1954 United States Senate elections

1954 United States Senate elections

← 1952 September 13[a] & November 2, 1954 1956 →
38 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Lyndon Johnson William Knowland Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1953 August 4, 1953 Leader's seat Texas California Seats before 46 49 Seats after 48 47 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 15,137,069[1] 12,585,368[1] Percentage 53.9% 44.8% Seats up 22 16 Races won 24 14   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 1 Seats after 1[b] Seat change Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Neb., N. H. & N. C.): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Bill Knowland Republican Elected Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson Democratic

The 1954 United States Senate elections was a midterm election in the first term of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency. The 32 Senate seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and six special elections were held to fill vacancies. Eisenhower's Republican party lost a net of two seats to the Democratic opposition. This small change was just enough to give Democrats control of the chamber with the support of an Independent (Wayne Morse of Oregon) who agreed to caucus with them, he later officially joined the party in April 1955.

The elections resulted in a divided government that continued to the end of Eisenhower's presidency and a Democratic majority that would last until 1981. As of 2022^[update], this is the last Senate election cycle in which a state (both Nebraska and North Carolina) had to hold three simultaneous elections (two special elections and one regular election) due to the near-simultaneous deaths of both incumbent Senators.

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