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1950 United States Senate election in Illinois

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1950 United States Senate election in Illinois

← 1944 November 7, 1950 1956 →
 
Nominee Everett M. Dirksen Scott W. Lucas
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,951,984 1,657,630
Percentage 53.88% 45.76%

County results
Dirksen:      40–50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%
Lucas:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Senator before election

Scott W. Lucas
Democratic

Elected Senator

Everett M. Dirksen
Republican

The United States Senate election in Illinois of 1950 was held on November 7, 1950[1] to elect one of Illinois's members to the United States Senate. Republican Everett Dirksen defeated incumbent Democratic Senator and Senate Majority Leader Scott W. Lucas, who had been seeking a third term.

Dirksen carried 82 of the state's 102 counties.[1] Among the 88 counties that Dirksen won was the state's most populous county, Cook County, in which Dirksen won with 50.01% to Lucas' 49.60%.[1] Despite losing in Cook County, Lucas performed better in the county than he did in the cumulative vote of the remaining 101 counties,[1] where Dirksen won 57.56% to Lucas' 42.13%.[1] 54.54% of the votes cast in the election were from Cook County.[1]

Lucas was the second-ever Senate leader to lose re-election, and the only one to do so while his party retained the majority. Coincidently, Dirksen himself later became the Republican Senate leader in 1959. This election was the only one where both candidates became Senate Party Leaders until the 2004 United States Senate election in South Dakota.

Background

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The primaries and general election coincided with those for House and state elections.

Primaries were held on April 11.[1]

Primaries

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Democratic primary

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Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Scott W. Lucas (incumbent) 768,801 100
Write-in Others 7 0.00
Total votes 768,808 100

Republican primary

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Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Everett McKinley Dirksen 545,028 73.46
Republican William J. Baker 149,286 20.12
Republican Lar Daly 47,668 6.43
Write-in Others 2 0.00
Total votes 741,984 100

Results

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General election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Everett McKinley Dirksen 1,951,984 53.88
Democratic Scott W. Lucas (incumbent) 1,657,630 45.76
Prohibition Enoch A. Holtwick 13,050 0.36
Write-in Others 9 0.00
Total votes 3,622,673 100

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 7, 1950 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1950, PRIMARY ELECTION General Primary, April 11, 1950" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2020.