The U.S. Senate election, 1968 was an election for the United States Senate which coincided with the 1968 presidential election. Richard M. Nixon won the presidential election narrowly, but his focus on winning over Southern voters had dividends when Republicans picked up five net seats in the election (not including two appointments that turned seats over to Republicans in the same year).

Republicans won open seats in Arizona and Florida, and defeated Democratic incumbents Joseph S. Clark (D-PA), Daniel B. Brewster (D-MD), A. S. Mike Monroney (D-OK), and Wayne L. Morse (D-OR), as well as taking the seat of Frank Lausche (D-OH), who had been defeated in a primary by John J. Gilligan. Democrats won an open seat in Iowa as well as taking the seat of Thomas Kuchel (R-CA), who had been defeated in a primary by Max Rafferty .

In addition, Republican Charles E. Goodell was appointed in September to the seat of assassinated presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY), and Ted Stevens was appointed in December to the seat of deceased Bob Bartlett (D-AK), bringing the net shift up to seven, although Democrats continued to control the chamber 57-43.

Senate contests in 1968

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Lister Hill	Democrat	Retired: Democrat victory, 70.0 - 22.1 - 8.0	James B. Allen (Democrat) Perry Hooper (Republican) Robert Schwenn ((NDPA) )
Alaska	Ernest Gruening	Democrat	Defeated in primary: Democrat victory, 45.1 - 37.4 - 17.4	Mike Gravel (Democrat) Elmer Rasmuson (Republican) Ernest Gruening (Independent)
Arizona	Carl Hayden	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 57.2 - 42.8	Barry Goldwater (Republican) Roy Elson (Democrat)
Arkansas	J. William Fulbright	Democrat	Re-elected, 59.2 - 40.9	Charles Bernard (Republican)
California	Thomas H. Kuchel	Republican	Defeated in Primary: Democrat victory, 51.8 - 46.9	Alan Cranston (Democrat) Max Rafferty (Republican)
Colorado	Peter H. Dominick	Republican	Re-elected, 58.6 - 41.5	Stephen L. R. McNichols (Democrat)
Connecticut	Abraham A. Ribicoff	Democrat	Re-elected, 54.3 - 45.7	Edwin H. May (Republican)
Florida	George A. Smathers	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 55.9 - 44.1	Edward J. Gurney (Republican) Leroy Collins (Democrat)
Georgia	Herman E. Talmadge	Democrat	Re-elected, 77.5 - 22.5	E. Earl Patton (Republican)
Hawaii	Daniel K. Inouye	Democrat	Re-elected, 83.4 - 15.0	Wayne C. Thiessen (Republican)
Idaho	Frank Church	Democrat	Re-elected, 60.3 - 39.7	George V. Hansen (Republican)
Illinois	Everett M. Dirksen	Republican	Re-elected, 53.0 - 46.6	William G. Clark (Democrat)
Indiana	Birch Bayh	Democrat	Re-elected, 51.7 - 48.2	William D. Ruckelshaus (Republican)
Iowa	Bourke B. Hickenlooper	Republican	Retired: Democrat victory, 50.3 - 49.7	Harold E. Hughes (Democrat) David M. Stanley (Republican)
Kansas	Frank Carlson	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 60.1 - 38.7	Bob Dole (Republican) William I. Robinson (Democrat)
Kentucky	Thruston B. Morton	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 51.4 - 47.6	Marlow W. Cook (Republican) Katherine Peden (Democrat)
Louisiana	Russell B. Long	Democrat	Re-elected, unopposed
Maryland	Daniel B. Brewster	Democrat	Defeated, 47.8 - 39.1 - 13.1	Charles Mathias, Jr. (Republican) George P. Mahoney (Independent)
Missouri	Edward V. Long	Democrat	Retired: Democrat victory, 51.1 - 48.9	Thomas F. Eagleton (Democrat) Thomas B. Curtis (Republican)
Nevada	Alan Bible	Democrat	Re-elected, 54.8 - 45.2	Ed Fike (Republican)
New Hampshire	Norris Cotton	Republican	Re-elected, 59.3 - 40.7	John W. King (Democrat)
New York	Jacob K. Javits	Republican	Re-elected, 49.7 - 32.7 - 17.3	Paul O'Dwyer (Democrat) James L. Buckley (Conservative)
North Carolina	Sam J. Ervin, Jr.	Democrat	Re-elected, 60.6 - 39.4	Robert V. Somers (Republican)
North Dakota	Milton R. Young	Republican	Re-elected, 64.6 - 33.7	Herschel Lashkowitz (Democrat)
Ohio	Frank J. Lausche	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 51.5 - 48.5	William B. Saxbe (Republican) John J. Gilligan (Democrat)
Oklahoma	A. S. Mike Monroney	Democrat	Defeated, 51.7 - 46.2	Henry Bellmon (Republican)
Oregon	Wayne Morse	Democrat	Defeated, 50.2 - 49.8	Bob Packwood (Republican)
Pennsylvania	Joseph S. Clark	Democrat	Defeated, 51.9 - 45.8	Richard S. Schweiker (Republican)
South Carolina	Ernest F. Hollings	Democrat	Re-elected, 61.9 - 38.1	Marshall Parker (Republican)
South Dakota	George S. McGovern	Democrat	Re-elected, 56.8 - 43.2	Archie Gubbrud (Republican)
Utah	Wallace F. Bennett	Republican	Re-elected, 53.7 - 45.8	Milton N. Wellenmann (Democrat)
Vermont	George D. Aiken	Republican	Re-elected, 99.9
Washington	Warren G. Magnuson	Democrat	Re-elected, 64.4 - 35.3	Jack Metcalf (Republican)
Wisconsin	Gaylord Nelson	Democrat	Re-elected, 61.7 - 38.3	Jerris Leonard (Republican)

See also

• U.S. Senate election, 1966
• U.S. Senate election, 1970
• U.S. presidential election, 1968
• U.S. House election, 1968

Senate composition before and after elections

90th Congress Senate Composition

91st Congress Senate Composition

Color Key: Democrats Republicans