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1957 United States Senate special election in Texas

The 1957 United States Senate special election in Texas was held on April 2, 1957, to complete the unexpired term of Senator Price Daniel, who resigned to become Governor of Texas. Interim Senator William Blakley did not run for re-election. Ralph Yarborough won the race with a plurality of the vote; no majority was required.

1957 United States Senate special election in Texas
← 1952 April 2, 1957 1958 →
 
Nominee Ralph Yarborough Martin Dies Jr. Thad Hutcheson
Party Democratic Democratic Republican
Popular vote 364,605 290,803 219,591
Percentage 38.09% 30.38% 22.94%
Yarborough:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Dies:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Hutcheson:      30–40%      40–50%      60–70%

Tie:      30–40%
U.S. senator before election

William Blakley
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ralph Yarborough
Democratic

Background

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In November 1956, incumbent senator Price Daniel was elected Governor of Texas. He had announced his resignation that September after winning the Democratic nomination, but it only became effective after he took office in January 1957.[1] Outgoing Governor Allan Shivers appointed William Blakley to fill the seat until a successor could be elected. At the time of his appointment, Blakley was mum about which party he would vote with in the Senate; he had never held political office before. Soon after, he announced that he would serve as a Democrat, ensuring Democratic control in the narrowly-divided Senate.[2] The special election was scheduled for April 2.[3] Blakley declined to run in the special election.[4] The winner would finish Daniel's term ending in 1959.

Candidates

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Major candidates

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Minor candidates

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None of these candidates received more than 0.25% of the popular vote.

  • Elmer Adams
  • H.J. Antoine
  • M. T. Banks
  • Jacob Bergolofsky
  • John C. Burns
  • H. Frank Connally
  • Frank G. Cortez
  • J. Cal Courtney
  • R. Waire Currin
  • Charles O. Foerster, Jr.
  • Curtis Ford
  • Charles W. Hill
  • Walter S. McNutt
  • J. Perrin Willis
  • Hugh Wilson

Campaign

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At the time, Texas held its special elections in a nonpartisan fashion, where all candidates appeared on the ballot in alphabetical order regardless of party affiliation.[5] This had allowed former senator W. Lee O'Daniel to win a previous special election in 1941 with a plurality of only 30% of the vote.[6] The Democratic-controlled Texas Legislature introduced a bill in January to alter the election's rules to require a candidate to earn a majority of the vote to win, with a runoff being called if no candidate does so in the first round.[7] Attorney Thad Hutcheson was the only major Republican candidate in the race, so Republicans saw the crowded Democratic field as an opportunity to win the seat with a plurality of the vote.[8] As such, Republicans vehemently opposed the passage of the bill.[9] Several East Texas county judges also opposed the bill due to the additional costs of holding a second election.[10] Conservative Democrats argued that the bill was necessary to prevent a Republican takeover of the Senate, which had the potential to lead to the passage of civil rights legislation.[8] Many saw the bill as an attempt to not only defeat Hutcheson, but also to defeat Ralph Yarborough, the only prominent liberal Democrat in the race.[11] These efforts failed, however, as the Texas Senate did not give the bill the supermajority vote required for it to go into effect prior to the election.[8]

The Democratic Party had won a 49-47 majority in the U.S. Senate in the 1956 elections, but a Republican victory in this election would have given Republicans control of the chamber through Vice President Richard Nixon's tiebreaking vote.[5][12] Because of this, Republicans from across the country campaigned for Hutcheson, who drew the endorsements of Nixon and President Dwight Eisenhower.[13] Most major Texas newspapers endorsed Martin Dies, but other prominent Texas Democrats like interim-Senator Blakley and Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson did not endorse any candidate.[14][15] Each candidate's views on regulations for the oil and gas industry emerged as a primary campaign issue. Republicans campaigned on President Eisenhower's inclusion of a natural gas bill in his budget for the year, while Democrats argued that they would be better at managing the industry, as both of their congressional leaders, Johnson and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, were from Texas.[12][16]

Results

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Ralph Yarborough won the race with a plurality of 38% of the vote. The results mirrored several previous races Yarborough had participated in: conflicts between the liberal and conservative branches of the Democratic Party. Yarborough had previously run for governor and attorney general, and he had been defeated both times in the Democratic primary by conservative Democrats. Despite fears that the long list of Democratic candidates in the race would split the vote to allow the Republican Hutcheson to win, Dies emerged as the conservative Democratic frontrunner and placed second, with Hutcheson placing third. No other candidate won a significant portion of the vote. Yarborough's victory ensured that Democrats would maintain control of the U.S. Senate.[17]

Yarborough became the second person since World War II to win election to the Senate with under 40% of the vote.[18] Conservative Democrats decried his vote share for being even lower than his performances in his previous gubernatorial runs. They claimed that he had only won because of divisions in the conservative vote. At the same time, Hutcheson performed better than most previous Republican candidates for statewide office.[19] After the election, the Texas Legislature approved the runoff requirement for special elections to the U.S. Senate.[20] This requirement would first come into play in 1961, and then again in 1993.

