1950 United States Senate elections

The 1950 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Harry S. Truman's second term as president. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and four special elections were held to fill vacancies. As with most 20th-century second-term midterms, the party not holding the presidency made significant gains. The Republican opposition made a net gain of five seats, taking advantage of the Democratic administration's declining popularity during the Cold War and the aftermath of the Recession of 1949. The Democrats held a narrow 49-to-47-seat majority after the election. This was the first time since 1932 that the Senate majority leader lost his seat, and as of 2026 the only instance in the chamber's history where the majority leader lost his seat while his party simultaneously retained the majority.

Results summary

{| style="width:50em; text-align:center"

|+ ↓

|- style="color:white"

| style="background:; width:51.04%" | 49

| style="background:; width:48.96%" | 47

| Democratic

| Republican

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Parties

! rowspan=2 | Total

|- valign=bottom

! Democratic

! Republican

! Other

! colspan=2 | Last elections (1948) Before these elections

| | 54

| 42

| 0

! 96

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Not up

| | 31

| 29

| —

! 60

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Up

| | 23

| 13

| —

! 36

! rowspan=3 |

! style="background:#ddd" |

| | 20

| 12

| —

! 32

! style="background:#ddd" |

| | 2

| 0

| —

! 2

! style="background:#ddd" |

| 1

| —

! 2

| colspan=100 |

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent retired

| | 3

| 1

| —

! 4

! rowspan=3 |

| | 2

| 1

| —

! 3

| colspan=2 | 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican

| —

! 1

! 2

! 0

! 4

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent ran

| | 20

| 12

| —

! 32

! rowspan=5 |

| | 12

| 10

| —

! 22

| colspan=2 | 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 4 Democrats replaced by 4 Republicans

| —

! 5

| | 3

| 1

| —

! 4

| colspan=2 | 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican

| —

! 1

! 16

! 0

! 32

| colspan=99 |

! colspan=2 | Total elected

! 18

! 0

! 36

! colspan=2 | Net change

| 5

| | 5

| 5

| colspan=99 |

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Nationwide vote

| 16,374,996

| | 17,023,295

| 946,945

! 34,345,236

!

! Share

| 47.68%

| | 49.57%

| 2.76%

! 100%

! colspan=2 | Result

! | 49

! 47

! 0

! 96

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

thumb|right|Ticket to a victory dinner for [[Richard Nixon at the Wm. Penn Hotel]]

Gains, losses, and holds

Retirements

One Republican and three Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! California

| |

! Kansas

| |

! Kentucky

| |

! Rhode Island

| |

Defeats

Two Republicans and eight Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Florida

| |

! Idaho

| |

! Illinois

| |

! Maryland

| |

! Missouri

| |

! North Carolina (special)

| |

! Oklahoma

| |

! Pennsylvania

| |

! South Dakota

| |

! Utah

| |

Post-election changes

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Connecticut

| |

! Kentucky

| |

! Michigan

| |

! Nebraska

| |

Change in composition

Before the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

| colspan=2 |  

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| colspan=9 align=right | Majority →

| rowspan=2 | D

| | R

| | D

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

Results of the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

| colspan=2 |  

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| colspan=9 align=right | Majority →

| rowspan=2 | D

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

|- valign=top

! Key:

{| class=wikitable

| align=center | D

| Democratic

| align=center | R

| Republican

Race summaries

Special elections during the 81st Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1950 or before January 3, 1951; ordered by election date.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Connecticut (Class 1)

| | Democratic

| 1949

| Interim appointee elected November 7, 1950.

| nowrap |

! Idaho (Class 2)

| | Republican

| 1946 1948 1949

| Interim appointee elected November 7, 1950.

| nowrap |

! Kansas (Class 3)

| | Republican

| 1949

| | Interim appointee retired November 28, 1950 when successor's election was certified. Successor elected November 7, 1950. Republican hold. Winner was also elected to finish the term; see below.

| nowrap |

! Kentucky (Class 3)

| | Democratic

| 1949

| | Interim appointee resigned to trigger special election. Successor elected November 7, 1950. Democratic hold. Winner was also elected to finish the term; see below.

| nowrap |

! North Carolina (Class 2)

| | Democratic

| 1949

| | Interim appointee lost nomination to finish term. Winner elected November 7, 1950. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Rhode Island (Class 1)

| | Democratic

| 1949

| | Interim appointee retired. Winner elected November 7, 1950. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

Races leading to the 82nd Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on January 3, 1951; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Alabama

| | Democratic

| 1938 1938 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Arizona

| | Democratic

| 1926 1932 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Arkansas

| | Democratic

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| | Democratic

| 1938 1944

| | Incumbent renominated, but then retired due to ill health. New senator elected. Republican gain. Winner was appointed December 1, 1950 to finish the therm.

| nowrap |

! Colorado

| | Republican

| 1941 1942 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Connecticut

| | Democratic

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Florida

| | Democratic

| 1936 1938 1944

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Georgia

| | Democratic

| 1922 1926 1932 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Idaho

| | Democratic

| 1944

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Illinois

| | Democratic

| 1938 1944

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Indiana

| | Republican

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Iowa

| | Republican

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Kansas

| | Republican

| 1949

| | Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold. Winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above.

| nowrap |

! Kentucky

| | Democratic

| 1949

| | Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold. Incumbent resigned to trigger special election and winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above.

| nowrap |

! Louisiana

| | Democratic

| 1948

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maryland

| | Democratic

| 1944

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Missouri

| | Republican

| 1944

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Nevada

| | Democratic

| 1932 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New Hampshire

| | Republican

| 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New York

| | Democratic

| nowrap | 1949

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! North Carolina

| | Democratic

| 1932 1932 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| | Republican

| 1945 1946

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| | Republican

| 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Oklahoma

| | Democratic

| 1926 1932 1938 1944

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Oregon

| | Republican

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| | Democratic

| 1944

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! South Carolina

| | Democratic

| 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! South Dakota

| | Republican

| 1938 1944

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| | Democratic

| 1932 1938 1944

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| | Republican

| 1940 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| | Democratic

| 1944 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| | Republican

| 1938 1944

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

Closest races

Fifteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! State

! Party of winner

! Margin

! Connecticut (special)

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 0.1%

! Pennsylvania

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican (flip)

| 3.6%

! Idaho (special)

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 3.8%

! New York

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 5.0%

! Connecticut

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 5.1%

! Indiana

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 6.4%

! Colorado

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 6.5%

! Maryland

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican (flip)

| 7.0%

! Wisconsin

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 7.1%

! Missouri

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 7.2%

! Washington

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 7.4%

! Utah

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican (flip)

| 8.03%

! Illinois

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican (flip)

| 8.12%

! Kentucky

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 9.1%

! Oklahoma

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 9.2%

Alabama

Arizona

Incumbent Democratic U.S. senator Carl Hayden ran for re-election to a fifth term, defeating Republican nominee Bruce Brockett in the general election. Brockett was formerly the Republican nominee for governor in both 1946 and 1948. Hayden first defeated Cecil H. Miller and Robert E. Miller (of the Arizona Farm Bureau), for the Democratic nomination.

Arkansas

thumb|180x180px|Senator [[J. William Fulbright]]