1944 United States Senate elections


The United States Senate elections of 1944 coincided with the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to his fourth term as President. The Democrats' large majority remained the same, but they lost one seat to the Republicans in a special election.

Incumbents defeated

Democrats defeated three Republican incumbents:
  1. Connecticut. John A. Danaher
  2. North Dakota. Gerald P. Nye
  3. Pennsylvania. James J. Davis
Republicans defeated one Democratic incumbent:
  1. Iowa. Guy M. Gillette

    Retirements

Republicans took three open seats:
  1. Indiana
  2. Missouri
  3. New Jersey.

    Change in composition

Before the elections

At the beginning of 1944.

Election results

Key

Race summaries

Special elections during the 78th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1944 or before January 3, 1945; ordered by election date.

Races leading to the 79th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1945; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

There were 2 elections in Indiana, due to the January 25, 1944 death of Democrat Frederick Van Nuys.
Democrat Samuel D. Jackson was appointed to continue the term, pending a special election. Republican William E. Jenner won the special election to finish the term, and Republican Homer E. Capehart won the general election to the next term.

Indiana (Special)

Indiana (General)

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts (Special)

Incumbent U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. resigned February 3, 1944 to return to active duty in the U.S. Army during World War II. Republican Sinclair Weeks was appointed February 8, 1944 to continue the term until an election was held. A special election was held on November 7, 1944 with Republican Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall defeating his challengers. He didn't take office until January 4, 1945, when his term as Governor ended.

Missouri

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey (Special)

New York

The Socialist Labor state convention met on April 2 at the Cornish Arms Hotel, the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street, in New York City. They nominated Eric Hass for the U.S. Senate. At that time, the party used the name "Industrial Government Party" on the ballot, but was also referred to as the "Industrial Labor Party".
The Liberal Party was organized by a state convention with about 1,100 delegates who met on May 19 and 20 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. They endorsed the incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner for re-election. The party filed a petition to nominate candidates which was allowed by Secretary of State Curran on August 25.
The Republican State Committee met on August 8 at Albany, New York. They nominated Secretary of State Thomas J. Curran for the U.S. Senate.
The Democratic State Committee met on August 8 at the National Democratic Club at 233, Madison Avenue in New York City. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner.
The American Labor state convention met on August 10. They endorsed the Democratic nominee Wagner.
The Democratic/American Labor/Liberal ticket was elected and incumbent Wagner was re-elected.
DemocraticRobert F. Wagner2,485,735
RepublicanThomas J. Curran2,899,497
American LaborRobert F. Wagner483,785
LiberalRobert F. Wagner325,056
Industrial GovernmentEric Hass15,244

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Oregon (Special)

Oregon (General)

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Utah

Vermont

Washington

Wisconsin

OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.