1948 United States Senate election in Colorado

1948 United States Senate election in Colorado

←  1942 November 2, 1948 1954  →

Nominee Ed Johnson Will Nicholson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 340,719 165,059 Percentage 66.79% 32.36%

County results Johnson:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Edwin C. Johnson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson Democratic

The 1948 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 2, 1948. Incumbent Democratic Senator Edwin C. Johnson was re-elected to third term in a landslide over Republican Will Nicholson, a businessman and Air Force veteran, winning every county in the state.

Johnson outperformed fellow Democrat Harry S. Truman in the concurrent presidential election by 29%. As of 2023, this is the last time that an incumbent Democratic Senator from Colorado was re-elected or won re-election for this seat.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Eugene Cervi, newspaperman and Chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party ^[1]
• Edwin C. Johnson, incumbent Senator since 1933

Results

1948 U.S. Senate Democratic primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edwin C. Johnson (incumbent)	84,919	71.86%
	Democratic	Eugene Cervi	33,262	28.15%
Total votes			118,181	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Will Nicholson, owner of the Denver Bears and Air Force veteran
• John C. Vivian, former Governor of Colorado from 1943 to 1947

Results

1948 U.S. Senate Republican primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Will Nicholson	48,716	53.09%
	Republican	John C. Vivian	43,052	46.91%
Total votes			91,768	100.00%

General election

Results

General election results ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edwin C. Johnson (inc.)	340,719	66.79%	16.56
	Republican	Will Nicholson	165,059	32.36%	16.83
	Progressive	John Gurule	2,981	0.58%	N/A
	Socialist	Carle Whitehead	1,352	0.27%	0.13
Total votes			510,111	100.00%

See also

• 1948 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Eugene Cervi Award".
2. "Abstract of Votes Cast at the Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of Colorado. 1948. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
3. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1949). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1948" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.