Jump to content

1938 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1938 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

← 1932 November 8, 1938 1944 →
 
Nominee Alexander Wiley Herman Ekern F. Ryan Duffy
Party Republican Progressive Democratic
Popular vote 446,770 249,209 231,976
Percentage 47.66% 26.58% 24.74%

County results
Wiley:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Ekern:      40–50%
Duffy:      30–40%      40–50%

U.S. senator before election

F. Ryan Duffy
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Alexander Wiley
Republican

The 1938 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 8, 1938. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator F. Ryan Duffy ran for a second term in office. In a three way race, Alexander Wiley defeated Duffy and Lieutenant Governor Herman L. Ekern.

Primary elections were held on September 20. Senator Duffy was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The Republican primary was a rematch of the 1936 gubernatorial primary; Wiley defeated John B. Chapple, who had been nominated in the previous two Senate races. After losing, Chapple entered the general election as a candidate advocating for the Townsend Act. In the Progressive primary, Ekern defeated Thomas R. Amlie by roughly 9,091 votes.[1]

Democratic primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]
1938 U.S. Senate Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic F. Ryan Duffy (incumbent) 109,129 100.00%
Total votes 109,129 100.00%

Progressive primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]
Results by county:
  Ekern
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Amlie
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%

Results

[edit]
1938 U.S. Senate Progressive primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Herman L. Ekern 79,885 53.02%
Progressive Thomas R. Amlie 70,794 46.98%
Total votes 150,679 100.00%

Republican primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]
1938 U.S. Senate Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Alexander Wiley 70,400 32.91%
Republican John B. Chapple 56,403 26.37%
Republican William Henry Stafford 26,533 12.40%
Republican Edward J. Samp 25,669 12.00%
Republican William J. Campbell 23,790 11.12%
Republican Stephen J. McMahon 11,111 5.19%
Total votes 213,906 100.00%

General election

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Results

[edit]
1938 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Alexander Wiley 446,770 47.66% +11.46%
Progressive Herman L. Ekern 249,209 26.58% +26.58%
Democratic F. Ryan Duffy (incumbent) 231,976 24.74% −32.24%
Independent Republican John B. Chapple 7,251 0.77%
Communist Fred B. Blair 1,283 0.14% −0.13%
Socialist Labor Joseph Ehrhardt 1,014 0.11%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Parties and Elections: The Primary Election". Wisconsin Blue Book, 1940. p. 541. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (1939). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 8, 1938" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.