1957 U.S. Senate special election[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ralph W. Yarborough 364,605 38.09%
Democratic Martin Dies Jr. 290,803 30.38%
Republican Thad Hutcheson 219,591 22.94%
Democratic Searcy Bracewell 33,384 3.49%
Democratic James P. Hart 19,739 2.06%
Democratic John C. White 11,876 1.24%
Various Minor candidates 17,300 1.81%
Total votes 957,298 100.00%

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Among the top 5 candidates

References

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  1. ^ "Daniel Says Resignation Ready Soon". The Austin American. September 23, 1956. pp. A1. ProQuest 1615399537. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  2. ^ Irwin, Don (January 16, 1957). "New Senator From Texas is Democrat: Blakley, Named to Seat Yacated By Gov. Daniel, Ends Speculation". New York Herald Tribune. p. 2. ProQuest 1327322545. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ "TEXAS ELECTION APRIL 2; At Stake Is Senate Seat Held Temporarily by Blakley". The New York Times. January 19, 1957. p. 11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  4. ^ "NEW SENATOR IS SWORN; Blakley of Texas Takes Oath --Johnson Extols Him". The New York Times. January 18, 1957. p. 14. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Senate Control Hinges On Tuesday's Election". The Austin Statesman. March 27, 1957. p. 4. ProQuest 1613454178. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Drummond, Jim (July 3, 1941). "Is W. Lee Politically Dead? Big Question At Crossroads Despite Apparent Victory". The Austin Statesman. p. 1. ProQuest 1563445880. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ "Runoff Bill Gets Priority". The Austin Statesman. January 29, 1957. p. 1. ProQuest 1613436427. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ a b c Times, Special to The New York (March 3, 1957). "G.O.P. SENATE HOPE GAINING IN TEXAS; Bill for a Run-Off Election Fails, Improving Chance of Republican Entry". The New York Times. p. 41. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  9. ^ The Capitol Staff (January 8, 1957). "Republicans Protesting Election Code Revision". The Austin Statesman. p. 9. ProQuest 1613431904. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  10. ^ "Campaigns Stepping Up For Senate". The Austin American. February 3, 1957. pp. A1. ProQuest 1615467907. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ "Candidates' Views Vary On Runoff". The Austin Statesman. February 7, 1957. pp. A1. ProQuest 1613442040. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ a b Stokes, Thomas L. (March 23, 1957). "Senate Is at Stake In Texas Election". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 4. ProQuest 1613229256. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  13. ^ "PRESIDENT HELPS TEXAS CANDIDATE; Urges Election of Hutcheson for Senate--April 2 Vote Crucial to G.O.P." The New York Times. January 29, 1957. p. 23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  14. ^ "Nixon Endorses GOP Hopeful in Key Texas Vote". Daily Boston Globe. March 31, 1957. pp. B1. ProQuest 845385471. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ Barnes, Lorraine (March 29, 1957). "Blakley Stays Mum On Election". The Austin Statesman. p. 1. ProQuest 1613454410. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  16. ^ Stokes, Thos L. (March 25, 1957). "Texas Election Exciting Washington's Observers". The Austin Statesman. p. 4. ProQuest 1613454219. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  17. ^ "Yarborough Wins In Texas; Democrats Keep Senate Control". Daily Boston Globe. April 3, 1957. p. 1. ProQuest 845383822. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ Ostermeier, Dr Eric (October 11, 2016). "Murkowski Could Become 1st US Senator with Three Plurality Victories". Smart Politics. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  19. ^ "NEW FEUD BREWS IN TEXAS POLITICS; Yarborough Tops Republican by 135,000–Foes of Victor Discount the Decision". The New York Times. April 4, 1957. pp. 1, 22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  20. ^ "Dope Bill Is Signed By Daniel". The Austin Statesman. April 25, 1957. pp. A1. ProQuest 1613461857. Retrieved April 30, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  21. ^ Texas State Historical Association (1957). "Texas Almanac, 1958-1959". The Portal to Texas History. The Dallas Morning News. pp. 457–458. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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