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 County results Hartke: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Handley: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1958 United States Senate election in Indiana was held on November 4, 1958. Outgoing SenatorWilliam E. Jenner, aRepublican, retired and was succeeded byDemocratVance Hartke, the mayor ofEvansville, Indiana. Hartke defeatedHarold W. Handley, theconservativeGovernor of Indiana and a close friend of Jenner.
This was one of 15 seats held by Republicans gained by the Democratic Party in the1958 United States Senate elections.
When Jenner elected to forgo a third full term in office ahead of the 1958 election, he intended his friend and protégéGovernorHarold W. Handley to be his successor. With the help ofLieutenant GovernorCrawford F. Parker, they hatched a plan for both Jenner and Handley to resign before the election; Parker would then become governor and appoint Handley to the vacant Senate seat. Handley's rivals within the party predicted the scheme would "set the Republican Party back an entire generation." The plan was never implemented, and Jenner served out the remainder of his term.[1]
Handley had been elected governoronly two years before and had pledged during that campaign to serve the duration of his four-year term. Campaigning for the Senate was perceived as a violation of that pledge, as Handley would be forced to resign the governorship early if elected. Handley was hurt as well by another broken campaign promise, a significant tax increase he had ushered through theIndiana General Assembly. High unemployment coupled with Handley's tacit endorsement of the stateright-to-work law damaged his standing with working class and union voters.[1]
Hartke, the Democratic nominee, ran a disciplined campaign that capitalized on Handley's weaknesses. On election day, he took 56.5% of the statewide vote, winning the first of three terms he would serve between 1959 and 1977.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Vance Hartke | 973,636 | 56.46% |  9.64 | |
| Republican | Harold W. Handley | 731,635 | 42.42% |  10.02 | |
| Prohibition | John R. Stelle | 19,327 | 1.12% | 0.47 | |
| Total votes | 1,724,598 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
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