1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee

1948 United States Senate election in Tennessee

November 2, 1948

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

Senator before election Tom Stewart Democratic Elected Senator Estes Kefauver Democratic

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

• John Hardin
• John Hickey
• Estes Kefauver, U.S. Representative from Chattanooga
• John Randolph Neal Jr., attorney, professor and perennial candidate
• John Ridley Mitchell, former U.S. Representative from Cookeville
• Tom Stewart, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1938

Results

Democratic Party primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Estes Kefauver	171,791	42.24%
	Democratic	Tom Stewart (incumbent)	129,873	31.94%
	Democratic	John Mitchell	96,192	23.65%
	Democratic	George M. Hardin	5,415	1.33%
	Democratic	John Randolph Neal Jr.	1,876	0.46%
	Democratic	John Hickey	1,534	0.38%
Total votes			406,681	100.00%

General election

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Estes Kefauver	326,142	65.33%
	Republican	B. Carroll Reece	166,947	33.44%
	Independent	John Randolph Neal Jr.	6,103	1.22%
	None	Scattering	26	0.01%
Majority			159,195	31.89%
Turnout			499,218
	Democratic hold

See also

• 1948 United States Senate elections
• 1948 Tennessee gubernatorial election