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All 35 seats in theAlabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Winners by vote share Democratic: 60–70% Unopposed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1950 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 1950, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in theAlabama Senate. The result anelectoral wipeout, as all 35 candidates elected were members of theDemocratic Party. The election used the same districts first drawn by theAlabama Constitution of 1901.
34 of the 35 Democratic nominees did not face any opposition in the general election. As the Democratic Party was dominant in the state, state legislative seats were generally decided at the Democraticprimary election. The first round of the Democratic primary was held on May 2 withrunoff elections on May 30. Only oneRepublican, Hubert E. Mitchell, sought a state senate seat, in District 3.
SenatorAlbert Boutwell ofJefferson County was chosen to be Presidentpro tempore of the Senate on January 9, 1951, unopposed.[1]
The election took place concurrently with elections forU.S. Senate,U.S. House,governor,state house, andnumerous other state and local offices.
| Party | Candidates | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num. | Vote | % | Before | Won | +/– | ||||
| Democratic | 35 | 147,981 | 97.48% | 35 | 35 |  | |||
| Republican | 1 | 3,818 | 2.52% | 0 | 0 | | |||
| Total | 36 | 151,799 | 100% | 35 | 35 | | |||
Nearly every incumbent senator in a multi-county district chose not to seek re-election, as agentlemen's agreement compelled state senators to give up their seats to allow a candidate from another county to serve.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | B. R. Fant | 6,918 | 64.44% | |
| Republican | Hubert E. Mitchell | 3,818 | 35.56% | |
| Total votes | 10,736 | 100.00% | ||
Every candidate elected with no opponents was a Democrat.
Candidates inboldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who trailed in the first round.
| District | Winner | Loser | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 3rd | B. R. Fant* | 6,150 | 50.47% | Charlie Rainey | 6,035 | 49.53% | 12,185 | +115 | +0.94% |
| 6th | Sam High | 7,161 | 55.25% | Clif Herzberg | 5,799 | 44.75% | 12,960 | +1,362 | +10.51% |
| 7th | Elvin McCary* | 4,749 | 59.74% | Henry H. Booth | 3,201 | 40.26% | 7,950 | +1,548 | +19.47% |
| 9th | Bubber Johnston | 6,576 | 69.05% | Charles A. Spence | 2,948 | 30.95% | 9,524 | +3,628 | +38.09% |
| 23rd | Mike Sollie III | 2,547 | 57.02% | Charlie Evans | 1,920 | 42.98% | 4,467 | +627 | +14.04% |
| 28th | Vaughan Hill Robison | 6,366 | 51.05% | Charles A. Stakely | 6,105 | 48.95% | 12,471 | +261 | +2.09% |
| 34th | M. J. Norrell | 4,056 | 57.53% | A. L. Crumpton | 2,994 | 42.47% | 7,050 | +1,062 | +15.06% |
| Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1951 (p. 573–574),[7] The Troy Messenger[8] | |||||||||
Additionally, a runoff between W. B. Mahan and A. W. Todd in District 31 was planned, but was cancelled after Mahan withdrew citing health issues, giving Todd the Democratic nomination.[9]
Candidates inboldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.
| District | First place | Runners-up | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 1st | W. Amos Jones* | 5,819 | 53.74% | W. R. Cunningham | 5,010 | 46.26% | — | — | — | 10,829 | +809 | +7.47% |
| 2nd | J. B. Richardson* | 6,829 | 56.07% | Bill Lee Jr. | 5,350 | 43.93% | — | — | — | 12,179 | +1,479 | +12.14% |
| 3rd | Charlie Rainey | 3,942 | 30.21% | B. R. Fant | 3,612 | 27.68% | 3 others[a] | 5,493 | 42.10% | 13,047 | +330 | +2.53% |
| 4th | Joe S. Foster* | 4,104 | 54.89% | Bob Lowe (inc.) | 3,373 | 45.11% | — | — | — | 7,477 | +731 | +9.78% |
| 5th | John B. Benson* | 7,504 | 69.36% | O. E. Harper | 3,315 | 30.64% | — | — | — | 10,819 | +4,189 | +38.72% |
| 6th | Sam High | 5,519 | 39.87% | Cliff Herzberg | 4,775 | 34.50% | John W. Inzerm Jr. | 3,547 | 25.63% | 13,841 | +744 | +5.38% |
| 7th | Henry H. Booth | 2,672 | 27.47% | Elvin McCary | 2,600 | 26.73% | 4 others[b] | 4,454 | 45.80% | 9,726 | +72 | +0.74% |
| 8th | Graham Wright (inc.)* | 3,925 | 50.78% | Harry E. Garrett | 3,805 | 49.22% | — | — | — | 7,730 | +120 | +1.55% |
