The 1934 United States Senate elections were held in the middle of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. During the Great Depression, voters strongly backed Roosevelt's New Deal and his allies in the Senate, with Democrats picking up a net of nine seats, giving them a supermajority (which required 64 seats, two-thirds of the total 96 seats in 1934). Republicans later lost three more seats due to mid-term vacancies (one to Farmer-Labor and two to Democrats); however, a Democrat in Iowa died and the seat remained vacant until the next election. The Democrats entered the next election with a 70-22-2-1 majority.

This marked the second of three times since the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 that the opposition party failed to flip any Senate seats in a midterm election, alongside 1914 and 2022.

A number of historic figures were first elected to the Senate in 1934, including future President Harry S. Truman, future Federal District Judge and Labor Secretary Lewis B. Schwellenbach, and future Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton. This election cycle currently holds the record for the number of defeated non-presidential party incumbents, with eight.

Gains, losses, and holds Retirements Two Democrats and one Republican retired instead of seeking re-election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Maryland Nebraska (special) Nebraska Washington

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

StateSenatorReplaced by Connecticut Indiana Mississippi Missouri Montana (special) New Jersey Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island West Virginia

Party switches One Republican won re-election as a Progressive.

StateSenatorReplaced by Wisconsin

Post-election changes

StateSenatorReplaced by New Mexico Florida (class 1) Florida (class 1) Florida (class 3) Florida (class 3) Louisiana Michigan Minnesota

Change in composition

Before the elections At the beginning of 1934.

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 D D FL 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

Elections result

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 D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R P FL D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Key D Democratic FL Farmer–Labor P Progressive R Republican

Race summaries

Elections during the 73rd Congress In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1934; ordered by election date then by state.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Vermont(Class 3) Ernest W. Gibson Republican 1933 Interim appointee elected January 16, 1934. Montana(Class 2) John E. Erickson Democratic 1933 Interim appointee lost nomination.New senator elected November 6, 1934.Democratic hold. Nebraska(Class 1) William H. Thompson Democratic 1933 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 6, 1934.Democratic hold.Winner was not elected to the next term, see below. New Mexico(Class 2) Carl Hatch Democratic 1933 Interim appointee elected November 6, 1934. Tennessee(Class 2) Nathan L. Bachman Democratic 1933 Interim appointee elected November 6, 1934. Wyoming(Class 1) Joseph C. O'Mahoney Democratic 1933 Interim appointee elected November 6, 1934.Winner was also elected to the next term, see below.

Elections leading to the 74th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1935; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Arizona Henry F. Ashurst Democratic 1912191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. California Hiram Johnson Republican 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut Frederic C. Walcott Republican 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Delaware John G. Townsend Jr. Republican 1928 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Park Trammell Democratic 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Arthur Raymond Robinson Republican 1925 1926 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Maine Frederick Hale Republican 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Phillips Lee Goldsborough Republican 1928 Incumbent retired to run for Governor of Maryland.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Massachusetts David I. Walsh Democratic 1926 1928 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Arthur Vandenberg Republican 1928 1928 1928 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota Henrik Shipstead Farmer–Labor 19221928 Incumbent re-elected. Mississippi Hubert D. Stephens Democratic 19221928 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Democratic hold. Missouri Roscoe C. Patterson Republican 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Montana Burton K. Wheeler Democratic 19221928 Incumbent re-elected. Nebraska William H. Thompson Democratic 1933 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Democratic hold.Winner was not elected to finish the current term; see above. Nevada Key Pittman Democratic 1913 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. New Jersey Hamilton F. Kean Republican 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. New Mexico Bronson M. Cutting Republican 1927 1928 1928 Incumbent re-elected. New York Royal S. Copeland Democratic 19221928 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Lynn Frazier Republican 19221928 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Simeon D. Fess Republican 19221928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Pennsylvania David A. Reed Republican 1922 1922 19221928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Rhode Island Felix Hebert Republican 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Tennessee Kenneth McKellar Democratic 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. Texas Tom Connally Democratic 1928 Incumbent re-elected. Utah William H. King Democratic 191619221928 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Warren Austin Republican 1931 Incumbent re-elected. Virginia Harry F. Byrd Democratic 1933 1933 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Clarence Dill Democratic 19221928 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Democratic hold. West Virginia Henry D. Hatfield Republican 1928 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Democratic gain. Winner was seated late on June 21, 1935, when he turned 30, due to not having satisfied the constitutional requirement to serve. Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette Jr. Republican 1925 1928 Incumbent re-elected as a Progressive.Progressive gain. Wyoming Joseph C. O'Mahoney Democratic 1933 Interim appointee elected.Winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above.

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

State Party of winner Margin Maine Republican 0.4% New Mexico Republican 0.8% Vermont Republican 2.6% Connecticut Democratic (flip) 3.5% Indiana Democratic (flip) 4.0% Michigan Republican 4.3% Pennsylvania Democratic (flip) 4.3% Utah Democratic 7.7% Delaware Republican 7.1% New Mexico (special) Democratic 9.5%

Virginia was the tipping point state with a margin of 55.1%.

Arizona

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Indiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Montana (regular)

Montana (special)

Nebraska

Nebraska (regular)

Nebraska (special)

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

New Mexico (regular)

New Mexico (special)

New York

In New York, the whole Democratic ticket was elected in the third landslide in a row.

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

There were two elections due to a resignation.

Tennessee (regular)

Three-term Democrat Kenneth D. McKellar was easily re-elected.

Tennessee (special)

One-term Democrat Cordell Hull resigned March 3, 1933 to become U.S. Secretary of State.

Democrat Nathan L. Bachman was appointed to continue Hull's term, pending a special election which Bachman easily won.

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Vermont (regular)

Vermont (special)

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

There were two elections to the same seat due to the November 3, 1933 death of Democrat John B. Kendrick. Democrat Joseph C. O'Mahoney was appointed to continue the term, pending a special election. O'Mahoney won both the special election and the regular election to the next term.

Wyoming (regular)

Wyoming (special)

O'Mahoney would be re-elected twice and serve until his 1952 defeat.

See also 1934 United States elections 1934 United States House of Representatives elections 73rd United States Congress 74th United States Congress

Notes

References