1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma

Last updated

1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma
Flag of Oklahoma (1941-1988).svg
  1960 November 3, 1964 1966  
  FredRoyHarris.jpg Bud Wilkinson.jpg
Nominee Fred R. Harris Bud Wilkinson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote466,782445,392
Percentage51.17%48.83%

1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma results map by county.svg
County results
Harris:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Wilkinson:      50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election

J. Howard Edmondson
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Fred R. Harris
Democratic

The 1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma took place on November 3, 1964. Democratic Senator Robert S. Kerr, who won re-election to his third term in 1960, died in office on January 1, 1963. Governor J. Howard Edmondson resigned from office so that his Lieutenant Governor, George Nigh, could appoint him to the U.S. Senate. Edmondson ran for election in the ensuing special election, and faced strong competition from former Governor Raymond D. Gary and State Senator Fred R. Harris. Edmondson placed first in the primary, but failed to win a majority, with Harris narrowly beating out Gary for second place. In the runoff, Harris defeated Edmondson in a landslide. In the general election, Harris faced former Oklahoma Sooners football coach Bud Wilkinson, the Republican nominee. Even though President Lyndon B. Johnson won Oklahoma by a wide margin over Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, the Senate race was much closer. Ultimately, Harris only narrowly defeated Wilkinson by just 2% of the vote.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic J. Howard Edmondson (inc.) 215,455 36.44%
Democratic Fred R. Harris190,86832.28%
Democratic Raymond Gary170,86928.90%
Democratic Willard R. Owens14,1342.39%
Total votes591,326 100.00%

Runoff election results

Democratic primary runoff [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Fred R. Harris 277,362 60.90%
Democratic J. Howard Edmondson (inc.)178,05139.10%
Total votes455,413 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Runoff Election Results

Republican primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bud Wilkinson 100,544 79.22%
Republican Thomas J. Harris19,17015.10%
Republican Forest W. Beall7,2115.68%
Total votes126,925 100.00%

[3]

General election

Results

1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Fred R. Harris 466,782 51.17% -3.67%
Republican Bud Wilkinson 445,39248.83%+4.22%
Majority21,3902.34%-7.89%
Turnout 912,174
Democratic hold

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred R. Harris</span> American politician

Fred Roy Harris is an American former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States Senate from Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 United States Senate elections</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States Senate elections</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 United States Senate elections</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 United States Senate elections</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Howard Edmondson</span> American Governor and US Senator from Oklahoma (1925–1971)

James Howard Edmondson was an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. He served as the 16th governor of Oklahoma from 1959 to 1963, and the appointed United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1963 to 1964, losing to Fred R. Harris in a 1964 special election for the U.S. Senate. When he took office as Governor of Oklahoma at the age of 33, Edmondson was, and still is, the youngest governor in the history of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Wilkinson</span> American football player and coach; sports announcer (1916–1994)

Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of 145–29–4. His Oklahoma Sooners won three national championships and 14 conference titles. Between 1953 and 1957, Wilkinson's Oklahoma squads won 47 straight games, a record that still stands at the highest level of college football. After retiring from coaching following the 1963 season, Wilkinson entered into politics and, in 1965, became a broadcaster with ABC Sports. He returned to coaching in 1978, as head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons. Wilkinson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Edmondson (politician)</span> American politician

Edmond Augustus Edmondson was an American World War II veteran, lawyer, and politician from Oklahoma. He served 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1953 to 1973. He was defeated in U.S. Senate elections in Oklahoma three times in 1972, 1974, and 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania</span> Class III U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span> United States Senate election in Oklahoma

The 1972 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 7, 1972. The incumbent Democratic Senator, Fred R. Harris, had retired to run for president. The open seat was won by Republican Dewey F. Bartlett, who defeated Democratic nominee Ed Edmondson. However, his victory underperformed that of President Richard Nixon in the concurrent presidential election, which saw Nixon defeat George McGovern by 49.7% in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 United States Senate election in Texas</span>

