Democrat William Proxmire won a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-WI). Also, Price Daniel (D-TX) left the Senate to become governor of Texas, and Democrat Ralph Yarborough won a special election for that Senate seat. The Democrats thus made a net gain of one seat. However, Congress was out of session at the time of the Democratic gain in Wisconsin, and the Republicans gained a Democratic-held seat only weeks after the next session started, when Republican John D. Hoblitzell Jr. was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Matthew M. Neely (D-WV).
Ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Texas (Class 1) | William A. Blakley | Democratic | 1957 (Appointed) | Interim appointee retired when successor elected. New senator elected April 2, 1957. Democratic hold. |
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| Wisconsin (Class 1) | Joseph McCarthy | Republican | 1946 1952 | Incumbent died May 2, 1957. New senator elected August 28, 1957. Democratic gain. |
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 County Results among the top 5 candidates [4] Yarborough: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% >90% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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One-term Democrat Price Daniel resigned January 14, 1957 to become Governor of Texas. Daniel appointed Democrat William A. Blakley January 15, 1957.
In 1956, Allan Shivers opted not to run for a fourth term as Governor of Texas; Senator Price Daniel, as a sitting U.S. Senator was elected Governor of Texas.
Like his gubernatorial predecessor Allan Shivers and Daniel, Blakley was an "Eisenhower Democrat" who had supported Dwight Eisenhower over the national Democratic Party candidate Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and 1956.
Blakley, who had gained prominence in Texas politics for his business successes was, at the time, building a $125 million shopping center and a 1,000-room hotel in Dallas. Governor Shivers, who had been considering appointing a Republican candidate to the Senate seat, instead named Blakley to the United States Senate pending a special election for the seat.
Pressured by the Democratic Party in the interests of cooling tensions from the gubernatorial election, Blakley did not seek the remaining term as senator. He hence served for fewer than four months from January 15 to April 28. Ralph Yarborough succeeded him in the special election, winning with a plurality of the vote when the conservatives divided three ways.
Thereafter, Texas law was changed to require a runoff between the two leading candidates in a special election if no one had a majority in the first round). Blakley left the Senate saying "I shall go back to my boots and saddle and ride toward the Western sunset." [5]
Yarborough would be re-elected in 1958 and again in 1964.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ralph W. Yarborough | 364,605 | 38.09% | ||
| Democratic | Martin Dies Jr. | 290,803 | 30.38% | ||
| Republican | Thad Hutcheson | 219,591 | 22.94% | ||
| Democratic | Searcy Bracewell | 33,384 | 3.49% | ||
| Democratic | James P. Hart | 19,739 | 2.06% | ||
| Democratic | John C. White | 11,876 | 1.24% | ||
| Democratic | Ralph W. Hammonds | 2,372 | 0.25% | ||
| Democratic | Elmer Adams | 2,228 | 0.23% | ||
| Democratic | M. T. Banks | 2,153 | 0.23% | ||
| Democratic | Frank G. Cortez | 1,350 | 0.14% | ||
| Democratic | Charles W. Hill | 1,025 | 0.11% | ||
| Democratic | Jacob Bergolofsky | 890 | 0.09% | ||
| Democratic | J. Cal Courtney | 879 | 0.09% | ||
| Democratic | Hugh Wilson | 851 | 0.09% | ||
| Majority | 73,802 | 7.71% | |||
| Turnout | 12.41% (total pop) | ||||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Two-term Republican Joseph McCarthy died May 2, 1957. In the summer of 1957, a special election was held to fill McCarthy's seat. In the primaries, voters in both parties turned away from McCarthy's legacy. The Republican primary was won by Walter J. Kohler Jr., who called for a clean break from McCarthy's approach; he defeated former Congressman Glenn Robert Davis, who charged that Eisenhower was soft on Communism. [6] The Democratic candidate, William Proxmire, [7] called the late McCarthy "a disgrace to Wisconsin, to the Senate, and to America". On August 27, Proxmire won the election, serving in the seat for 32 years. [8] [9]
Proxmire would be re-elected five more times, serving until his retirement in 1989.
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 County results Proxmire: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Proxmire | 435,985 | 56.44% | +15.22% | |
| Republican | Walter Kohler | 312,931 | 40.51% | -18.08% | |
| Constitution Party (United States, 1952) | Howard Boyle | 20,581 | 2.66% | ||
| Independent | Donald Wheaton | 2,288 | 0.30% | ||
| Socialist Labor | Georgia Cozzini | 704 | 0.09% | ||
| Majority | 123,054 | 15.93% | |||
| Turnout | 772,489 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2020) |
Ralph Webster Yarborough was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1971 and was a leader of the progressive wing of his party. Along with Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, but unlike most Southern congressmen, Yarborough refused to support the 1956 Southern Manifesto, which called for resistance to the racial integration of schools and other public places. Yarborough voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yarborough was the only senator from a state that was part of the Confederacy to vote for all five bills.
