1934 United States Senate elections


The United States Senate elections of 1934 were held in the middle of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. During the Great Depression, voters strongly backed Roosevelt's New Deal and his allies in the Senate, with Democrats picking up a net of nine seats, giving them a supermajority.

Milestones

This marked the second time since the Civil War when an incumbent president's party gained Senate seats during a midterm election, and when an incumbent president's party gained Senate seats during a midterm election after the Democrats gained three seats in 1914, half-way through Woodrow Wilson’s first term. Neither party registered a net gain of Senate seats in a mid-term election again until the Democrats gained a net of four seats in 1962, at the mid-point of John F. Kennedy’s term. In 1970, the Republicans gained a net of one seat during the term of Richard Nixon. In 2002, George W. Bush's party gained a net of two seats, and Donald Trump in 2018 had the Republican Party gain 2 seats in the senate.

Gains and losses

s lost ten seats: One seat changed from Republican to Progressive when an incumbent was re-elected to the new party. Democrats took nine seats, including an open seat in [|Maryland] and the seats of eight incumbents.

Losing incumbents

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

    Retirement

  9. Maryland: George L. P. Radcliffe picked up the seat when Phillips Lee Goldsborough retired.

    Party change

  10. Wisconsin: Republicans suffered an additional loss when Robert M. La Follette Jr. joined the Progressive Party.

    Change in composition

Before the elections

Going into the November 1934 elections.

Elections result

Race summaries

Elections during the 73rd Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1934; ordered by election date then by state.

Elections leading to the 74th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1935; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

Arizona

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Indiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Montana (General)

Montana (Special)

Nebraska

Nebraska (General)

Nebraska (Special)

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

New Mexico (General)

New Mexico (Special)

New York

In New York, the whole Democratic ticket was elected in the third landslide in a row.

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Tennessee (General)

Tennessee (Special)

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Vermont (General)

Vermont (Special)

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Wyoming (General)

Wyoming (Special)