1946 United States Senate election in Mississippi

1946 U.S. Senate Democratic primary in Mississippi

← 1940 July 2, 1946 1947 (special) →
 
Nominee Theodore G. Bilbo Tom Ellis
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 97,820 58,005
Percentage 51.00% 30.24%

 
Nominee Ross A. Collins Nelson T. Levings
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 18,875 15,720
Percentage 9.84% 8.20%

County results
Bilbo:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%
Ellis:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

U.S. senator before election

Theodore G. Bilbo
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Theodore G. Bilbo
Democratic

The 1946 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 3, 1946. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Theodore G. Bilbo won re-election to his third term.

Because Bilbo was unopposed in the general election, his victory in the July 2 primary was tantamount to election. He defeated a field of candidates with 51% of the vote.

However, the United States Senate, with a Republican majority and at the request of liberal Democratic Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho, refused to seat Bilbo based on his adamant opposition to voting rights for black Americans anywhere in the country, incitement of violence against those blacks who tried to vote, and history of accepting bribes. While his re-entry to the Senate was being contested in 1947, Bilbo died of oral cancer.


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