George E. Donart


George E. Donart was a Democratic politician from Idaho. He was the Democratic nominee in a 1946 special election for the United States Senate seat to finish the term of John W. Thomas, a Republican who died in November 1945.
Born in Idaho Territory near present-day Cambridge, Donart graduated from the prep school of the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1909, then earned B.A. and LL.B degrees. He practiced law in Weiser for decades, and served in the Idaho Legislature, where was a member of the Idaho Senate from 1933 to 1941 and from 1943 to 1947.

1946 Senate race

After Senator Thomas' death in 1945, Governor Charles Gossett, a Democrat, resigned and allowed his successor Arnold Williams to appoint him to the Senate vacancy, which in turn allowed him to enter the special election race as the incumbent. During the 1946 primary race, Donart was endorsed by Idaho's other U. S. Senator, Glen Taylor, who had defeated him in the 1940 primary.
Donart defeated Gossett in the Democratic primary, but was defeated in the general election by Republican congressman Henry Dworshak.
YearDemocratVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct
1946George Donart74,62941.4%Henry Dworshak105,52358.6%

Donart died at age 72 in 1961, and is buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Weiser.