1962 United States Senate elections

← 1960 November 6, 1962 1964 →
39 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Mike Mansfield Everett Dirksen Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1961 January 3, 1959 Leader's seat Montana Illinois Seats before 64 36 Seats after 68 32 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 21,387,598[1] 20,897,719[1] Percentage 50.3% 49.1% Swing 4.8% 4.9% Seats up 21 18 Races won 25 14
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1962 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate which was held in the middle of President John F. Kennedy's term. His Democratic Party made a net gain of four seats from the Republicans, increasing their control of the Senate.

Both Republican-held senate seats in New Hampshire were up on election day due to a special election. The appointee lost election to a full term to the Democratic challenger while the incumbent Republican was reelected. As such, this is the last time that one of a state's two senate seats, both up on election day, that were held by the same party changed parties.

Results summary

Parties					Total
		Democratic	Republican	Other
Last election (1960) Before these elections		64	36	0	100
Not up		43	18	0	61
Up		21	18	--	39
	Class 3 (1956->1962)	19	15	--	34
	Special: Class 1	1	0	--	1
	Special: Class 2	1	3	--	4
Incumbent retired		2	2	--	4
	Held by same party	2	0	--	2
	Replaced by other party	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats		--	2
	Result	4	0	0	4
Incumbent ran		19	16	--	35
	Won re-election	17	12	--	29
	Lost re-election	3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans		--	5
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	0	0	--	0
	Lost renomination, and party lost	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat		--	1
	Result	21	14	0	35
Total elected		25	14	0	39
Net gain/loss		4	4		4
Nationwide vote		21,387,598	20,897,719	258,084	42,543,401
	Share	50.27%	49.12%	0.61%	100%
Result		68	32	0	100

Source:^[1]

Retirements

Through open seats due to retirements, Democrats gained two seats.

Democratic seats held by Democrats

1. Hawaii: Oren E. Long (D) was replaced by Daniel Inouye (D).
2. Massachusetts (Special): Appointee Benjamin A. Smith II (D) was replaced by Ted Kennedy (D) for the last two years of the term President Kennedy was elected to in 1960

Republicans replaced by Democrats

1. Connecticut: Prescott Bush (R) was replaced by Abraham Ribicoff (D)
2. Maryland: John Marshall Butler (R) was replaced by Daniel Brewster (D)

Losing incumbents

Democrats had a net gain of two seats in election upsets.

Democrats lost to Republicans

1. Colorado: John A. Carroll (D) lost to Peter H. Dominick (R)
2. Wyoming(Class 2): Appointee John J. Hickey (D) lost to Milward Simpson (R)

Republicans lost to Democrats

1. Indiana: Homer E. Capehart (R) lost to Birch Bayh (D)
2. New Hampshire (Special): Appointee Maurice J. Murphy Jr. (R) lost renomination to Perkins Bass (R). Bass lost the general election to Thomas J. McIntyre (D).
3. South Dakota: Appointee Joseph H. Bottum (R) lost to George McGovern (D)
4. Wisconsin: Alexander Wiley (R) lost to Gaylord Nelson (D)

Other changes

The Democrats' four-seat net gain was reduced by one seat between the election and the next Congress.

1. New Mexico: On November 18, 1962, Democrat Dennis Chávez, who was not up for election that year, died. He was replaced on November 30, 1962 by Republican appointee Edwin L. Mechem.

Change in composition

Before the elections

Elections results

Beginning of the next Congress

Race summaries

Special elections during the 87th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1962 or before January 3, 1963; ordered by election date, then state.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1963; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

Alabama

Alabama election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee J. Lister Hill James D. Martin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 201,937 195,134 Percentage 50.86% 49.14%

U.S. Senate election results map. Blue denotes counties won by Hill. Red denotes those won by Martin.   Hill--50-60%   Hill--60-70%   Hill--70-80%   Hill--80-90%   Martin--50-60%   Martin--60-70%   Martin--70-80%

U.S. senator before election J. Lister Hill Democratic Elected U.S. Senator J. Lister Hill Democratic

Alaska

Arizona

Arizona election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Carl Hayden Evan Mecham Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 199,217 163,338 Percentage 54.9% 45.1%

U.S. Senate election results map. Blue denotes counties won by Hayden. Red denotes those won by Mecham.

U.S. senator before election Carl Hayden Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Carl Hayden Democratic

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Connecticut election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Abraham Ribicoff Horace Seely-Brown, Jr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 527,522 501,694 Percentage 51.25% 48.74%

County results Ribicoff:      50-60% Brown:      50-60%

U.S. senator before election Prescott Bush Republican Elected U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff Democratic

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Idaho (regular)

Idaho (special)

Illinois

Illinois election

← 1956 1968 →
Turnout	72.66%
Nominee Everett M. Dirksen Sidney R. Yates Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,961,202 1,748,007 Percentage 52.87% 47.13%
County Results Dirksen:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Yates:      50-60%      60-70%
U.S. senator before election Everett M. Dirksen Republican Elected U.S. Senator Everett M. Dirksen Republican

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kansas (regular)

Kansas election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Frank Carlson K.L. Smith Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 388,500 223,630 Percentage 62.44% 35.94%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Frank Carlson Republican Elected U.S. Senator Frank Carlson Republican

