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Missouri's 4th congressional district | ||||||||||||||||
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The1959 Missouri's 4th congressional district special election was held on March 3, 1959, and was won byJackson County JudgeWilliam J. Randall, theDemocratic nominee.
On January 23, 1959, Democratic CongressmanGeorge H. Christopher died, causing a vacancy. On February 2, GovernorJames Blair issued a proclamation for the special election, which he deliberately scheduled with theKansas City municipal election primary.[1] The parties' nominees were picked by the local congressional party committees.
The Democratic convention to select the party's nominee for the special election took place on February 5, 1959. Going into the convention, two party leaders—Independence Mayor William Sermon and Jackson County Clerk Ben Nordberg—supported different candidates. At the beginning of the convention, Nordberg favored Robert W. Crawford, an administrative aide to Governor Blair, while Sermon backed Delton W. Houtchens, an attorney fromClinton. Marvin Durst, an aide to Congressman Christopher, had support from some of the delegates from the district's rural counties. When no candidate received a majority on the first ballot, Houtchens dropped out and Sermon switched his support to Durst, which produced a 22-22 deadlock for the following six ballots. On the eighth ballot, Jackson County JudgeWilliam J. Randall emerged as a compromise candidate and was nominated unanimously.[2]
The Republican convention took place on February 6, and resulted in the unanimous nomination of William R. McKee, a lumber dealer fromLee's Summit.[3]
Following the nominations, a contested general election ensued. Though Christopher had won 64% of the vote in1958, Republicans launched an effort to flip the seat. PresidentDwight Eisenhower endorsed McKee and in the closing days of the campaign, CongressmanRichard M. Simpson, the chair of theRepublican Congressional Campaign Committee, coordinated the McKee campaign's efforts.[4] Randall, however, was seen as the frontrunner, and benefited from the support of the local Democratic machine, the AFL-CIO,[5] and theNational Farmers Organization.[6] Randall ultimately won by a wide margin, but significantly reduced from Christoper's margin the previous year.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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| Democratic | William J. Randall | 28,171 | 57.99% | |
| Republican | William McKee | 20,411 | 42.01% | |
| Majority | 7,760 | 15.97% | ||
| Total votes | 48,582 | 100.00% | ||
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