1956 United States Senate election in California

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

1956 United States Senate election in California

← 1954 (special) November 6, 1956 1962 →

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

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%