Results of the elections: Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold No electionRectangular inset (Ky. & S. C.): both seats up for election
The 1956 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate that coincided with the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies. Although Democrats gained two seats in regular elections, the Republicans gained two seats in special elections, leaving the party balance of the chamber unchanged.
One Republican was appointed to the seat of a deceased Democrat. Two Democrats won special elections, one seat was previously held by a Democrat and another by a Republican. One Democrat was appointed to replace another Democrat.
Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain. Winner delayed term until January 9, 1957, when he resigned his post as an Attorney General of New York.
Two elections in Kentucky converted both seats from Democratic to Republican. As a result, this marked the first time since1916 that both Senate seats in a state flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle.
Kentucky (special)
1956 United States Senate special election in Kentucky
Following the death of Alben Barkley on April 30, 1956, Robert Humphreys was appointed June 21, 1956 to continue the term, pending a special election.[2] Humphreys did not run in the special election to finish the term that would end in 1961.
Republican former-senator John Sherman Cooper, who had twice won special elections to that seat in 1946 and 1952, was again elected to finish the term.
1956 United States Senate special election in Kentucky[1]
In New York, the Republican state convention met on September 10 at Albany, New York, and nominated New York State Attorney General Jacob K. Javits.[3] The Democratic state convention met on September 10 at Albany, New York, and nominated Mayor of New York City Robert F. Wagner Jr., for the U.S. Senate.[4] The Liberal Party endorsed the Democratic nominee, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., for the U.S. Senate.[5] On October 1, a movement was launched to vote for General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate.[6] On October 2, MacArthur disavowed the campaign, and stated that he was not a candidate.[7]
Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was Quentin Burdick, the son of well-known politician Usher Burdick, and former candidate for Governor of North Dakota. Young and Burdick won the primary elections for their respective parties.
In Oregon, Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Wayne Morse decided to seek re-election for his first full term as a Democrat. Morse defeated Republican candidate Douglas McKay in the hotly contested general election.[9]
In Pennsylvania, incumbent Republican U.S. senator James H. Duff sought re-election to another term, but was defeated by the Democratic nominee, Joseph S. Clark Jr.
Incumbent Democrat Olin D. Johnston handily defeated Republican mayor of ClemsonLeon P. Crawford. Olin D. Johnston, the incumbent Senator, faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election. Leon P. Crawford, the mayor of the town of Clemson in the Upstate, faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election. Crawford campaigned as a defender of states' rights and denounced Johnston for backing the New Deal and the Fair Deal. The state Republican Party believed that Crawford could have a chance in the election if he galvanized the 128,000 registered black voters, although they were weary of being labeled as the black party. In the end, Johnston remained highly popular with the voters who were still leery of the Republican party and he easily defeated Crawford in the general election.
The special election resulted from the resignation of Senator Strom Thurmond on April 4, 1956, who was keeping a campaign pledge he had made in the 1954 election. Thurmond was unopposed in his bid to complete the remaining four years of the term. Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Democrats and avoided a primary election. There was a possibility that GovernorGeorge Bell Timmerman Jr. might enter the race, but Thurmond was held in such high regard by the voters that there would have been no chance of defeating Thurmond. With no challenge to the remainder of the term, Thurmond did not conduct a campaign and rejoined his old law firm in Aiken until he returned to the Senate after the general election.
South Carolina U.S. Senate Special Election, 1956[1]
Following the death of Harley M. Kilgore on February 28, 1956, William Laird III was appointed to fill this seat and assumed office on March 13, 1956.[2] Laird did not opt to run in the special election to fill the remainder of Kilgore's term through the end of the 85th Congress on January 3, 1959. As of 2024[update], this is the last time the Republicans have won West Virginia's Class 1 seat. This was also the last time until 2014 that the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in the state.
1956 United States Senate election in West Virginia[1]
Incumbent Republican Senator Alexander Wiley easily won reelection to a fourth and final term, defeating the Democratic candidate, Henry W. Maier, by a margin of 17.4%. This would be the last time a Republican would win a Senate race in Wisconsin until Bob Kasten in 1980, and the last time a Republican would win more than 2 terms until Ron Johnson's victory in 2022.
1956 United States Senate election in Wisconsin[1]
^ abThe Liberal Party in New York endorsed Robert F. Wagner Jr., a Democrat, but the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives did not tabulate their votes, totaling 300,648, into the national Democratic total.[1]
^W. (William) Richard Stengel was an Illinois lawyer, state legislator and (after his loss to Dirksen) Rock Island County State's attorney and an Illinois judge. He died in 1994.
^Morse was first elected in 1944 and re-elected in 1950 as a Republican. He became an independent in 1952 and joined the Democratic Party in 1955.
Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina. Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Vol. I. Columbia, South Carolina. 1957. pp. 8–9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Kalk, Bruce H. (2001). The Origins of the Southern Strategy: Two-Party Competition in South. Lexington Books. pp. 30, 33.
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