United States Senate elections, 1938

United States Senate elections, 1938

November 8, 1938

36 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Alben Barkley Charles McNary Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Kentucky Oregon Last election 76 seats 16 seats Seats before 75 17 Seats won 22 10 Seats after 68 23 Seat change 7 7 Seats up 29 3   Third party Fourth party   Party Farmer–Labor Progressive Last election 2 seats 1 seat Seats before 2 1 Seats won 0 0 Seats after 2 1 Seat change Seats up 0 0

Republican holds   Republican pickups   Democratic holds   Democratic pickups

Majority Leader before election Alben Barkley Democratic Elected Majority Leader Alben Barkley Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1938 occurred in the middle of Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term. This occurred six years after the Democratic landslide in the 1932 election, and so the opposition Republicans gained seven seats from the Democrats. However, the Democrats retained a commanding lead over the Republicans with more than two-thirds of the chamber.

Background

A contemporary account ^[1] cited a number of reasons for the losses suffered by the Democrats. The first was the Recession of 1937, which had continued into the first half of 1938, and which had arguably weakened public confidence in the administration's New Deal economic policies. Controversy over the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 (Roosevelt's "court-packing" plan) was also a major factor. There were, in addition, strains between the more liberal New Deal supporters and the conservative wing of the Democratic party centered in the Southern states. These strains were exacerbated by an effort led by President Roosevelt to target certain conservative senators for defeat in Democratic primaries, including Walter George of Georgia, Millard Tydings of Maryland and Ellison Smith of South Carolina, along with the chairman of the House Rules Committee, John J. O'Connor of New York. While a number of New Deal supporters won primary elections, such as Sen. Alben Barkley in Kentucky, who defeated future baseball commissioner Happy Chandler, Sen. James P. Pope of Idaho, a prominent New Deal supporter, lost his bid for re-nomination, as did California senator William McAdoo, though McAdoo's Democratic opponent Sheridan Downey had campaigned as a liberal New Dealer who would also do more to improve pension plans.^[2]

Given the high levels of Democratic success in the 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1936 elections, the Democrats were in a difficult position in defending a large number of seats, even without these pressures. Ironically, this was the first of five consecutive elections where the GOP made gains in the Senate.

Gains and losses

Overall, the Democrats lost 7 seats to Republicans

1. Augustine Lonergan (D-CT)
2. George McGill (D-KS), the last Democrat ever elected to the Senate from Kansas
3. Fred H. Brown (D-NH)
4. John Gerald Milton (D-NJ) had been appointed to replace A. Harry Moore (D), who resigned. Milton did not run in the special election to finish the current term (ending in 1941).
5. Robert J. Bulkley (D-OH)
6. Herbert Hitchcock (D-SD) had been appointed to replace Peter Norbeck (R), who died. Hitchock lost the Democratic primary both to finish the current term (ending in 1939) and for the new term (ending in 1945).
7. F. Ryan Duffy (D-WI)

Change in Senate composition

Before the general elections

After the February 1, 1938 appointment in Oregon.

		D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28
D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48
Majority →									D49 Ran
D58 Ran	D57 Ran	D56 Ran	D55 Ran	D54 Ran	D53 Ran	D52 Ran	D51 Retired	D50 Retired
D59 Ran	D60 Ran	D61 Ran	D62 Ran	D63 Ran	D64 Ran	D65 Ran	D66 Ran	D67 Ran	D68 Ran
I1	D77 Ran	D76 Ran	D75 Ran	D74 Ran	D73 Ran	D72 Ran	D71 Ran	D70 Ran	D69 Ran
P1	FL2	FL1	R15 Ran	R14 Ran	R13 Ran	R12	R11	R10	R9
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8

General election results

		D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28
D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48
Majority →									D49 Re-elected
D58 Re-elected	D57 Hold	D56 Re-elected	D55 Re-elected	D54 Re-elected	D53 Re-elected	D52 Hold	D51 Re-elected	D50 Re-elected
D59 Re-elected	D60 Re-elected	D61 Re-elected	D62 Re-elected	D63 Re-elected	D64 Re-elected	D65 Re-elected	D66 Re-elected	D67 Re-elected	D68 Hold
R19 Gain	R20 Gain	R21 Gain	R22 Gain	P1	FL1	FL2	I1	D70 Re-elected	D69 Re-elected
R18 Gain	R17 Gain	R16 Gain	R15 Re-elected	R14 Re-elected	R13 Re-elected	R12	R11	R10	R9
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8

