the remainder of Withers' term and a full six-year term simultaneously. He won the election over Republican Charles I. Dawson by a vote of 300,276 to 256,876. On November 27, 1950, he resigned as governor to assume the seat. The Democrats lost seats in the Senate in the 1950 election cycle, and party leader Ernest McFarland removed Clinton Anderson as chairman of the Senate Democratic Reelection Committee, replacing him with Clements for the 1952 election cycle. Clements advocated better cooperation between his committee and the Democratic National Committee in 1952. However, Republicans won the presidency and both houses of Congress in 1952, and the Democratic National Committee talked openly of disbanding the Reelection Committee. Clements instead advised that his committee's responsibilities be expanded and that its activities become year-round rather than seasonal. In 1953, Clements was appointed Democratic party whip, serving under party leader Lyndon B. Johnson. In addition, he retained his chairmanship of the Senate Democratic Reelection Committee for the 1954 election cycle. He and Democratic National Committee chair Stephen Mitchell agreed that the two committees should conduct separate fund-raising operations in order to maximize donations for Democratic candidates. Democrats regained control of the Senate in 1954, and Clements instituted the practice of having his committee provide transition services for freshman senators. That practice continues today. Clements remained active in state politics, leading a faction of the Democratic party that opposed Happy Chandler. As the 1955 gubernatorial election grew closer, Chandler announced he would seek a second term in office, having previously served from 1935 to 1939. With Clements' former lieutenant governor, Lawrence Wetherby, ineligible to succeed himself as governor, the Clements faction scrambled to find a candidate to challenge Chandler. The most likely choice was Wetherby's lieutenant governor, Emerson "Doc" Beauchamp, but his uninspiring persona and ties to boss-dominated Logan County made him unacceptable to Clements. Instead, Clements threw his support to Bert T. Combs, a Court of Appeals judge nominated by Wetherby. Since Combs had little in the way of a political record to run against, Chandler focused his campaign attacks on factional leaders Clements and Wetherby, who he nicknamed "Clementine and Wetherbine". These attacks, combined with a poorly run campaign by Combs, allowed Chandler to win the Democratic primary by a margin of 18,000 votes. He went on to win the general election and a second gubernatorial term. Clements began his campaign for re-election in 1956