United States Senate elections, 1968

United States Senate elections, 1968

November 5, 1968
34 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's seat Montana Illinois Last election 64 seats 36 seats Seats before 62 38 Seats won 57 43 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 24,976,660 23,588,832 Percentage 49.3% 46.5% Swing 1.4% 4.5%
Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mike Mansfield Democratic

The 1968 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate which coincided with the 1968 presidential election. Although Richard Nixon won the presidential election narrowly, the Republicans picked up five net seats in the Senate. Republicans would gain another seat after the election when Alaska Republican Ted Stevens was appointed to replace Democrat Bob Bartlett.

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48	D49	D50
Majority →									D51
D60	D59	D58	D57	D56	D55	D54	D53	D52
D61	D62	D63	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

As a result of the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41√	D42√	D43√	D44√	D45√	D46√	D47√	D48√	D49√	D50√
Majority →									D51√
R41+	R42+	D58+	D57+	D56O	D55O	D54O	D53√	D52√
R40+	R39+	R38+	R37+	R36+	R35O	R34O	R33√	R32√	R31√
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27√	R28√	R29√	R30√
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

At the beginning of the next Congress

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D20 D19 D18 D17 D16 D15 D14 D13 D12 D11 D21 D22 D23 D24 D25 D26 D27 D28 D29 D30 D40 D39 D38 D37 D36 D35 D34 D33 D32 D31 D41 D42 D43 D44 D45 D46 D47 D48 D49 D50 Majority → D51 R41 R42 R43+ D57 D56 D55 D54 D53 D52 R40 R39 R38 R37 R36 R35 R34 R33 R32 R31 R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R29 R30 R20 R19 R18 R17 R16 R15 R14 R13 R12 R11 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10

R43+ (Alaska seat): Bob Bartlett (D), who was not up, died December 11, 1968 before the next Congress. Ted Stevens (R) was appointed December 24, 1968 in his place.

Key:	D# Democratic R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator from same party + Party gain: New senator from different party

Incumbents who retired

Democratic hold

1. Alabama: J. Lister Hill (D) was replaced by James Allen (D).

Democratic gain

1. Iowa: Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R) was replaced by Harold Hughes (D).

Republican holds

1. Kansas: Frank Carlson (R) was replaced by Bob Dole (R).
2. Kentucky: Thruston Ballard Morton (R) was replaced by Marlow W. Cook (R).

Republican gains

1. Arizona: Carl Hayden (D) was replaced by Barry Goldwater (R).
2. Florida: George Smathers (D) was replaced by Edward J. Gurney (R), the first Republican to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.

Incumbents who lost their seats

Democratic holds

1. Alaska: Ernest Gruening (D) lost renomination to Mike Gravel (D), who later won the general election.
2. Missouri: Edward V. Long (D) lost renomination to Thomas Eagleton (D), who later won the general election.

Democratic gain

1. California: Thomas Kuchel (R) lost renomination to Max Rafferty (R), who later lost the general election to Alan Cranston (D).

Republican gains

1. Maryland: Daniel Brewster (D) lost re-election to Charles Mathias, Jr. (R)
2. Ohio: Frank J. Lausche (D) lost renomination to John J. Gilligan (D), who later lost the general election to William B. Saxbe (R).
3. Oklahoma: A. S. Mike Monroney (D), lost re-election to Henry Bellmon (R).
4. Oregon: Wayne Morse (D), lost re-election to Bob Packwood (R).
5. Pennsylvania: Joseph S. Clark (D), lost re-election to Richard Schweiker (R).

Later change

Republican gain

1. Alaska: Bob Bartlett (D) died December 11, 1968 and Ted Stevens (R) was appointed December 24, 1968.

Complete list of races

A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.

