Preceded by Burton K. Wheeler Resigned January 3, 1953 Name Zales Ecton Succeeded by Mike Mansfield | Political party Republican Party Republican Party | |
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Born April 1, 1898
Weldon, Iowa ( 1898-04-01 ) Role Former United States Senator Died March 3, 1961, Bozeman, Montana, United States | ||
Education Montana State University Previous office Senator (MT) 1947–1953 Resting place Sunset Hills Cemetery | ||
Zales Nelson Ecton (April 1, 1898 – March 3, 1961) was a rancher and Republican politician from Montana who represented the state in the United States Senate, serving from 1947 to 1953.
Ecton was born in Weldon, Decatur County, Iowa. He moved with his family to Gallatin County, Montana, when he was nine years old. He attended the Gallatin County public schools, the then Montana State College (later Montana State University) at Bozeman and the University of Chicago law school. In 1921, he became a rancher and gained interests in grain and livestock.
Entering politics, he was a member of the Montana state House from 1933 to 1937 and the Montana state senate from 1937 to 1946. In 1946, he ran for the Montana United States Senate seat which was being vacated by Democrat Burton K. Wheeler, who had lost the Democratic primary.
As part of the Republican takeover of the Senate in 1946, Ecton defeated Democratic state Supreme Court Justice Leif Erickson by a vote of 54% to 46%. He served in the Senate for one term, having been narrowly defeated for reelection in 1952 by U.S. Representative Mike Mansfield, a Democratic college professor and Far Eastern expert. Ecton resumed his ranching business until his death in Bozeman.
Ecton was the last Republican U.S. senator from Montana until the election in 1988 of Conrad Burns, who served from 1989 to 2007.