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1956 United States Senate election in California

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1956 United States Senate election in California

← 1954 (special) November 6, 1956 1962 →
 
Nominee Thomas Kuchel Richard Richards
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 2,892,918 2,445,816
Percentage 53.96% 45.62%

County results
Kuchel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
     70–80%      80–90%
Richards:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Thomas Kuchel
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Thomas Kuchel
Republican

The 1956 United States Senate election in California was held on November 6, 1956.

Incumbent Republican Thomas Kuchel, who had won a 1954 special election to fill the vacant seat left by Vice President Richard Nixon, was re-elected to a full term in office over Democratic State Senator Richard Richards.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1956 Republican U.S. Senate primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas Kuchel (inc.) 1,332,074 80.45%
Democratic Sam Yorty (cross-filing) 247,300 13.66%
Republican Raymond R. Pritchard 47,515 3.23%
Republican Tilden W. Johnson 30,243 2.05%
Total votes 1,472,745 100.00%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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  • Thomas Kuchel, incumbent Senator since 1954 (cross-filing)
  • Richard Richards, State Senator from Los Angeles County
  • Sam Yorty, former U.S. Representative from Los Angeles and nominee for Senate in 1954

Results

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1956 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard Richards 1,004,336 53.36%
Republican Thomas Kuchel (inc.) (cross-filing) 494,066 26.25%
Democratic Sam Yorty 383,813 20.39%
Total votes 1,882,215 100.00%

General election

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Results

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1956 United States Senate election in California[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Thomas Kuchel (inc.) 2,892,918 53.96% Increase0.75
Democratic Richard Richards 2,445,816 45.62% Increase0.11
Prohibition Ray Gourley 22,410 0.42% N/A
Total votes 5,361,144 100.00%
Republican hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 05, 1956". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  2. ^ "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  3. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1956" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 1957. Retrieved June 19, 2020.