United States Senate elections, 1960

November 8, 1960

35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Lyndon Johnson	Everett Dirksen
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	Texas	Illinois
Last election	65 seats	35 seats
Seats won	64	36
Seat change	1	1
Popular vote	18,547,250	14,894,867
Percentage	55.1%	44.2%
Swing	0.1%	1.1%

Republican hold

Republican gain

Democratic hold

Democratic gain

Majority Leader before election

Lyndon Johnson
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1960 coincided with the election of John F. Kennedy as president. The Republicans gained one seat at the expense of the Democrats. The Democrats nonetheless retained a commanding lead in the Senate with 64 seats to 36. As Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson was elected Vice President, Mike Mansfield became the new Majority Leader.

Retirements

Democratic seats held by Democrats

Montana: James E. Murray (D) was replaced by Lee Metcalf (D)
Oregon: Hall S. Lusk (D) was replaced by Maurine B. Neuberger (D)
Rhode Island: Theodore F. Green (D) was replaced by Claiborne Pell (D)

Democrats replaced by Republicans

Wyoming: Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D) was replaced by Edwin Keith Thomson (R). But Thomson died before the Congress began and was then replaced by a Democratic appointee.

Republican seats held by Republicans

Iowa: Thomas E. Martin (R) was replaced by Jack Miller (R)

Republicans replaced by Democrats

North Dakota (Class 1): Clarence N. Brunsdale (R) was replaced by Quentin N. Burdick (D)

Losing incumbents

Democrats lost to Republicans

Delaware: J. Allen Frear, Jr. (D) lost to J. Caleb Boggs (R)

Other changes

The Republicans' net gain of one seat was eliminated after the election.

Wyoming: Senator-elect Keith Thomson (R) died December 9, 1960, and was replaced by appointee John J. Hickey (D) at the beginning of the Congress.

Subsequent changes

The Republicans gained one seat during the next Congress.

Texas: Two-term Incumbent Lyndon Johnson (D) had been re-elected, but he resigned January 3, 1961 at the beginning of the term to become U.S. Vice President.
- William A. Blakley (D) was appointed January 3, 1961 to begin and to continue the term.
- John Tower (R) was elected June 14, 1961 to finish the term.

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D₅₂	D₅₃	D₅₄	D₅₅	D₅₆	D₅₇	D₅₈	D₅₉	D₆₀
D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀
D₃₀	D₂₉	D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁
D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇	D₃₈	D₃₉	D₄₀
D₅₀	D₄₉	D₄₈	D₄₇	D₄₆	D₄₅	D₄₄	D₄₃	D₄₂	D₄₁
D₅₁	← Majority
R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃	R₃₄	R₃₅	D₆₅	D₆₄	D₆₃	D₆₂	D₆₁
R₃₀	R₂₉	R₂₈	R₂₇	R₂₆	R₂₅	R₂₄	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁
R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀
R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D₅₂√	D₅₃√	D₅₄√	D₅₅√	D₅₆√	D₅₇√	D₅₈√	D₅₉√	D₆₀√
D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀
D₃₀	D₂₉	D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁
D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇	D₃₈	D₃₉	D₄₀
D₅₀√	D₄₉√	D₄₈√	D₄₇√	D₄₆√	D₄₅√	D₄₄√	D₄₃√	D₄₂	D₄₁
D₅₁√	← Majority
R₃₁√	R₃₂√	R₃₃√	R₃₄O	R₃₅+	R₃₆+	D₆₄+	D₆₃O	D₆₂O	D₆₁O
R₃₀√	R₂₉√	R₂₈√	R₂₇√	R₂₆√	R₂₅√	R₂₄√	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁
R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀
R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

Senate composition at the beginning of the next Congress

D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀
D₃₀	D₂₉	D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁
D₃₁	D₃₂	D₃₃	D₃₄	D₃₅	D₃₆	D₃₇	D₃₈	D₃₉	D₄₀
D₅₀	D₄₉	D₄₈	D₄₇	D₄₆	D₄₅	D₄₄	D₄₃	D₄₂	D₄₁
D₅₁	← Majority
D₅₂	D₅₃	D₅₄	D₅₅	D₅₆	D₅₇	D₅₈	D₅₉	D₆₀
R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃	R₃₄	R₃₅	D₆₅+	D₆₄	D₆₃	D₆₂	D₆₁
R₃₀	R₂₉	R₂₈	R₂₇	R₂₆	R₂₅	R₂₄	R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁
R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀
R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

D₆₅ (Wyoming seat):
The Republican Senator-elect died between the election and the next Congress.

A Democrat was appointed in his place by the beginning of the next Congress.

