Anderson considered retiring altogether after resigning from the cabinet.
However, state Democrats, led by retiring Senator Carl Hatch, convinced Anderson to run for Hatch's seat against the formidable and distinguished diplomat Patrick J. Hurley.

The two well-established candidates faced off in one of the most heated campaigns of the 1948 election.
The nationwide campaigning of the Truman administration against an 'obstructionist' Republican Congress made Republicans lose across the country, including Hurley.

Anderson's re-election in 1954 against former Governor of New Mexico Edwin L. Mechem would be less heated but more significant because the Democrats had lost the Senate in 1952.
Anderson prevailed, with the Democrats regaining control of the Senate, and went on to be re-elected by wide margins in 1960 and 1966.
Anderson considered retiring altogether after resigning from the cabinet. However, state Democrats, led by retiring Senator Carl Hatch, convinced Anderson to run for Hatch's seat against the formidable and distinguished diplomat Patrick J. Hurley.
The two well-established candidates faced off in one of the most heated campaigns of the 1948 election. The nationwide campaigning of the Truman administration against an 'obstructionist' Republican Congress made Republicans lose across the country, including Hurley.
Anderson's re-election in 1954 against former Governor of New Mexico Edwin L. Mechem would be less heated but more significant because the Democrats had lost the Senate in 1952. Anderson prevailed, with the Democrats regaining control of the Senate, and went on to be re-elected by wide margins in 1960 and 1966.
Clinton Anderson