1960 United States Senate election in Kentucky

1960 United States Senate election in Kentucky

←  1956 (special) November 8, 1960 1966  →

Nominee John Sherman Cooper Keen Johnson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 644,087 444,830 Percentage 59.15% 40.85%

County results Cooper:      50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80–90%     >90% Johnson:      50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election John Sherman Cooper Republican Elected U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper Republican

The 1960 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 6, 1960. Incumbent Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper, who won a 1956 special election to fill the vacant seat of Alben Barkley, ^[a] was elected to a full term in office, defeating Democratic former Governor and Undersecretary of Labor Keen Johnson.

This marked the first time that Republicans won consecutive Senate elections in the state.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Y. Brown Sr., former U.S. Representative at-large and nominee for Senate in 1946
• Jesse N.R. Cecil
• Wilton Benge Cupp
• James L. Delk
• Keen Johnson, former Governor of Kentucky (1939–43) and U.S. Undersecretary of Labor (1946–47)

Results

Primary results by county

  Johnson

•   40%–50%
•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%
•   70%–80%
•   80%–90%
•   90%–100%

  Brown

•   40%–50%
•   50%–60%
•   60%–70%
•   70%–80%

Democratic primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Keen Johnson	112,797	57.97
	Democratic	John Y. Brown Sr.	75,987	39.05
	Democratic	Wilton Benge Cupp	2,209	1.14
	Democratic	Jesse N.R. Cecil	2,083	1.07
	Democratic	James L. Delk	1,517	0.78
Total votes			194,593	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Sherman Cooper, incumbent Senator since 1957 ^[a]
• Thurman Jerome Hamlin, perennial candidate from London

Results

Republican primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sherman Cooper (incumbent)	50,896	96.26
	Republican	Thurman Jerome Hamlin	1,978	3.74
Total votes			52,874	100.00

General election

Results

1960 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sherman Cooper (incumbent)	644,087	59.15%
	Democratic	Keen Johnson	444,830	40.85%
Total votes			1,088,917	100.00%

