United States Senate elections, 1936

November 3, 1936^[1]

36 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Joseph Robinson	Charles McNary
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	Arkansas	Oregon
Last election	69 seats	25 seats
Seats before	71	22
Seats won	76	16
Seat change	5	6

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Farmer–Labor	Progressive
Last election	1 seat	1 seat
Seats before	1	1
Seats won	2	1
Seat change	1

Republican hold

Republican gain

Democratic hold

Democratic gain

Farmer-Labor hold

Independent gain

Majority Leader before election

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Joseph Robinson
Democratic

The United States Senate elections, 1936 coincided with the re-election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Great Depression continued, and voters backed progressive candidates favoring Roosevelt's New Deal in races across the country. The Democrats gained 6 net seats during the election, and in combination with Democratic and Farmer-Labor interim appointments and the defection of George W. Norris from the Republican Party to become independent, the Republicans were reduced to 16 seats, the most lopsided Senate since Reconstruction. This was the last of four consecutive elections where Republicans suffered losses due to the ongoing effects of the Great Depression.

The Republicans took one open seat in Massachusetts, while the Democrats took open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire and defeated incumbents Daniel O. Hastings (R-DE), Lester J. Dickinson (R-IA), W. Warren Barbour (R-NJ), Jesse H. Metcalf (R-RI), and Robert D. Carey (R-WY).

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁	D₅₀
		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	D₄₀	D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈
Majority →									D₄₉
D₅₉	D₆₀	D₆₁	D₆₂	D₆₃	D₆₄	D₆₅	D₆₆	D₆₇	D₆₈
R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	FL₂	V₁	V₂	D₆₉
R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇
		FL₁	P₁	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆

End of this Congress

Peter Norbeck (R-SD) died December 20, 1936. Herbert E. Hitchcock (D-SD) was appointed December 29, 1936 to continue the term ending January 3, 1939.

		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	D₄₀	D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈
Majority →									D₄₉
D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁	D₅₀
D₅₉	D₆₀	D₆₁	D₆₂	D₆₃	D₆₄	D₆₅	D₆₆	D₆₇ O	D₆₈ O
R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	D₇₁ +	R₂₂ +	V₁	D₇₀ +	D₆₉ O
R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇
		FL₁	P₁	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆

Beginning of the next Congress

Senator-elect Clyde L. Herring (D-IA) waited for his gubernatorial term to end on January 15, 1937, before qualifying as a Senator.

D₅₈ √	D₅₇ √	D₅₆ √	D₅₅ √	D₅₄ √	D₅₃ √	D₅₂ √	D₅₁ √	D₅₀ √
		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	D₄₀	D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈ √
Majority →									D₄₉ √
D₅₉ √	D₆₀ √	D₆₁ √	D₆₂ √	D₆₃ √	D₆₄ O	D₆₅ O	D₆₆ O	D₆₇ O	D₆₈ O
FL₂ O	I₁ @	V₁ +	D₇₅ +	D₇₄ +	D₇₃ +	D₇₂ +	D₇₁ +	D₇₀ +	D₆₉ +
R₁₆ O	R₁₅ √	R₁₄ √	R₁₃ √	R₁₂ √	R₁₁ √	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇
		FL₁	P₁	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆

Key:

D	Democratic
FL	Farmer-Labor
P	Progressive
R	Republican
I	Independent
V	Vacant

√	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
@	Party gain: Incumbent senator re-elected from different party

Complete list of races

All races are for the Class 2 seat, unless otherwise indicated.