Key:

D	Democratic
R	Republican

nowrap \| √	Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Race summary

State	Incumbent Senator	Incumbent party	Result	Candidates
Alabama	John Sparkman	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ John Sparkman (Democratic) 70.2% Julian Elgin (Republican) 29.8%
Alaska	Bob Bartlett	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Bob Bartlett (Democratic) 63.4% Lee L. McKinley (Republican) 36.6%
Arkansas	John L. McClellan	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ John L. McClellan (Democratic) Unopposed
Colorado	Gordon Allott	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Gordon Allott (Republican) 53.5% Robert L. Knous (Democratic) 46.0%
Delaware	J. Allen Frear, Jr.	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain.	√ J. Caleb Boggs (Republican) 50.7% J. Allen Frear, Jr. (Democratic) 49.3%
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Richard Russell, Jr. (Democratic) Unopposed
Idaho	Henry C. Dworshak	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Henry C. Dworshak (Republican) 52.3% R. F. Bob McLaughlin (Democratic) 47.7%
Illinois	Paul Douglas	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Paul Douglas (Democratic) 54.6% Samuel W. Witwer (Republican) 45.2%
Iowa	Thomas E. Martin	Republican	Retired Republican hold.	√ Jack Miller (Republican) 51.9% Herschel C. Loveless (Democratic) 48.1%
Kansas	Andrew F. Schoeppel	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Andrew F. Schoeppel (Republican) 54.6% Frank Theis (Democratic) 43.8%
Kentucky	John S. Cooper	Republican	Re-elected.	√ John S. Cooper (Republican) 59.2% Keen Johnson (Democratic) 40.8%
Louisiana	Allen J. Ellender	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Allen J. Ellender (Democratic) 79.8% George W. Reese, Jr. (Republican) 20.2%
Maine	Margaret Chase Smith	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Margaret Chase Smith (Republican) 61.7% Lucia M. Cormier (Democratic) 38.4%
Massachusetts	Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) 56.2% Thomas J. O'Connor, Jr. (Democratic) 43.5%
Michigan	Patrick V. McNamara	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Patrick V. McNamara (Democratic) 51.7% Alvin M. Bentley (Republican) 48.0%
Minnesota	Hubert Humphrey	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) 57.5% P. Kenneth Peterson (Republican) 42.2%
Mississippi	James O. Eastland	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ James O. Eastland (Democratic) 91.8% Joe A. Moore (Republican) 8.2%
Missouri Special: Class 3	Edward V. Long	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1963.	√ Edward V. Long (Democratic) 53.2% Lon Hocker (Republican) 46.8%
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold.	√ Lee Metcalf (Democratic) 50.7% Orvin B. Fjare (Republican) 49.3%
Nebraska	Carl T. Curtis	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Carl T. Curtis (Republican) 58.9% Robert B. Conrad (Democratic) 41.1%
New Hampshire	Styles Bridges	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Styles Bridges (Republican) 60.4% Herbert W. Hill (Democratic) 39.7%
New Jersey	Clifford P. Case	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Clifford P. Case (Republican) 55.7% Thorn Lord (Democratic) 43.2%
New Mexico	Clinton P. Anderson	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Clinton P. Anderson (Democratic) 63.4% William Colwes (Republican) 36.6%
North Carolina	B. Everett Jordan	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ B. Everett Jordan (Democratic) 61.4% Kyle Hayes (Republican) 38.6%
North Dakota Special: Class 1	Clarence N. Brunsdale	Republican	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1965 Democratic gain.	√ Quentin N. Burdick (Democratic) 49.7% John E. Davis (Republican) 49.2%
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Robert S. Kerr (Democratic) 54.8% B. Hayden Crawford (Republican) 44.6%
Oregon	Hall S. Lusk	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold.	√ Maurine B. Neuberger (Democratic) 54.6% Elmo Smith (Republican) 45.4%
Rhode Island	Theodore F. Green	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold.	√ Claiborne Pell (Democratic) 68.9% Raoul Archambault (Republican) 31.1%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Strom Thurmond (Democratic) Unopposed
South Dakota	Karl E. Mundt	Republican	Re-elected.	√ Karl E. Mundt (Republican) 52.4% George S. McGovern (Democratic) 47.6%
Tennessee	Estes Kefauver	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Estes Kefauver (Democratic) 71.8% A. Bradley Frazier (Republican) 28.3%
Texas	Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) 58.0% John G. Tower (Republican) 41.1% Bard A. Logan (Constitution) 0.9%
Virginia	A. Willis Robertson	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ A. Willis Robertson (Democratic) 81.3% Stuart D. Baker (Independent) 14.2%
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	Re-elected.	√ Jennings Randolph (Democratic) 55.3% Cecil H. Underwood (Republican) 44.7%
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	Retired Republican gain. Winner then died before the Congress began and was replaced by a Democratic appointee.	√ Edwin Keith Thomson (Republican) 56.4% Raymond B. Whitaker (Democratic) 43.6%

(1958 ←) 1960 United States elections (→ 1962)

President	United States presidential election, 1960 Democratic primaries Republican primaries Democratic convention Republican convention

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