United States Senate elections, 1930

United States Senate elections, 1930

November 4, 1930[1]

35 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader James Watson Joseph Robinson Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Indiana Arkansas Last election 56 seats 39 seats Seats won 48 47 Seat change 8 8   Third party   Party Farmer–Labor Last election 1 seat Seats before 1 Seats won 1 Seat change

Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain

Majority Leader before election James Watson Republican Elected Majority Leader James Watson Republican

The United States Senate elections of 1930 occurred in the middle of Republican President Herbert Hoover's first term. With the Great Depression beginning to take hold, Republican incumbents became unpopular,^[2] and Democrats picked up a net of eight seats, erasing the Republican gains from the previous election cycle. Republicans retained control of the chamber since Vice President Charles Curtis cast the tie-breaking vote.

This was the first of four consecutive Senate elections in the Depression in which Democrats made enormous gains, achieving a cumulative pick-up of 34 seats.

Gains and losses

The Republicans only gained one seat by defeating incumbent Daniel F. Steck (D-IA). The Democrats took open seats in Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, and West Virginia, and defeated five incumbents:

• Henry J. Allen (R-KS)
• John M. Robsion (R-KY)
• Roscoe C. McCulloch (R-OH)
• William B. Pine (R-OK)
• William H. McMaster (R-SD)

Notable freshmen were future Secretaries of State James F. Byrnes (D-SC) and Cordell Hull (D-TN).

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D18 D17 D16 D15 D14 D13 D12 D11 D10 D9 D19 D20 D21 D22 D23 D24 D25 D26 D27 D28 D38 D37 D36 D35 D34 D33 D32 D31 D30 D29 D39 FL1 R56 R55 R54 R53 R52 R51 R50 R49 Majority → R48 R39 R40 R41 R42 R43 R44 R45 R46 R47 R38 R37 R36 R35 R34 R33 R32 R31 R30 R29 R19 R20 R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R18 R17 R16 R15 R14 R13 R12 R11 R10 R9 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8

Note: FL1 (Minnesota seat): Henrik Shipstead (FL) was not up for election in 1930. He was a former Republican who became a Farmer–Laborite in 1922. Although the Farmer–Laborites would later merge with the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (in 1944), Shipstead and his contemporaries were not aligned with either major party. He would later rejoin the party in 1940.

Beginning of the next Congress

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D18 D17 D16 D15 D14 D13 D12 D11 D10 D9 D19 D20 D21 D22 D23 D24 D25 D26 D27 √ D28 √ D38 O D37 O D36 O D35 O D34 O D33 √ D32 √ D31 √ D30 √ D29 √ D39 + D40 + D41 + D42 + D43 + D44 + D45 + D46 + D47 + FL1 Majority (with Vice President's vote)→ R48 + R39 √ R40 √ R41 √ R42 √ R43 √ R44 O R45 O R46 O R47 O R38 √ R37 √ R36 √ R35 √ R34 R33 R32 R31 R30 R29 R19 R20 R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R18 R17 R16 R15 R14 R13 R12 R11 R10 R9 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8

Note: D34 O (Louisiana seat): Democratic Senator-elect Huey Long chose not to take his Senate seat until January 25, 1932 so he could remain as Governor of Louisiana. The Republicans therefore retained the plurality of seats at the beginning of the next Congress. With Vice President Charles Curtis (R) able to cast tie-breaking votes, the Republicans would have majority control with their 48 of the 96 seats. That slim control was further weakened in the last months of the next Congress with several mid-term seat changes.

Key:	D# Democratic FL# Farmer–Labor R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator elected from same party + Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Complete list of races

