1948 United States Senate election in Maine

1948 United States Senate election in Maine

← 1942 September 13, 1948 1954 →
 
Nominee Margaret Chase Smith Adrian Scolten
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 159,182 64,074
Percentage 71.30% 28.70%

County Results
Smith:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

U.S. senator before election

Wallace H. White Jr.
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Margaret Chase Smith
Republican

The 1948 United States Senate election in Maine was held on September 13, 1948. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader Wallace White did not seek a fourth term in office.

U.S. Representative Margaret Chase Smith defeated the two most recent Governors of Maine, Horace Hildreth and Sumner Sewall, in the Republican primary. In the general election, Smith resoundingly defeated Democrat Adrian Scolten of Portland.

Smith was the first woman ever elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate without first being appointed.[a] Smith's election also made her the first woman to serve in both houses of the United States Congress, as well as the first woman to represent the state of Maine in the Senate.[1]


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  1. ^ "Senator Margaret Chase Smith (1897–1995)". University of Maine.