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All 35 seats in theAlabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 District results New Democratic senator Democratic incumbent re-elected | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1954 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 2, 1954, 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.
None of the 35 Democratic nominees faced significant 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 Democraticprimary election was held on May 4 withrunoff elections on June 1. Only oneRepublican, Warren Wallace Bailey, sought the District 3 senate seat, but withdrew before the general election. A few Republicans sought state house seats.[1]
Newly-elected Senator Broughton Lamberth ofTallapoosa County, with the support of GovernorJim Folsom, was unanimously chosen to be Presidentpro tempore of the Senate on January 11, 1955.[2]
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 | 263,982 | 99.998% | 35 | 35 |  | |||
| Write-in | 1 | 4 | 0.002% | — | 0 | | |||
| Total | 36 | 263,986 | 100% | 35 | 35 | | |||
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.[3]
Every Democratic nominee won without any opposition on the general election ballot.[11]
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. | |
| 4th | T. Herman Vann | 5,738 | 52.50% | Joe S. Foster (inc.) | 5,192 | 47.50% | 10,930 | +546 | +5.00% |
| 5th | Smith C. Dyar* | 10,422 | 50.81% | T. C. Crain | 10,089 | 49.19% | 20,511 | +333 | +1.62% |
| 6th | E. L. Roberts | 12,417 | 53.14% | Rowan S. Bones | 10,950 | 46.86% | 23,367 | +1,467 | +6.28% |
| 7th | A. C. Shelton | 7,530 | 59.71% | Woodrow Howell | 5,081 | 40.29% | 12,611 | +2,449 | +19.42% |
| 14th | Albert Davis | 3,304 | 59.82% | Bob Langdon | 2,219 | 40.18% | 5,523 | +1,085 | +19.65% |
| 31st | Berry Lynchmore Cantrell | 12,428 | 66.22% | Mac McKinney | 6,341 | 33.78% | 18,769 | +6,087 | +32.43% |
| 34th | Staten Tate | 2,805 | 68.85% | Robert C. Smith | 1,269 | 31.15% | 4,074 | +1,536 | +37.70% |
| Sources:Birmingham Post-Herald,[12] Piedmont Journal,[13] Pickens County Herald and West Alabamian[14] | |||||||||
Additionally, a runoff between Harlan G. Allen and Robert G. Werner was planned in District 3, but was cancelled after Werner withdrew, giving Allen the nomination.[15]
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 | Milton C. Grisham* | 9,978 | 58.08% | David U. Patton | 7,203 | 41.92% | — | — | — | 17,181 | +2,775 | +16.15% |
| 2nd | Joe Calvin* | 9,708 | 53.75% | Wallace H. Meadows | 8,355 | 46.25% | — | — | — | 18,063 | +1,353 | +7.49% |
| 3rd | Harlan G. Allen | 8,169 | 42.41% | Robert G. Werner | 4,640 | 24.09% | 3 others[a] | 6,451 | 33.49 | 19,260 | +3,529 | +18.32% |
| 4th | T. Herman Vann | 4,015 | 36.39% | Joe S. Foster (inc.) | 3,832 | 34.74% | Earl E. Cloud | 3,185 | 28.87% | 11,032 | +183 | +1.66% |
| 5th | T. C. Crain | 7,787 | 37.23% | Smith C. Dyar | 6,806 | 32.54% | Olin C. Hearn | 6,321 | 30.22% | 20,914 | +981 | +4.69% |
| 6th | E. L. Roberts | 12,061 | 43.50% | Rowan S. Bones | 9,445 | 34.06% | Birch Andersen | 6,223 | 22.44% | 27,729 | +2,616 | +9.43% |
| 7th | A. C. Shelton | 6,840 | 46.08% | Woodrow Howell | 3,405 | 22.94% | 2 others[b] | 4,600 | 30.99% | 14,845 | +3,435 | +23.14% |
| 8th | G. Kyser Leonard* | 8,812 | 66.55% | Ben S. Hosey | 4,429 | 33.45% | — | — | — | 13,241 | +4,383 | +33.10% |
| 9th | George W. Yarbrough | 6,648 | 50.70% | Paul J. Hooton | 6,464 | 49.30% | — | — | — | 13,112 | +184 | +1.40% |
| 10th | Broughton Lamberth* | 10,698 | 58.72% | Thomas S. Bugg | 7,520 | 41.28% | — | — | — | 18,218 | +3,178 | +17.44% |
| 11th | E. W. Skidmore (inc.)* | 8,023 | 50.003% | Henry C. Bell | 4,770 | 29.73% | Woody Townsend | 3,252 | 20.27% | 16,045 | +3,253 | +20.27% |
| 12th | Reuben L. Newton* | 11,824 | 50.39% | Chester M. Black | 7,599 | 32.38% | Jodie Vickery | 4,043 | 17.23% | 23,466 | +4,225 | +18.00% |
| 13th | Albert Boutwell (inc.)* | 33,057 | 52.64% | John A. Jenkins | 29,737 | 47.36% | — | — | — | 62,794 | +3,320 | +5.29% |
