1946 United States Senate election in Tennessee

← 1940

November 5, 1946

1952 →


Nominee	Kenneth McKellar	William B. Ladd	John Randolph Neal Jr.
Party	Democratic	Republican	Independent
Popular vote	145,654	57,237	11,516
Percentage	66.60%	26.17%	5.27%

U.S. senator before election

Kenneth McKellar
Democratic

Elected U.S. senator

Kenneth McKellar
Democratic

Elections in Tennessee

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Government

The 1946 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 5, 1946. Incumbent Democratic Senator Kenneth D. McKellar was re-elected to a sixth term in office. He defeated a primary challenge by Edward W. Carmack Jr. and easily won the general election against Republican William B. Ladd, and Independent candidate John Randolph Neal Jr.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Edward W. Carmack Jr., candidate for Senate in 1942 and son of former Senator Edward W. Carmack
Byron Johnson
Kenneth McKellar, incumbent Senator since 1917 and President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate
John Randolph Neal Jr., attorney, academic, and perennial candidate
Herman H. Ross

Results

1946 Democratic Senate primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kenneth McKellar (incumbent)	188,805	61.95%
	Democratic	Edward W. Carmack Jr.	107,363	35.23%
	Democratic	John Randolph Neal Jr.	3,130	1.03%
	Democratic	Herman H. Ross	2,995	0.98%
	Democratic	Byron Johnson	2,495	0.82%
Total votes			304,788	100.00%

General election

Candidates

William B. Ladd (Republican)
Kenneth McKellar, incumbent Senator since 1917 (Democratic)
John Randolph Neal Jr., attorney, academic, and perennial candidate (Independent)
Herman H. Ross (Independent)

Results

1946 U.S. Senate election in Tennessee^[2]^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Kenneth McKellar (incumbent)	145,654	66.60%	3.80
	Republican	William B. Ladd	57,237	26.17%	3.02
	Independent	John Randolph Neal Jr.	11,516	5.27%	5.26
	Independent	Herman H. Ross	4,303	1.97%	N/A
Total votes			218,710	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

References

^ "TN US Senate - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
^ Cook, Rhodes (February 14, 2021). America Votes 32: 2015-2016, Election Returns by State. CQ Press. ISBN 9781506368993 – via Google Books.
^ "TN US Senate". OurCampaigns. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
^ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (1947). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1946" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.

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