1956 United States Senate election in California

1956 United States Senate election in California

November 6, 1956

Nominee Thomas Kuchel Richard Richards Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,892,918 2,445,816 Percentage 53.96% 45.62%

County results Kuchel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Richards:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Thomas Kuchel Republican Elected U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel Republican

The 1956 United States Senate election in California was held on November 6, 1956.

Incumbent Republican Thomas Kuchel, who had won a 1954 special election to fill the vacant seat left by Vice President Richard Nixon, was re-elected to a full term in office over Democratic State Senator Richard Richards.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Tilden W. Johnson
• Thomas Kuchel, incumbent Senator since 1953
• Raymond R. Pritchard
• Sam Yorty, former U.S. Representative from Los Angeles and Democratic nominee for Senate in 1954 (cross-filing)

Results

1956 Republican U.S. Senate primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.)	1,332,074	80.45%
	Democratic	Sam Yorty (cross-filing)	247,300	13.66%
	Republican	Raymond R. Pritchard	47,515	3.23%
	Republican	Tilden W. Johnson	30,243	2.05%
Total votes			1,472,745	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Thomas Kuchel, incumbent Senator since 1954 (cross-filing)
• Richard Richards, State Senator from Los Angeles County
• Sam Yorty, former U.S. Representative from Los Angeles and nominee for Senate in 1954

Results

1956 Democratic U.S. Senate primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Richards	1,004,336	53.36%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.) (cross-filing)	494,066	26.25%
	Democratic	Sam Yorty	383,813	20.39%
Total votes			1,882,215	100.00%

General election

Results

1956 United States Senate election in California^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thomas Kuchel (inc.)	2,892,918	53.96%	0.75
	Democratic	Richard Richards	2,445,816	45.62%	0.11
	Prohibition	Ray Gourley	22,410	0.42%	N/A
Total votes			5,361,144	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — >15%

References

1. "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 05, 1956". www.ourcampaigns.com.
2. "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race". www.ourcampaigns.com.
3. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1956" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 1957. Retrieved June 19, 2020.