (Republican) 30.1%
California	William F. Knowland	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected. Winner also elected to finish term, see above.	√ William F. Knowland (Republican) 54.1% Will Rogers Jr. (Democratic) 44.2% Douglas Corrigan (Prohibition) 1.62%[3]
Connecticut	Thomas C. Hart	Republican	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Republican hold. Winner also elected to finish term, see above.	√ Raymond E. Baldwin (Republican) 55.8% Wilbur L. Cross (Democratic) 41.0% Frederic C. Smedley 3.3%[4]
Delaware	James M. Tunnell	Democratic	1940	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ John J. Williams (Republican) 55.2% James M. Tunnell (Democratic) 44.9%
Florida	Spessard Holland	Democratic	1946 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected.	√ Spessard Holland (Democratic) 78.7% J. Harry Schad (Republican) 21.4%
Indiana	Raymond E. Willis	Republican	1940	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ William E. Jenner (Republican) 52.4% M. Clifford Townsend (Democratic) 46.8%
Maine	Owen Brewster	Republican	1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Owen Brewster (Republican) 63.6% Peter M. MacDonald (Democratic) 36.5%
Maryland	George L. P. Radcliffe	Democratic	1934 1940	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Herbert R. O'Conor (Democratic) 50.2% David J. Markey (Republican) 49.8%
Massachusetts	David I. Walsh	Democratic	1918 1924 (Lost) 1926 (Special) 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican) 59.6% David I. Walsh (Democratic) 39.7%
Michigan	Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	1928 (Special) 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Arthur H. Vandenberg (Republican) 67.1% James H. Lee (Democratic) 32.0%
Minnesota	Henrik Shipstead	Republican	1922 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ Edward John Thye (Republican) 58.9% Theodore Jorgenson (Democratic) 39.8%
Mississippi	Theodore G. Bilbo	Democratic	1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic) Unopposed[6]
Missouri	Frank P. Briggs	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ James P. Kem (Republican) 52.7% Frank P. Briggs (Democratic) 47.1%
Montana	Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	1922 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Zales N. Ecton (Republican) 53.5% Leif Erickson (Democratic) 45.4%
Nebraska	Hugh Butler	Republican	1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Hugh Butler (Republican) 70.8% John E. Mekota (Democratic) 29.2%
Nevada	Edward P. Carville	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ George W. Malone (Republican) 55.2% Berkeley L. Bunker (Democratic) 44.8%
New Jersey	H. Alexander Smith	Republican	1944 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ H. Alexander Smith (Republican) 58.5% George E. Brunner (Democratic) 40.1%
New Mexico	Dennis Chavez	Democratic	1935 (Appointed) 1936 (Special) 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 51.5% Patrick J. Hurley (Republican) 48.5%
New York	James M. Mead	Democratic	1940	Incumbent retired to run for New York Governor. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Irving M. Ives (Republican) 52.6% Herbert H. Lehman (Democratic) 47.6%
North Dakota	William Langer	Republican	1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William Langer (Republican) 53.3% Arthur E. Thompson (Independent) 23.5% Abner B. Larson (Democratic) 23.2%
Ohio	James W. Huffman	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Republican gain. Winner was not elected to finish the term, see above.	√ John W. Bricker (Republican) 57.0% James W. Huffman (Democratic) 42.4%[5]
Pennsylvania	Joseph F. Guffey	Democratic	1934 1940	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Edward Martin (Republican) 59.3% Joseph F. Guffey (Democratic) 39.8%
Rhode Island	Peter G. Gerry	Democratic	1934 1940	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ J. Howard McGrath (Democratic) 55.1% W. Gurnee Dwyer (Republican) 44.9%
Tennessee	Kenneth D. McKellar	Democratic	1916 1922 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Kenneth D. McKellar (Democratic) 66.6% W. B. Ladd (Republican) 26.2%
Texas	Tom Connally	Democratic	1928 1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Tom Connally (Democratic) 88.5% Murray C. Sells (Republican) 11.5%
Utah	Abe Murdock	Democratic	1940	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Arthur V. Watkins (Republican) 51.2% Abe Murdock (Democratic) 48.8%
Vermont	Ralph Flanders	Republican	1946 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected.	√ Ralph E. Flanders (Republican) 74.6% Charles P. McDevitt (Democratic) 25.4%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Democratic	1933 (Appointed) 1933 (Special) 1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Harry F. Byrd (Democratic) 64.9% Lester S. Parsons (Republican) 30.5%
Washington	Hugh B. Mitchell	Democratic	1945 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost election. New senator elected. Republican gain. Incumbent resigned December 25, 1946. Winner appointed December 26, 1946 to finish term.	√ Harry P. Cain (Republican) 54.3% Hugh B. Mitchell (Democratic) 45.2%
West Virginia	Harley M. Kilgore	Democratic	1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Harley M. Kilgore (Democratic) 50.3% Thomas Sweeney (Republican) 49.7%
Wisconsin	Robert M. La Follette Jr.	Progressive	1925 (Special) 1928 1934 1940	Incumbent lost renomination as a Republican. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Joseph R. McCarthy (Republican) 61.3% Howard J. McMurray (Democratic) 37.4% Edwin Knappe (Socialist) 1.2%
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	1933 (Appointed) 1934 1940	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Democratic) 56.2% Harry B. Henderson (Republican) 43.8%

Elections during the 80th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1947 after January 3; sorted by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Mississippi (Class 1)	Theodore G. Bilbo	Democratic	1934 1940 1946	Incumbent died August 21, 1947. New senator elected November 4, 1947. Democratic hold.	√ John C. Stennis (Democratic) 26.9% William M. Colmer (Democratic) 23.6% Forrest B. Jackson (Democratic) 22.5% Paul B. Johnson, Jr. (Democratic) 14.0% John E. Rankin (Democratic) 12.6%[6]

Complete list of races

Arizona

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ernest McFarland ran for re-election to a second term, easily defeating his Republican challenger Ward S. Powers in the general election.

United States Senate election in Arizona, 1946^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Ernest McFarland	80,415	69.18%
	Republican	Ward S. Powers	35,022	30.13%
	Communist	Morris Graham	802	0.69%
Majority			45,393	39.05%
Turnout			116,239
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Connecticut

Republican candidate Raymond E. Baldwin defeated the Democrats who were holding the office. He resighned only three years after the election.

United States Senate election in Connecticut, 1952^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Raymond E. Baldwin	381,328	55.84%
	Democratic	Joseph M. Tone	276,424	40.48%
	Socialist	Frederick C. Smedley	22,012	3.22%
	Socialist Labor	John W. Aiken	3,156	0,46%
Majority			104,904	29.32%
Turnout			682,920
	Swing to Republican from Democratic		Swing

Massachusetts

Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. defeated incumbent David I. Walsh.

United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1946^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	989,736	59.55
	Democratic	David I. Walsh	660,200	39.72
	Socialist Labor	Henning A. Blomen	9,221	0.56
	Prohibition	Mark R. Shaw	2,898	0.17

New York

The New York state election was held on November 5, 1946.

The Socialist Labor state convention met on April 7 and nominated Eric Hass for the U.S.Senate.^[10] The party filed a petition to nominate candidates under the name "Industrial Government Party."

The Liberal Party gathered 51,015 signatures and filed a petition to nominate candidates with the Secretary of State on September 2.^[11]

The Republican state convention met on September 4 at Saratoga Springs, New York. They nominated Assembly Majority Leader Irving M. Ives for the U.S. Senate.^[12]

The Democratic state convention met on September 4 at Albany, New York, and nominated Ex-Governor Herbert H. Lehman (in office 1933-1942) for the U.S. Senate.^[13]

The American Labor state convention met on September 3 and endorsed Lehman.^[14] Fielding, Chapman and Abt were withdrawn from the ticket on September 5, and Democrats Corning, Young and Epstein substituted on the ticket.^[15]

The Socialist Workers Party filed a petition to nominate candidates headed by Farrell Dobbs for Governor.

The Industrial Government, Socialist and Socialist Workers tickets were not allowed on the ballot because of "defective nominating petitions." The Court of Appeals upheld the decisions of the lower courts.^[16]

The whole Republican ticket was elected in a landslide.

Republican ticket		Democratic ticket		American Labor ticket		Liberal ticket		Communist ticket
Irving M. Ives	2,559,363	Herbert H. Lehman	2,306,112	Herbert H. Lehman		Herbert H. Lehman		(none)

Obs.:

• "Blank, void and scattering" votes: 178,694

Pennsylvania

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey sought re-election to another term, but was defeated by Republican nominee Edward Martin.

General election results^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Edward Martin	1,853,458	59.26%	+11.90%
	Democratic	Joseph F. Guffey (inc.)	1,245,338	39.81%	-11.98%
	Prohibition	Dale H. Learn	17,451	0.56%	+0.28%
	Socialist Labor	Frank Knotek	11,613	0.37%	+0.31%
Totals			3,127,860	100.00%

Vermont

Incumbent Republican Ralph Flanders successfully ran for re-election to a full term in the United States Senate, defeating Democratic candidate Charles P. Mcdevitt.

United States Senate election in Vermont, 1946^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Ralph Flanders (inc.)	54,729	74.6
	Democratic	Charles P. Mcdevitt	18,594	25.4
Total votes			73,323	100

Virginia

Incumbent Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. was re-elected to a third term after defeating Republican Lester S. Parsons.

United States Senate election in Virginia, 1946^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (inc.)	163,960	64.84%	-28.48%
	Republican	Lester S. Parsons	77,005	30.45%	+30.45%
	Independent	Howard Carwile	5,189	2.05%
	Communist	Alice Burke	3,318	1.31%	-1.50%
	Prohibition	Thomas E. Boorde	1,764	0.70%	+0.70%
	Socialist	Clarke T. Robb	1,592	0.63%	+0.63%
	Write-ins		35	0.01%	-0.06%
Majority			86,955	34.39%	-55.14%
Turnout			252,863
	Democratic hold

Virginia (Special)

Appointed Democratic Senator Thomas G. Burch retired after filling the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Carter Glass. Absalom Willis Robertson defeated Republican Robert H. Woods and was elected to finish Glass's term in office.

United States Senate special election in Virginia, 1946^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Absalom Willis Robertson	169,680	68.15%	-22.93%
	Republican	Robert H. Woods	72,253	29.02%	+29.02%
	Socialist	Lawrence S. Wilkes	7,024	2.82%	-3.71%
	Write-ins		5	<0.01%
Majority			97,427	39.13%	-45.42%
Turnout			248,962
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States elections, 1946
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1946
• 79th United States Congress
• 80th United States Congress

References

• New York: "RECORD FOR DEWEY IN OFFICIAL COUNT; His 687,151 Majority Topped Lehman's 627,388 in 1932; Won in 1942 by 173,254". The New York Times. December 14, 1946. (Subscription required (help)).