The 1954 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 2, 1954.

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S Representative Clifford P. Case defeated Democratic U.S. Representative

Charles R. Howell Charles Robert Howell (April 23, 1904 in Trenton, New Jersey – July 5, 1973 in Trenton, New Jersey) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives for three terms from 1949 to 1955. ...

with 48.66% of the vote. This election was decided by the fewest votes (3,507) and narrowest percentage margin (0.19%) in New Jersey history.

Republican primary

Candidates

Clifford Case Clifford Philip Case Jr. (April 16, 1904March 5, 1982), was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1945–1953) and a U.S. Senator (1955–1979) from New Jersey. He is currentl ...

, U.S. Representative from

Rahway Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

Declined

Robert C. Hendrickson Robert Clymer Hendrickson (August 12, 1898December 7, 1964) was an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from New Jersey. Early life and education Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Hendrickson attended publ ...

, incumbent Senator since 1949

Results

Case was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, U.S. Representative from Pennington

Results

Howell was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Candidates

*George Breitman, Socialist Workers *Clifford P. Case, Republican *Fred A. Hartley, Jr. (write-in), former U.S. Representative *Charles R. Howell, Democratic *Henry J. Krajewski *Albert Ronis, Socialist Labor

Campaign

During the campaign, Case openly criticized Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

, and pledged to vote against seating McCarthy on any committee with investigative functions. McCarthy's supporters called him "a pro-Communist

Republicrat Republicrat or Demopublican (also Repubocrat, Demican, Democan, and Republocrat) are portmanteau names for both of the two major political parties in the United States, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, collectively. These derogatory n ...

" and "

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's choice for Senator." ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' quoted former

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

leader

Bella Dodd Bella Dodd (née Visono; 1904 – 29 April 1969 ) was a teacher, lawyer, and labor union activist, member of the Communist Party of America (CPUSA) and New York City Teachers Union (TU) in the 1930s and 1940s ("one of Communism's most strident vo ...

as saying that Case's sister Adelaide was "an active member of several Communist front groups." It was later revealed, however, that the Adelaide Case in question was not the candidate's sister but a college professor who had died in 1948. A conservative faction within the Republican Party unsuccessfully attempted to force Case off the ballot, also proposing a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

campaign for former U.S. Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr., co-author of the Taft-Hartley Act. Case was endorsed by President Eisenhower and Vice President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

Results

References

{{1954 United States elections

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...