United States Senate elections, 1966

United States Senate elections, 1966

November 8, 1966
33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate, plus 2 mid-term vacancies 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 67 33 Seats after 64 36 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 12,358,323 13,169,332 Percentage 47.9% 51.0% Swing 8.4% 8.8% Seats up 18 15 Races won 15 18
Results (including special elections)      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The United States Senate elections, 1966 was an election on November 8, 1966 for the United States Senate which occurred midway through the second (only full) term of President Lyndon B. Johnson. With divisions in the Democratic base over the Vietnam War, and with the traditional mid-term advantage of the party not holding the presidency, the Republicans took three Democratic seats. Despite Republican gains, the balance remained overwhelmingly in favor of the Democrats, who retained a 64–36 majority. This was also the first election that occurred after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law.

Retirements

Incumbents who lost their seats

Change in Senate composition

Race summaries

Alabama

Alaska

Arkansas

Colorado

Delaware

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Illinois election

Nominee Charles Percy Paul Douglas Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,100,449 1,678,147 Percentage 54.95% 43.90%

U.S. Senator before election Paul Douglas Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Charles H. Percy Republican

Incumbent Democrat Paul Douglas, seeking a fourth term in the United States Senate, faced off against Republican Charles H. Percy, a businessman and the 1964 Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois. Also running was Robert Sabonjian (I), Mayor of Waukegan. A competitive election ensued, featuring campaign appearances by former Vice-President Richard M. Nixon on behalf of Percy.^[1] Ultimately, Percy ended up defeating Senator Douglas by a fairly wide margin, allowing him to win what would be the first of three terms in the Senate.

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Massachusetts

Massachusetts election

Nominee Edward Brooke Endicott Peabody Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,213,473 774,761 Percentage 60.68% 38.74%

U.S. Senator before election Leverett Saltonstall Republican Elected U.S. Senator Edward Brooke Republican

Republican State Attorney General Edward Brooke defeated his challengers. Republican incumbent, Leverett Saltonstall, was retiring after serving for 22 years. Brooke was the first black U.S. Senator elected since Reconstruction.

Michigan

Minnesota

Minnesota election

Nominee Walter F. Mondale Robert A. Forsythe Party DFL Republican Popular vote 685,840 574,868 Percentage 53.94% 45.21%

U.S. Senator before election Walter F. Mondale DFL Elected U.S. Senator Walter F. Mondale DFL

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Walter Mondale, who had originally been appointed in 1964 to replace Hubert Humphrey after Humphrey was elected Vice President of the United States, defeated Republican challenger Robert A. Forsythe, to win a full term.

Mississippi

Mississippi election

Nominee James O. Eastland Prentiss Walker Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 258,248 105,150 Percentage 65.56% 26.70%   Nominee Clifton R. Whitley Party Mississippi Freedom Democratic Popular vote 30,502 Percentage 7.74%

U.S. Senator before election James O. Eastland Democratic Elected U.S. Senator James O. Eastland Democratic

Incumbent James Eastland, who first entered the Senate on 1941, faced the opposition of Prentiss Walker, the first Republican representent since Reconstruction.^[9][10]

Walker, who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ran on the right of Eastland and solely focused on the white vote, accusing him of not being hard enough in opposing integration and being friendly with President Johnson, accusations to which Eastland partisans opposed the fact Walker nominated a black constituent, Marvell Lang, to the Air Force Academy.^[11][12][13] He proudly announced he went to a meeting of the Americans for the Preservation of the White Race, a Ku Klux Klan front, enabling Eastland to proudly announce he was opposed by both the Klan and the AFL-CIO.^[13]

Eastland casted the civil right movement with the tar of Communism and Black Power and raised the bloody shirt of Reconstruction against the candidacy of Walker.^[12] He was supported by segregationists Tom Brady, George Wallace and Leander Perez.^[13]

Most of the White voters stayed with Eastland, and Walker ironically won African-Americans in southwestern Mississippi who wanted to cast a protest vote against Eastland.^[9]

