While other Senators debated whether or not to oust him and declare vacant the seat he had held for 19 years, New Mexico's Democratic Senator Dennis Chavez slumped in his chair like a weary gnome. The Senate had spent some $225,000 to investigate irregularities in the 1952 New Mexico senatorial election, in which Chavez edged out Republican Patrick Hurley. When the vote came, every Democratic Senator was present, and they stood with Chavez to the last man—along with five Republicans and Wayne Morse. By a vote of 53 to 36, the U.S. Senate decided to keep Dennis Chavez as a member.
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