1958 United States elections
←19561957195819591960→ Midterm elections | |
Election day | November 4 |
---|---|
Incumbent president | Dwight D. Eisenhower(Republican) |
Next Congress | 86th |
Senate elections | |
Overall control | Democratic hold |
Seats contested | 36 of 98 seats (32 Class 1 seats + 2 special elections + 2 elections for Alaska) |
Net seat change | Democratic +15[1] |
![]() | |
1958 Senate election results
Democratic gainDemocratic hold | |
House elections | |
Overall control | Democratic hold |
Seats contested | All 437 voting seats |
Popular vote margin | Democratic +12.4% |
Net seat change | Democratic +49 |
Gubernatorial elections | |
Seats contested | 34 |
Net seat change | Democratic +6 |
![]() | |
1958 gubernatorial election results
Democratic gainDemocratic hold |
The1958 United States electionswere held on November 4, 1958, and elected members of the86th United States Congress.The election took place in the middle ofRepublicanPresidentDwight D. Eisenhower's second term. Eisenhower's party suffered large losses. They lost 48 seats to theDemocratic Partyin theHouse of Representatives,and also lost thirteen seats in theU.S. Senateto the Democrats.[2]This marked the first time that thesix-year itchphenomenon occurred during a Republican presidency sinceUlysses S. Grant's second term in1874.AlaskaandHawaiiwere admitted as states during the 86th Congress.
The ranks of liberal Democrats swelled as the Republican Party suffered several losses in the Northeast and the West. The election contributed to a weakening of theconservative coalitionand those opposed to thecivil rights movement,allowing for the eventual passage of theGreat Societyand theCivil Rights Act of 1964.[3]The election saw an influx of northern Democrats who sought to reform the Congressional seniority system, which often gave the best positions to senior southerners who rarely faced difficult re-elections and thus were able to rack up long terms of service.[4]
See also[edit]
- 1958 United States House of Representatives elections
- 1958 United States Senate elections
- 1958 United States gubernatorial elections
References[edit]
- ^Democrats picked up 12 seats in the regularly-scheduled elections, and picked up an additional three seats in the special elections.
- ^"Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1958"(PDF).U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk.Retrieved27 December2011.
- ^Busch, Andrew (1999).Horses in Midstream.University of Pittsburgh Press. pp.94–100.
- ^Sinclair, Barbara (2006).Party Wars.University of Oklahoma Press. pp.187–188.ISBN9780806137797.