United States Senate elections, 1936 and 1937

November 3, 1936^[1]

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

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Joseph Robinson	Charles McNary
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	Arkansas	Oregon
Seats before	69	22
Seats won	74	17
Seat change	5	5
Seats up	19	11
Races won	24	6

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Farmer–Labor	Progressive
Seats before	2	1
Seats won	2	1
Seat change
Seats up	1	0
Races won	1	0

	Fifth party

Party	Independent
Seats before	0
Seats won	1
Seat change	1
Seats up	0
Races won	1

Results including special elections
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Farmer–Labor hold
     Independent gain

Majority Leader before election

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1936^[1] coincided with the presidential re-election of Franklin Roosevelt. The Great Depression continued and voters backed progressive candidates favoring Roosevelt's New Deal in races across the country. The Democrats gained 5 net seats during the election, and in combination with Democratic and Farmer-Labor interim appointments and the defection of George W. Norris from the Republican Party to become independent, the Republicans were reduced to 16 seats, the most lopsided Senate since Reconstruction.

Gains and Losses

The Republicans took one open seat in Massachusetts, while the Democrats took open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire and defeated incumbents Daniel O. Hastings (R-DE), Lester J. Dickinson (R-IA), W. Warren Barbour (R-NJ), Jesse H. Metcalf (R-RI), and Robert D. Carey (R-WY).

Republicans gained one Democratic open seat:
- Massachusetts

Democrats gained one Republican open seat:
- Colorado
- Michigan (incumbent died, leaving seat vacant)

Democrats held an open seat:
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma

Farmer–Laborers held an open seat:
- Minnesota

Republicans held an open seat:
- New Hampshire

Republican incumbents lost five elections
- Delaware
- Iowa
- New Jersey
- Rhode Island
- Wyoming

One Republican was re-elected, but changed party to become an Independent:
- Nebraska

Milestones

This was the last of four consecutive elections where Republicans suffered losses due to the ongoing effects of the Great Depression. This was also the last Senate election in the 20th century in which a Democratic candidate who won two terms also made net gains in the Senate on both occasions (although Franklin Roosevelt won a third and fourth term, he lost Senate seats on both occasions).

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

Going into the November 1936 elections.

D₅₉ Ran	D₆₀ Ran	D₆₁ Ran	D₆₂ Ran	D₆₃ Ran	D₆₄ Ran	D₆₅ Ran	D₆₆ Ran	D₆₇ Retired	D₆₈ Retired
		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	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇
Majority →									D₄₉
D₅₈ Ran	D₅₇ Ran	D₅₆ Ran	D₅₅ Ran	D₅₄ Ran	D₅₃ Ran	D₅₂ Ran	D₅₁ Ran	D₅₀
R₁₉ Ran	R₂₀ Ran	R₂₁ Ran	R₂₂ Retired	FL₁	FL₂ Retired	P₁	V₁	V₂ R died	D₆₉ Retired
R₁₈ Ran	R₁₇ Ran	R₁₆ Ran	R₁₅ Ran	R₁₄ Ran	R₁₃ Ran	R₁₂ Ran	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Result of the general elections

D₅₉ Re-elected	D₆₀ Re-elected	D₆₁ Re-elected	D₆₂ Re-elected	D₆₃ Re-elected	D₆₄ Re-elected	D₆₅ Re-elected	D₆₆ Hold	D₆₇ Hold	D₆₈ Hold
		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	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇
Majority →									D₄₉
D₅₈ Re-elected	D₅₇ Re-elected	D₅₆ Re-elected	D₅₅ Re-elected	D₅₄ Re-elected	D₅₃ Re-elected	D₅₂ Re-elected	D₅₁ Re-elected	D₅₀
FL₁	FL₂ Hold	P₁	V₁	D₇₄ Gain	D₇₃ Gain	D₇₂ Gain	D₇₁ Gain	D₇₀ Gain	D₆₉ Gain
I₁ Re-elected new party	R₁₇ Gain	R₁₆ Hold	R₁₅ Re-elected	R₁₄ Re-elected	R₁₃ Re-elected	R₁₂ Re-elected	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Result of the special elections

		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 Appointee elected
D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁ Hold	D₅₀ Hold
D₅₉	D₆₀	D₆₁	D₆₂	D₆₃	D₆₄	D₆₅	D₆₆	D₆₇	D₆₈
FL₁	FL₂	P₁	D₇₅ Gain	D₇₄	D₇₃	D₇₂	D₇₁	D₇₀	D₆₉
I₁	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉
		R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈

