United States Senate elections, 1944

United States Senate elections, 1944

1942 ← November 7, 1944 → 1946

37 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Alben Barkley Wallace White Robert M. La Follette, Jr. Party Democratic Republican Progressive Leader's seat Kentucky Maine Wisconsin Last election 58 seats 37 seats 1 seat Seats won 57 38 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 17,590,770 16,127,651 73,089 Percentage 50.3% 46.1% 0.2% Swing 3.6% 3.1% 0.2%

Democratic gains   Democratic holds   Republican holds   Republican gains

Majority Leader before election Alben Barkley Democratic Elected Majority Leader Alben Barkley Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1944 coincided with the re-election of Franklin Roosevelt to his fourth term as President. The Democrats lost a net one seat to the Republicans, but still kept a large majority in the Senate.

Incumbents defeated

Democrats defeated three Republican incumbents: John A. Danaher (Connecticut), Gerald P. Nye (North Dakota), and James J. Davis (Pennsylvania).

Republicans defeated one Democratic incumbent: Guy M. Gillette (IA).

Retirements

Republicans took open seats in Indiana, Missouri, and New Jersey (where a Democrat had been appointed to a Republican vacancy).

Complete list of races

All elections are for the class 3 seats, unless otherwise noted.

State (Bold indicates link to separate election article)	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Alabama	Lister Hill	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Lister Hill (Democratic), 81.8% John A. Posey (Republican), 17.0%
Arizona	Carl Hayden	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Carl Hayden (Democratic), 69.4% Fred W. Fickett (Republican), 30.6%
Arkansas	Hattie W. Caraway	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	√ J. William Fulbright (Democratic), 85.1% Victor M. Wade (Republican), 14.9%
California	Sheridan Downey	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Sheridan Downey (Democratic), 52.3% Frederick F. Houser (Republican), 47.7%
Colorado	Eugene D. Millikin	Republican	Re-elected	√ Eugene D. Millikin (Republican), 56.1% Barney L. Whatley (Democratic), 43.0%
Connecticut	John A. Danaher	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	√ Brien McMahon (Democratic), 51.7% John A. Danaher (Republican), 47.3%
Florida	Claude Pepper	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Claude Pepper (Democratic), 71.3% Miles H. Draper (Republican), 28.7%
Georgia	Walter F. George	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Walter F. George (Democratic), Unopposed
Idaho	D. Worth Clark	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	√ Glen H. Taylor (Democratic), 51.1% C. A. Bottolfsen (Republican), 48.9%
Illinois	Scott W. Lucas	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Scott W. Lucas (Democratic), 52.6% Richard J. Lyons (Republican), 47.1%
Indiana Special: Class 3	Samuel D. Jackson	Democratic	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1945 Republican gain	√ William E. Jenner (Republican), 52.1% Henry F. Schricker (Democratic), [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Indiana General: Class 3			Appointee retired Winner elected to next term beginning January 3, 1945 Republican gain	√ Homer E. Capehart (Republican), 50.2% Henry F. Schricker (Democratic), 48.9%
Iowa	Guy M. Gillette	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	√ Bourke B. Hickenlooper (Republican), 51.3% Guy M. Gillette (Democratic), 48.4%
Kansas	Clyde M. Reed	Republican	Re-elected	√ Clyde M. Reed (Republican), 57.8% Thurman Hill (Democratic), 40.7%
Kentucky	Alben W. Barkley	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Alben W. Barkley (Democratic), 54.8% James Park (Republican), 44.9%
Louisiana	John H. Overton	Democratic	Re-elected	√ John H. Overton (Democratic), Unopposed
Maryland	Millard E. Tydings	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Millard E. Tydings (Democratic), 61.7% Blanchard Randall, Jr. (Republican), 38.3%
Massachusetts Special: Class 2	Sinclair Weeks	Republican	Appointee retired Republican hold	√ Leverett Saltonstall (Republican), 64.3% John H. Corcoran (Democratic), 34.9%
Missouri	Bennett Champ Clark	Democratic	Lost renomination Republican gain	√ Forrest C. Donnell (Republican), 50.0% Roy McKittrick (Democratic), 49.9%
Nevada	Patrick A. McCarran	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Patrick A. McCarran (Democratic), 58.4% George W. Malone (Republican), 41.6%
New Hampshire	Charles W. Tobey	Republican	Re-elected	√ Charles W. Tobey (Republican), 50.9% Joseph J. Betley (Democratic), 49.1%
New Jersey Special:Class 1	Arthur Walsh	Democratic	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term Republican gain	√ H. Alexander Smith (Republican), 50.4% Elmer H. Wene (Democratic), 48.8%
New York	Robert F. Wagner	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Robert F. Wagner (Democratic), 53.1% Thomas J. Curran (Republican), 46.7%
North Carolina	Robert R. Reynolds	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	√ Clyde R. Hoey (Democratic), 70.3% A. I. Ferree (Republican), 29.8%
North Dakota	Gerald P. Nye	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	√ John Moses (Democratic), 45.2% Gerald P. Nye (Republican), 33.0% Lynn U. Stambaugh (Independent), 21.2%
Ohio	Robert A. Taft	Republican	Re-elected	√ Robert A. Taft (Republican), 50.3% William G. Pickrel (Democratic), 49.7%
Oklahoma	Elmer Thomas	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Elmer Thomas (Democratic), 55.7% William J. Otjen (Republican), 44.0%
Oregon Special: Class 1	Guy Cordon	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term	√ Guy Cordon (Republican), 57.5% Willis Mahoney (Democratic), 42.5%
Oregon General	Rufus C. Holman	Republican	Lost renomination Republican hold	√ Wayne Morse (Republican), 60.7% Edgar W. Smith (Democratic), 39.3%
Pennsylvania	James J. Davis	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	√ Francis J. Myers (Democratic), 50.0% James J. Davis (Republican), 49.4%
South Carolina	Ellison D. Smith	Democratic	Lost renomination, and died before term ended Democratic hold	√ Olin B. Johnston (Democratic), Unopposed
South Dakota	Chandler Gurney	Republican	Re-elected	√ Chandler Gurney (Republican), 63.9% George M. Bradshaw (Democratic), 36.1%
Utah	Elbert D. Thomas	Democratic	Re-elected	√ Elbert D. Thomas (Democratic), 59.9% Adam S. Bennion (Republican), 40.1%
Vermont	George D. Aiken	Republican	Re-elected	√ George D. Aiken (Republican), 65.8% Harry W. Witters (Democratic), 34.2%
Washington	Homer T. Bone	Democratic	Resigned Winner elected to next term Winner appointed to finish term Democratic hold	√ Warren G. Magnuson (Democratic), 55.1% Harry P. Cain (Republican), 44.4% Ray C. Roberts (Socialist), 0.2% Josephine B. Sulston (Prohibition), 0.2%
Wisconsin	Alexander Wiley	Republican	Re-elected	√ Alexander Wiley (Republican), 50.5% Howard J. McMurray (Democratic), 42.8% Harry Sauthoff (Progressive), 5.8%

Senate composition before and after elections

78th Congress Senate Composition																									79th Congress Senate Composition
Color Key:   = Republican   = Democratic   = Progressive

See also

• United States presidential election, 1944
• United States House elections, 1944