Bold states indicate links to election articles. Bold candidates indicate winners.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Alabama	John H. Bankhead II	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	John H. Bankhead II (Democratic) 87.0% H. E. Berkstresser (Republican) 12.2%
Arkansas	Joseph T. Robinson	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Joseph T. Robinson (Democratic) 81.8% G. C. Ledbetter (Republican) 16.4%
Colorado	Edward P. Costigan	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) 63.5% Raymond L. Sauter (Republican) 35.3%
Delaware	Daniel O. Hastings	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	James H. Hughes (Democratic) 53.0% Daniel O. Hastings (Republican) 41.4% Robert G. Houston (Independent) 5.4%
Florida Special: Class 1	Scott M. Loftin	Democratic	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1941 Democratic hold	Charles O. Andrews (Democratic) 80.9% Howard C. Babcock (Republican) 19.1%
Florida Special: Class 3	William Luther Hill	Democratic	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1939 Democratic hold	Claude Pepper (Democratic) unopposed
Georgia	Richard Russell, Jr.	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Richard Russell, Jr. (Democratic) unopposed
Idaho	William E. Borah	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	William E. Borah (Republican) 63.4% C. Ben Ross (Democratic) 36.6%
Illinois	James H. Lewis	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	James H. Lewis (Democratic) 56.5% Otis F. Glenn (Republican) 40.7%
Iowa	Lester J. Dickinson	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Clyde L. Herring (Democratic) 50.5% Lester J. Dickinson (Republican) 47.1%
Iowa Special: Class 3	Vacant		Richard L. Murphy died July 16, 1936 Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1939 Democratic gain	Guy M. Gillette (Democratic) 51.9% Berry F. Halden (Republican) 46.6%
Kansas	Arthur Capper	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Arthur Capper (Republican) 51.0% Omar B. Ketchum (Democratic) 48.4%
Kentucky	Marvel M. Logan	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Marvel M. Logan (Democratic) 58.8% Robert M. Lucas (Republican) 39.8%
Louisiana	Rose McConnell Long	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Allen J. Ellender (Democratic) unopposed
Maine	Wallace H. White, Jr.	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Wallace H. White, Jr. (Republican) 50.8% Louis J. Brann (Democratic) 49.3%
Massachusetts	Marcus A. Coolidge	Democratic	Incumbent retired Republican gain	Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Republican) 48.5% James Michael Curley (Democratic) 41.0% Thomas C. O'Brien (Independent) 7.4%
Michigan	Vacant James G. Couzens Died October 22nd 1936	Republican incumbent lost renomination, then died, Winner was later appointed for a lame duck session of Congress Democratic gain	Prentiss M. Brown (Democratic) 53.3% Wilber M. Brucker (Republican) 41.8%
Minnesota Special: Class 2	Vacant James G. Couzens Died October 22nd 1936	Elmer Austin Benson	Farmer-Labor	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937 Republican gain	Guy V. Howard (Republican) 42.89% Nathaniel J. Holmberg (Republican) 28.42% Andrews O. Devold (Republican) 19.98% John G. Alexander (Republican) 8.71%
Minnesota General: Class 2	Winner elected to term beginning January 3, 1937 Farmer-Labor gain	Elmer Austin Benson	Ernest Lundeen (Farmer-Labor) 62.2% Theodore Christianson (Republican) 37.8%
Mississippi	Pat Harrison	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Pat Harrison (Democratic) unopposed
Montana	James E. Murray	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	James E. Murray (Democratic) 55.0% Thomas O. Larson (Republican) 27.1% Joseph P. Monaghan (Independent) 17.9%
Nebraska	George W. Norris	Republican	Incumbent re-elected as an Independent Independent gain	George W. Norris (Independent) 43.8% Robert G. Simmons (Republican) 37.8% Terry Carpenter (Democratic) 18.4%
New Hampshire	Henry W. Keyes	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Styles Bridges (Republican) 51.9% William N. Rogers (Democratic) 47.7%
New Jersey	W. Warren Barbour	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	William H. Smathers (Democratic) 54.9% W. Warren Barbour (Republican) 44.3%
New Mexico	Carl A. Hatch	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Carl A. Hatch (Democratic) 61.7% Ernest W. Everly (Republican) 38.3%
New Mexico Special: Class 1	Dennis Chavez	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1941	Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 55.7% M. A. Otero, Jr. (Republican) 44.2%
North Carolina	Josiah W. Bailey	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Josiah W. Bailey (Democratic) 70.8% Frank R. Patton (Republican) 29.2%
Oklahoma	Thomas P. Gore	Democratic	Incumbent lost renomination Democratic hold	Josh Lee (Democratic) 68.0% Herbert K. Hyde (Republican) 31.6%
Oregon	Charles L. McNary	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Charles L. McNary (Republican) 51.0% Willis Mahoney (Democratic) 48.4%
Rhode Island	Jesse H. Metcalf	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election^[2] Democratic gain	Theodore F. Green (Democratic) 48.6% Jesse H. Metcalf (Republican) 44.4% Ludger LaPointe (Independent) 7.0%
South Carolina	James F. Byrnes	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	James F. Byrnes (Democratic) unopposed
South Dakota	William J. Bulow	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	William J. Bulow (Democratic) 48.8% Chandler Gurney (Republican) 46.8%
Tennessee	Nathan L. Bachman	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Nathan L. Bachman (Democratic) 76.4% Dwayne D. Maddox (Republican) 18.8%
Texas	Morris Sheppard	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Morris Sheppard (Democratic) 92.6% Carlos G. Watson (Republican) 7.1%
Virginia	Carter Glass	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Carter Glass (Democratic) 91.7%
West Virginia	Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Matthew M. Neely (Democratic) 59.1% Hugh I. Shott (Republican) 40.9%
Wyoming	Robert D. Carey	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Harry H. Schwartz (Democratic) 53.8% Robert D. Carey (Republican) 45.4%

References

↑ September 14, 1936 in Maine
↑ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=271