United States Senate elections, 1934

November 6, 1934^[1]

36 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Joseph Robinson	Charles McNary
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	Arkansas	Oregon
Last election	59 seats	36 seats
Seats before	60	35
Seats won	69	25
Seat change	9	10

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Farmer–Labor	Progressive
Last election	1 seat	0 seats
Seats before	1	0
Seats won	1	1
Seat change		1

Republican hold

Democratic holds

Democratic gain

Farmer–Labor hold

Progressive gain

Majority Leader before election

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1934 occurred in the middle of Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term. In the middle of the Great Depression, voters strongly backed Roosevelt's New Deal and his allies in the Senate. The Democrats picked up a net of nine seats, giving them a supermajority (which required 64 seats, two-thirds of the total 96 seats in 1934).^[2] This marked the first time since the Civil War where an incumbent president's party gained seats during a midterm election, later being followed by Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W. Bush in 2002.

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁	D₅₀
		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
D₅₉	D₆₀	FL₁	R₃₅	R₃₄	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁	R₃₀	R₂₉
R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈
R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Beginning of the next Congress

D₅₈ O	D₅₇ O	D₅₆ √	D₅₅ √	D₅₄ √	D₅₃ √	D₅₂ √	D₅₁ √	D₅₀ √
		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 √
D₅₉ O	D₆₀ O	D₆₁ +	D₆₂ +	D₆₃ +	D₆₄ +	D₆₅ +	D₆₆ +	D₆₇ +	D₆₈ +
R₁₉ √	R₂₀ √	R₂₁ √	R₂₂ √	R₂₃ √	R₂₄ √	R₂₅ √	P₁ +	FL₁ √	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

√	Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party
@	Party gain: Incumbent senator re-elected from different party

Gains and losses

The Democrats took nine Republican seats, including an open seat in Maryland and the seats of eight incumbents.

Losing incumbents

Connecticut: Frederic C. Walcott (R) lost to Francis T. Maloney (D)
Indiana: Arthur Raymond Robinson (R) lost to Sherman Minton (D)
Missouri: Roscoe C. Patterson (R) lost to Harry S. Truman (D)
New Jersey: Hamilton F. Kean (R) lost to A. Harry Moore (D)
Ohio: Simeon D. Fess (R) lost to Vic Donahey (D)
Pennsylvania: David A. Reed (R) lost to Joseph F. Guffey (D)
Rhode Island: Felix Hebert (R) lost to Peter G. Gerry (D)
West Virginia: Henry D. Hatfield (R) lost to Rush D. Holt (D)

Retirement

Maryland: George L. P. Radcliffe (D) picked up the seat when Phillips Lee Goldsborough (R) retired.

Party change

Republicans suffered an additional loss when Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (WI) left the Republican Party to join the Progressive Party.

Complete list of races

Bold state indicates election article link. Bold candidate indicates winner.

Separate election

Date	State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
January 16, 1934	Vermont Special: Class 3	Ernest W. Gibson	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term	Ernest W. Gibson (Republican), 58.2% Harry W. Witters (Democratic), 41.8%

November elections

All races are for the Class 1 seat, unless otherwise noted.

Bold states link to articles about the individual elections.