| 14th | Albert Davis | 3,402 | 46.64% | Bob Langdon | 2,196 | 30.11% | Roth E. Hook | 1,696 | 23.25% | 7,294 | +1,206 | +16.53% |
| 15th | Dave L. Yarbrough* | 7,329 | 51.88% | H. Grady Kelly | 6,798 | 48.12% | — | — | — | 14,127 | +531 | +3.76% |
| 16th | Joe B. Davis* | 1,162 | 61.45% | C. Mac Golson (inc.) | 729 | 38.55% | — | — | — | 1,891 | +433 | +22.90% |
| 17th | Tully A. Goodwin* | 10,531 | 55.83% | Robert B. Albritton | 8,330 | 44.17% | — | — | — | 18,861 | +2,201 | +11.67% |
| 18th | H. P. James* | 4,684 | 67.54% | Francis Pratt | 2,251 | 32.46% | — | — | — | 6,935 | +2,433 | +35.08% |
| 19th | Gerald Bradford* | 6,746 | 52.26% | Earl Tucker | 6,162 | 47.74% | — | — | — | 12,908 | +584 | +4.52% |
| 20th | E. O. Eddins (inc.)* | 2,513 | 55.28% | W. Clyde Waldrop | 2,033 | 44.72% | — | — | — | 4,546 | +480 | +10.56% |
| 22nd | Roland Cooper* | 1,487 | 59.53% | J. M. Bonner (inc.) | 1,011 | 40.47% | — | — | — | 2,498 | +476 | +19.06% |
| 23rd | Neil Metcalf | 5,539 | 50.70% | J. Albert Hughes | 5,387 | 49.30% | — | — | — | 10,926 | +152 | +1.39% |
| 24th | George E. Little* | 3,139 | 60.35% | William H. Robertson | 1,608 | 30.92% | Christie G. Pappas | 454 | 8.73% | 5,201 | +1,531 | +29.44% |
| 25th | Ben Reeves* | 9,979 | 58.96% | J. Roy Crow | 6,947 | 41.04% | — | — | — | 16,926 | +3,032 | +17.91% |
| 26th | Sam M. Engelhardt* | 3,353 | 65.39% | Henry Neill Segrest | 1,775 | 34.61% | — | — | — | 5,128 | +1,578 | +30.77% |
| 27th | Joseph W. Smith* | 7,559 | 61.91% | Jimmy Putnam | 4,650 | 38.09% | — | — | — | 12,209 | +2,909 | +23.83% |
| 29th | M. H. Moses* | 6,889 | 57.76% | Warren McSpadden | 5,037 | 42.24% | — | — | — | 11,926 | +1,852 | +15.53% |
| 31st | Berry Lynchmore Cantrell | 9,166 | 40.96% | Mac McKinney | 4,975 | 22.23% | 2 others[c] | 8,237 | 36.81% | 22,378 | +4,191 | +18.73% |
| 33rd | Garet Van Antwerp* | 17,567 | 58.62% | Thomas A. Johnston (inc.) | 12,402 | 41.38% | — | — | — | 29,969 | +5,165 | +17.23% |
| 34th | Staten Tate | 5,370 | 43.50% | Robert C. Smith | 4,329 | 35.06% | J. C. Mims | 2,647 | 21.44% | 12,346 | +1,041 | +8.43% |
| 35th | Richmond M. Flowers* | 5,705 | 56.55% | Dwight McInish | 4,384 | 43.45% | — | — | — | 10,089 | +1,321 | +13.09% |
| Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1955 (p. 558–560) | ||||||||||||
The following candidates automatically won the Democratic nomination, as no opponent filed to run against them.
Only one Republican, Warren Wallace Bailey, filed to run for the District 3 Senate seat against Democrat Harlan G. Allen. District 3 contained the counties ofBlount,Cullman, andWinston, the latter of which being a Republican stronghold. He withdrew by September 8, leaving the Republicans with no state senate candidates.[1]
A special election in Senate District 17 (Butler–Conecuh–Covington) was triggered in September 1952 by the resignation of incumbent senator Senator T. Werth Thagard after being appointed to a circuit judgeship to succeed the late judge Arthur E. Gamble. The State Executive Democratic Committee chose Gamble's son, Arthur E. Gamble Jr., to succeed Thagard.[16] Gamble Jr. did not face any opposition in the general election.[17]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Arthur E. Gamble Jr. | Unopp. | ||
A special election in Senate District 3 (Blount–Cullman–Winston) was triggered in July 1952 by the death of incumbent senator Ben Fant from a heart attack. Former state senator Bill E. James was nominated by the State Democratic Executive Committee in September 1952,[18] and subsequently defeated Republican newspaper editor Henry Arnold by a sizable margin at the November general election.[19]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill E. James | 8,507 | 63.38% | |
| Republican | Henry Arnold | 4,915 | 36.62% | |
| Total votes | 13,422 | 100.00% | ||
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See also:Political party strength in Alabama | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
