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→Political career
==Political career==
==Political career==
In 1932, Ecton was elected in a heavily Democratic year and served for four years in the Montana House of Representatives. He moved up to the state Senate, with duties from 1936 to 1946.<ref name=Tribune/> In 1946, he ran for the Senate seat being vacated by [[isolationist]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Burton K. Wheeler]], who had lost the Democratic primary to Montana Supreme Court Justice Leif Erickson. Ecton beat Erickson, 54 to 46 percent. 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 from Great Falls who was the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader from 1961 to 1977.<ref name=Gazette>Billings Gazette Archives. “U.S. Sen. Zales Ecton.” ''The Billings Gazette,'' September 10, 2015. https://billingsgazette.com/u-s-sen-zales-ecton/image_f73a3ac2-c121-50d2-abc7-638032947042.html. </ref> Mansfield successfully bucked the Republican tide at the top of the [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], who won in Montana in both 1952 and 1956.
In 1932, Ecton was elected in a heavily Democratic year and served for four years in the Montana House of Representatives. He moved up to the state Senate, with duties from 1936 to 1946.<ref name=Tribune/> In 1946, he ran for the Senate seat being vacated by [[isolationist]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Burton K. Wheeler]], who had lost the Democratic primary to Montana Supreme Court Justice Leif Erickson. Ecton beat Erickson, 54 to 46 percent. 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 from Great Falls who was the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader from 1961 to 1977.<ref>“U.S. Sen. Zales Ecton dies," ''The Billings Gazette,'' April 2, 1961.</ref> Mansfield successfully bucked the Republican tide at the top of the [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], who won in Montana in both 1952 and 1956.
While in the Senate, Ecton was assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. He also served on the Post Office and Public Lands committees.<ref name=sna/>
While in the Senate, Ecton was assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. He also served on the Post Office and Public Lands committees.<ref name=sna/>