1950 United States Senate election in New Hampshire

• Wesley Powell, Manchester attorney and aide to Styles Bridges{{cite news |title=WESLEY POWELL, AN EX-GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, IS DEAD AT 65 (Published 1981) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/08/obituaries/wesley-powell-an-ex-governor-of-new-hampshire-is-dead-at-65.html |access-date=16 April 2025 |agency=United Press International |date=8 January 1981 |page=D23 |language=en}}
• Charles W. Tobey, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1939

Wesley Powell, making his first bid for elective office of an eventual twelve, was an assistant to Tobey's Senate colleague Styles Bridges.

Tobey's fourth campaign for the Republican nomination for Senate was among the bitterest of his thirty-year political career.{{cite news |title=Senator Tobey Wins by Close Vote Over Young Veteran in Primary; TOBBY WINS POLL BY SCANT MARGIN |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/09/13/89742345.html |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |location=Manchester, N.H. |page=1 |language=en}} Powell waged an aggressively critical campaign, referring to Tobey as a "Truman Republican". Tobey fought back hard, relishing his reputation as a political maverick and arguing that whether he was a loyal Republican or not, he had always voted "for the best interests of New Hampshire and all the people regardless of party."

Styles Bridges remained officially neutral in the campaign.

The results were unclear through election night, with Tobey declared the winner by the Associated Press after the final tabulation in the early hours of September 13. Powell showed unexpected strength in communities which had historically backed Tobey.

{{Election box begin no change|title=1950 Republican U.S. Senate primary}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Charles W. Tobey (incumbent)

| party = Republican Party (US)

| votes = 39,203

| percentage = 50.85%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Wesley Powell

| party = Republican Party (US)

| votes = 39,203

| percentage = 49.15%

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 77,096

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box candidate no change

| candidate = Blank ballots

| votes = 1,906

| percentage = 2.48%

}}

{{Election box turnout no change

| votes = 79,002

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box end}}

• Emmet J. Kelley, state senator from Berlin and member of the New Hampshire racing commission{{cite news |title=EMMET J. KELLEY, 74, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (Published 1975) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/06/archives/emmet-j-kelley-74-of-new-hampshire.html |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |agency=AFB |date=6 December 1975 |page=32 |language=en |quote=Active in New Hampshire politics for more than four decades beginning with his election to the State Senate in 1933, Mr. Kelley served there until 1950, when he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate against the incumbent, Charles H. Tobey, a Republican.}}

{{Election box begin no change|title=1950 Democratic U.S. Senate primary}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Emmet J. Kelley

| party = Democratic Party (US)

| votes = 20,095

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 20,095

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box candidate no change

| candidate = Blank ballots

| votes = 9,090

| percentage = 31.15%

}}

{{Election box turnout no change

| votes = 29,185

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box end}}

• Emmet J. Kelley, state senator from Berlin and member of the New Hampshire racing commission (Democratic)
• Wesley Powell, Manchester attorney and aide to Styles Bridges (write-in)
• Charles W. Tobey, incumbent Senator since 1939 (Republican)

Following his narrow loss in the Republican primary, Wesley Powell attempted to run an independent campaign, which threatened to split the Republican vote and elect the first Democratic senator from New Hampshire in over twenty years. However, the New Hampshire State Ballot Law Commission ruled in favor of Tobey on October 6, who argued that Powell's nominating petitions were "invalid and illegal" because they had not been "filed forty days prior to the election as required by law." Powell acquiesced to the ruling.{{cite news |title=TOBEY'S RIVAL REMOVED; New Hampshire Board Bars Powell's Independent Race |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/10/07/89428424.html?pageNumber=7 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |agency=United Press |date=October 6, 1950 |location=Concord, N.H. |page=7 |language=en}}

{{Election box begin

| title = 1950 U.S. Senate election in New Hampshire{{Cite web |last=Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives |date=1951-01-11 |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1950 |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electioninfo/1950election.pdf |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

| party = Republican Party (US)

| candidate = Charles W. Tobey (incumbent)

| votes = 106,142

| percentage = 55.99%

| change = {{increase}} 5.06

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Democratic Party (US)

| candidate = Emmet J. Kelley

| votes = 72,473

| percentage = 38.23%

| change = {{decrease}}10.84

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Independent politician

| candidate = Wesley Powell (write-in)

| votes = 10,943

| percentage = 5.77%

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box total

| votes = 189,558

| percentage = 100.00%

}}

{{Election box hold with party link

| winner = Republican Party (US)

| loser =

| swing =

}}

{{End}}

{{Clear}}

{{reflist}}

1950

New Hampshire

United States Senate