Special election results

		D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28
D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44	D45 Appointee elected	D46 Hold	D47 Hold	D48
Majority →									D49
D58	D57	D56	D55	D54	D53	D52	D51	D50
D59	D60	D61	D62	D63	D64	D65	D66	D67	D68
R19	R20	R21 Gain	R22 Gain	R23 Gain	P1	FL1	FL2	I1	D69
R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11	R10	R9
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8

Key:	D# Democratic FL# Farmer Labor P# Progressive R# Republican V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 75th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1938 or before January 3, 1939; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama (Class 2)	J. Lister Hill	Democratic	1938 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected April 26, 1938.	√ J. Lister Hill (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Jersey (Class 1)	John G. Milton	Democratic	1938 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected November 8, 1938. Republican gain.	√ W. Warren Barbour (Republican) 53.0% William H. J. Ely (Democratic) 45.7%
New York (Class 1)	Royal S. Copeland	Democratic	1922 1928 1934	Incumbent died June 17, 1938. Winner elected November 8, 1938. Democratic hold.	√ James M. Mead (Democratic) 53.6% Edward F. Corsi (Republican) 45.8%
Oregon (Class 3)	Alfred E. Reames	Democratic	1938 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected November 8, 1938. Republican gain. Winner also elected to next term, see below.	√ Alexander G. Barry (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
South Dakota (Class 3)	Herbert E. Hitchcock	Democratic	1936 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost nomination to finish the term. Winner elected November 8, 1938. Republican gain. Winner did not run for the next term, however, see below.	√ Gladys Pyle (Republican) 58.1% John T. McCullen (Democratic) 41.9%
Tennessee (Class 1)	George L. Berry	Democratic	1937 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost nomination to finish the term. Winner elected November 8, 1938. Democratic hold.	√ Tom Stewart (Democratic)[3] 70.5% Harley G. Fowler (Republican) 26.2%