Kansas (special)

Kansas special election

← 1960 November 6, 1962 1966 →

Nominee James B. Pearson Paul L. Aylward Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 344,689 260,756 Percentage 56.2% 42.5%

U.S. senator before election James B. Pearson Republican Elected U.S. Senator James B. Pearson Republican

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts (special)

Massachusetts special election

← 1958 November 6, 1962 1964 →

Nominee Ted Kennedy George C. Lodge Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,162,611 877,668 Percentage 55.44% 41.85%

U.S. senator before election Benjamin A. Smith II Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy Democratic

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020)

Missouri

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Hampshire (regular)

New Hampshire (special)

New York

New York election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Jacob Javits James B. Donovan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,269,772 2,289,323 Percentage 57.38% 40.14%

County results

U.S. senator before election Jacob K. Javits Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits Republican

North Carolina

North Carolina election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Sam Ervin Claude Greene Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 491,520 321,635 Percentage 60.45% 39.55%

U.S. senator before election Sam Ervin Democratic Elected U.S. senator Sam Ervin Democratic

North Dakota

North Dakota election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Milton R. Young William Lanier Party Republican Democratic-NPL Popular vote 135,705 88,032 Percentage 60.65% 39.35%

U.S. senator before election Milton R. Young Republican Elected U.S. Senator Milton R. Young Republican

Incumbent Republican Milton Young was re-elected to his fourth term, defeating North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party candidate William Lanier^[2] of Fargo.^[1] Only Young filed as a Republican, and the endorsed Democratic candidate was Lanier, who had previously faced Young in a special election held in 1946 to fill the seat which was vacated by the late John Moses. Young and Lanier won the primary elections for their respective parties. No independents ran.

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Oregon election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Wayne Morse Sig Unander Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 344,716 291,587 Percentage 54.2% 45.8%

County Results

U.S. senator before election Wayne Morse Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Wayne Morse Democratic

Democratic incumbent Wayne Morse was re-elected to a fourth term. He defeated Republican candidate Sig Unander in the general election.^[3]

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania election

← 1956 November 6, 1962 1968 →

Nominee Joseph S. Clark Jr. James E. Van Zandt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,238,383 2,134,649 Percentage 51.1% 48.7%

County results

U.S. senator before election Joseph S. Clark Jr. Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Joseph S. Clark Jr. Democratic

South Carolina

South Carolina election

← 1956 1966 →

Nominee Olin D. Johnston W. D. Workman, Jr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 178,712 133,930 Percentage 57.2% 42.8%

U.S. senator before election Olin D. Johnston Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Olin D. Johnston Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Senator Olin D. Johnston defeated Governor Fritz Hollings in the Democratic primary and Republican W. D. Workman Jr. in the general election. The South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary on June 12, 1962. Olin D. Johnston, the incumbent Senator, faced stiff competition from Governor Fritz Hollings who argued that Johnston was too liberal and not representative of South Carolina interests. Johnston merely told the voters that he was doing what he thought was best for the agriculture and textile workers of the state. Hollings was decisively defeated by Johnston because Johnston used his position as Post Office and Civil Service Committee to build 40 new post offices in the state and thus demonstrate the pull he had in Washington to bring home the bacon.

W. D. Workman Jr., a correspondent for the News and Courier, faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

Both Johnston and Workman supported segregation, so the campaign centered on the economic issues of the state. Workman tried to persuade the voters that Johnston's policies were socialist and that he was too closely aligned with the Kennedy administration. Johnston was a consistent supporter of socialized health care proposals and Workman was able to win considerable support from the medical establishment. However, the state's citizens were much poorer than that of the rest of the nation and Johnston's class based appeals made him a very popular figure for the downtrodden of both the white and black races. The competitive nature of this race foresaw the eventual rise of the Republican Party and that South Carolinians were growing increasingly suspicious of policies generated at the federal level.

South Dakota

Utah

Vermont

Vermont election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee George Aiken W. Robert Johnson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 81,241 40,134 Percentage 66.8% 33.2%

County results Aiken:

U.S. senator before election George Aiken Republican Elected U.S. Senator George Aiken Republican

Washington

Washington Election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Warren Magnuson Richard G. Christensen Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 491,365 446,204 Percentage 52.09% 47.31%

U.S. senator before election Warren G. Magnuson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson Democratic

Wisconsin

Wisconsin election

← 1956 1968 →

Nominee Gaylord A. Nelson Alexander Wiley Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 662,342 594,846 Percentage 52.26% 47.21%

U.S. senator before election Alexander Wiley Republican Elected U.S. Senator Gaylord A. Nelson Democratic

Incumbent Republican Alexander Wiley lost to Democrat Gaylord A. Nelson.^[4]

Wyoming (special)

See also

• 1962 United States elections
  • 1962 United States gubernatorial elections
  • 1962 United States House of Representatives elections
• 87th United States Congress
• 88th United States Congress

Notes

References

• "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. Volume II. Columbia, SC: 1963, p. 6.
• Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962. p. 83.
• Kalk, Bruce H. (2001). The Origins of the Southern Strategy: Two-Party Competition in South. Lexington Books. pp. 56-61.
• "Veteran's Viciory". Time. June 22, 1962. Retrieved 2008.