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Byrd was elected as a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952 for the 6th district of West Virginia, succeeding [[E.H. Hedrick]], who had decided to step down to run for Governor of [[West Virginia]]. Byrd was reelected to the House twice. In 1958, he was elected to the [[United States Senate]], defeating the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] incumbent W. Chapman Revercomb. He has been reelected eight times. For his first four terms, Byrd was West Virginia's junior senator. This was because his colleague from 1959 to 1985, Jennings Randolph, had been elected on the same day in a special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Matthew Neely.

Byrd was elected as a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952 for the 6th district of West Virginia, succeeding [[E.H. Hedrick]], who had decided to step down to run for Governor of [[West Virginia]]. Byrd was reelected to the House twice. In 1958, he was elected to the [[United States Senate]], defeating the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] incumbent W. Chapman Revercomb. He has been reelected eight times. For his first four terms, Byrd was West Virginia's junior senator. This was because his colleague from 1959 to 1985, Jennings Randolph, had been elected on the same day in a special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Matthew Neely.

While Byrd faced vigorous Republican opposition in the past, he has not faced truly serious opposition since freshman congressman Cleve Benedict ran against him in 1982. He has since won by comfortable margins. Despite his tremendous popularity in the state, he has only run unopposed once, in 1976. On two other occasions — in 1994 and 2000 — he carried all 55 of West Virginia's counties. In his reelection bid in 2000, he won all but seven of West Virginia's precincts. Shelley Moore Capito, a Congresswoman and the daughter of one of Byrd's longtime foes—former Governor [[Arch A. Moore, Jr.|Arch Moore, Jr.]]—briefly weighed a challenge to Byrd in 2006, but decided against it.

While Byrd faced vigorous Republican opposition in the past, he has not faced truly serious opposition since freshman congressman Cleve Benedict ran against him in 1982. He has since won by comfortable margins. Despite his tremendous popularity in the state, he has only run unopposed once, in 1976. On two other occasions — in 1994 and 2000 — he carried all 55 of West Virginia's counties. In his reelection bid in 2000, he won all but seven of West Virginia's precincts. [[Shelley Moore Capito]], a Congresswoman and the daughter of one of Byrd's longtime foes—former Governor [[Arch A. Moore, Jr.|Arch Moore, Jr.]]—briefly weighed a challenge to Byrd in 2006, but decided against it.

In the 1960 Presidential election primaries, Byrd, a close Senate ally of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], tried and failed to derail the Democratic front-runner and ultimately successful candidate [[John F. Kennedy]] in the crucial West Virginia [[primary election|primary]].

In the 1960 Presidential election primaries, Byrd, a close Senate ally of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], tried and failed to derail the Democratic front-runner and ultimately successful candidate [[John F. Kennedy]] in the crucial West Virginia [[primary election|primary]].