United States Senate elections, 1938

United States Senate elections, 1938

November 8, 1938
32 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 Seats before 75 17 Seats won 22 10 Seats after 68 23 Seat change 7 7 Seats up 29 3 Races won 22 10   Third party Fourth party   Party Farmer–Labor Progressive Seats before 2 1 Seats won 0 0 Seats after 2 1 Seat change Seats up 0 0 Races won 0 0   Fifth party   Party Independent Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seats after 1 Seat change Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results including special elections      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold
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. 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.

General election results

Special election results

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.

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.

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 (October 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