1964 United States Senate elections

1964 United States Senate elections

← 1962 November 3, 1964 1966 →

35 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 since January 3, 1961 January 3, 1959
Leader's seat Montana Illinois
Seats before 66 34
Seats after 68 32
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 2
Popular vote 30,786,035[1][a] 23,171,991[1]
Percentage 56.2% 42.3%
Seats up 26 9
Races won 28 7

1964 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma1964 United States Senate special election in Tennessee1964 United States Senate election in Arizona1964 United States Senate election in California1964 United States Senate election in Connecticut1964 United States Senate election in Delaware1964 United States Senate election in Florida1964 United States Senate election in Hawaii1964 United States Senate election in Indiana1964 United States Senate election in Maine1964 United States Senate election in Maryland1964 United States Senate election in Massachusetts1964 United States Senate election in Michigan1964 United States Senate election in Minnesota1964 United States Senate election in Mississippi1964 United States Senate election in Missouri1964 United States Senate election in Montana1964 United States Senate election in Nebraska1964 United States Senate election in Nevada1964 United States Senate election in New Jersey1964 United States Senate election in New Mexico1964 United States Senate election in New York1964 United States Senate election in North Dakota1964 United States Senate election in Ohio1964 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1964 United States Senate election in Rhode Island1964 United States Senate election in Tennessee1964 United States Senate election in Texas1964 United States Senate election in Utah1964 United States Senate election in Vermont1964 United States Senate election in Virginia1964 United States Senate election in Washington1964 United States Senate election in West Virginia1964 United States Senate election in Wisconsin1964 United States Senate election in Wyoming
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     No election
Rectangular inset (Tennessee): both seats up for election

Majority Leader before election

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

The 1964 United States Senate elections were held on November 3. The 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the election of President Lyndon B. Johnson by an overwhelming majority, to a full term. His Democratic Party picked up a net two seats from the Republicans. As of 2023, this was the last time either party has had a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which allowed the Senate Democrats to override a veto, propose constitutional amendments, or convict and expel certain officials without any votes from Senate Republicans. However, internal divisions would have prevented the Democrats from having done so. The Senate election cycle coincided with Democratic gains in the House in the same year.

In a close race in Nevada, Democratic incumbent Howard Cannon won re-election over Republican Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt by fewer than 100 votes. Laxalt joined Cannon in the Senate when he won Nevada's other seat in 1974. Patrick V. McNamara (D–Michigan) later died on April 30, 1966, and was replaced on May 11, 1966, by appointee Robert P. Griffin (R), reducing Democrats' majority to 67–33.

Notably, of the 35 seats up for election this year, 26 were held by Democrats, who managed to retain 25 of them. A party defending two-thirds of the seats up for election would not make net gains in the Senate again until 2012. Coincidentally, it would be the same Senate class, class 1. This is the earliest round of Senate elections in which a first-elected member is still alive (Fred Harris, D-OK).

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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