Beginning of the next Congress

		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
D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁	D₅₀
D₅₉	D₆₀	D₆₁	D₆₂	D₆₃	D₆₄	D₆₅	D₆₆	D₆₇	D₆₈
FL₂	P₁	D₇₆ Appointed	D₇₅	D₇₄	D₇₃	D₇₂	D₇₁	D₇₀	D₆₉
FL₁	I₁	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
I_#	Independent
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Elections during the 74th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1936 or before January 3, 1937; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Louisiana (Class 2)	Rose McConnell Long	Democratic	1936 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected April 21, 1936. Winner was later not elected to the next term, see below.	√ Rose McConnell Long (Democratic) Unopposed^[2]
Florida (Class 1)	Scott M. Loftin	Democratic	1936 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 3, 1936. Democratic hold.	√ Charles O. Andrews (Democratic) 80.9% Howard C. Babcock (Republican) 19.1%
Florida (Class 3)	William Luther Hill	Democratic	1936 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 3, 1936. Democratic hold.	√ Claude Pepper (Democratic) Unopposed
Iowa (Class 3)	Vacant			Richard L. Murphy (D) had died July 16, 1936. New senator elected November 3, 1936. Democratic gain.	√ Guy M. Gillette (Democratic) 51.9% Berry F. Halden (Republican) 46.6%
Minnesota (Class 2)	Elmer Austin Benson	Farmer–Labor	1935 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 3, 1936. Republican gain. Winner was not a candidate for the next term, see below.	√ Guy V. Howard (Republican) 42.89% Nathaniel J. Holmberg (Republican) 28.42% Andrews O. Devold (Republican) 19.98% John G. Alexander (Republican) 8.71%
New Mexico (Class 1)	Dennis Chavez	Democratic	1935 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 3, 1936.	√ Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 55.7% M. A. Otero, Jr. (Republican) 44.2%

Elections leading to the 75th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1937; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	John H. Bankhead II	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John H. Bankhead II (Democratic) 87.0% H. E. Berkstresser (Republican) 12.2%
Arkansas	Joseph T. Robinson	Democratic	1913 1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph T. Robinson (Democratic) 81.8% G. C. Ledbetter (Republican) 16.4%
Colorado	Edward P. Costigan	Democratic	1930	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) 63.5% Raymond L. Sauter (Republican) 35.3%
Delaware	Daniel O. Hastings	Republican	1928 (Appointed) 1930	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ James H. Hughes (Democratic) 53.0% Daniel O. Hastings (Republican) 41.4% Robert G. Houston (Independent) 5.4%
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	1933 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Richard Russell, Jr. (Democratic) Unopposed
Idaho	William E. Borah	Republican	1907 1913 1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William E. Borah (Republican) 63.4% C. Ben Ross (Democratic) 36.6%
Illinois	J. Hamilton Lewis	Democratic	1913 1918 (Lost) 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ J. Hamilton Lewis (Democratic) 56.5% Otis F. Glenn (Republican) 40.7%
Iowa	Lester J. Dickinson	Republican	1930	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Clyde L. Herring (Democratic) 50.5% Lester J. Dickinson (Republican) 47.1%
Kansas	Arthur Capper	Republican	1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Arthur Capper (Republican) 51.0% Omar B. Ketchum (Democratic) 48.4%
Kentucky	Marvel M. Logan	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Marvel M. Logan (Democratic) 58.8% Robert M. Lucas (Republican) 39.8%
Louisiana	Rose McConnell Long	Democratic	1936 (Appointed) 1936 (Special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Allen J. Ellender (Democratic) Unopposed
Maine	Wallace H. White, Jr.	Republican	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Wallace H. White, Jr. (Republican) 50.8% Louis J. Brann (Democratic) 49.3%
Massachusetts	Marcus A. Coolidge	Democratic	1930	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	√ Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican) 48.5% James Michael Curley (Democratic) 41.0% Thomas C. O'Brien (Independent) 7.4%
Michigan	Vacant			Predecessor died having already lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic gain. Winner was later appointed to finish term.	√ Prentiss M. Brown (Democratic) 53.3% Wilber M. Brucker (Republican) 41.8%
Minnesota	Elmer Austin Benson	Farmer–Labor	1935 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Farmer–Labor hold. Winner was not a candidate to finish the current term.	√ Ernest Lundeen (Farmer–Labor) 62.2% Theodore Christianson (Republican) 37.8%
Mississippi	Pat Harrison	Democratic	1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Pat Harrison (Democratic) Unopposed
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	1934 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James E. Murray (Democratic) 55.0% Thomas O. Larson (Republican) 27.1% Joseph P. Monaghan (Independent) 17.9%
Nebraska	George W. Norris	Republican	1913 1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected as an Independent. Independent gain.	√ George W. Norris (Independent) 43.8% Robert G. Simmons (Republican) 37.8% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 18.4%
New Hampshire	Henry W. Keyes	Republican	1918 1924 1930	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	√ Styles Bridges (Republican) 51.9% William N. Rogers (Democratic) 47.7%
New Jersey	W. Warren Barbour	Republican	1931 (Appointed) 1932 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ William H. Smathers (Democratic) 54.9% W. Warren Barbour (Republican) 44.3%
New Mexico	Carl A. Hatch	Democratic	1933 (Appointed) 1934 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Carl A. Hatch (Democratic) 61.7% Ernest W. Everly (Republican) 38.3%
North Carolina	Josiah Bailey	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Josiah Bailey (Democratic) 70.8% Frank R. Patton (Republican) 29.2%
Oklahoma	Thomas P. Gore	Democratic	1907 (New state) 1909 1914 1920 (Lost) 1930	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	√ Josh Lee (Democratic) 68.0% Herbert K. Hyde (Republican) 31.6%
Oregon	Charles L. McNary	Republican	1917 (Appointed) 1918 (Not elected) 1918 (Appointed) 1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Charles L. McNary (Republican) 51.0% Willis Mahoney (Democratic) 48.4%
Rhode Island	Jesse H. Metcalf	Republican	1924 (Special) 1924 1930	Incumbent lost re-election.^[3] New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Theodore F. Green (Democratic) 48.6% Jesse H. Metcalf (Republican) 44.4% Ludger LaPointe (Independent) 7.0%
South Carolina	James F. Byrnes	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ James F. Byrnes (Democratic) Unopposed
South Dakota	William J. Bulow	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William J. Bulow (Democratic) 48.8% Chandler Gurney (Republican) 46.8%
Tennessee	Nathan L. Bachman	Democratic	1933 (Appointed) 1934 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Nathan L. Bachman (Democratic) 76.4% Dwayne D. Maddox (Republican) 18.8%
Texas	Morris Sheppard	Democratic	1913 (Special) 1913 1918 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Morris Sheppard (Democratic) 92.6% Carlos G. Watson (Republican) 7.1%
Virginia	Carter Glass	Democratic	1920 (Appointed) 1920 (Special) 1924 1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Carter Glass (Democratic) 91.7%
West Virginia	Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	1930	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 59.1% Hugh I. Shott (Republican) 40.9%
Wyoming	Robert D. Carey	Republican	1930 (Special) 1930	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	√ Harry H. Schwartz (Democratic) 53.8% Robert D. Carey (Republican) 45.4%

