The 1922 United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania were held on November 7. David A. Reed, who was appointed in August 1922 to fill the vacancy created by the death of William E. Crow, was elected both to complete the remainder of Crow's term, ending in March 1923, and to a full six-year term in his own right, beginning upon the expiration of Crow's term.
Background Incumbent senator Philander C. Knox, who was elected in 1916 for a term set to expire in 1923, died on October 12, 1921. Pennsylvania governor William Cameron Sproul appointed state senator William E. Crow to fill the vacant seat on October 24 until a successor could be duly elected. The special election to complete Knox's term was scheduled for November 7, 1922, simultaneous with an election to the next term.
On December 31, 1921, senior U.S. senator Boies Penrose also died, creating another vacancy and setting off a contest for control of the Pennsylvania Republican Party.
Primary elections were held on May 16. Crow, who was ill, was not a candidate in the primary election and died himself on August 2. Sproul appointed David A. Reed, who by then had been nominated by the Republican Party for both elections to this seat, to fill the vacant seat until a successor could be duly elected.
Republican primaries Candidates John C. Lowry David A. Reed, Pittsburgh attorney and World War I field artillery major
Withdrew William J. Burke, U.S. representative from Pittsburgh (to run in the concurrent special election to complete Boies Penrose's term) William E. Crow, interim U.S. senator
Special primary
Regular primary
General elections Candidates David A. Reed, Pittsburgh attorney and interim U.S. senator (Republican) Rachel C. Robinson (Prohibition) William J. Van Essen (Socialist)
Special election results
Candidates
William J. Burke, U.S. representative from Pittsburgh (representing Pennsylvania at-large) (Progressive) David A. Reed, Pittsburgh attorney and interim U.S. senator (Republican) Rachel C. Robinson (Prohibition) Charles J. Schoales (Single Tax) Charles Sehl (Socialist) Samuel E. Shull (Democratic)
General election results
References