Years later, Wirt Yerger, the chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party in the 1960s, said that Walker's decision to relinquish his House seat after one term for the vagaries of a Senate race against Eastland was "very devastating" to the growth of the GOP in Mississippi.^[14]

Reverend Clifton Whitley also ran for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.^[12][15] A sore-loser law was invoked against Whitley, who ran in the Democratic primary, and he only won one week before the election, thereby preventing to enter any serious campaign or fundraising.^[13]

Montana

Montana election

Nominee Lee Metcalf Tim Babcock Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 138,166 121,697 Percentage 53.17% 46.83%

U.S. Senator before election Lee Metcalf Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Lee Metcalf Democratic

Incumbent United States Senator Lee Metcalf, who was first elected to the Senate in 1960, ran for re-election. He won the Democratic primary uncontested, and moved on to the general election, where he was opposed by Tim Babcock, the Republican nominee and the Governor of Montana. Though the race remained close, Metcalf was able to expand on his 1960 margin of victory, and defeated Babcock to win a second term.

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Oregon

Oregon election

Nominee Mark Hatfield Robert B. Duncan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 354,391 330,374 Percentage 51.75% 47.25%

U.S. Senator before election Maurine Brown Neuberger Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield Republican

Incumbent Senator Maurine Brown Neuberger did not seek re-election. Held during the escalation of United States involvement of the Vietnam War, the race was between Republican candidate and incumbent Governor of Oregon Mark Hatfield, who opposed the war, and Democratic congressman Robert B. Duncan, who supported the war. In an unusual move, Oregon's other Senator, Democrat Wayne Morse, who also opposed the war, crossed party lines to endorse Hatfield, who won in a close election, his first of five terms in the United States Senate.

In March 1960, first-term U.S. Senator Richard L. Neuberger died in office. Despite calls to appoint his widow, Maurine Brown Neuberger, to the position, Governor Mark Hatfield instead appointed Oregon Supreme Court justice Hall S. Lusk to fill the position until a November special election. Hatfield stated that he intended to have appointed Neuberger, but that he wanted to appoint someone who would be focused on completing the remaining eight months of the term and not running in the regular-term Senate election as Neuberger had announced she would.^[17] Some observers noted that Hatfield, a Republican, though required by state law to appoint someone of the same political party as the late Senator Neuberger, did not want to give the other party the political advantage of incumbency.^[17][18]

Neuberger went on to win the special election over former Oregon governor Elmo Smith,^[18] but despite the urging of Oregon congressman Robert B. Duncan,^[19] she chose not to run for a second term in 1966, citing health issues, poor relations with Oregon's senior Senator Wayne Morse, and the burden of fundraising.^[18] Duncan also urged fellow Oregon congressperson Edith Green to run for the post, but Green also declined.^[19]

On the seventh anniversary of his inauguration as Oregon's 29th governor, Hatfield announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination.^[20] In his announcement, Hatfield focused on the economic achievements in the state since his election, citing record-high employment and the creation of 138,000 jobs.^[21] Hatfield was considered vulnerable on the subject of the Vietnam War, which he opposed, in contrast with 75% of Oregonians, who favored the war.^[22] Hatfield's views on the war had been strongly affected by his own experiences: as a U.S. Navy ensign in World War II, he had been among the first to walk through the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; in a later assignment in Vietnam, he saw first-hand how imperialism led to incredible disparity, with countless Vietnamese living in poverty next to opulent French mansions.^[22] The war issue gave Hatfield competition from several minor candidates on the right, but Hatfield nonetheless won by a wide margin, besting his nearest competitor, conservative evangelist Walter Huss, by a nearly 6–1 margin.^[23]

In March 1966, Duncan announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination, which was quickly endorsed by Neuberger.^[25] In his speech announcing his candidacy, Duncan reiterated his strong support for President Lyndon B. Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War with its goal of stopping Communist expansion in Asia.^[25] Duncan's strong announcement exposed a rift among Oregon Democrats, including Oregon's senior Senator Wayne Morse, a leading anti-war voice,^[25] and Duncan's House colleague, Edith Green. Green had urged Duncan to run, but Duncan's hawkish statement troubled her.^[26] Soon after Duncan announced his candidacy, Howard Morgan, a former member of the Federal Power Commission, announced he was running as an anti-war option to Duncan. Morgan had the support of Morse and Green (though Green's endorsement did not come until the final week of the campaign),^[26][27][28] and Duncan had the endorsement of most of the party organization and the major newspapers in the state. When the results were announced, Duncan won by a nearly 2-1 margin in one of the first elections in which the Vietnam War was a central issue.^[29]

