1958 United States Senate elections

For the November 5 and 25, 1958 regular and special elections.

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives^[1]

Six Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

Ten Republicans sought re-election but lost in the general election.

Alaska was admitted into the Union and elected two Democrats to the Senate.

Hawaii was admitted into the Union and elected one Democrat and one Republican to the Senate on July 28, 1959.

Two Democrats left the Senate after the election. Both seats were filled by Democrats.

In the special elections, the winners were seated during 1958 or before January 3, 1959. In the new state elections, the winners were seated with the new Congress on January 3, 1959. Ordered by election date.

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1959; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

Eleven races had a margin of victory under 10%:

Maine was the tipping point state with a margin of 21.6%.

Alaska would become a new state January 3, 1959, and it elected two initial senators November 25, 1958, in advance of statehood. The Democratic Party thereby picked up 2 more seats.

In their next elections, Alaska's senators would be elected to 6-year terms.

The class 2 race, for the 2-year term ending in 1961, was between the Democratic incumbent territorial delegate Bob Bartlett, and the Republican Juneau attorney R. E. Robertson.

Bartlett would be re-elected twice and serve until his death in 1968.

The class 3 race, for the 4-year term ending in 1963, pitted two former territorial governors, Democrat Ernest Gruening against Republican Mike Stepovich. Gruening won a close race.

Gruening would be re-elected in 1962 and serve until losing renomination in 1968.

In Connecticut, Democrat Thomas J. Dodd defeated incumbent senator William A. Purtell who ran for a second term.

Two-term Republican John J. Williams was re-elected to a third term.

Williams would be re-elected in 1964, serving four terms until his 1970 retirement.

Incumbent Democrat Senator Holland, a conservative, was challenged by former senator Claude Pepper, who had been unseated in 1950. Holland had played a role in recruiting George A. Smathers to run against the liberal Pepper in that election. The two served as colleagues in the Senate from 1947 to 1951.^[5]

Incumbent Republican William E. Jenner did not seek a second full term in office and was replaced by Democrat Vance Hartke, the mayor of Evansville. Hartke defeated incumbent Republican Governor of Indiana Harold W. Handley.

Jenner resigned shortly before the election and urged Handley, Jenner's political protégé, to seek his seat. A plan was proposed whereby Handley would resign the governorship, his lieutenant would appoint him senator, and he would finish the term and run as an incumbent. When the plan was revealed to the party leadership, they strongly advised him to not implement it because they feared it would hurt the party and be perceived as a scandal.^[8]

Handley did not resign from the governorship during his campaign and was widely criticized for the unprecedented action. Hartke accused Handley of raising taxes, breaking of his campaign promise, his reluctance in supporting right-to-work, and rising state unemployment. Statewide unemployment was just above 10% in April, but dropped to 6.9% by the end of September.^[8]

Maine held its election September 8, 1958, in keeping with its routine practice of holding elections before the November national Election Day. Democrat Edmund Muskie defeated one-term Republican incumbent, Frederick G. Payne by a wide margin, 61–39%.

In Minnesota, Democratic Representative Eugene McCarthy defeated incumbent senator Edward John Thye who ran for a third term.

Two-term Democrat John C. Stennis was re-elected with no opposition.

Stennis would be re-elected four more times, serving until his retirement in 1989.

Incumbent Democrat Stuart Symington was re-elected to a second term. Hazel Palmer was the first woman ever nominated for United States senator in Missouri.

Incumbent Mike Mansfield, who was first elected to the Senate in 1952, ran for re-election. Mansfield won the Democratic primary comfortably, and moved on to the general election, where he was opposed by Lou W. Welch, a millworker and the Republican nominee. In contrast to the close campaign in 1952, Mansfield defeated Welch in a landslide and won his second term in the Senate easily.

Republican Roman Hruska had won a 1954 special election and ran for a full term. He beat Democratic attorney Frank B. Morrison, who had previously lost his challenger bid for Nebraska's 1st congressional district.

Hruska would be re-elected two more times and serve until his 1976 retirement.

Morrison would be elected Governor of Nebraska in 1960 and serve there for six years from 1961 to 1967, and was re-elected twice while running unsuccessfully for U.S. senator.

In Nevada, incumbent Republican George W. Malone ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Democrat Howard Cannon.

The campaign was considered^{[by whom?]} one of the most competitive and highly watched in the nation in 1958. Senator Malone was known nationally as a leader within the Republican Party's right wing and held key appointments on the Senate Finance and Interior Committees.^[18]

Malone campaigned on his experience and seniority in the Senate, using the slogan "He Knows Nevada Best." He received support from Eisenhower cabinet secretaries Fred Seaton and Ezra Taft Benson. Benson, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was especially influential among Nevada's large Mormon population. His endorsement was seen as particularly important in light of Cannon's Mormon faith. Late in the campaign, Malone published full-page ads touting his effort to save Nevada from a federal gambling tax.^[18]

Cannon focused his attacks on Malone's absentee record in the Senate and his reputation on Capitol Hill as an unpopular extremist.^[18]

Cannon won the election by a safe margin owing to his overwhelming support in his native Clark County, which contained 47 percent of the state's registered voters. He was the first candidate from southern Nevada elected to the United States Senate.^[18]

Senator Malone was unopposed for re-nomination by the Republican Party.

Incumbent Republican H. Alexander Smith chose not to seek a third term in office. Democratic U.S. Representative Harrison Williams won the open seat over U.S. Representative Robert Kean.