United States Senate elections, 1942

United States Senate elections, 1942

November 3, 1942[1]
33 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Alben Barkley Wallace White Party Democratic Republican Leader since July 22, 1937 February 25, 1944 Leader's seat Kentucky Maine Seats before 65 29 Seats won 57 38 Seat change 8 9 Popular vote 6,329,426 6,661,196 Percentage 46.7% 49.2% Swing 0.8% 1.4% Seats up 23 9 Races won 15 18   Third party Fourth party   Party Progressive Independent Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote ? ? Percentage ? ? Seats up 0 1 Races won 0 0
Results including special elections      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold
Majority Leader before election Alben Barkley Democratic Elected Majority Leader Alben Barkley Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1942 were held November 3, 1942, midway through Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term as President.

Background

Although this election took place during World War II, the opposition Republican party made major gains, taking eight seats from the Democrats and one from an independent. The Democrats nonetheless retained a significant majority, though the smallest since Roosevelt was first elected in 1932.

The New York Times ascribed the results to "voters' dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war, both at home and abroad" but not evidence of a lack of enthusiasm for the war effort. It found that a candidate's stance as isolationist or interventionist before Pearl Harbor had little impact on his success at the polls.^[2] The paper's editorial board welcomed a return to normal political alignments after the unbalanced majorities of the previous decade.^[3] The election not only changed the numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, but also accomplished an ideological shift, as several longtime enthusiastic supporters of the New Deal were replaced by Republicans of the most conservative sort.^[4]

Gains and losses

Republicans had a net gain of nine seats.

Nine came from wins over Democrats:

1. Delaware: First-term Democrat James H. Hughes lost renomination to E. Ennalls Berl, who then lost the general election to Republican Clayton D. Buck.
2. Iowa: First-term Democrat Clyde L. Herring lost re-election to Republican George A. Wilson.
3. Michigan: First-term Democrat Prentiss M. Brown narrowly lost re-election to Republican Homer Ferguson.
4. New Jersey: First-term Democrat William H. Smathers lost re-election to Republican Albert W. Hawkes.
5. Oklahoma: First-term Democrat Joshua B. Lee lost re-election to Republican Edward H. Moore.
6. South Dakota: Second-term Democrat William J. Bulow lost renomination to Tom Berry, who then lost the general election to Republican Harlan J. Bushfield.
7. West Virginia: First-term Democratic appointee Joseph Rosier retired and Republican Edward H. Moore easily beat Democratic former three-term senator Matthew M. Neely.
8. Wyoming: First-term Democrat Henry H. Schwartz lost re-election to Republican Edward V. Robertson.

Republicans picked up an Independent seat:

1. Nebraska: Five-term Independent George W. Norris lost re-election to Republican Kenneth S. Wherry, as Democrat Foster May split the vote.

Also, in a special election, Republicans gained a seat from the Democrats, which would later be held by a different Republican from the general election, see above:

1. West Virginia: First-term Democratic appointee Joseph Rosier lost election to finish the term to Republican Hugh Shott, who did not run for the next term.

Change in Senate composition

Race summaries

Massachusetts

Montana

South Carolina

Virginia

See also

• United States elections, 1942
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1942
• 77th United States Congress
• 78th United States Congress

References