Wikiwand AI

1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 4, 1958.

Quick facts Nominee, Party ...
1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia

November 4, 1958
1964 
 
Nominee Robert Byrd Chapman Revercomb
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 381,745 263,172
Percentage 59.19% 40.81%

County results
Byrd:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Revercomb:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Chapman Revercomb
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Robert Byrd
Democratic

Close

In 1956, Senator Harley M. Kilgore died, and former Senator Chapman Revercomb won this seat in the 1956 special election. The election was held alongside the 1958 midterms, where Republicans had a net loss nationally. Revercomb lost re-election to incumbent Representative Robert Byrd. West Virginia was one of the many states that were flipped from Republican to Democratic in the 1958 midterms, as Democrats also flipped the other Senate seat in the state in a special election. This would be the closest race of Byrd's Senate career. Byrd would continue to hold the seat for over fifty years, until his death in 2010.

This was the last time that Democrats simultaneously flipped both of a state's Senate seats until Georgia's elections in 2020 and 2021, and the last time this would occur for either party until the 1978 elections in Minnesota.

This election, along with the simultaneous special election, is the last time a Senator from West Virginia lost re-election.

Results

[1]

More information Party, Candidate ...
1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Robert Byrd 381,745 59.19% +18.39%
Republican Chapman Revercomb (incumbent) 263,172 40.81% −18.39%
Total votes 644,917 100.00% -21.5
Democratic gain from Republican
Close

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks