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1936 United States Senate election in Minnesota

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1936 United States Senate election in Minnesota

← 1936 (special) November 3, 1936 1942 (special) →
 
Nominee Ernest Lundeen Theodore Christianson
Party Farmer–Labor Republican
Popular vote 663,363 402,404
Percentage 62.24% 37.76%

County results
Lundeen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Christianson:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Elmer A. Benson
Farmer–Labor

Elected U.S. Senator

Ernest Lundeen
Farmer–Labor

The 1936 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 3, 1936. Incumbent Farmer–Laborite Elmer A. Benson, who had been temporarily appointed by Governor Floyd B. Olson in 1935 to fill the seat of the deceased Republican U.S. Senator Thomas D. Schall, opted to run for Governor rather than seek election to a full term or to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. Governor Olson won the Farmer–Labor primary for nomination to the full Senate term, but died of stomach cancer prior to the general election. In Olson's place, the Farmer–Labor Party ran U.S. Representative Ernest Lundeen, who went on to defeat former Governor Theodore Christianson of the Republican Party of Minnesota in the general election. A special election held on the same date elected Republican nominee Guy V. Howard to serve the remainder of Schall's unexpired term.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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  • Patrick J. Delaney
  • Beldin H. Loftsgaarden, Conservative State Senator from the 37th district since 1931

Results

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Democratic primary election results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Patrick J. Delaney 78,807 66.78%
Democratic Beldin H. Loftsgaarden 39,199 33.22%
Total votes 118,006 100.00%

Following the death of Floyd B. Olson, the Minnesota Democratic Party opted not to field its nominees in the 1936 senatorial and gubernatorial elections. Consequently, regardless of the fact that the Minnesota Democratic Party had held a primary election and Delaney had won the Democratic nomination in that primary election, Delaney did not appear on the general election ballot.

Farmer–Labor primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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Results

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Farmer–Labor primary election results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Farmer–Labor Floyd B. Olson 175,652 92.64%
Farmer–Labor Carl E. Taylor 13,952 7.36%
Total votes 189,604 100.00%

Olson's death

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Two months after winning the primary, Olson died of stomach cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The state central committee of the Farmer–Labor Party selected Ernest Lundeen, who had served in the United States House of Representatives as a Farmer–Laborite since 1933, had previously served as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1917 to 1919, and had been a member of the nonpartisan Minnesota House of Representatives from 1911 to 1914, to fill the vacancy in the party's nomination.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Declared

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Results

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Republican primary election results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Theodore Christianson 143,684 70.53%
Republican Mrs. Thomas D. Schall 60,024 29.47%
Total votes 203,708 100.00%

General election

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Results

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General election results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Farmer–Labor Ernest Lundeen 663,363 62.24%
Republican Theodore Christianson 402,404 37.76%
Total votes 1,065,767 100.00%
Majority 260,959 24.48%
Farmer–Labor hold

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Primary Election Returns of Election held June 15th, 1936" (PDF). Minnesota Legislature.
  2. ^ "General Election Returns for Minnesota - Tuesday, November Third, 1936" (PDF). Minnesota Legislature.