The 1944 United States Senate elections coincided with the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to his fourth term as president. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies.

The Democrats retained their large majority, although they lost a net of one seat to the Republicans. Republicans won open seats in Indiana, New Jersey, and Missouri; and they also defeated an incumbent in Iowa. However, Democrats defeated incumbents in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota, marking their first flips in the Senate since 1936. The Democratic majority was further reduced to 56-39-1 through midterm appointments.

Results summary + ↓ 57 1 38 Democratic P Republican

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row. Parties Total Democratic Republican Progressive Other Last elections (1942) 57 38 1 0 96 Before these elections 58 37 1 0 96 Not up 36 24 1 — 61 Up 22 13 0 — 35 21 11 0 — 32 1 0 — — 1 0 2 — — 2 Incumbent retired 4 1 — — 5 2 1 — — 3 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans — — 2 2 3 0 0 5 Incumbent ran 18 12 — — 30 13 8 — — 21 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — 4 3 1 — — 4 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — 1 19 11 0 0 30 Total elected 21 14 0 0 35 Net change 1 1 1 Nationwide vote 19,360,257 18,557,087 73,089 1,211,148 39,201,581 Share 49.39% 47.34% 0.19% 3.09% 100% Result 57 38 1 0 96

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

Gains, losses, and holds Retirements One Republican retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term, one Democrat retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term, one Democrat retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term and election to a full term and two Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Indiana (special) Indiana Massachusetts (special) New Jersey (special) North Carolina Washington

Defeats Four Republicans and five Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Arkansas Connecticut Idaho Iowa Missouri North Dakota Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina

Post election changes StateSenatorReplaced by Alabama California Nevada Connecticut North Dakota Ohio Idaho Kentucky Virginia Missouri Washington

Change in composition

Before the elections At the beginning of 1944.   D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D D D D D D D D D D P R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Election results   D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D P D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Key D Democratic P Progressive R Republican

Race summaries

Special elections during the 78th Congress In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1944 or before January 3, 1945; ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history IndianaClass 3 Democratic 1944 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 7, 1944.Republican gain.Winner did not run for the next term, see below. MassachusettsClass 2 Republican 1944 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 7, 1944.Republican hold. New JerseyClass 1 Democratic 1943 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 7, 1944.Republican gain. OregonClass 2 Republican 1944 Interim appointee elected November 7, 1944.

Races leading to the 79th Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1945; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Alabama Democratic 1938 1938 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Arizona Democratic 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. Arkansas Democratic 1931 1932 19321938 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Democratic hold. California Democratic 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Colorado Republican 1941 1942 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut Republican 1938 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Florida Democratic 1936 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Georgia Democratic 1922 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. Idaho Democratic 1938 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Democratic hold. Illinois Democratic 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Democratic 1944 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected.Republican gain.Winner did not run to finish the term, see above. Iowa Democratic 1936 1938 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Kansas Republican 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Kentucky Democratic 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. Louisiana Democratic 19321938 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Democratic 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri Democratic 19321933 1938 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Republican gain. Nevada Democratic 19321938 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire Republican 1938 Incumbent re-elected. New York Democratic 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. North Carolina Democratic 19321932 1938 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Democratic hold. North Dakota Republican 1925 1926 19321938 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Ohio Republican 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Oklahoma Democratic 192619321938 Incumbent re-elected. Oregon Republican 1938 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Republican hold. Pennsylvania Republican 1930 19321938 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. South Carolina Democratic 190919141920192619321938 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Democratic hold.Incumbent died November 17, 1944.Wilton E. Hall appointed just to finish the term. South Dakota Republican 1938 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Democratic 19321938 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Republican 1940 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Democratic 19321938 Incumbent retired to become Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals.New senator elected.Democratic hold.Incumbent resigned November 13, 1944, and winner was appointed December 14 to finish the term. Wisconsin Republican 1938 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races Fourteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:

State Party of winner Margin Missouri Republican (flip) 0.1% Ohio Republican 0.6% Pennsylvania Democratic (flip) 0.6% Indiana (regular) Republican 1.3% New Jersey (special) Republican (flip) 1.6% New Hampshire Republican 1.8% Idaho Democratic 2.2% Iowa Republican (flip) 2.9% Connecticut Democratic (flip) 4.4% California Democratic 4.6% Indiana (special) Republican (flip) 5.0% Illinois Democratic 5.5% New York Democratic 6.4% Wisconsin Republican 7.7% Kentucky Democratic 9.9%

Utah was the tipping point state with a margin of 19.8%.

Alabama

Arizona

Three-term Democrat Carl T. Hayden was easily re-elected.

Hayden would be re-elected three more times before retiring in 1962.

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

There were 2 elections in Indiana, due to the January 25, 1944, death of Democrat Frederick Van Nuys.

Democrat Samuel D. Jackson was appointed to continue the term, pending a special election. Republican William E. Jenner won the special election to finish the term, and Republican Homer E. Capehart won the general election to the next term.

Indiana (special)

Indiana (regular)

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts (special)

Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. resigned February 3, 1944, to return to active duty in the U.S. Army during World War II. Republican Sinclair Weeks was appointed February 8 to continue the term until an election was held. A special election was held on November 7 with Republican Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall defeating his challengers. He didn't take office until January 4, 1945, when his term as Governor ended.

Missouri

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey (special)

New York

The Socialist Labor state convention met on April 2 at the Cornish Arms Hotel, the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street, in New York City. They nominated Eric Hass for the U.S. Senate. At that time, the party used the name "Industrial Government Party" on the ballot, but was also referred to as the "Industrial Labor Party".

The Liberal Party was organized by a state convention with about 1,100 delegates who met on May 19 and 20 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. They endorsed the incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner for re-election. The party filed a petition to nominate candidates which was allowed by Secretary of State Curran on August 25.

The Republican State Committee met on August 8 at Albany, New York. They nominated Secretary of State Thomas J. Curran for the U.S. Senate.

The Democratic State Committee met on August 8 at the National Democratic Club at 233, Madison Avenue in New York City. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner.

The American Labor state convention met on August 10. They endorsed the Democratic nominee Wagner.

The Democratic/American Labor/Liberal ticket was elected and incumbent Wagner was re-elected.

Democratic Robert F. Wagner 2,485,735 Republican Thomas J. Curran 2,899,497 American Labor Robert F. Wagner 483,785 Liberal Robert F. Wagner 325,056 Industrial Government Eric Hass 15,244

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Oregon (special)

Oregon (regular)

Incumbent Republican Rufus C. Holman ran for re-election, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Wayne Morse.

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Utah

Incumbent Democratic Senator Elbert D. Thomas won a third term. As of 2022, this is the last time that a Democrat was elected to Utah's class 3 Senate seat.

Vermont

Washington

Wisconsin

See also 1944 United States elections 1944 United States presidential election 1944 United States gubernatorial elections 1944 United States House of Representatives elections 78th United States Congress 79th United States Congress

Notes

References