Democrat William Proxmire won a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-WI). Also, Price Daniel (D-TX) left the Senate to become governor of Texas, and Democrat Ralph Yarborough won a special election for that Senate seat. The Democrats thus made a net gain of one seat. However, Congress was out of session at the time of the Democratic gain in Wisconsin, and the Republicans gained a Democratic-held seat only weeks after the next session started, when Republican John D. Hoblitzell Jr. was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Matthew M. Neely (D-WV).

Race summary

Ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates
Senator Party Electoral history
Texas
(Class 1)
William A. Blakley Democratic 1957 (Appointed) Interim appointee retired when successor elected.
New senator elected April 2, 1957.
Democratic hold.
Wisconsin
(Class 1)
Joseph McCarthy Republican 1946
1952
Incumbent died May 2, 1957.
New senator elected August 28, 1957.
Democratic gain.

Texas

1957 United States Senate special election in Texas

April 2, 1957
 
Nominee Ralph Yarborough Martin Dies Jr. Thad Hutcheson
Party Democratic Democratic Republican
Popular vote 364,605 290,803 219,591
Percentage 38.09% 30.38% 22.94%

County Results among the top 5 candidates[4]

Yarborough:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%
Dies:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Hutcheson:      30–40%      40–50%      60–70%      70–80%

Tie:      40–50%

U.S. senator before election

William Blakley
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ralph Yarborough
Democratic

One-term Democrat Price Daniel resigned January 14, 1957 to become Governor of Texas. Daniel appointed Democrat William A. Blakley January 15, 1957.

In 1956, Allan Shivers opted not to run for a fourth term as Governor of Texas; Senator Price Daniel, as a sitting U.S. Senator was elected Governor of Texas.

Like his gubernatorial predecessor Allan Shivers and Daniel, Blakley was an "Eisenhower Democrat" who had supported Dwight Eisenhower over the national Democratic Party candidate Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and 1956.

Blakley, who had gained prominence in Texas politics for his business successes was, at the time, building a $125 million shopping center and a 1,000-room hotel in Dallas. Governor Shivers, who had been considering appointing a Republican candidate to the Senate seat, instead named Blakley to the United States Senate pending a special election for the seat.

Pressured by the Democratic Party in the interests of cooling tensions from the gubernatorial election, Blakley did not seek the remaining term as senator. He hence served for fewer than four months from January 15 to April 28. Ralph Yarborough succeeded him in the special election, winning with a plurality of the vote when the conservatives divided three ways.

Thereafter, Texas law was changed to require a runoff between the two leading candidates in a special election if no one had a majority in the first round). Blakley left the Senate saying "I shall go back to my boots and saddle and ride toward the Western sunset."[5]

Yarborough would be re-elected in 1958 and again in 1964.

Texas special election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ralph W. Yarborough 364,605 38.09%
Democratic Martin Dies Jr. 290,803 30.38%
Republican Thad Hutcheson 219,591 22.94%
Democratic Searcy Bracewell 33,384 3.49%
Democratic James P. Hart 19,739 2.06%
Democratic John C. White 11,876 1.24%
Democratic Ralph W. Hammonds 2,372 0.25%
Democratic Elmer Adams 2,228 0.23%
Democratic M. T. Banks 2,153 0.23%
Democratic Frank G. Cortez 1,350 0.14%
Democratic Charles W. Hill 1,025 0.11%
Democratic Jacob Bergolofsky 890 0.09%
Democratic J. Cal Courtney 879 0.09%
Democratic Hugh Wilson 851 0.09%
Majority 73,802 7.71%
Turnout 12.41% (total pop)
Democratic hold

Wisconsin

Two-term Republican Joseph McCarthy died May 2, 1957. In the summer of 1957, a special election was held to fill McCarthy's seat. In the primaries, voters in both parties turned away from McCarthy's legacy. The Republican primary was won by Walter J. Kohler Jr., who called for a clean break from McCarthy's approach; he defeated former Congressman Glenn Robert Davis, who charged that Eisenhower was soft on Communism.[6] The Democratic candidate, William Proxmire,[7] called the late McCarthy "a disgrace to Wisconsin, to the Senate, and to America". On August 27, Proxmire won the election, serving in the seat for 32 years.[8][9]

Proxmire would be re-elected five more times, serving until his retirement in 1989.

1957 United States Senate special election in Wisconsin

August 28, 1957
 
Nominee William Proxmire Walter Kohler
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 435,985 312,931
Percentage 56.44% 40.51%

County results

Proxmire:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Kohler:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Joseph McCarthy
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

William Proxmire
Democratic

Wisconsin Special U.S. Senate Election, 1957[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic William Proxmire 435,985 56.44% +15.22%
Republican Walter Kohler 312,931 40.51% -18.08%
Constitution Party (United States, 1952) Howard Boyle 20,581 2.66%
Independent Donald Wheaton 2,288 0.30%
Socialist Labor Georgia Cozzini 704 0.09%
Majority 123,054 15.93%
Turnout 772,489
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Our Campaigns - TX US Senate - Special Election Race - Apr 02, 1957". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections. 1975. p. 505. ISBN 087187072X.
  3. "1957 Senatorial Special Election Results - Wisconsin". Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  4. Texas State Historical Association (1957). "Texas Almanac, 1958-1959". The Portal to Texas History. The Dallas Morning News. pp. 457–458. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  5. Time (magazine)
  6. "Our Campaigns - WI US Senate - Special R Primary Race - Jul 30, 1957". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  7. "Our Campaigns - WI US Senate - Special D Primary Race - Jul 30, 1957". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  8. "Our Campaigns - WI US Senate Race - Aug 28, 1957". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  9. Nichols, John (July 31, 2007). "In 1957, a McCarthy-free morning in America". The Capital Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009.
  10. Johnson, Ruth (December 17, 2002). "Election Results: GENERAL ELECTION - November 05, 2002 (United States Senator 6 Year Term (1) Position)". Michigan Department of State. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013.
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