38 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Lyndon Johnson
William Knowland
Party
Democratic
Republican
Leader since
January 3, 1953
August 4, 1953
Leader's seat
Texas
California
Seats before
46
49
Seats after
48
47
Seat change
2
2
Popular vote
15,137,069[1]
12,585,368[1]
Percentage
53.9%
44.8%
Seats up
22
16
Races won
24
14
Third party
Party
Independent
Seats before
1
Seats after
1[b]
Seat change
Seats up
0
Races won
0
Results of the elections: Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold No electionRectangular inset (Neb., N. H. & N. C.): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election
Bill Knowland
Republican
Elected Majority Leader
Lyndon Johnson
Democratic
The 1954 United States Senate elections was a midterm election in the first term of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency. The 32 Senate seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and six special elections were held to fill vacancies. Eisenhower's Republican party lost a net of two seats to the Democratic opposition. This small change was just enough to give Democrats control of the chamber with the support of an Independent (Wayne Morse of Oregon) who agreed to caucus with them, he later officially joined the party in April 1955.
The elections resulted in a divided government that continued to the end of Eisenhower's presidency and a Democratic majority that would last until 1981. As of 2022[update], this is the last Senate election cycle in which a state (both Nebraska and North Carolina) had to hold three simultaneous elections (two special elections and one regular election) due to the near-simultaneous deaths of both incumbent Senators.
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