1962 United States Senate elections

The 1962 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 6, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They occurred in the middle of President John F. Kennedy's term. His Democratic Party made a net gain of four seats from the Republicans, increasing their control of the Senate to 68–32. However, this was reduced to 67–33 between the election and the next Congress, as on November 18, 1962, Democrat Dennis Chávez, who was not up for election that year, died. He was replaced on November 30, 1962, by Republican appointee Edwin L. Mechem. Additionally, Democrat Strom Thurmond became a Republican in 1964, further reducing Democrats to 66–34. This was the first time since 1932 that Democrats gained seats in this class of Senators.

1962 United States Senate elections

November 6, 1962

39 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Mike Mansfield Everett Dirksen
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 3, 1961 January 3, 1959
Leader's seat Montana Illinois
Seats before 64 36
Seats after 68 32
Seat change 4 4
Popular vote 21,387,598 20,897,719
Percentage 50.3% 49.1%
Seats up 21 18
Races won 25 14

Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     No election
Rectangular inset (Id., Kan. & N. H.): both seats up for election

Majority Leader before election

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

This was the first time since 1914 that the president's party gained seats in the Senate and lost seats in the House, this would occur again in 1970, 2018, and 2022. This was the last time until 2022 that the Democrats would win full terms in Arizona's and Pennsylvania's Class 3 Senate seats.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.