1954 United States Senate election in Michigan

The 1954 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Homer S. Ferguson ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by the Democratic Detroit Board of Education member Patrick V. McNamara.

1954 United States Senate election in Michigan

November 2, 1954

Nominee Patrick V. McNamara Homer S. Ferguson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,088,550 1,049,420 Percentage 50.75% 48.93%

U.S. senator before election Homer S. Ferguson Republican Elected U.S. Senator Patrick V. McNamara Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Patrick V. McNamara, member of the Detroit Board of Education
• Blair Moody, former interim Senator (1951–52) (died July 20, 1954)

Campaign

The campaign was cut short abruptly when Blair Moody died of a heart attack fourteen days before the August 3 primary.[1]

Results

1954 Democratic Senate primary[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patrick V. McNamara	226,686	64.21%
	Democratic	Blair Moody (deceased)	126,335	35.78%
Total votes			353,046	100.00%

General election

Results

1954 U.S. Senate election in Michigan[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Patrick V. McNamara	1,088,550	50.75%	2.24
	Republican	Homer S. Ferguson (incumbent)	1,049,420	48.93%	1.75
	Prohibition	Leroy M. Lowell	4,841	0.23%	0.36
	Socialist Labor	James Sim	1,126	0.05%	0.02
	Socialist Workers	Rita Shaw	902	0.04%	0.03
	Write-in		1	0.00%
Total votes			2,144,840	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• 1954 United States Senate elections

References

1. United States Congress. "1954 United States Senate election in Michigan (id: M000878)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
2. "Our Campaigns: MI U.S. Senate - D Primary". Our Campaigns.
3. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1954). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1954" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
4. "Our Campaigns: MI U.S. Senate". Our Campaigns.