Election during the 75th Congress

In this special election, the winner was elected in 1937 after January 3.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Arkansas (Class 2)	Joseph Robinson	Democratic	1913 1918 1924 1930 1936	Incumbent died July 14, 1937, having just been re-elected, see above. New senator elected October 18, 1937. Democratic hold.	√ John E. Miller (Democratic) 60.8% Carl E. Bailey (Democratic) 39.3%

Complete list of races

Massachusetts

General election
	Candidate	Votes	%	±
Republican	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.	875,160	48.53	+3.86
Democratic	James Michael Curley	739,751	41.02	-12.99
Union Party	Thomas C. O'Brien	134,245	7.44	+7.44
Economy	Alonzo B. Cook	11,519	0.64	+0.64
Social Justice	Guy M. Gray	9,906	0.55	+0.55
Socialist	Albert Sprague Coolidge	9,763	0.54	-0.06
Townsend	Moses H. Gulesian	7,408	0.41	+0.41
Socialist Labor	Ernest L. Dodge	7,408	0.39	+0.01
Communist	Charles Flaherty	4,821	0.27	-0.06
Prohibition	Wilbur D. Moon	3,677	0.20	+0.20
Write-in		16	0.00

Montana

United States Senate election in Montana, 1936^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	James E. Murray (inc.)	121,769	54.98%	-4.68%
	Republican	Thomas O. Larson	60,038	27.11%	-12.32%
	Independent	Joseph P. Monaghan	39,655	17.91%
Majority			61,731	27.87%	+7.65%
Turnout			221,462
	Democratic hold		Swing

South Carolina

South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1936
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	James F. Byrnes (incumbent)	113,696	98.6	-1.4
	Republican	Joseph Augustis Tolbert	961	0.8	N/A
	Republican	Marion W. Seabrook	702	0.6	N/A
	No party	Write-Ins	1	0.0	0.0
Majority			112,735	97.8	-2.2
Turnout			115,360
	Democratic hold

65+% won by Byrnes

Virginia

United States Senate election in Virginia, 1936^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Carter Glass (inc.)	244,518	91.66%	+14.99%
	Republican	George Rohken	12,573	4.71%	+4.71%
	Communist	Donald Burke	8,907	3.34%	+3.34%
	Independent Democrat	Elbert Lee Trinkle	469	0.18%	-17.68%
	Independent	A. J. Dunning	125	0.05%
	Write-ins		174	0.07%	+0.04%
Majority			231,945	86.95%	+28.14%
Turnout			266,766
	Democratic hold

References

1 2 There was a general election September 14, 1936 in Maine, as well as special elections in April and November 1936 and October 1937.
↑ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=132
↑ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=271
1 2 "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1936" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved July 2, 2014.

United States Senate elections

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