The general election was now set up between two participants whose views on the Vietnam War were in direct opposition to many in their party: Duncan, a pro-war Democrat and Hatfield, an anti-war Republican.^[19][31] With more than three-quarters of Oregonians sharing his view on the war, Duncan used the issue to attack Hatfield, stating that the outcome of the war would determine "whether Americans will die in the buffalo grass of Vietnam or the rye grass of Oregon."^[22][32] Duncan also stressed that his election was necessary to provide a pro-Government voice for Oregon to counteract the anti-war views of Senator Morse.^[32] Morse, who had strongly supported Duncan's rival in the primary, now went across party lines and threw his support to Hatfield, though he did not campaign for him.^[19][32]

Hatfield, whose popularity as Governor had made him the favorite in the race, soon found his campaign in trouble. Morse's support backfired among many Republicans; Morse had left their party in 1952 to join the Democrats a few years later, and many worried that Hatfield would follow the same path.^[33][34] At a June conference of governors of all 50 states, Hatfield was the lone dissenter on a resolution expressing support for the war, calling the resolution a "blank check" for President Johnson's conduct of the war.^[32][35] By the middle of the summer, fueled by the departure of Republican hawks (such as former Oregon State Treasurer and 1962 Senate candidate Sig Unander who wholeheartedly endorsed Duncan), and with a strong majority of voters in the state already registered as Democrats, Duncan surged to a lead in most polls.^[33]

While Hatfield did not back away from his war stance, he sought to focus his campaign on other issues, chiefly focusing on the Johnson administration's economic policies that, in Hatfield's view, had created a recession that was creating unmployment in Oregon's timber industry.^[19][33] As the election neared in early fall, Hatfield had pulled even with Duncan with momentum on his side.^[33] Hatfield won in 27 of Oregon's 36 counties en route to a solid but narrow 52%-48% victory.^[36][37] In his victory speech, Hatfield maintained that the vote was not a referendum on the war and that "neither Hanoi nor Washington should misread the results."^[36]

Hatfield would be re-elected to five more terms, most comfortably, before retiring from the Senate in 1996. Duncan sought revenge against Morse in the Democratic primary of the 1968 Senate election, but came in second in a close three-way primary that he might have won had not a third candidate drawn off some anti-Morse votes.^[19] After Morse's loss to Bob Packwood in the 1968 general election, Duncan and Morse again squared off for the Democratic nomination in the 1972 Senate election to face Hatfield. Morse won again, and lost to Hatfield in the general election.^[19] In 1974, Duncan was re-elected to the House of Representatives. He served three terms before being defeated in the Democratic primary by Ron Wyden in 1980.^[19][39]

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Carolina election

Nominee Strom Thurmond Bradley Morrah Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 271,297 164,955 Percentage 62.2% 37.8%

U.S. Senator before election Strom Thurmond Republican Elected U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond Republican

Incumbent Senator Strom Thurmond, who had switched parties from Democratic to Republican in 1964, easily defeated state senator Bradley Morrah in the general election.

The two Democrats who could have defeated Thurmond competed against each other in the special election to serve the remaining two years of Olin D. Johnston's six-year term. As a result, little known state senator Bradley Morrah of Greenville won the South Carolina Democratic Party primary election on June 14 against John Bolt Culbertson to become the nominee in the general election.

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

Morrah faced an uphill struggle against Senator Thurmond because the Democratic resources were primarily poured into the special election to help Fritz Hollings and in the gubernatorial contest for Robert Evander McNair. Furthermore, Thurmond refused to debate Morrah and Thurmond boasted of the endorsements he received from Southern Democratic Senators Richard Russell, Jr., John C. Stennis, and Herman Talmadge. Morrah was easily dispatched by Thurmond in the general election and he also lost re-election to his state senate seat. He would never again hold public office, which was a routine occurrence for Thurmond's opponents.

