1952 United States Senate special election in Connecticut

Not to be confused with 1952 United States Senate election in Connecticut.

The 1952 United States Senate special election in Connecticut was held on November 4, 1952, to fill the vacancy left by the death of Brien McMahon.

1952 United States Senate special election in Connecticut

← 1950 November 4, 1952 1956 →

Nominee Prescott Bush Abraham Ribicoff Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 559,465 530,505 Percentage 51.17% 48.52%

County results Municipality results Bush:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Ribicoff:      50–60%      60-70%

U.S. senator before election William A. Purtell Republican Elected U.S. Senator Prescott Bush Republican

Republican candidate Prescott Bush defeated Democrat Abraham Ribicoff and served the remainder of the Senate term. Bush was later re-elected in 1956 to a full term in office over Democratic U.S. Representative Thomas J. Dodd. Ribicoff would later succeed Bush in the Senate after his retirement in 1962.

Background

Senator Brien McMahon, whose term in office was scheduled to expire in 1957, died on July 28, 1952. William A. Purtell, who was already the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in a regularly scheduled election for the term expiring in 1959, was appointed to fill the seat until a successor could be duly elected. Purtell continued to stand in the regular election rather than run for the remainder of McMahon's term.

General election

Candidates

• Prescott Bush, banker and candidate for U.S. Senate in the 1950 special election (Republican)
• Abraham Ribicoff, U.S. Representative from Hartford (Democratic)
• William J. Taft (Socialist)

Results

1952 U.S. Senate special election in Connecticut^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Prescott Bush	559,465	51.17%
	Democratic	Abraham A. Ribicoff	530,505	48.52%
	Socialist	William J. Taft	3,298	0.30%
Total votes			1,093,268	100.0%
	Republican hold

See also

• 1952 United States Senate elections