All races are for the Class 2 seats unless otherwise indicated. Bold states indicates link to election article.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Other candidates
Alabama	James Thomas Heflin	Democratic	Disqualified from primary for supporting Herbert Hoover. Lost general election as an independent Democratic hold	John H. Bankhead II (Democratic) 59.7% James Thomas Heflin (Independent) 40.3%
Arkansas	Joseph Taylor Robinson	Democratic	Re-elected	Joseph Taylor Robinson (Democratic) unopposed
Colorado	Lawrence C. Phipps	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Edward P. Costigan (Democratic) 55.9% George H. Shaw (Republican) 42.7%
Delaware	Daniel O. Hastings	Republican	Re-elected	Daniel O. Hastings (Republican) 54.5% Thomas F. Bayard, Jr. (Democratic) 45.4%
Georgia	William J. Harris	Democratic	Re-elected	William J. Harris (Democratic) unopposed
Idaho	William Borah	Republican	Re-elected	William Borah (Republican)72.4% Joseph M. Tyler (Democratic) 27.6%
Illinois	Charles S. Deneen	Republican	Lost renomination Democratic gain	James H. Lewis (Democratic) 64.0% Ruth H. McCormick (Republican) 30.7%
Iowa	Daniel F. Steck	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Lester J. Dickinson (Republican) 56.3% Daniel F. Steck (Democratic) 43.0%
Kansas General (Class 2)	Arthur Capper	Republican	Re-elected	Arthur Capper (Republican)61.1% Jonathan M. Davis (Democratic) 38.9%
Kansas Special (Class 3)	Henry J. Allen	Republican	Appointee lost election to finish term ending March 4, 1933 Democratic gain	George McGill (Democratic) 50.0% Henry J. Allen (Republican) 48.0%
Kentucky Special (Class 2)	John M. Robsion	Republican	Appointee lost election to finish the term ending March 4, 1931 Democratic gain	Ben M. Williamson (Democratic) 52.3% John M. Robsion (Republican) 47.7%[3]
Kentucky General (Class 2)		Appointee lost re-election to term starting March 4, 1931 Democratic gain	M. M. Logan (Democratic) 52.1% John M. Robsion (Republican) 47.9%[3]
Louisiana	Joseph E. Ransdell	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Huey Long (Democratic) unopposed
Maine	Arthur J. Gould	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Wallace H. White, Jr. (Republican) 60.9% Frank W. Haskell (Democratic) 39.1%
Massachusetts	Frederick H. Gillett	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Marcus A. Coolidge (Democratic) 54.0% William M. Butler (Republican) 44.7%
Michigan	James Couzens	Republican	Re-elected	James Couzens (Republican) 78.2% Thomas A. E. Weadock (Democratic) 20.9%
Minnesota	Thomas D. Schall	Republican	Re-elected	Thomas D. Schall (Republican) 37.6% Einar Hoidale (Democratic) 36.1% Ernest Lundeen (Farmer–Labor) 22.9%
Mississippi	Pat Harrison	Democratic	Re-elected	Pat Harrison (Democratic) unopposed
Montana	Thomas J. Walsh	Democratic	Re-elected	Thomas J. Walsh (Democratic) 60.3% Albert J. Galen (Republican) 37.9%
Nebraska	George W. Norris	Republican	Re-elected	George W. Norris (Republican) 56.8% Gilbert M. Hitchcock (Democratic) 39.7%
New Hampshire	Henry W. Keyes	Republican	Re-elected	Henry W. Keyes (Republican) 57.9% Albert W. Noone (Democratic) 41.9%
New Jersey Special (Class 2)	David Baird, Jr.	Republican	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish the term ending March 4, 1931 Republican hold	Dwight W. Morrow (Republican) 59.1% Alexander Simpson (Democratic) 38.6%[4]
New Jersey General (Class 2)		Appointee retired Winner elected to the next term starting March 4, 1931 Republican hold	Dwight W. Morrow (Republican) 58.5% Alexander Simpson (Democratic) 39.0%[4]
New Mexico	Sam G. Bratton	Democratic	Re-elected	Sam G. Bratton (Democratic) 58.6% Herbert B. Holt (Republican) 41.2%
North Carolina	Furnifold McLendel Simmons	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Josiah W. Bailey (Democratic) 60.6% George M. Pritchard (Republican) 39.4%
Ohio Special (Class 3)	Roscoe C. McCulloch	Republican	Appointee lost election to finish term ending March 4, 1933 Democratic gain	Robert J. Bulkley (Democratic) 54.8% Roscoe C. McCulloch (Republican) 45.2%
Oklahoma	William B. Pine	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Thomas P. Gore (Democratic) 52.3% William B. Pine (Republican) 47.5%
Oregon	Charles L. McNary	Republican	Re-elected	Charles L. McNary (Republican) 58.1% Elton Watkins (Democratic) 27.9% L. A. Banks (Independent) 7.4%
Pennsylvania Special (Class 3)	Joseph R. Grundy	Republican	Appointee lost nomination to finish term ending March 4, 1933 Republican hold	James J. Davis (Republican) 71.5% Sedgwick Kistler (Democratic) 25.6%
Rhode Island	Jesse H. Metcalf	Republican	Re-elected	Jesse H. Metcalf (Republican) 50.3% Peter G. Gerry (Democratic) 49.2%
South Carolina	Coleman Livingston Blease	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	James F. Byrnes (Democratic) unopposed
South Dakota	William H. McMaster	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	William J. Bulow (Democratic) 51.6% William H. McMaster (Republican) 48.4%
Tennessee	William Emerson Brock	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Cordell Hull (Democratic) 71.3% Paul E. Divine (Republican) 27.1%
Texas	Morris Sheppard	Democratic	Re-elected	Morris Sheppard (Democratic) 86.9% D. J. Haesly (Republican) 12.7%
Virginia	Carter Glass	Democratic	Re-elected	Carter Glass (Democratic) 76.7% J. Cloyd Byars (Independent) 17.9% Joe C. Morgan (Socialist) 5.4%
West Virginia	Guy D. Goff	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 61.9% James E. Jones (Republican) 37.9%
Wyoming Special (Class 2)	Patrick Joseph Sullivan	Republican	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish the term ending March 4, 1931 Republican hold	Robert D. Carey (Republican) 58.8% Henry H. Schwartz (Democratic) 41.2%[5]
Wyoming General (Class 2)		Appointee retired Winner elected to the next term starting March 4, 1931 Republican hold	Robert D. Carey (Republican) 59.1% Henry H. Schwartz (Democratic) 41.0%[5]

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 1930
• 72nd United States Congress

References

1. September 8, 1930 in Maine
2. "Republicans Lay Defeat to Slump". New York Times. November 6, 1930.
4. Our campaigns: Senate Class II – History
5. Our campaigns: Senate Class II – History