1948 United States Senate elections

1948 United States Senate elections

← 1946 November 2, 1948 1950 →
← 1947 (MS) 1949 (NY) →
33 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Alben Barkley Wallace White (retired) Party Democratic Republican Leader since July 22, 1937 February 25, 1944 Leader's seat Kentucky Maine Seats before 45 51 Seats after 54 42 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 13,056,944 9,764,384 Percentage 56.5% 42.3% Seats up 15 18 Races won 24 9
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Louisiana): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Wallace White Republican Elected Majority Leader Scott Lucas Democratic

The 1948 United States Senate elections were held concurrently with the election of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and one special election was held to fill a vacancy. Truman campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and additionally, the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–1947 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.^[1][2] This was the last time until 2020 that Democrats flipped a chamber of Congress in a presidential election cycle.