The 1948 United States Senate elections were elections which coincided with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. Truman had campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and in addition the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–47 by election day. Thus Truman was rewarded with a Democratic gain of nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber. This was the last time until 2020 that Democrats flipped a chamber of Congress in a Presidential election cycle.

Results summary

''Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.'' Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

Gains and losses

In addition to gaining an open seat in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, the Democrats defeated eight Republican incumbents: #

C. Douglass Buck Clayton Douglass Buck (March 21, 1890 – January 27, 1965) was an American engineer and politician from New Castle Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War I and a member of the Republican Party, who served two t ...

(R-DE) # Henry Dworshak (R-ID) #

Charles W. Brooks Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1940 to 1949. Early life Born in West Bureau, Illinois, Brooks served in the Marines during World War I as a first lieutenant f ...

(R-IL) # George A. Wilson (R-IA) # John Sherman Cooper (R-KY) #

Joseph H. Ball Joseph Hurst Ball (November 3, 1905December 18, 1993) was an American journalist, politician and businessman. Ball served as a Republican senator from Minnesota from 1940 to 1949. He was a conservative in domestic policy and a leading foe of l ...

(R-MN) #

Chapman Revercomb William Chapman Revercomb (July 20, 1895 – October 6, 1979) was an American politician and lawyer. A Republican, he served two separate terms in the United States Senate representing the state of West Virginia. Life and career Revercomb wa ...

(R-WV) # Edward V. Robertson (R-WY)

Change in composition

Before the elections

Election results

Race summaries

Special elections during the 80th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1948 or before January 3, 1949; ordered by election date.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1949; ordered by state. All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

Alabama

Arkansas

Colorado

Delaware

Georgia

Idaho

Democrat Bert H. Miller defeated incumbent Republican Henry Dworshak. As of 2020, this remains the last time that a Democrat would win Idaho’s Class 2 Senate seat.

Illinois

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Louisiana (Regular)

Louisiana (Special)

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Montana

Incumbent United States Senator

James E. Murray James Edward Murray (May 3, 1876March 23, 1961) was an American politician and United States Senator from Montana, and a liberal leader of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1934 until 1961. Background Born on a fa ...

, who was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 1934 and was re-elected in 1936 and 1942, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he faced Tom J. Davis, an attorney and the Republican nominee, in the general election. Following a narrow re-election in 1936, Murray significantly expanded his margin of victory and comfortably won re-election over Davis, winning his fourth term and his third full term in the Senate.

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Carolina

There were 2 elections to the same seat, due to the December 15, 1946 death of three-term Democrat Josiah Bailey. Democratic former congressman William B. Umstead was appointed December 18, 1946 to continue Bailey's term, pending a special election. Umstead supported the conservative Taft–Hartley Act. The Democratic former

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

J. Melville Broughton Joseph Melville Broughton Jr. (November 17, 1888March 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as the 60th governor of North Carolina from 1941 to 1945. He later briefly served as a United States Senator from January 3, 1949 until his dea ...

was seen as a "rather liberal alternative" to Umstead. Broughton beat Umstead in the Democratic primaries and then won the general elections.

North Carolina (Special)

North Carolina (Regular)

Broughton was seated December 31, 1948 to finish the current term but died March 6, 1949, just after the new term began. His death lead to another appointment (Democrat Frank Graham) in 1949 and another special election in 1950 of Democrat Willis Smith. Smith also died during the term, leading to yet another appointment (Democrat Alton A. Lennon) and 1954 special election (of Democrat

W. Kerr Scott William Kerr Scott (April 17, 1896April 16, 1958) was an American Democratic Party politician from North Carolina. He was the 62nd governor of North Carolina from 1949 until 1953 and a United States Senator from 1954 until 1958. A native of ...

). In all, five senators held the seat during the 1949–1955 term.

Oklahoma

Oregon

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Senator Burnet R. Maybank was opposed in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

by U.S. Representative

William Jennings Bryan Dorn William Jennings Bryan Dorn (April 14, 1916 – August 13, 2005) was a United States politician from South Carolina who represented the western part of the state in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and from 1951 to 197 ...

and three other candidates. Maybank obtained over 50% in the primary election on August 10 to avoid a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. Since the end of

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

in 1877, the Democratic Party dominated the politics of South Carolina and its statewide candidates were never seriously challenged. Maybank did not campaign for the general election as there was no chance of defeat.

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Incumbent Democrat

W. Lee O'Daniel Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (March 11, 1890May 11, 1969) was an American Democratic Party politician from Texas, who came to prominence by hosting a popular radio program. Known for his populist appeal and support of Texas's business communi ...

decided to retire rather than seek a second full term. Congressman

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

won the highly contested Democratic primary against former governor

Coke Stevenson Coke Robert Stevenson (March 20, 1888 – June 28, 1975) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Texas from 1941 to 1947. He was the first Texan politician to hold its three highest offices (Speaker of the Texas House ...

. Johnson went on to win the general election against Republican Jack Porter, but by a closer margin than usual for Texas Democrats.

Virginia

Incumbent Democrat Absalom Willis Robertson defeated Republican Robert H. Woods and was re-elected to his first full term in office.