1928 United States Senate elections

The 1928 United States Senate elections were elections that coincided with the presidential election of Republican Herbert Hoover. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. The strong economy helped the Republicans to gain seven seats from the Democrats.

Senate Majority leader, Republican Charles Curtis of Kansas, was not up for election this cycle, but he was elected U.S. Vice President. He resigned March 3, 1929, so his seat was vacant at the beginning of the next Congress until April 1, 1929, when a Republican was appointed to continue the term.

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

StateSenatorReplaced by Connecticut Missouri New Mexico (special)

Defeats Seven Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Delaware Maryland New Jersey Ohio (special) Rhode Island Texas West Virginia

Disqualification Two Republicans were elected in 1926, but disqualified from taking office. One resigned on February 9, 1928, and the seat was filled in the 1928 election. One resigned December 6, 1929 and the seat was filled by appointment.

StateSenatorReplaced by Illinois Pennsylvania

Post-election changes

StateSenatorReplaced by New Jersey Ohio Kentucky Tennessee Wyoming

Change in composition

Before the elections At the beginning of 1928.

  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 FL V V Plurality ↓ 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 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 FL V V R R R R R R R Majority → 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 R R R R R R R R R R Key D Democratic FL Farmer–Labor R Republican V Vacant

Race summary

Special elections during the 70th Congress In these special elections, the winner were seated during 1928; ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Idaho(Class 3) John Thomas Republican 1928 Frank R. Gooding (R) died June 24, 1928, and Thomas was appointed June 30, 1928, to continue the term.Interim appointee elected November 6, 1928. Illinois(Class 3) Vacant 1926 Senator-elect Frank L. Smith (R) had been disqualified and resigned February 9, 1928.New senator elected November 6, 1928.Republican hold. Michigan(Class 1) Arthur Vandenberg Republican 1928 Woodbridge N. Ferris (D) died March 23, 1928, and Vandenberg was appointed to continue the term.Interim appointee elected November 6, 1928.Winner was also elected to the next term, see below. New Mexico(Class 1) Bronson M. Cutting Republican1927 Interim appointee did not run to finish the term, but was elected to the next term, see below.New senator elected November 6, 1928.Republican hold. Ohio(Class 3) Cyrus Locher Democratic 1928 Frank B. Willis (R) died March 30, 1928, and Locher was appointed to continue the term.Interim appointee lost nomination.New senator elected November 6, 1928.Republican gain.

Elections leading to the 71st Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1929; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats, unless otherwise indicated.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Arizona Henry F. Ashurst Democratic 191219161922 Incumbent re-elected. California Hiram Johnson Republican 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut George P. McLean Republican 19111922 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Republican hold. Delaware Thomas F. Bayard Jr. Democratic 1922 1922 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Florida Park Trammell Democratic 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Arthur Raymond Robinson Republican 1926 Incumbent re-elected. Maine Frederick Hale Republican 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland William Cabell Bruce Democratic 1922 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Massachusetts David I. Walsh Democratic 1926 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Arthur Vandenberg Republican 1928 Interim appointee elected.Winner was also elected to finish the current term, see above. Minnesota Henrik Shipstead Farmer–Labor 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Mississippi Hubert D. Stephens Democratic 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri James A. Reed Democratic 191019161922 Incumbent retired.New senator elected.Republican gain. Montana Burton K. Wheeler Democratic 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Nebraska Robert B. Howell Republican 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Nevada Key Pittman Democratic 1913 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. New Jersey Edward I. Edwards Democratic 1922 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. New Mexico Bronson M. Cutting Republican1927 Interim appointee elected.Winner was not elected to finish the current term, see above. New York Royal S. Copeland Democratic 1922 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Lynn Frazier Republican 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Simeon D. Fess Republican 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Pennsylvania David A. Reed Republican 1922 1922 1922 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Peter G. Gerry Democratic 19161922 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Tennessee Kenneth McKellar Democratic 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Texas Earle B. Mayfield Democratic 1922 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected.Democratic hold. Utah William H. King Democratic 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Frank L. Greene Republican 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Virginia Claude A. Swanson Democratic 1910 1911 1912 19161922 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Clarence Dill Democratic 1922 Incumbent re-elected. West Virginia Matthew M. Neely Democratic 1922 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected.Republican gain. Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette Jr. Republican 1925 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming John B. Kendrick Democratic 19161922 Incumbent re-elected.

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

State Party of winner Margin New York Democratic 1.2% Rhode Island Republican (flip) 1.3% West Virginia Republican (flip) 1.5% Missouri Republican (flip) 4.0% Montana Democratic 6.4% Washington Democratic 6.9% Wyoming Democratic 7.4% Massachusetts Democratic 8.1% Connecticut Republican 8.3% Arizona Democratic 8.6% Maryland Republican (flip) 8.9% Illinois Republican (flip) 9.6%

New Mexico was the tipping point state with a margin of 15.4%.

Arizona

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Idaho (special)

Illinois (special)

Indiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

First-term Democrat Woodbridge N. Ferris died March 23, 1928.

On March 31, 1928, Governor Fred W. Green appointed 44-year-old Republican Arthur H. Vandenberg to fill the vacancy, pending a special election. Green considered resigning so he could be appointed to the vacancy. He also considered several other candidates, including former governors Albert Sleeper and Chase Osborn. In addition, Green considered Representative Joseph W. Fordney, who would have been a placeholder until the election for the remainder of Ferris' term. Green finally decided upon Vandenberg, who immediately declared his intention to stand for election to both the short, unexpired term and the full six-year term. Both the special and the general elections were held the same day, November 6, 1928.

Michigan (regular)

Michigan (special)

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

Two-term Democrat Andrieus A. Jones died December 20, 1927. Republican Bronson M. Cutting was appointed December 29, 1927, to continue the term, pending a special election in which he was not a candidate.

New Mexico (special)

Larrazolo was not a candidate, however, for the next term. After leaving office, Larrazolo died on April 7, 1930.

New Mexico (regular)

Cutting would be re-elected in 1934 but died May 6, 1935.

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

There were 2 elections due to the March 30, 1928, death of Republican Frank B. Willis.

Ohio (regular)

Ohio (special)

Democrat Cyrus Locher was appointed April 5, 1928, to continue the term, pending the special election, in which he lost his party's nomination.

Burton, in turn, died October 28, 1929, triggering another interim appointment and special election before the 1933 end of the term.

Pennsylvania

|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | colspan="3" align="right" | Totals | align="right" | 3,026,864 | align="right" | 100.00% | align="right" |

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

See also 1928 United States elections 1928 United States presidential election 1928 United States House of Representatives elections 70th United States Congress 71st United States Congress

Notes

References