1960 United States Senate election in Texas

The 1960 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 8, 1960. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was simultaneously running for Vice President of the United States, was re-elected to a third term in office. Johnson had Texas law changed to allow him to run for both offices at once.^[1] As of 2024, this is the last time the Democrats won the Class 2 Senate seat in Texas.

1960 United States Senate election in Texas

← 1954 November 8, 1960 1961 (special) →

Nominee Lyndon B. Johnson John Tower Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,306,625 926,653 Percentage 57.98% 41.12%

County results Congressional district results Johnson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tower:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (did not take office) Democratic

Johnson spent much of the year focused on his other campaigns. First, his unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for President ended in defeat at the hands of John F. Kennedy at the July Democratic National Convention. At the convention, Kennedy chose Johnson as his running mate.

General election

Results

1960 United States Senate election in Texas^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lyndon B. Johnson (incumbent)	1,306,625	57.98%
	Republican	John Tower	926,653	41.12%
	Constitution	Bard A. Logan	20,506	0.91%
Total votes			2,253,784	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Johnson carried his Senate seat quite easily,^[4] although in the presidential race, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket won the state over the Republican Nixon-Lodge ticket by only two percentage points.

Because the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was victorious in the presidential race, Johnson never took office for his third term. Instead, William Blakley was appointed to fill the vacancy and a special election was scheduled for May 1961. Johnson's opponent in this race, John Tower, went on to win the special election over Blakley.

See also

• 1960 United States Senate elections

References

1. Caro, Robert (2002). The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master Of The Senate. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 1035. ISBN 978-0394720951.
2. Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (1961). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 8, 1960" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
3. "Our Campaigns – TX US Senate Race – Nov 08, 1960". www.ourcampaigns.com.
4. Texas State Historical Association (1961). "Texas Almanac, 1961-1962". The Portal to Texas History. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 25, 2022.