South Carolina (Special)

Ernest "Fritz" Hollings

The election resulted from the death of Senator Olin D. Johnston in 1965. Then-Governor Donald S. Russell entered in a prearranged agreement with Lieutenant Governor Robert Evander McNair in which Russell would resign his post so that he could be appointed Senator. However, former Governor Fritz Hollings won the Democratic primary election and went on to beat Republican state senator Marshall Parker in the general election to fill the remaining two years of the unexpired term.

In the 1962 gubernatorial election, Donald S. Russell had stated that he would he serve out a full term and not seek a higher office. However, midway through his term he resigned from the governorship so that he could be appointed to the United States Senate. Russell faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from former Governor Fritz Hollings, who had lost to Olin D. Johnston in the 1962 primary for the same Senate seat. On June 14, the South Carolina Democratic Party held their primary election and Hollings scored a comfortable victory over Russell to become the Democratic nominee.

The South Carolina Republican Party was in the beginning stages of becoming a major political party in South Carolina politics. It had few elected officials in the state and when state senator Marshall Parker from Oconee County sought the Republican nomination, he did not face any opposition.

Parker faced an uphill battle in winning the Senate seat. First, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party and any Republican politician faced a tough time seeking election. Although there was hope for Republicans because Barry Goldwater had won the state in the 1964 presidential election. Secondly, most of the resources of the Republican party were allocated for Strom Thurmond's re-election campaign and Joseph O. Rogers, Jr. gubernatorial election. Nevertheless, Parker was able to kept the race close and almost unseated Hollings in the general election.

Hollings's first Senate victory was also his closest and he was easily re-elected in 1968 (full term), 1974, 1980, and 1986, with somewhat tougher races in 1992 and 1998, although neither with a margin as narrow as that of his initial election. He eventually became seventh longest-serving senator in history (just behind Robert Byrd, Thurmond, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden and John C. Stennis). He and Thurmond were also the longest-serving Senate duo. Because of this, despite his length of service, Hollings spent 36 years as the junior Senator, even though - with his penultimate term - he had gained seniority of all but four of his colleagues - Byrd, Thurmond, Inouye and Kennedy. Hollings went on to become a nationally important political figure, e.g., serving as Chairman of the Budget committee.

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Virginia election

Nominee William B. Spong Jr. James P. Ould Jr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 429,855 245,681 Percentage 58.6% 33.5%   Nominee F. Lee Hawthorne Party Independent Popular vote 58,251 Percentage 7.9%

U.S. Senator before election A. Willis Robertson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator William B. Spong Jr. Democratic

Democratic State Senator William B. Spong Jr. defeated Republican James P. Ould Jr. and Independent F. Lee Hawthorne.

Virginia (Special)

Virginia special election

Nominee Harry F. Byrd Jr. Lawrence M. Traylor Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 389,028 272,804 Percentage 53.3% 37.4%   Nominee John W. Carter Party Independent Popular vote 57,692 Percentage 7.9%

U.S. Senator before election Harry F. Byrd Jr. Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. Democratic

Incumbent Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. had retired the previous year due to health reasons, and his son Harry F. Byrd Jr. had been appointed to replace him. Byrd defeated Republican Lawrence M. Traylor and independent candidate John W. Carter, and was able to finish the rest of his father's term.

West Virginia

Wyoming

See also

• United States elections, 1966
  • United States gubernatorial elections, 1966
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1966
• 89th United States Congress
• 90th United States Congress

Notes

References

• Massachusetts Race details at ourcampaigns.com
• "Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume II. Columbia, SC: 1967, pp. 16, 41.
• Bass, Jack; Marilyn W. Thompson (1998). Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond. Longstreet. pp. 222–223.
• "Supplemental Report of the Secretary of State to the General Assembly of South Carolina." Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. Volume II. Columbia, SC: 1967, pp. 16, 41.
• "South Carolina's New Senator". Time. April 30, 1965. Retrieved February 2, 2008.