Election 1954 Results
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1954 Senate election results by state and county
Democrats won 21 of the Senate seats up in Eisenhower's first midterm and regained control of the chamber, which they would hold for the next 26 years.
32 Senate races were held in 1954, plus 9 special elections. Democrats won 21 and Republicans 10, and 1 went to neither party.
The closest were New Jersey (R+0.2), Oregon (D+0.4) and Montana (D+0.8). 6 seats changed party: Colorado to the Republicans, Idaho to the Republicans, Iowa to the Republicans, Michigan to the Democrats, Oregon to the Democrats and South Carolina to the third party.
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 1954 Senate elections
Eisenhower remained personally popular in 1954, but a mild recession and farm worries hurt his party. The Senate had spent much of the year on Joseph McCarthy, whom it censured that December. Democrats won 21 Senate races to the Republicans' 10 and took a narrow majority, with Lyndon Johnson becoming majority leader. Democrats would control the Senate without a break until 1981. Democrats gained Michigan and Oregon. In Oregon, Richard Neuberger beat Guy Cordon by 0.4 points, and in Michigan Patrick McNamara unseated Homer Ferguson. Republicans gained Colorado, Idaho and Iowa, where Gordon Allott, Henry Dworshak and Thomas Martin won. Many races were close. An Ohio special went to George Bender by about 0.1 points, and in New Jersey Clifford Case won by 0.2 points. Montana's James Murray held his seat by 0.8 points, and Leverett Saltonstall held Massachusetts by 1.5 points. Paul Douglas won another term in Illinois.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | John Sparkman | 259,348 (82.5%) | J. Foy Guin Jr. | 55,110 (17.5%) | 1 | D+65.0 |
| Arkansas | John L. McClellan | 291,058 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| California (special) | Sam Yorty | 1,788,071 (45.5%) | Thomas Kuchel | 2,090,836 (53.2%) | 50,761 | R+7.7 |
| Colorado flip | John A. Carroll | 235,686 (48.7%) | Gordon Allott | 248,502 (51.3%) | R+2.7 | |
| Delaware | J. Allen Frear Jr. | 82,511 (56.9%) | Herbert B. Warburton | 62,389 (43.1%) | D+13.9 | |
| Georgia | Richard B. Russell | 333,917 (100.0%) | none | 19 | D+100.0 | |
| Idaho flip | Glen H. Taylor | 84,139 (37.2%) | Henry C. Dworshak | 142,269 (62.8%) | R+25.7 | |
| Illinois | Paul H. Douglas | 1,804,338 (53.6%) | Joseph T. Meek | 1,563,683 (46.4%) | 4 | D+7.2 |
| Iowa flip | Guy M. Gillette | 402,712 (47.5%) | Thomas E. Martin | 442,409 (52.2%) | 2,234 | R+4.7 |
| Kansas | George McGill | 258,575 (41.8%) | Andrew Schoeppel | 348,144 (56.3%) | 11,344 | R+14.5 |
| Kentucky | Alben W. Barkley | 434,109 (54.5%) | John Sherman Cooper | 362,948 (45.5%) | D+8.9 | |
| Louisiana | Allen J. Ellender | 207,115 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Maine | Paul A. Fullam | 102,075 (41.4%) | Margaret Chase Smith | 144,530 (58.6%) | R+17.2 | |
| Massachusetts | Foster Furcolo | 927,899 (49.0%) | Leverett Saltonstall | 956,605 (50.5%) | 8,206 | R+1.5 |
| Michigan flip | Patrick McNamara | 1,088,550 (50.8%) | Homer Ferguson | 1,049,420 (48.9%) | 6,870 | D+1.8 |
| Minnesota | Hubert Humphrey | 642,193 (56.4%) | Val Bjornson | 479,619 (42.1%) | 17,140 | D+14.3 |
| Mississippi | James Eastland | 100,848 (95.6%) | James A White | 4,678 (4.4%) | D+91.1 | |
| Montana | James E. Murray | 114,591 (50.4%) | Wesley A. D'Ewart | 112,863 (49.6%) | D+0.8 | |
| Nebraska | Keith Neville | 162,990 (38.9%) | Carl T. Curtis | 255,695 (61.1%) | R+22.1 | |
| Nebraska (special) | James F. Green | 160,881 (39.1%) | Roman Hruska | 250,341 (60.9%) | 3 | R+21.8 |
| Nebraska (special) | William H. Meier | 170,828 (42.2%) | Hazel Abel | 233,589 (57.8%) | 5 | R+15.5 |
| Nebraska: Special for the last weeks of Wherry's term to January 1955; total includes 5 write-ins. | ||||||
| Nevada (special) | Alan Bible | 45,043 (58.1%) | Ernest S. Brown | 32,470 (41.9%) | D+16.2 | |
| New Hampshire | Gerard L. Morin | 77,386 (39.8%) | Styles Bridges | 117,150 (60.2%) | R+20.4 | |
| New Hampshire (special) | Stanley J. Betley | 75,490 (39.8%) | Norris Cotton | 114,068 (60.2%) | R+20.4 | |
| New Jersey | Charles R. Howell | 858,158 (48.5%) | Clifford P. Case | 861,528 (48.7%) | 50,871 | R+0.2 |
| New Mexico | Clinton Anderson | 111,351 (57.1%) | Edwin L. Mechem | 83,671 (42.9%) | D+14.2 | |
| North Carolina | W. Kerr Scott | 408,312 (65.9%) | Paul C. West | 211,322 (34.1%) | D+31.8 | |
| North Carolina (special) | Sam J. Ervin | 410,574 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| North Carolina (special) | W. Kerr Scott | 402,268 (100.0%) | Paul C. West | 8 (0.0%) | 7 | D+100.0 |
| North Carolina: Special for the rest of Broughton's term to January 1955; West was a write-in only; total includes 7 other write-ins. | ||||||
| Ohio (special) | Thomas A. Burke | 1,254,899 (49.9%) | George H. Bender | 1,257,874 (50.1%) | R+0.1 | |
| Oklahoma | Robert S. Kerr | 335,127 (55.8%) | Fred M. Mock | 262,013 (43.7%) | 2,980 | D+12.2 |
| Oregon flip | Richard Neuberger | 285,775 (50.2%) | Guy Cordon | 283,313 (49.8%) | D+0.4 | |
| Rhode Island | Theodore F. Green | 193,654 (59.3%) | Walter I. Sundlun | 132,970 (40.7%) | D+18.6 | |
| South Carolina flip | Edgar A. Brown | 83,525 (36.8%) | none | Strom Thurmond (Write-in) 143,444 (63.1%) |
Ind. +26.4 | |
| South Dakota | Kenneth Holum | 100,674 (42.7%) | Karl E. Mundt | 135,071 (57.3%) | R+14.6 | |
| Tennessee | Estes Kefauver | 249,121 (70.0%) | Tom Wall | 106,971 (30.0%) | D+39.9 | |
| Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson | 539,319 (84.7%) | Carlos G. Watson | 94,131 (14.8%) | 3,025 | D+70.0 |
| Virginia | A. Willis Robertson | 244,844 (79.9%) | none | Charles W. Lewis Jr. (Independent Democratic) 32,681 (10.7%) |
D+79.9 | |
| West Virginia | Matthew Neely | 325,263 (54.8%) | Thomas Sweeney | 268,066 (45.2%) | D+9.6 | |
| Wyoming | Joseph O'Mahoney | 57,845 (51.5%) | William H. Harrison | 54,407 (48.5%) | D+3.1 | |
| Wyoming (special) | Joseph C. O'Mahoney | 57,163 (51.6%) | William Henry Harrison III | 53,705 (48.4%) | D+3.1 | |
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.