Results by county

County	John Sherman Cooper Republican		Keen Johnson Democratic		Margin		Total votes cast [4]
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	4,745	70.88%	1,949	29.12%	2,796	41.77%	6,694
Allen	3,401	68.89%	1,536	31.11%	1,865	37.78%	4,937
Anderson	2,318	58.48%	1,646	41.52%	672	16.95%	3,964
Ballard	1,393	37.71%	2,301	62.29%	-908	-24.58%	3,694
Barren	5,252	55.23%	4,258	44.77%	994	10.45%	9,510
Bath	2,071	55.07%	1,690	44.93%	381	10.13%	3,761
Bell	6,662	58.86%	4,657	41.14%	2,005	17.71%	11,319
Boone	4,700	61.93%	2,889	38.07%	1,811	23.86%	7,589
Bourbon	2,704	50.49%	2,651	49.51%	53	0.99%	5,355
Boyd	11,657	59.47%	7,945	40.53%	3,712	18.94%	19,602
Boyle	4,165	63.23%	2,422	36.77%	1,743	26.46%	6,587
Bracken	2,016	62.90%	1,189	37.10%	827	25.80%	3,205
Breathitt	2,143	41.99%	2,960	58.01%	-817	-16.01%	5,103
Breckinridge	4,137	60.92%	2,654	39.08%	1,483	21.84%	6,791
Bullitt	2,941	58.02%	2,128	41.98%	813	16.04%	5,069
Butler	3,610	80.76%	860	19.24%	2,750	61.52%	4,470
Caldwell	3,442	63.17%	2,007	36.83%	1,435	26.34%	5,449
Calloway	3,792	48.37%	4,048	51.63%	-256	-3.27%	7,840
Campbell	17,624	57.64%	12,953	42.36%	4,671	15.28%	30,577
Carlisle	1,020	39.05%	1,592	60.95%	-572	-21.90%	2,612
Carroll	1,296	40.21%	1,927	59.79%	-631	-19.58%	3,223
Carter	5,322	64.00%	2,993	36.00%	2,329	28.01%	8,315
Casey	4,911	80.42%	1,196	19.58%	3,715	60.83%	6,107
Christian	5,603	47.86%	6,103	52.14%	-500	-4.27%	11,706
Clark	3,672	58.87%	2,566	41.13%	1,106	17.73%	6,238
Clay	4,802	78.32%	1,329	21.68%	3,473	56.65%	6,131
Clinton	3,409	85.40%	583	14.60%	2,826	70.79%	3,992
Crittenden	2,787	69.35%	1,232	30.65%	1,555	38.69%	4,019
Cumberland	2,614	79.62%	669	20.38%	1,945	59.24%	3,283
Daviess	13,968	62.14%	8,511	37.86%	5,457	24.28%	22,479
Edmonson	2,834	75.09%	940	24.91%	1,894	50.19%	3,774
Elliott	932	37.96%	1,523	62.04%	-591	-24.07%	2,455
Estill	3,395	70.51%	1,420	29.49%	1,975	41.02%	4,815
Fayette	27,379	67.42%	13,228	32.58%	14,151	34.85%	40,607
Fleming	2,850	58.93%	1,986	41.07%	864	17.87%	4,836
Floyd	5,657	39.47%	8,676	60.53%	-3,019	-21.06%	14,333
Franklin	5,531	50.32%	5,461	49.68%	70	0.64%	10,992
Fulton	1,761	43.80%	2,260	56.20%	-499	-12.41%	4,021
Gallatin	754	44.88%	926	55.12%	-172	-10.24%	1,680
Garrard	2,891	64.36%	1,601	35.64%	1,290	28.72%	4,492
Grant	2,289	58.11%	1,650	41.89%	639	16.22%	3,939
Graves	5,125	41.60%	7,194	58.40%	-2,069	-16.80%	12,319
Grayson	4,771	69.69%	2,075	30.31%	2,696	39.38%	6,846
Green	3,683	72.53%	1,395	27.47%	2,288	45.06%	5,078
Greenup	6,348	56.62%	4,863	43.38%	1,485	13.25%	11,211
Hancock	1,471	60.89%	945	39.11%	526	21.77%	2,416
Hardin	6,722	61.98%	4,124	38.02%	2,598	23.95%	10,846
Harlan	8,157	51.20%	7,775	48.80%	382	2.40%	15,932
Harrison	2,641	46.77%	3,006	53.23%	-365	-6.46%	5,647
Hart	3,796	58.80%	2,660	41.20%	1,136	17.60%	6,456
Henderson	5,326	50.77%	5,165	49.23%	161	1.53%	10,491
Henry	2,302	50.92%	2,219	49.08%	83	1.84%	4,521
Hickman	1,303	42.82%	1,740	57.18%	-437	-14.36%	3,043
Hopkins	5,576	47.46%	6,173	52.54%	-597	-5.08%	11,749
Jackson	3,825	90.32%	410	9.68%	3,415	80.64%	4,235
Jefferson	137,946	59.51%	93,872	40.49%	44,074	19.01%	231,818
Jessamine	2,788	63.18%	1,625	36.82%	1,163	26.35%	4,413
Johnson	5,480	71.84%	2,148	28.16%	3,332	43.68%	7,628
Kenton	22,312	57.16%	16,722	42.84%	5,590	14.32%	39,034
Knott	1,843	35.49%	3,350	64.51%	-1,507	-29.02%	5,193
Knox	5,843	70.98%	2,389	29.02%	3,454	41.96%	8,232
Larue	2,613	66.51%	1,316	33.49%	1,297	33.01%	3,929
Laurel	7,342	78.37%	2,026	21.63%	5,316	56.75%	9,368
Lawrence	3,203	58.82%	2,242	41.18%	961	17.65%	5,445