All seats were class 3.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	J. Lister Hill	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	James Allen (Democratic) 70.0% Perry O. Hooper, Sr. (Republican) 22.1% Robert Schwenn (Independent) 8.0%
Alaska	Ernest Gruening	Democratic	Lost renomination & Re-election as a Democratic Write-In Democratic hold	Mike Gravel (Democratic) 45.1% Elmer E. Rasmuson (Republican) 37.4% Ernest Gruening (Democratic Write-In) 17.4%
Arizona	Carl Hayden	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Barry Goldwater (Republican) 57.2% Roy Elson (Democratic) 42.8%
Arkansas	J. William Fulbright	Democratic	Re-elected	J. William Fulbright (Democratic) 59.2% Charles T. Bernard (Republican) 40.9%
California	Thomas Kuchel	Republican	Lost renomination Democratic gain	Alan Cranston (Democratic) 51.8% Max Rafferty (Republican) 46.9% Paul Jacobs (Peace & Freedom) 1.3%
Colorado	Peter H. Dominick	Republican	Re-elected	Peter H. Dominick (Republican) 58.6% Stephen L.R. McNichols (Democratic) 41.5%
Connecticut	Abraham A. Ribicoff	Democratic	Re-elected	Abraham A. Ribicoff (Democratic) 54.3% Edwin H. May, Jr. (Republican) 45.7%
Florida	George Smathers	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Edward J. Gurney (Republican) 55.9% LeRoy Collins (Democratic) 44.1%
Georgia	Herman Talmadge	Democratic	Re-elected	Herman Talmadge (Democratic) 77.5% E. Earl Patton (Republican) 22.5%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Re-elected	Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 83.4% Wayne C. Thiessen (Republican) 15.0%
Idaho	Frank Church	Democratic	Re-elected	Frank Church (Democratic) 60.3% George V. Hansen (Republican) 39.7%
Illinois	Everett Dirksen	Republican	Re-elected	Everett Dirksen (Republican) 53.0% William G. Clark (Democratic) 46.6%
Indiana	Birch Bayh	Democratic	Re-elected	Birch Bayh (Democratic) 51.7% William Ruckelshaus (Republican) 48.2%
Iowa	Bourke B. Hickenlooper	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Harold Hughes (Democratic) 50.3% David M. Stanley (Republican) 49.7%
Kansas	Frank Carlson	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Bob Dole (Republican) 60.1% William I. Robinson (Democratic) 38.7%
Kentucky	Thruston Ballard Morton	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Marlow W. Cook (Republican) 51.4% Katherine Peden (Democratic) 47.6%
Louisiana	Russell B. Long	Democratic	Re-elected	Russell B. Long (Democratic) Unopposed
Maryland	Daniel Brewster	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Charles Mathias, Jr. (Republican) 47.8% Daniel Brewster (Democratic) 39.1% George P. Mahoney (American Independent) 13.1%
Missouri	Edward V. Long	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Thomas Eagleton (Democratic) 51.1% Thomas B. Curtis (Republican) 48.9%
Nevada	Alan Bible	Democratic	Re-elected	Alan Bible (Democratic) 54.8% Ed Fike (Republican) 45.2%
New Hampshire	Norris Cotton	Republican	Re-elected	Norris Cotton (Republican) 59.3% John W. King (Democratic) 40.7%
New York	Jacob K. Javits	Republican	Re-elected	Jacob K. Javits (Republican) 49.7% Paul O'Dwyer (Democratic) 32.7% James L. Buckley (Conservative) 17.3%
North Carolina	Sam Ervin	Democratic	Re-elected	Sam Ervin (Democratic) 60.6% Robert V. Somers (Republican) 39.4%
North Dakota	Milton Young	Republican	Re-elected	Milton Young (Republican) 64.6% Herschel Lashkowitz (Democratic) 33.7%
Ohio	Frank J. Lausche	Democratic	Lost renomination Republican gain	William B. Saxbe (Republican) 51.5% John J. Gilligan (Democratic) 48.5%
Oklahoma	A. S. Mike Monroney	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Henry Bellmon (Republican) 51.7% A. S. Mike Monroney (Democratic) 46.2%
Oregon	Wayne Morse	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Bob Packwood (Republican) 50.2% Wayne Morse (Democratic) 49.8%
Pennsylvania	Joseph S. Clark	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Richard Schweiker (Republican) 51.9% Joseph S. Clark (Democratic) 45.8%
South Carolina	Ernest Hollings	Democratic	Re-elected	Ernest Hollings (Democratic) 61.9% Marshall Parker (Republican) 38.1%
South Dakota	George McGovern	Democratic	Re-elected	George McGovern (Democratic) 56.8% Archie M. Gubbrud (Republican) 43.2%
Utah	Wallace F. Bennett	Republican	Re-elected	Wallace F. Bennett (Republican) 53.7% Milton N. Wellenmann (Democratic) 45.8%
Vermont	George Aiken	Republican	Re-elected	George Aiken (Republican) 99.9% Unopposed
Washington	Warren G. Magnuson	Democratic	Re-elected	Warren G. Magnuson (Democratic) 64.4% Jack Metcalf (Republican) 35.3%
Wisconsin	Gaylord Nelson	Democratic	Re-elected	Gaylord Nelson (Democratic) 61.7% Jerris Leonard (Republican) 38.3%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1968
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1968
• 91st United States Congress