1956 United States Senate election in Connecticut

1956 United States Senate election in Connecticut

←  1952 (special) November 6, 1956 1962  →

Nominee Prescott Bush Thomas J. Dodd Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 610,829 479,460 Percentage 54.84% 43.05%

County results Municipality results Bush:      40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Dodd:      40–50%     50–60%     60-70%

U.S. senator before election Prescott Bush Republican Elected U.S. Senator Prescott Bush Republican

The 1956 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held on November 6, 1956.

Incumbent Senator Prescott Bush, who won a special election in 1952, was re-elected to a full term in office over Democratic U.S. Representative Thomas J. Dodd. Dodd would later be elected to the state's other Senate seat in 1958. As of 2025, this is the last time that a Republican has been elected to Connecticut's Class 3 Senate seat.

Democratic nomination

Candidates

• Thomas J. Dodd, U.S. Representative from Hartford

Convention

Dodd was nominated at the convention on July 7 without opposition. ^[1]

General election

Candidates

• Prescott Bush, incumbent Senator since 1952
• Thomas J. Dodd, U.S. Representative from Hartford
• Jasper McLevy, Mayor of Bridgeport since 1933 (Socialist)
• Suzanne S. Stevenson (Independent Republican)

Results

1956 U.S. Senate election in Connecticut ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Prescott Bush (incumbent)	610,829	54.84%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Dodd	479,460	43.05%
	Independent Republican	Suzanne S. Stevenson	10,199	0.92%
	Socialist	Jasper McLevy	7,079	0.64%
	Independent	Vivien Kellems (write-in)	6,219	0.56%
	Write-in		33	0.00%
Total votes			1,113,819	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 1956 United States Senate elections

References

1. Parke, Richard H. (July 8, 1956). "DODD NOMINATED TO OPPOSE BUSH". The New York Times . p. 44.
2. Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (September 15, 1958). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1956" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 53.
3. "1956 Senatorial General Election Results - Connecticut". US Election Atlas. David Leip's Election Atlas. Retrieved April 19, 2022.