Election 1948 Results
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1948 Senate election results by state and county
Harry Truman's surprise win came with a Democratic Senate comeback: the party won 23 of the 32 seats up, gained eight states and retook the chamber.
32 Senate races were held in 1948, plus 2 special elections. Democrats won 23 and Republicans 9.
The closest were Idaho (D+1.5), Michigan (R+2.2) and Delaware (D+2.6). 8 seats changed party: Delaware to the Democrats, Idaho to the Democrats, Illinois to the Democrats, Iowa to the Democrats, Minnesota to the Democrats, Oklahoma to the Democrats, West Virginia to the Democrats and Wyoming to the Democrats.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1948 Senate elections
Most forecasters expected Thomas Dewey to beat Truman, but Truman's attacks on the Republican Congress worked. He won despite splits on his left and right. Democrats won 23 Senate races to the Republicans' 9 and gained seats in Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming, giving them back control of the Senate. The class of 1948 included several future leaders. Paul Douglas beat C. Wayland Brooks in Illinois by more than 10 points. Hubert Humphrey, Minneapolis mayor, won Minnesota. In Texas, Lyndon Johnson won the seat after a disputed Democratic primary, and Estes Kefauver won in Tennessee. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress. The closest race was Idaho, where Bert Miller beat Henry Dworshak by 1.5 points. Republican Homer Ferguson held Michigan, and in Kentucky Virgil Chapman unseated John Sherman Cooper.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | John Sparkman | 185,534 (84.0%) | Paul G. Parsons | 35,341 (16.0%) | D+68.0 | |
| Arkansas | John L. McClellan | 216,401 (93.2%) | none | R. Walter Tucker (Independent) 15,821 (6.8%) |
D+93.2 | |
| Colorado | Edwin C. Johnson | 340,719 (66.8%) | Will F. Nicholson | 165,069 (32.4%) | 4,333 | D+34.4 |
| Delaware flip | J. Allen Frear Jr. | 71,888 (50.9%) | Clayton D. Buck | 68,246 (48.3%) | 1,228 | D+2.6 |
| Georgia | Richard B. Russell | 362,104 (99.9%) | none | 400 | D+99.9 | |
| Idaho flip | Bert C. Miller | 107,000 (50.0%) | Henry C. Dworshak | 103,868 (48.5%) | 3,320 | D+1.5 |
| Illinois flip | Paul H. Douglas | 2,147,754 (55.1%) | C. Wayland Brooks | 1,740,026 (44.6%) | 12,505 | D+10.5 |
| Iowa flip | Guy M. Gillette | 578,226 (57.8%) | George A. Wilson | 415,778 (41.6%) | 6,408 | D+16.2 |
| Kansas | George McGill | 305,987 (42.7%) | Andrew Schoeppel | 393,412 (54.9%) | 16,943 | R+12.2 |
| Kentucky | Virgil Chapman | 408,256 (51.4%) | John Sherman Cooper | 383,776 (48.3%) | 2,409 | D+3.1 |
| Louisiana | Allen J. Ellender | 330,315 (100.0%) | none | 9 | D+100.0 | |
| Louisiana (special) | Russell B. Long | 305,346 (74.9%) | Clem S. Clarke | 102,339 (25.1%) | D+49.8 | |
| Maine | Adrian H. Scolten | 64,074 (28.7%) | Margaret Chase Smith | 159,182 (71.3%) | R+42.6 | |
| Massachusetts | John I. Fitzgerald | 954,398 (46.4%) | Leverett Saltonstall | 1,088,475 (52.9%) | 12,925 | R+6.5 |
| Michigan | Frank E. Hook | 1,000,329 (48.5%) | Homer Ferguson | 1,045,156 (50.7%) | 16,612 | R+2.2 |
| Minnesota flip | Hubert Humphrey | 729,494 (59.9%) | Joseph H. Ball | 482,801 (39.7%) | 4,955 | D+20.3 |
| Mississippi | James Eastland | 151,478 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Montana | James E. Murray | 125,193 (56.6%) | Tom J. Davis | 94,458 (42.7%) | 1,352 | D+13.9 |
| Nebraska | Terry Carpenter | 204,320 (43.3%) | Kenneth Wherry | 267,575 (56.7%) | R+13.4 | |
| New Hampshire | Alfred E. Fortin | 91,760 (41.2%) | Styles Bridges | 129,600 (58.1%) | 1,538 | R+17.0 |
| New Jersey | Archibald Alexander | 884,414 (47.3%) | Robert C. Hendrickson | 934,720 (50.0%) | 50,748 | R+2.7 |
| New Mexico | Clinton Anderson | 108,269 (57.4%) | Patrick J. Hurley | 80,226 (42.6%) | D+14.9 | |
| North Carolina | J. Melville Broughton | 543,132 (71.0%) | John A. Wilkinson | 220,307 (28.8%) | 1,120 | D+42.2 |
| North Carolina (special) | J. Melville Broughton | 534,917 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Oklahoma flip | Robert S. Kerr | 441,654 (62.3%) | Ross Rizley | 265,169 (37.4%) | 2,108 | D+24.9 |
| Oregon | Manley J. Wilson | 199,275 (40.0%) | Guy Cordon | 299,295 (60.0%) | R+20.1 | |
| Rhode Island | Theodore F. Green | 190,284 (59.3%) | Thomas P. Hazard | 130,668 (40.7%) | D+18.6 | |
| South Carolina | Burnet R. Maybank | 135,998 (96.4%) | J. Bates Gerald | 5,008 (3.6%) | D+92.9 | |
| South Dakota | John A. Engel | 98,749 (40.7%) | Karl E. Mundt | 144,084 (59.3%) | R+18.7 | |
| Tennessee | Estes Kefauver | 326,062 (65.3%) | B. Carroll Reece | 166,947 (33.4%) | 6,129 | D+31.9 |
| Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 702,785 (66.2%) | Jack Porter | 349,665 (32.9%) | 8,913 | D+33.3 |
| Virginia | A. Willis Robertson | 253,865 (65.6%) | Robert H. Woods | 119,366 (30.8%) | 13,784 | D+34.8 |
| West Virginia flip | Matthew M. Neely | 435,354 (57.0%) | Chapman Revercomb | 328,534 (43.0%) | D+14.0 | |
| Wyoming flip | Lester C. Hunt | 57,953 (57.1%) | Edward V. Robertson | 43,527 (42.9%) | D+14.2 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.