1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee

none related races 1948 United States Senate elections March 2026 January 2025 1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee Tennessee presidential no 1942 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1942 1954 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1954 November 2, 1948 150x150px SenatorKefauver(D-TN).jpg Estes Kefauver Democratic Party (US) 326,142 65.33% File:B. Carroll Reece.jpg B. Carroll Reece Republican Party (US) 166,947 33.44% 1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee results map by county.svg 325px County resultsKefauver: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584CDE 70–80% #3933E5 80–90% #0D0596 >90%Reece: #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90% Senator Tom Stewart Democratic Party (US) Estes Kefauver Democratic Party (US) The 1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 2, 1948, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Senator Tom Stewart was defeated in the Democratic primary by Estes Kefauver.Our Campaigns - TN US Senate - D Primary Race - Aug 04, 1948 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=377337 2024-03-02 www.ourcampaigns.com In the general election, Kefauver defeated Republican Congressman B. Carroll Reece. Background For the 1948 U.S. Senate election in Tennessee, Congressman Estes Kefauver challenged the incumbent Tom Stewart, who was backed by longtime Memphis political boss Crump. Crump ran attack ads against Kefauver and his ally, Gordon Browning, who was running for governor, criticizing Browning's record as governor and accusing Kefauver of being a communist sympathizer.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 325-329, 340-350. Browning and Kefauver worked together to challenge Crump's influence, highlighting the weakening of his political machine. Key voting groups—including black voters in Memphis, returning veterans, and labor supporters—shifted away from Crump-backed candidates. On primary election day, Browning defeated Governor Jim Nance McCord for the Democratic nomination, while Kefauver defeated Stewart. This marked the first major statewide loss for a Crump-backed candidate in more than twenty years. Democratic primary Candidates George W. Hardin John Hickey Estes Kefauver, U.S. Representative from Chattanooga John R. Neal, attorney, professor and perennial candidate John A. Mitchell, incumbent judge for the 5th Judicial CircuitJudge Mitchell Dies; Rites Set August 4, 1982 20 The Tennessean Nashville, Tennessee https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-obituary-for-john-a-mitc/45611947/ September 27, 2024 Newspapers.com Mitchell ventured outside the judicial field once - in an unsuccessful race in 1948 for the U.S. Senate. Tom Stewart, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1938 Results Democratic Party primary resultsFrist William H. Annis, Jr. J. Lee Tennessee Senators, 1911-2001: Portraits of Leadership in a Century of Change 1999 Madison Books Lanham https://archive.org/details/tennesseesenator0000fris/page/n3/mode/2up?q=%22Reece%22 September 26, 2024 Internet Archive 288 C. Estes Kefauver Democratic Party (United States) 171,791 42.24% A. Tom Stewart (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 129,873 31.94% John Mitchell Democratic Party (United States) 96,192 23.65% George W. Hardin Democratic Party (United States) 5,415 1.33% John R. Neal Democratic Party (United States) 1,876 0.46% John Hickey Democratic Party (United States) 1,534 0.38% 406,681 100.00% Republican primary While B. Carroll Reece was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Republican leaders in Tennessee began to discuss the prospect of Reece running for the United States Senate. As Tennessee law allowed a person to qualify for a primary without candidate consent, Reece's associates entered his name into the primary. Reece stepped down from his chairmanship of the RNC after the nomination of Thomas E. Dewey at the 1948 Republican National Convention. After considering the option of running for his former position representing Tennessee's 1st congressional district, Reece instead announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate.Bowers Fashion Suzanne Republican, First, Last, and Always: A Biography of B. Carroll Reece University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee 2007 September 25, 2024 132–133 https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/128 Allen J. Strawbridge, a lawyer from Dresden, Tennessee, was also certified to participate in the Republican primary.Reece and Hillbilly Tennessee Candidates July 19, 1948 The Lewiston Daily Sun September 26, 2024 Google Newspapers https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5U0AAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Allen%22+J.+Strawbridge+Republican&pg=PA11&article_id=3025,1630366 Reece defeated Strawbridge in the Republican primary. Republican Party primary results B. Carroll Reece Republican Party (United States) 82,522 81.7% Allen J. Strawbridge Republican Party (United States) 18,526 18.3% 101,048 100.00% General election In the general election, Reece ran on an anti-communist platform. An uncertainty at the beginning of the general election was Boss Crump. Kefauver had won over Crump's preferred candidate and Crump had long maintained a political détente with East Tennessee Republicans. Tennessee Republicans were optimistic that Crump would either support Reece or oppose Kefauver. While Crump did not support Kefauver, he did drop his opposition in the month before the election. Reece lost the general election by a similar margin as most Tennessee Republicans running statewide in that era. General election resultsOur Campaigns - TN US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1948 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=89838 2024-03-02 www.ourcampaigns.com Democratic Party (US) Estes Kefauver 326,142 65.33% Republican Party (US) B. Carroll Reece 166,947 33.44% Independent (US) John Randolph Neal Jr. 6,103 1.22% None Scattering 26 0.01% 159,195 31.89% 499,218 Democratic Party (US) See also 1948 United States Senate elections 1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee 1948 Tennessee gubernatorial election References 1954 Tennessee United States Senate