Lee	2,000	69.18%	891	30.82%	1,109	38.36%	2,891
Leslie	3,830	83.97%	731	16.03%	3,099	67.95%	4,561
Letcher	4,570	54.78%	3,773	45.22%	797	9.55%	8,343
Lewis	3,807	71.87%	1,490	28.13%	2,317	43.74%	5,297
Lincoln	4,003	67.03%	1,969	32.97%	2,034	34.06%	5,972
Livingston	1,592	52.32%	1,451	47.68%	141	4.63%	3,043
Logan	4,349	50.91%	4,194	49.09%	155	1.81%	8,543
Lyon	1,063	45.12%	1,293	54.88%	-230	-9.76%	2,356
Madison	7,060	57.85%	5,145	42.15%	1,915	15.69%	12,205
Magoffin	2,785	55.19%	2,261	44.81%	524	10.38%	5,046
Marion	2,587	42.71%	3,470	57.29%	-883	-14.58%	6,057
Marshall	3,635	54.08%	3,087	45.92%	548	8.15%	6,722
Martin	2,731	74.39%	940	25.61%	1,791	48.79%	3,671
Mason	4,320	59.03%	2,998	40.97%	1,322	18.07%	7,318
McCracken	10,422	49.06%	10,821	50.94%	-399	-1.88%	21,243
McCreary	3,738	84.42%	690	15.58%	3,048	68.83%	4,428
McLean	2,316	58.35%	1,653	41.65%	663	16.70%	3,969
Meade	2,167	53.57%	1,878	46.43%	289	7.14%	4,045
Menifee	871	51.75%	812	48.25%	59	3.51%	1,683
Mercer	3,838	64.28%	2,133	35.72%	1,705	28.55%	5,971
Metcalfe	2,246	63.64%	1,283	36.36%	963	27.29%	3,529
Monroe	4,220	83.07%	860	16.93%	3,360	66.14%	5,080
Montgomery	2,618	54.84%	2,156	45.16%	462	9.68%	4,774
Morgan	1,812	41.86%	2,517	58.14%	-705	-16.29%	4,329
Muhlenberg	6,070	58.10%	4,377	41.90%	1,693	16.21%	10,447
Nelson	3,782	49.59%	3,844	50.41%	-62	-0.81%	7,626
Nicholas	1,136	47.61%	1,250	52.39%	-114	-4.78%	2,386
Ohio	5,280	69.96%	2,267	30.04%	3,013	39.92%	7,547
Oldham	2,494	60.96%	1,597	39.04%	897	21.93%	4,091
Owen	1,525	43.82%	1,955	56.18%	-430	-12.36%	3,480
Owsley	2,169	86.24%	346	13.76%	1,823	72.49%	2,515
Pendleton	2,274	61.91%	1,399	38.09%	875	23.82%	3,673
Perry	5,909	56.14%	4,617	43.86%	1,292	12.27%	10,526
Pike	10,450	46.09%	12,222	53.91%	-1,772	-7.82%	22,672
Powell	1,484	57.65%	1,090	42.35%	394	15.31%	2,574
Pulaski	12,490	83.64%	2,443	16.36%	10,047	67.28%	14,933
Robertson	632	52.32%	576	47.68%	56	4.64%	1,208
Rockcastle	3,956	79.34%	1,030	20.66%	2,926	58.68%	4,986
Rowan	2,807	57.06%	2,112	42.94%	695	14.13%	4,919
Russell	3,683	78.41%	1,014	21.59%	2,669	56.82%	4,697
Scott	2,415	52.08%	2,222	47.92%	193	4.16%	4,637
Shelby	3,610	54.75%	2,984	45.25%	626	9.49%	6,594
Simpson	1,898	44.98%	2,322	55.02%	-424	-10.05%	4,220
Spencer	1,191	57.56%	878	42.44%	313	15.13%	2,069
Taylor	4,778	72.31%	1,830	27.69%	2,948	44.61%	6,608
Todd	1,936	43.29%	2,536	56.71%	-600	-13.42%	4,472
Trigg	1,680	44.11%	2,129	55.89%	-449	-11.79%	3,809
Trimble	870	38.34%	1,399	61.66%	-529	-23.31%	2,269
Union	1,920	38.13%	3,116	61.87%	-1,196	-23.75%	5,036
Warren	9,177	58.68%	6,461	41.32%	2,716	17.37%	15,638
Washington	2,910	60.26%	1,919	39.74%	991	20.52%	4,829
Wayne	4,070	70.48%	1,705	29.52%	2,365	40.95%	5,775
Webster	2,466	45.46%	2,959	54.54%	-493	-9.09%	5,425
Whitley	7,597	75.49%	2,467	24.51%	5,130	50.97%	10,064
Wolfe	1,369	50.29%	1,353	49.71%	16	0.59%	2,722
Woodford	2,613	65.67%	1,366	34.33%	1,247	31.34%	3,979
Totals	644,087	59.15%	444,830	40.85%	199,257	18.30%	1,088,917

See also

1960 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Cooper had served three partial non-consecutive terms from 1946–49, 1952–55, and his current term from 1957–61.

References

1. "Our Campaigns - KY US Senate - D Primary Race - May 24, 1960". www.ourcampaigns.com.
2. "Our Campaigns - KY US Senate - R Primary Race - May 24, 1960". www.ourcampaigns.com.
3. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1961). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1960" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
4. "KY US Senate Race, November 08, 1960". Our Campaigns.