1948 United States Senate elections in North Carolina

1948 United States Senate election in North Carolina
November 2, 1948
 
Nominee J. Melville Broughton John A. Wilkinson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 540,762 220,307
Percentage 70.73% 28.81%
County results
Scott:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
West:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Senator before election

William B. Umstead
Democratic

Elected Senator

J. Melville Broughton
Democratic

Two Senate elections took place on November 2, 1948 in North Carolina as part of the 1948 Senate elections. The incumbent Democratic Senator Josiah Bailey died 4 years into his third term on December 15, 1946; as a result, a special election for the final month of this term was held concurrently with the regular election. William B. Umstead, a former Representative for the 6th district, was appointed to the vacant seat. Umstead was defeated in both of the Democratic primaries by former Governor of North Carolina J. Melville Broughton. Broughton was unopposed in the special election, and defeated Republican John A. Wilkinson in the regular election by a margin of 42%, outperforming Harry S. Truman, the Democratic candidate in the presidential election held the same day, by 13%.[1]

Broughton would die two months after taking office.[2] Frank Porter Graham was appointed to fill the vacancy.

Special election

Democratic primary

Democratic primary[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic J. Melville Broughton 206,605 52.30
Democratic William B. Umstead (Incumbent) 188,420 47.70
Majority 18,196 4.60
Turnout 395,025

Results map

Results map
Primary election
Broughton:      50–59%      60–69%      70–79%      80–89%
Umstead:      50–59%      60–69%      70–79%      80–89%

Results

1948 United States Senate Special election in North Carolina[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic J. Melville Broughton 534,917 100.00
Democratic hold

Regular election

Democratic primary

Democratic primary[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic J. Melville Broughton 207,981 53.10
Democratic William B. Umstead (Incumbent) 183,865 46.90
Majority 23,894 6.10
Turnout 391,846

Results

1948 United States Senate election in North Carolina[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic J. Melville Broughton 540,762 70.73 +4.82
Republican John A. Wilkinson 220,307 28.81 −5.28
Progressive William T. Brown 3,490 0.46 +0.46
Majority 320,455 41.91
Turnout 764,559
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. ^ "1948 Presidential General Election Results - North Carolina". US Election Atlas. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  2. ^ Moyle, William. "Broughton, Joseph Melville". NCpedia. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b c North Carolina Manual 1949-50. North Carolina Secretary of State. pp. 232–234. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  4. ^ Kalb, Deborah, ed. (2010). Guide to U.S. Elections. Washington, DC: CQ Press. p. 1458. ISBN 978-1-60426-536-1.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.