1956 United States Senate special election in Kentucky

1956 United States Senate special election in Kentucky

November 6, 1956

Nominee John Sherman Cooper Lawrence Wetherby Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 538,505 473,140 Percentage 53.23% 46.77%

County results Sherman:      50-60%      60-70%      70–80%      80–90% Wetherby:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Robert Humphreys Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper Republican

The 1956 United States Senate special election in Kentucky was held on November 6, 1956, to fill the vacant seat left by Alben Barkley. Former Senator John Sherman Cooper was elected to complete the term ending in 1961, defeating Democratic former Governor Lawrence Wetherby.

Background

Senator Alben Barkley, whose death precipitated the special election.

Alben Barkley served as U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1927 to 1949 and Vice President of the United States from 1949 to 1953. After leaving the vice presidency in 1953, he was elected to the Senate for the term ending in 1961, defeating incumbent John Sherman Cooper in 1954.^[a]

On April 30, 1956, Barkley died of a heart attack during a speech at Washington and Lee University. Governor Happy Chandler appointed Robert Humphreys to fill the vacant seat until a successor could be duly elected to complete the remainder of Barkley's term.

Former Senator Cooper, who was serving as Ambassador to India, resigned his post to run for his old seat at the request of President Eisenhower.

General election

Candidates

• John Sherman Cooper, U.S. Ambassador to India and former U.S. Senator (1946–1949 and 1952–1955) (Republican)
• Lawrence Wetherby, former Governor of Kentucky (1950–1955) (Democratic)

Results

1956 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sherman Cooper	538,505	53.23%
	Democratic	Lawrence Wetherby	473,140	46.77%
Total votes			1,011,645	100.00%

See also

1956 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Cooper himself had won two prior special elections in 1946 (to succeed Happy Chandler, who resigned to become Commissioner of Baseball) and 1952 (to succeed Virgil Chapman, who died).

References

1. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1957). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1956" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.