The 1964 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic US Senator Ralph Yarborough defeated future US President George H. W. Bush handily. This would prove to be Yarborough's final term as a senator. Bush later went on to win an election for the US House of Representatives in 1966 and was subsequently elected US Vice President in 1980, re-elected in 1984, and was elected president in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Oklahoma

The 2018 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018. Republican businessman Kevin Stitt was elected the governor of the state, succeeding fellow Republican Mary Fallin, who was term-limited. Primary elections occurred on June 26, 2018, with primary runoff elections having occurred on August 28, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate elections</span>

The 2022 United States Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with the midterm elections at the federal, state and local level, including the 2022 U.S. House of Representatives elections. Regularly scheduled elections were held for 34 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, the winners of which will serve six-year terms in the U.S. Congress from January 3, 2023, to January 3, 2029, starting with the 118th United States Congress. One special election was also held to complete an unexpired term ending January 3, 2027. While pundits considered the Republican Party a slight favorite to gain control of the Senate, the Democratic Party outperformed expectations and expanded the majority they had held since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1924 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1924 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 4, 1924. Incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Latham Owen declined to run for re-election. In a crowded Democratic primary, impeached former Governor Jack C. Walton won the party's nomination with a narrow plurality. In the general election, he faced businessman William B. Pine, the Republican nominee. Though Democratic presidential nominee John W. Davis narrowly won the state over President Calvin Coolidge, Walton's unpopularity and controversy caused Democrats to lose the seat; Pine defeated Walton in a landslide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1930 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1930 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Republican Senator William B. Pine ran for re-election to a second term. In the Democratic primary, former U.S. Senator Thomas Gore emerged victorious in a crowded Democratic primary that included three former Governors and one of the first female candidates for statewide office. He won a slim plurality in the initial election and defeated C. J. Wrightsman, an oilman from Tulsa, in the runoff by a wide margin. In the general election, aided by the national Democratic landslide, Gore narrowly defeated Pine, returning to the Senate for one final term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1960 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 8, 1960. Incumbent Democratic Senator Robert S. Kerr ran for re-election to a third term. He won the Democratic primary in a landslide and then faced former U.S. Attorney B. Hayden Crawford, the Republican nominee, in the general election. Even as Vice President Richard Nixon was winning Oklahoma in a landslide over John F. Kennedy, Kerr was able to defeat Crawford by a wide margin, winning his third term. However, Kerr died just shy of two years into his third term, on January 1, 1963. He was replaced by Governor J. Howard Edmondson in the Senate and a special election was held in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1962 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1962 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 6, 1962. Incumbent Democratic Senator Mike Monroney was re-elected to a third term. After winning a sizable victory in the Democratic primary, Monroney faced Republican former U.S. Attorney B. Hayden Crawford in the general election. Monroney won his last term in the Senate before his defeat in 1968. This election marks the last time that a Democrat has won Oklahoma's Class 2 Senate seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1966 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 8, 1966. Democratic Senator Fred R. Harris ran for re-election to a second term, and his first full term. After winning an easy victory in the Democratic primary, he faced attorney Pat J. Patterson, the Republican nominee, in the general election. Patterson wasn't viewed as a strong candidate against Harris, but the national Republican landslide helped make the race somewhat close. Harris ended up narrowly defeating Patterson to win his final term in the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee</span>

The 1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 8, 1966, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican nominee Howard Baker won the election, defeating Democratic nominee and Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement with 55.7% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 United States Senate election in Oklahoma</span>

The 1978 United States Senate election in Oklahoma took place on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican Senator Dewey F. Bartlett retired, leaving the seat vacant. He was succeeded by popular Democratic Governor David Boren.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1958-1966 Election Results" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Wilkinson Announcing Race for U. S. Senate Today". Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Okla. February 5, 1964. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  3. "Our Campaigns - OK US Senate - Special R Primary Race - May 05, 1964". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 28, 2021.