State	Incumbent	Party	Results	Candidates
Arizona	Henry F. Ashurst	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Henry F. Ashurst (Democratic) 72.0% J. E. Thompson (Republican) 25.6%
California	Hiram W. Johnson	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Hiram W. Johnson (Republican) 94.5% George R. Kirkpatrick (Socialist) 5.3%
Connecticut	Frederic C. Walcott	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Francis T. Maloney (Democratic) 51.8% Frederic C. Walcott (Republican) 48.3%
Delaware	John G. Townsend, Jr.	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	John G. Townsend, Jr. (Republican) 53.3% Wilbur L. Adams (Democratic) 46.2%
Florida	Park Trammell	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Park Trammell (Democratic) unopposed
Indiana	Arthur Raymond Robinson	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Sherman Minton (Democratic) 51.5% Arthur Raymond Robinson (Republican) 47.5%
Maine	Frederick Hale	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Frederick Hale (Republican) 50.1% Frederick Harold Dubord (Democratic) 49.7%
Maryland	Phillips Lee Goldsborough	Republican	Incumbent retired Democratic gain	George L. P. Radcliffe (Democratic) 56.1% Joseph I. France (Republican) 42.0%
Massachusetts	David I. Walsh	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	David I. Walsh (Democratic) 59.4% Robert M. Washburn (Republican) 37.4%
Michigan	Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Arthur H. Vandenberg (Republican) 51.3% Frank A. Picard (Democratic) 47.0% John Monarch (Socialist),^[3] 1.7%
Minnesota	Henrik Shipstead	Farmer–Labor	Incumbent re-elected	Henrik Shipstead (Farmer–Labor) 49.9% Einar Hoidale (Democratic) 29.2% N. J. Holmberg (Republican) 19.8%
Mississippi	Hubert D. Stephens	Democratic	Incumbent lost renomination Democratic hold	Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic) unopposed
Missouri	Roscoe C. Patterson	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Harry S. Truman (Democratic) 59.5% Roscoe C. Patterson (Republican) 39.7% W. C. Meyer (Socialist) 0.7%
Montana	Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Burton K. Wheeler (Democratic) 70.1% George M. Bourquin (Republican) 28.7%
Montana Special: Class 2	John E. Erickson	Democratic	Appointee lost nomination Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937 Democratic hold	James E. Murray (Democratic) 59.6% Scott Leavitt (Republican) 39.5%
Nebraska	Richard C. Hunter	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Edward R. Burke (Democratic) 55.3% Robert G. Simmons (Republican) 42.9%
Nevada	Key Pittman	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Key Pittman (Democratic) 64.5% George W. Malone (Republican) 33.4%
New Jersey	Hamilton F. Kean	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	A. Harry Moore (Democratic) 57.9% Hamilton F. Kean (Republican) 40.9%
New Mexico	Bronson M. Cutting	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Bronson M. Cutting (Republican) 50.2% Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 49.4%
New Mexico Special: Class 2	Carl A. Hatch	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937	Carl A. Hatch (Democratic) 54.5% Richard C. Dillon (Republican) 45.0%
New York	Royal S. Copeland	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Royal S. Copeland (Democratic) 55.3% E. Harold Cluett (Republican) 36.9% Norman Thomas (Socialist) 5.3%
North Dakota	Lynn J. Frazier	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Lynn J. Frazier (Republican) 58.2% Henry Holt (Democratic) 40.2%
Ohio	Simeon D. Fess	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Vic Donahey (Democratic) 60.0% Simeon D. Fess (Republican) 39.4%
Pennsylvania	David A. Reed	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Joseph F. Guffey (Democratic) 50.8% David A. Reed (Republican) 46.5%
Rhode Island	Felix Hebert	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Peter G. Gerry (Democratic) 57.1% Felix Hebert (Republican) 42.9%
Tennessee	Kenneth D. McKellar	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Kenneth D. McKellar (Democratic) 63.4% Ben W. Hooper (Republican) 35.8%
Tennessee Special: Class 2	Nathan L. Bachman	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937	Nathan L. Bachman (Democratic) 80.1% John R. Neal (Independent) 19.9%
Texas	Tom Connally	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Tom Connally (Democratic) 96.7%
Utah	William H. King	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	William H. King (Democratic) 53.1% Don B. Colton (Republican) 45.4%
Vermont	Warren R. Austin	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Warren R. Austin (Republican) 51.0% Fred C. Martin (Democratic) 48.4%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Harry F. Byrd (Democratic) 76.0% Lawrence C. Page (Republican) 20.9%
Washington	Clarence C. Dill	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Lewis B. Schwellenbach (Democratic) 60.9% Reno Odlin (Republican) 34.0%
West Virginia	Henry D. Hatfield	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Rush D. Holt (Democratic) 55.1% Henry D. Hatfield (Republican) 44.4%
Wisconsin	Robert M. La Follette, Jr.	Republican	Incumbent re-elected in new party Progressive gain	Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (Progressive) 47.8% John M. Callahan (Democratic) 24.2% John B. Chapple (Republican) 22.8%
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Democratic) 56.6% Vincent Carter (Republican) 43.0%

References

↑ September 10, 1934 in Maine
↑ Arthur Krock (November 7, 1934). "Tide Sweeps Nation". New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
↑ http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/monaco-monro.html#monarch

United States Senate elections

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