Races leading to the 76th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1939; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama	J. Lister Hill	Democratic	1938 (Appointed) 1938 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ J. Lister Hill (Democratic) 86.4% J. M. Pennington (Republican) 13.6%
Arizona	Carl Hayden	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Carl Hayden (Democratic) 76.5% B. H. Clingan (Republican) 23.5%
Arkansas	Hattie W. Caraway	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Hattie W. Caraway (Democratic) 89.6% C. D. Atkinson (Republican) 10.4%
California	William G. McAdoo	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost renomination. Winner elected. Democratic hold.	√ Sheridan Downey (Democratic) 54.4% Philip Bancroft (Republican) 44.7% Lillain Symes Clements (Socialist) 0.9%
Colorado	Alva B. Adams	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Alva B. Adams (Democratic) 58.2% Archibald A. Lee (Republican) 40.2%
Connecticut	Augustine Lonergan	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ John A. Danaher (Republican) 42.9% Augustine Lonergan (Democratic) 40.0% Bellani Trombley (Socialist) 15.8%
Florida	Claude Pepper	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Claude Pepper (Democratic) 82.5% Thomas E. Swanson (Republican) 17.6%
Georgia	Walter F. George	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Walter F. George (Democratic) Unopposed
Idaho	James P. Pope	Democratic	1932	Incumbent lost renomination. Winner elected. Democratic hold.	√ D. Worth Clark (Democratic) 54.7% Donald A. Callahan (Republican) 44.9%
Illinois	William H. Dieterich	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent retired. Winner elected. Democratic hold.	√ Scott W. Lucas (Democratic) 51.3% Richard J. Lyons (Republican) 48.3%
Indiana	Frederick Van Nuys	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Frederick Van Nuys (Democratic) 49.8% Raymond E. Willis (Republican) 49.5% Herman L. Seeger (Prohibition) 0.4% Louis E. Roebuck (Socialist) 0.1% Miles Blansett (Communist) 0.1%
Iowa	Guy M. Gillette	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Guy M. Gillette (Democratic) 49.7% Lester J. Dickinson (Republican) 49.4%
Kansas	George McGill	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ Clyde M. Reed (Republican) 56.2% George McGill (Democratic) 43.8%
Kentucky	Alben W. Barkley	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Alben W. Barkley (Democratic) 62.0% John P. Haswell (Republican) 38.0%
Louisiana	John H. Overton	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John H. Overton (Democratic) Unopposed.
Maryland	Millard E. Tydings	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Millard E. Tydings (Democratic) 68.3% Oscar Lesser (Republican) 29.3%
Missouri	Bennett Champ Clark	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Bennett Champ Clark (Democratic) 60.7% Harry S. Caulfield (Republican) 39.2%
Nevada	Patrick A. McCarran	Democratic	1932	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Patrick A. McCarran (Democratic) 59.0% Tasker L. Oddie (Republican) 41.0%
New Hampshire	Fred H. Brown	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ Charles W. Tobey (Republican) 54.2% Fred H. Brown (Democratic) 45.8%
New York	Robert F. Wagner	Democratic	1926 1932	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Robert F. Wagner (Democratic) 54.5% John Lord O'Brian (Republican) 45.0%
North Carolina	Robert R. Reynolds	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Robert R. Reynolds (Democratic) 63.8% Charles A. Jonas (Republican) 36.2%
North Dakota	Gerald P. Nye	Republican	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Gerald P. Nye (Republican) 50.1% William Langer (Independent) 42.6% J. J. Nygard (Democratic) 7.3%
Ohio	Robert J. Bulkley	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ Robert A. Taft (Republican) 53.6% Robert J. Bulkley (Democratic) 46.4%
Oklahoma	Elmer Thomas	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Elmer Thomas (Democratic) 65.4% Harry G. Glasser (Republican) 33.9%
Oregon	Alfred E. Reames	Democratic	1938 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected. Republican gain. Winner also elected to finish term, see above.	√ Rufus C. Holman (Republican) 54.9% Willis Mahoney (Democratic) 45.1%
Pennsylvania	James J. Davis	Republican	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James J. Davis (Republican) 54.7% George H. Earle (Democratic) 44.4%
South Carolina	Ellison D. Smith	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Ellison D. Smith (Democratic) Unopposed
South Dakota	Herbert E. Hitchcock	Democratic	1936 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost nomination to next term. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ Chandler Gurney (Republican) 52.5% Tom Berry (Democratic) 47.5%
Utah	Elbert D. Thomas	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Elbert D. Thomas (Democratic) 55.8% Franklin S. Harris (Republican) 44.2%
Vermont	Ernest W. Gibson	Republican	1933 (Appointed) 1934 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Ernest W. Gibson (Republican) 65.7% John McGrath (Democratic) 34.3%
Washington	Homer T. Bone	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Homer T. Bone (Democratic) 62.6% Ewing D. Colvin (Republican) 37.1% Eugene Solie (Socialist Labor) 0.3%
Wisconsin	F. Ryan Duffy	Democratic	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected. Republican gain.	√ Alexander Wiley (Republican) 47.7% Herman L. Ekern (Progressive) 26.6% F. Ryan Duffy (Democratic) 24.7%

Elections during the 76th Congress

There were no elections in 1939.

Further reading

• Dunn, Susan. Roosevelt's Purge: How FDR Fought to Change the Democratic Party (2010) excerpt and text search
• Hixson, Walter L. "The 1938 Kentucky Senate Election: Alben W. Barkley, "Happy" Chandler, and The New Deal." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society (1982): 309-329. in JSTOR
• Plesur, Milton. "The Republican Congressional Comeback of 1938", Review of Politics Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct. 1962), pp. 525–562 in JSTOR

See also

• United States elections, 1938
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1938
• 75th United States Congress
• 76th United States Congress

References

1. 1939 Britannica Book of the Year, "Democratic Party", pages 205-6
2. LIFE. Time Inc. p. 13. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
3. Won special election in November 1938, but remained district attorney general until January 16, 1939, after the next Congress began.