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United States Senate elections, 1958

← 1956 November 4, 1958 1960 →
32 of the 98 seats in the United States Senate 50 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Lyndon Johnson Bill Knowland (retired) Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1953 August 4, 1953 Leader's seat Texas California Seats before 49 47 Seats after 61 35 Seat change 12 12 Popular vote 20,620,465 16,180,851 Percentage 55.0% 43.1% Swing 4.4% 5.4% Seats up 12 20 Races won 24 8
Results including special elections      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold
Majority Leader before election Lyndon Johnson Democratic Elected Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1958 were elections 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 more than usual, 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 12 Republican seats and a special election seat (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 is the largest swing in the history of the Senate, and is only the second time in U.S. history that 10 or more Senate seats changed hands in a midterm election (after 1946). This election featured the most number of incumbent Republicans defeated since Senators were first popularly elected.^{[citation needed]}

New seats

New Democratic seats

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


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

Incumbents retiring

Democrats

No Democrats retired.

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

No Democrats lost re-election.

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
    

Results summary

For the November 5 and November 25, 1958 general and special elections.

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.

Parties				Total
		Democratic	Republican
Before these elections		49	47	96
Not up		37	26	63
	Class 2 (1954)	20	11	31
	Class 3 (1956)	17	15	32
Up		12	21	33
	General: Class 1	12	20	32
	Special: Class 2	—	1	1
	Special: Class 3	—	—	0
Incumbent retired		—	6	6
	Held by same party	—	3	3
	Replaced by other party	3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats		3
	Result	3	3	6
Incumbent ran		12	15	27
	Won re-election	12	5	17
	Lost re-election	10 Republicans replaced by 10 Democrats		10
	Lost renomination but held by same party	—	—	—
	Result	22	5	27
New state		2	—	2
Total elected		27	8	35
Net change		15	13	2
Result		64	34	98

Change in Senate composition

Before the general elections

After the general elections

After the special elections

After the admission of Hawaii

Race summaries

Special elections during the 85th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1958 or before January 3, 1959; ordered by election date.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1959; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

Elections during the 86th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated after January 3, 1959.

Connecticut

In Connecticut, Democrat Thomas J. Dodd defeated incumbent senator William A. Purtell who ran for a second term.

Minnesota

In Minnesota, Democratic Representative Eugene McCarthy defeated incumbent senator Edward John Thye who ran for a third term.

Montana

Incumbent Mike Mansfield, who was first elected to the Senate in 1952, ran for re-election. Mansfield won the Democratic primary comfortably, and moved on to the general election, where he was opposed by Lou W. Welch, a millworker and the Republican nominee. In contrast to the close campaign in 1952, Mansfield defeated Welch in a landslide and won his second term in the Senate easily.

General election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Mike Mansfield (Incumbent)	174,910	76.22%	25.47%
	Republican	Lou W. Welch	54,573	23.78%	24.77%
Majority			120,337	52.44%	50.25%
Turnout			229,483
	Democratic hold		Swing

Nevada

In Nevada, incumbent Republican George W. Malone ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Democrat Howard Cannon.

General election results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Howard Cannon, City Attorney of Las Vegas	48,732	57.65%	7.63%
	Republican	George W. Malone (Incumbent)	35,760	42.32%	9.35%
Majority			12,972	15.35%	12.00%
Turnout			84,492
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

North Dakota

Incumbent Republican, and former Non-Partisan League (NPL) Senator, William Langer, was re-elected to a fourth term, defeating North Dakota Democratic NPL Party (Dem-NPL) candidate Raymond G. Vendsel.^[6]

Only Langer filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic-NPL candidate was Raymond G. Vendsel. Langer and Vendsel won the primary elections for their respective parties.

Two independent candidates, Arthur C. Townley and Custer Solem, also filed before the deadline but had minimal impact on the outcome of the election, totaling less than 3,000 votes combined. Townley was known as the creator of the National Non-Partisan League, and had previously sought North Dakota's other senate seat in 1956.

Pennsylvania

Incumbent Republican Edward Martin did not seek re-election. The Republican nominee, Hugh Scott, defeated Democratic nominee George M. Leader for the vacant seat.

General election results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Hugh Scott	2,042,586	51.21%	0.37%
	Democratic	George M. Leader	1,929,821	48.38%	0.40%
	Socialist Labor	George S. Taylor	10,431	0.26%	0.26%
	Socialist Workers	Ethel Peterson	5,742	0.14%	0.14%
	N/A	Other	42	0.00%	N/A
Totals			3,988,622	100.00%

Vermont

Incumbent Republican Ralph Flanders did not run for re-election to another term in the United States Senate. Republican candidate Winston L. Prouty defeated Democratic candidate Frederick J. Fayette to succeed him.

Virginia

Incumbent Harry F. Byrd, Sr. was re-elected after defeating Independent Louise Wensel and Social Democrat Clarke Robb.

General election results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Harry F. Byrd, Sr. (Incumbent)	317,221	69.32%	4.03%
	Independent	Louise Wensel	120,224	26.27%	26.27%
	Social Democratic	Clarke T. Robb	20,154	4.40%	7.98%
		write-ins	41	0.01%	1.54%
Majority			196,997	43.05%
Turnout			457,640
	Democratic hold

See also

• 
  United States elections, 1958
  
  • United States gubernatorial elections, 1958
  
  
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1958
  
  


• 85th United States Congress


• 86th United States Congress

References