| 9th | Bubber Johnston | 4,375 | 49.09% | Charles H. Spence | 2,439 | 27.36% | 2 others[c] | 2,099 | 23.55% | 8,913 | +1,936 | +21.72% |
| 10th | C. T. Reneau* | 8,089 | 67.25% | Aubrey Hornsby | 3,939 | 32.75% | — | — | — | 12,028 | +4,150 | +34.50% |
| 11th | E. W. Skidmore* | 4,579 | 50.54% | Albert R. Maxwell | 3,206 | 35.39% | James E. Casey | 1,275 | 14.07% | 9,060 | +1,373 | +15.15% |
| 12th | Ross Hollis* | 8,513 | 53.45% | W. W. Waldrop | 7,415 | 46.55% | — | — | — | 15,928 | +1,098 | +6.89% |
| 13th | Albert Boutwell (inc.)* | 43,812 | 82.13% | James M. Robertson | 9,535 | 17.87% | — | — | — | 53,347 | +34,277 | +64.25% |
| 15th | J. T. Phillips* | 5,216 | 53.82% | L. W. Wooten | 2,298 | 23.71% | John Foshee | 2,177 | 22.46% | 9,691 | +2,918 | +30.11% |
| 18th | Judson C. Locke* | 2,870 | 54.58% | W. O. Crawford | 2,388 | 45.42% | — | — | — | 5,258 | +482 | +9.17% |
| 20th | E. O. Eddins* | 1,869 | 53.10% | J. Wallace Tutt | 1,651 | 46.90% | T. B. Perry (inc.) | Withdrawn | 3,520 | +218 | +6.19% | |
| 21st | J. H. Faulkner* | 7,122 | 54.54% | C. Lenoir Thompson | 2,893 | 22.15% | 2 others[d] | 3,044 | 23.31% | 13,059 | +4,229 | +32.38% |
| 22nd | J. M. Bonner* | 1,205 | 58.41% | L. Y. Sadler | 858 | 41.59% | — | — | — | 2,063 | +347 | +16.82% |
| 23rd | Mike Sollie III | 3,494 | 46.56% | Charlie Evans | 2,507 | 33.40% | George L. Beck | 1,504 | 20.04% | 7,505 | +987 | +13.15% |
| 27th | John L. Whatley* | 4,411 | 62.21% | John Herbert Orr | 2,512 | 35.43% | Jess Whitford Smith | 168 | 2.37% | 7,091 | +1,899 | +26.78% |
| 28th | Vaughan Hill Robison | 6,974 | 47.51% | Charles A. Stakely | 5,928 | 40.38% | Albert Roemer | 1,778 | 12.11% | 14,680 | +1,046 | +7.13% |
| 29th | Virgil M. Smith* | 4,813 | 51.03% | J. Monroe Mitchell | 4,619 | 48.97% | — | — | — | 9,432 | +194 | +2.06% |
| 31st | A. W. Todd | 7,582 | 46.14% | W. B. Mahan | 5,061 | 30.80% | Shelton C. Pinion | 3,789 | 23.06% | 16,432 | +2,521 | +15.34% |
| 33rd | Thomas Johnston III* | 12,721 | 60.79% | Joseph N. Langan (inc.) | 8,206 | 39.21% | — | — | — | 20,927 | +4,515 | +21.57% |
| 34th | M. J. Norell | 2,994 | 40.57% | A. L. Crumpton | 2,294 | 31.08% | E. E. Nelson | 2,092 | 28.35% | 7,380 | +700 | +9.49% |
| 35th | Carl S. Farmer* | 4,467 | 55.94% | M. W. Espy | 3,519 | 44.06% | — | — | — | 7,986 | +948 | +11.87% |
| Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1951 (p. 561–565)[10] | ||||||||||||
The following candidates automatically won the Democratic nomination, as no opponent filed to run against them:
A special election in District 5 (Jackson–Marshall) was triggered by the death of C. J. Owens in December 1949. GovernorJim Folsom requested the Marshall County Democratic Executive Committee to choose the Democratic nominee, as Owens was from Marshall County. The committee chose Chalmers L. Weathers over T. C. Satterfield at a meeting in June 1950.[11] John B. Benson, who had won the regular Democratic primary in May, was ineligible for the special election as he was from Jackson County. C. L. Weathers ran in the general election unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chalmers Weathers | 1,934 | 100.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,934 | 100.00% | |||
A special election in District 33 (Mobile County) was triggered by the resignation of Joseph N. Langan in May 1950 among speculation that GovernorJim Folsom would call anextraordinary session of the Alabama Legislature for the purposes ofreapportionment.[13] Thomas A. Johnston III, who had already defeated Langan for re-election in the regular Democratic primary in early May, ran in the special election unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Thomas A. Johnston III | 738 | 100.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 738 | 100.00% | |||
Only one Republican, attorney Hubert E. Mitchell, filed to run for the District 3 Senate seat against Democrat B. R. Fant. District 3 contained the counties ofBlount,Cullman, andWinston, the latter of which being a Republican stronghold. He was nominated at a convention inJasper on June 7.[14]
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See also:Political party strength in Alabama | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
