United States Senate elections, 1944

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The United States Senate elections of 1944 coincided with the re-election of Franklin Roosevelt to his fourth term as President. Democratic and Republican gains cancelled each other, and there was no change in party balance.

Democrats defeated three Republican incumbents: John A. Danaher (R-CT), Gerald P. Nye (R-ND), and James J. Davis (R-PA). Republicans took open seats in Indiana, Missouri, and New Jersey (where a Democrat had been appointed to a Republican vacancy), and defeated Guy M. Gillette (D-IA).

[edit] Senate contests in 1944

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Lister Hill	Democrat	Re-elected, 81.8 - 17.0	John A. Posey (Republican)
Arizona	Carl Hayden	Democrat	Re-elected, 69.4 - 30.6	Fred W. Fickett (Republican)
Arkansas	Hattie W. Caraway	Democrat	Defeated in primary: Democratic victory, 85.1 - 14.9	J. William Fulbright (Democrat) Victor M. Wade (Republican)
California	Sheridan Downey	Democrat	Re-elected, 52.3 - 47.7	Frederick F. Houser (Republican)
Colorado	Eugene D. Millikin	Republican	Re-elected, 56.1 - 43.0	Barney L. Whatley (Democrat)
Connecticut	John A. Danaher	Republican	Defeated, 51.7 - 47.3	Brien McMahon (Democrat)
Florida	Claude Pepper	Democrat	Re-elected, 71.3 - 28.7	Miles H. Draper (Republican)
Georgia	Walter F. George	Democrat	Re-elected, unopposed
Idaho	D. Worth Clark	Democrat	Defeated in primary: Democratic victory, 51.1 - 48.9	Glen H. Taylor (Democrat) C. A. Bottolfsen (Republican)
Illinois	Scott W. Lucas	Democrat	Re-elected, 52.6 - 47.1	Richard J. Lyons (Republican)
Indiana	Samuel D. Jackson	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 50.2 - 48.9	Homer E. Capehart (Republican) Henry F. Schricker (Democrat)
Iowa	Guy M. Gillette	Democrat	Defeated, 51.3 - 48.4	Bourke B. Hickenlooper (Republican)
Kansas	Clyde M. Reed	Republican	Re-elected, 57.8 - 40.7	Thurman Hill (Democrat)
Kentucky	Alben W. Barkley	Democrat	Re-elected, 54.8 - 44.9	James Park (Republican)
Louisiana	John H. Overton	Democrat	Re-elected, unopposed
Maryland	Millard E. Tydings	Democrat	Re-elected, 61.7 - 38.3	Blanchard Randall, Jr. (Republican)
Massachusetts1	Sinclair Weeks	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 64.3 - 34.9	Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) John H. Corcoran (Democrat)
Missouri	Bennett Champ Clark	Democrat	Defeated in primary: Republican victory, 50.0 - 49.9	Forrest C. Donnell (Republican) Roy McKittrick (Democrat)
Nevada	Patrick A. McCarran	Democrat	Re-elected, 58.4 - 41.6	George W. Malone (Republican)
New Hampshire	Charles W. Tobey	Republican	Re-elected, 50.9 - 49.1	Joseph J. Betley (Democrat)
New Jersey2	Arthur Walsh	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 50.4 - 48.8	H. Alexander Smith (Republican) Elmer H. Wene (Democrat)
New York	Robert F. Wagner	Democrat	Re-elected, 53.1 - 46.7	Thomas J. Curran (Republican)
North Carolina	Robert R. Reynolds	Democrat	Retired: Democratic victory, 70.3 - 29.8	Clyde R. Hoey (Democrat) A. I. Ferree (Republican)
North Dakota	Gerald P. Nye	Republican	Defeated, 45.2 - 33.0 - 21.2	John Moses (Democrat) Lynn U. Stambaugh (Independent)
Ohio	Robert A. Taft	Republican	Re-elected, 50.3 - 49.7	William J. Pickrel (Democrat)
Oklahoma	Elmer Thomas	Democrat	Re-elected, 55.7 - 44.0	William J. Otjen (Republican)
Oregon3	Guy Cordon	Republican	Re-elected, 57.5 - 42.5	Willis Mahoney (Democrat)
Oregon	Rufus C. Holman	Republican	Defeated in primary: Republican victory, 60.7 - 39.3	Wayne Morse (Republican) Edgar W. Smith (Democrat)
Pennsylvania	James J. Davis	Republican	Defeated, 50.0 - 49.4	Francis J. Myers (Democrat)
South Carolina	Ellison D. Smith	Democrat	Defeated in primary: Democratic victory, unopposed	Olin B. Johnston (Democrat)
South Dakota	Chandler Gurney	Republican	Re-elected, 63.9 - 36.1	George M. Bradshaw (Democrat)
Utah	Elbert D. Thomas	Democrat	Re-elected, 59.9 - 40.1	Adam S. Bennion (Republican)
Vermont	George D. Aiken	Republican	Re-elected, 65.8 - 34.2	Harry W. Witters (Democrat)
Washington	Homer T. Bone	Democrat	Retired: Democratic victory, 55.1 - 44.4	Warren G. Magnuson (Democrat) Harry P. Cain (Republican)
Wisconsin	Alexander Wiley	Republican	Re-elected, 50.5 - 42.8 - 5.8	Howard J. McMurray (Democrat) Harry Sauthoff (Progressive)

¹ special election held due to resignation Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R-MA) to go on active duty in the United States Army

² special election held due to death of W. Warren Barbour (R-NJ)

³ special election held due to death of Charles L. McNary (R-OR)

[edit] Senate composition before and after elections

78th Congress Senate Composition

79th Congress Senate Composition

Color Key: Democrats Republicans Progressives

[edit] See also

• United States presidential election, 1944
• United States House elections, 1944

United States Senate Elections

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