1948 United States Senate election in Colorado

← 1942 November 2, 1948 1954 →

Nominee Ed Johnson Will Nicholson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 340,719 165,059 Percentage 66.79% 32.36%

County results Johnson:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

U.S. senator before election Edwin C. Johnson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson Democratic

Elections in Colorado
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v t e

The 1948 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 2, 1948. Incumbent Democratic Senator Edwin C. Johnson was re-elected to third term in a landslide over Republican Will Nicholson, a businessman and Air Force veteran, winning every county in the state.

Johnson outperformed fellow Democrat Harry S. Truman in the concurrent presidential election by 29%. As of 2023, this is the last time that an incumbent Democratic Senator from Colorado was re-elected or won re-election for this seat.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Eugene Cervi, newspaperman and Chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party^[1]
• Edwin C. Johnson, incumbent Senator since 1933

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

• Will Nicholson, owner of the Denver Bears and Air Force veteran
• John C. Vivian, former Governor of Colorado from 1943 to 1947

Results

General election

Results

General election results^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edwin C. Johnson (inc.)	340,719	66.79%	16.56
	Republican	Will Nicholson	165,059	32.36%	16.83
	Progressive	John Gurule	2,981	0.58%	N/A
	Socialist	Carle Whitehead	1,352	0.27%	0.13
Total votes			510,111	100.00%