The 1988 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 8, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. In spite of the Republican victory by George H. W. Bush in the presidential election, the Democrats gained a net of one seat in the Senate. Seven seats changed parties, with four incumbents being defeated. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased by one to 55–to–45.
The 1986 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 4, in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been elected on President Ronald Reagan's coattails in 1980. Democrats won a net of eight seats, defeating seven freshman incumbents, picking up two Republican-held open seats, and regaining control of the Senate for the first time since January 1981. This remains the most recent midterm election in which the sitting president's party suffered net losses while still flipping a Senate seat.
The 1978 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. Thirteen seats changed hands between parties, resulting in a net gain of three seats for the Republicans. Democrats nevertheless retained a 58–41 majority.
The 1976 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with Democrat Jimmy Carter's presidential election and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democratic Party.
The 1972 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. They coincided with the landslide re-election of Republican President Richard Nixon. Despite Nixon's landslide victory, Democrats increased their majority by two seats. The Democrats picked up open seats in Kentucky and South Dakota, and defeated four incumbent senators: Gordon Allott of Colorado, J. Caleb Boggs of Delaware, Jack Miller of Iowa, and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine. The Republicans picked up open seats in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, and defeated one incumbent, William B. Spong Jr. of Virginia.
The 1970 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. It took place on November 3, with the 33 seats of Class 1 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. These races occurred in the middle of Richard Nixon's first term as president. The Democrats lost a net of three seats, while the Republicans and the Conservative Party of New York picked up one net seat each, and former Democrat Harry F. Byrd Jr. was re-elected as an independent.
The 1964 United States Senate elections were held on November 3. The 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the election of President Lyndon B. Johnson by an overwhelming majority, to a full term. His Democratic Party picked up a net two seats from the Republicans. As of 2022, this was the last time either party has had a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which would have hypothetically allowed the Senate Democrats to override a veto, propose constitutional amendments, or convict and expel certain officials without any votes from Senate Republicans. In practice, however, internal divisions effectively prevented the Democrats from doing so. The Senate election coincided with Democratic gains in the House in the same year.
The 1958 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate which occurred in the middle of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. Thirty-two seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, the new state of Alaska held its first Senate elections for its Class 2 and 3 seats, and two special elections were held to fill vacancies.
The 1956 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate that coincided with the re-election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies. Although Democrats gained two seats in regular elections, the Republicans gained two seats in special elections, leaving the party balance of the chamber unchanged.
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 caucused with them.
The 1952 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate which coincided with the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower to the presidency by a large margin. The 32 Senate seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies. The Republicans took control of the Senate by managing to make a net gain of two seats. However, Wayne Morse (R-OR) became an independent forcing Republicans to rely on Vice President Richard Nixon's tie-breaking vote for a brief period in 1953, until Republicans later flipped a seat in a special election thereby giving them an outright majority again. This was the second time in Senate history that this occurred, along with 1880. This was the third time, as well as second consecutive, in which a sitting Senate leader lost his seat.
The 1946 United States Senate elections were held November 5, 1946, in the middle of Democratic President Harry S. Truman's first term after Roosevelt's passing. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and four special elections were held to fill vacancies. The Republicans took control of the Senate by picking up twelve seats, mostly from the Democrats. This was the first time since 1932 that the Republicans had held the Senate, recovering from a low of 16 seats following the 1936 Senate elections.
The 1930 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Republican President Herbert Hoover's term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. With the Great Depression beginning to take hold, Republican incumbents became unpopular, and Democrats picked up a net of eight seats, erasing the Republican gains from the previous election cycle. Republicans retained control of the U.S. Senate since Vice President Charles Curtis cast the tie-breaking vote. This was the first of four consecutive Senate elections during the Depression in which Democrats made enormous gains, achieving a cumulative pick-up of 34 seats.
William Arvis "Dollar Bill" Blakley was an American politician and businessman from the state of Texas. Blakley was part of the conservative wing of the Texas Democratic Party. He served twice as an interim United States Senator, appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy until his successor could be duly elected. He served first in 1957 after the resignation of Price Daniel and again in 1961 after the resignation of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Thaddeus Thomson Hutcheson, was a Republican attorney in his native Houston, who was an early figure in the movement to establish a competitive two-party system in the U.S. state of Texas.
The 1958 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 4, 1958. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough won a competitive primary against former Senator William Blakley and handily defeated newspaper publisher Roy Whittenburg in the general election.
The 1957 United States Senate special election in Texas was held on April 2, 1957 to complete the unexpired term of Senator Price Daniel, who resigned to become Governor of Texas. Interim Senator William Blakley did not run for re-election. Ralph Yarborough won the race with a plurality of the vote; no majority was required.
The 1952 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 4, 1952.
The 1960 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 8, 1960. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was simultaneously running for Vice President of the United States, was re-elected to a third term in office. Johnson had Texas law changed to allow him to run for both offices at once. As of 2023, this is the last time the Democrats won the Class 2 Senate seat in Texas.
