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1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee

← 1942 November 2, 1948 1954 →

Nominee Estes Kefauver B. Carroll Reece Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 326,142 166,947 Percentage 65.33% 33.44%

Results by county Kefauver:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Reece:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Senator before election Tom Stewart Democratic Elected Senator Estes Kefauver Democratic

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v t e

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. In the general election, Kefauver defeated Republican Congressman B. Carroll Reece.

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 Circuit
• Tom Stewart, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1938

Results

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. Allen J. Strawbridge, a lawyer from Dresden, Tennessee, was also certified to participate in the Republican primary. Reece defeated Strawbridge in the Republican primary.

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.

See also

• 1948 United States Senate elections
• 1948 Tennessee gubernatorial election

References

1. ^ "Our Campaigns - TN US Senate - D Primary Race - Aug 04, 1948". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
2. "Judge Mitchell Dies; Rites Set". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. August 4, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved September 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Mitchell ventured outside the judicial field once - in an unsuccessful race in 1948 for the U.S. Senate.
3. ^ Frist, William H.; Annis, Jr., J. Lee (1999). Tennessee Senators, 1911-2001: Portraits of Leadership in a Century of Change. Lanham: Madison Books. p. 288. Retrieved September 26, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
4. ^ Bowers, Fashion Suzanne (2007). "Republican, First, Last, and Always: A Biography of B. Carroll Reece". Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee. pp. 132–133. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
5. "Reece and Hillbilly Tennessee Candidates". The Lewiston Daily Sun. July 19, 1948. Retrieved September 26, 2024 – via Google Newspapers.
6. "Our Campaigns - TN US Senate Race - Nov 02, 1948". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.

• United States Senate elections in Tennessee
• 1948 United States Senate elections
• 1948 Tennessee elections