United States Senate elections, 1958

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Republican holds Republican pickups Democratic holds Democratic pickups

The U.S. Senate election, 1958 was an election for the United States Senate which occurred in the middle of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. As is common in midterm elections, the ruling party lost seats, but in this year it was on a huge scale, perhaps due to high unemployment. The Eisenhower Administration's position on right-to-work issues galvanized labor unions which supported Democrats. The launch of Sputnik may also have been a factor. The Democratic party took thirteen Republican seats, as well as winning both 1959 Senate elections in the new state of Alaska. Senate elections in 1959 in the new state of Hawaii were split between the two parties, yielding an aggregate gain of 16 seats for the Democrats and giving a party balance of 65-35.

Democrats gained three open seats in California, Indiana, and New Jersey, and defeated ten Republican incumbents:

West Virginia's delegation thus changed from two Republicans to two Democrats in the same election night.

Notable freshmen were future Democratic presidential contenders Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) and Ed Muskie (D-ME), as well as future Democratic Chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), who as of 2008 is the longest-serving Senator in the history of the Senate.

[edit] Senate contests in 1958

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alaska¹	None		Democratic victory, 83.8 - 15.0	Bob Bartlett (Democrat) R. E. Robertson (Republican)
Alaska²	None		Democratic victory, 52.6 - 47.4	Ernest Gruening (Democrat) Mike Stepovich (Republican)
Arizona	Barry Goldwater	Republican	Re-elected, 56.1 - 43.9	Ernest W. McFarland (Democrat)
California	William F. Knowland	Republican	Retired: Democratic victory, 57.0 - 42.9	Clair Engle (Democrat) Goodwin J. Knight (Republican)
Connecticut	William A. Purtell	Republican	Defeated, 57.5 - 42.5	Thomas J. Dodd (Democrat)
Delaware	John J. Williams	Republican	Re-elected, 53.3 - 46.7	Elbert N. Carvel (Democrat)
Florida	Spessard Holland	Democrat	Re-elected, 71.2 - 28.8	Leland Hyzer (Republican)
Indiana	William E. Jenner	Republican	Retired: Democratic victory, 56.5 - 42.4	Vance Hartke (Democrat) Harold W. Handley (Republican)
Maine	Frederick G. Payne	Republican	Defeated, 60.8 - 39.2	Edmund S. Muskie (Democrat)
Maryland	James Glenn Beall	Republican	Re-elected, 51.0 - 49.0	Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. (Democrat)
Massachusetts	John F. Kennedy	Democrat	Re-elected, 73.2 - 26.2	Vincent J. Celeste (Republican)
Michigan	Charles E. Potter	Republican	Defeated, 53.6 - 46.1	Philip A. Hart (Democrat)
Minnesota	Edward John Thye	Republican	Defeated, 52.9 - 46.6	Eugene McCarthy (Democrat)
Mississippi	John C. Stennis	Democrat	Re-elected, unopposed
Missouri	Stuart Symington	Democrat	Re-elected, 66.5 - 33.6	Hazel Palmer (Republican)
Montana	Mike Mansfield	Democrat	Re-elected, 76.2 - 23.8	Lou W. Welch (Republican)
Nebraska	Roman L. Hruska	Republican	Re-elected, 55.6 - 44.4	Frank B. Morrison (Democrat)
Nevada	George W. Malone	Republican	Defeated, 57.7 - 42.3	Howard W. Cannon (Democrat)
New Jersey	H. Alexander Smith	Republican	Retired: Democratic victory, 51.4 - 46.9	Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (Democrat) Robert W. Kean (Republican)
New Mexico	Dennis Chavez	Democrat	Re-elected, 62.7 - 37.3	Forrest S. Atchley (Republican)
New York	Irving M. Ives	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 50.8 - 48.4	Kenneth B. Keating (Republican) Frank S. Hogan (Democrat)
North Carolina³	Benjamin Everett Jordan	Democrat	Re-elected, 70.0 - 30.0	Richard C. Clarke, Jr. (Republican)
North Dakota	William Langer	Republican	Re-elected, 57.2 - 41.5	Raymond Vensdel (Democrat)
Ohio	John W. Bricker	Republican	Defeated, 52.5 - 47.5	Stephen M. Young (Democrat)
Pennsylvania	Edward Martin	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 51.2 - 48.4	Hugh Scott (Republican) George M. Leader (Democrat)
Rhode Island	John O. Pastore	Democrat	Re-elected, 64.5 - 35.5	Bayard Ewing (Republican)
Tennessee	Albert Gore, Sr.	Democrat	Re-elected, 79.0 - 19.0	Hobart F. Atkins (Republican)
Texas	Ralph Yarborough	Democrat	Re-elected, 74.6 - 23.6	Roy Whittenburg (Republican)
Utah	Arthur V. Watkins	Republican	Defeated, 38.7 - 34.8 - 26.4	Frank E. Moss (Democrat) J. Bracken Lee (Independent)
Vermont	Ralph E. Flanders	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 52.2 - 47.8	Winston L. Prouty (Republican) Frederick J. Fayette (Democrat)
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Democrat	Re-elected, 69.3 - 26.3	Louise Wensel (Independent)
Washington	Henry M. Jackson	Democrat	Re-elected, 67.3 - 31.4	William B. Bantz (Republican)
West Virginia	Chapman Revercomb	Republican	Defeated, 59.2 - 40.8	Robert C. Byrd (Democrat)
West Virginia⁴	John D. Hoblitzell, Jr.	Republican	Defeated, 59.3 - 40.7	Jennings Randolph (Democrat)
Wisconsin	William Proxmire	Democrat	Re-elected, 57.1 - 42.7	Roland J. Steinle (Republican)
Wyoming	Frank A. Barrett	Republican	Defeated, 50.8 - 49.2	Gale McGee (Democrat)