James Francis Byrnes was an American judge and politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in the executive branch, most prominently as the 49th U.S. Secretary of State under President Harry S. Truman. Byrnes was also the 104th governor of South Carolina.
The 1962 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 6, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They occurred 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 to 68–32. However, this was reduced to 67–33 between the election and the next Congress, as 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. Additionally, Democrat Strom Thurmond became a Republican in 1964, further reducing Democrats to 66–34. This was the first time since 1932 that Democrats gained seats in this class of Senators.
The 1954 United States Senate elections was a midterm election in the first term of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency. The 32 Senate seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and six special elections were held to fill vacancies. Eisenhower's Republican party lost a net of two seats to the Democratic opposition. This small change was just enough to give Democrats control of the chamber with the support of an Independent who agreed to caucus with them; he later officially joined the party in April 1955.
The 1948 United States Senate elections were held concurrently with the election of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and one special election was held to fill a vacancy. Truman campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and additionally, the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–1947 by election day. Thus, Truman was rewarded with a Democratic gain of nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber. This was the last time until 2020 that Democrats flipped a chamber of Congress in a presidential election cycle.
Alva Blanchard Adams Sr. was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Pueblo, Colorado. He served nine years as a United States senator from Colorado, serving by appointment from 1923 to 1924, then serving again from 1933 until his death in 1941. He was the first U.S. senator from Colorado who was born in Colorado. He is the namesake of the Alva B. Adams Tunnel under Rocky Mountain National Park.
Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston was an American politician from the US state of South Carolina. He served as the 98th governor of South Carolina, from 1935 to 1939 and again from 1943 to 1945. He represented the state in the United States Senate from 1945 until his death from pneumonia in Columbia, South Carolina in 1965. He has become infamously remembered for denying clemency to George Stinney, a 14 year-old African American boy who was wrongfully sentenced to death in 1944 after a trial that lasted for one single day, a conviction overturned 70 years later.
Burnet Rhett Maybank was a three-term US senator, the 99th governor of South Carolina, and mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. He was the first governor from Charleston since the American Civil War (1861-1865) and one of twenty people in United States history to have been elected mayor, governor, and United States senator. During his tenure in the Senate, Maybank was a powerful ally of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His unexpected death on September 1, 1954, from a heart attack, led to Strom Thurmond being elected senator.
Alva Moore Lumpkin was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina and the United States District Court for the Western District of South Carolina and was a United States senator from South Carolina.
Richard Manning Jefferies, a longtime state legislator and the 101st Governor of South Carolina from 1942 to 1943, was born in Union County, South Carolina on February 27, 1889. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1910 and moved to the town of Ridgeland. There, he read law and served as superintendent of the elementary school. Moving to Walterboro after his admission to the bar, he practiced law and was elected probate judge of Colleton County in 1918.
The 1962 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. Donald S. Russell won the Democratic primary and ran unopposed in the general election becoming the 107th governor of South Carolina. It is the last uncontested South Carolina gubernatorial election.
The 1954 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1954. Senator Burnet R. Maybank did not face a primary challenge in the summer and was therefore renominated as the Democratic nominee for the election in the fall. However, his death on September 1 left the Democratic Party without a nominee, and the executive committee nominated state Senator Edgar A. Brown as their replacement candidate. Many South Carolinians were outraged by the party's decision to forgo a primary election, and former Governor Strom Thurmond entered the race as a write-in candidate. He easily won the election and became the first U.S. senator to be elected by a write-in vote in an election where other candidates had ballot access. A Senate election where the victor won by a write-in campaign did not happen again until 2010.
The 1966 South Carolina United States Senate special election was held on November 8, 1966 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. The election resulted from the death of Senator Olin D. Johnston in 1965. Then Governor Donald S. Russell entered in a prearranged agreement with Lieutenant Governor Robert Evander McNair in which Russell would resign his post so that he could be appointed Senator. However, former Governor Fritz Hollings won the Democratic primary election and went on to beat Republican state senator Marshall Parker in the general election to win his right to fill the remaining two years of the unexpired term.
The 1966 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 8, 1966 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina simultaneously with the special election to fill out the remainder of Olin D. Johnston's term.
The 1956 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1956 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina simultaneously with the special Senate election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Olin D. Johnston handily defeated Republican mayor of Clemson Leon P. Crawford.
The 1962 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1962 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. 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 1944 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 7, 1944 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina.
The 1938 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 8, 1938, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Senator Ellison D. Smith defeated Governor Olin D. Johnston in the Democratic primary. The general election was contested, but a victory by Smith was never in doubt.
The 1942 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 3, 1942 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Senator Burnet R. Maybank defeated Eugene S. Blease in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election to win a six-year term.
The 1948 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1948 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Incumbent Senator Burnet R. Maybank won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican challenger J. Bates Gerald in the general election to win another six-year term.
There were three special elections to the United States Senate in 1941 during the 77th United States Congress.
