United States Senate elections, 1934

United States Senate elections, 1934

November 6, 1934
36 of the 96 seats in the United States Senate 49 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   145px Leader Joseph Robinson Charles McNary Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Arkansas Oregon Last election 59 seats 36 seats Seats before 60 35 Seats won 69 25 Seat change 9 10   Third party Fourth party   Party Farmer–Labor Progressive Last election 1 seat 0 seats Seats before 1 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1
Republican hold   Democratic holds   Democratic gain   Farmer–Labor hold   Progressive gain
Majority Leader before election Joseph Robinson Democratic Elected Majority Leader Joseph Robinson Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1934 occurred in the middle of Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term. In the middle of the Great Depression, voters strongly backed Roosevelt's New Deal and his allies in the Senate. The Democrats picked up a net of nine seats, giving them a supermajority (which required 64 seats, two-thirds of the total 96 seats in 1934). This marked the first time since the Civil War where an incumbent president's party gained seats during a midterm election, later being followed by Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W. Bush in 2002.

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	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48
Majority →									D49
D58	D57	D56	D55	D54	D53	D52	D51	D50
D59	D60	FL1	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

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	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30	D29
D39	D40	D41	D42	D43	D44 √	D45 √	D46 √	D47 √	D48 √
Majority →									D49 √
D58 O	D57 O	D56 √	D55 √	D54 √	D53 √	D52 √	D51 √	D50 √
D59 O	D60 O	D61 +	D62 +	D63 +	D64 +	D65 +	D66 +	D67 +	D68 +
R19 √	R20 √	R21 √	R22 √	R23 √	R24 √	R25 √	P1 +	FL1 √	D69 +
R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11	R10	R9
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8

Key:	D# Democratic FL# Farmer–Labor P# Progressive 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 @ Party gain: Incumbent senator re-elected from different party

Gains and losses

The Democrats took nine Republican seats, including an open seat in Maryland and the seats of eight incumbents.

Losing incumbents

1. Connecticut: Frederic C. Walcott (R) lost to Francis T. Maloney (D)
2. Indiana: Arthur Raymond Robinson (R) lost to Sherman Minton (D)
3. Missouri: Roscoe C. Patterson (R) lost to Harry S. Truman (D)
4. New Jersey: Hamilton F. Kean (R) lost to A. Harry Moore (D)
5. Ohio: Simeon D. Fess (R) lost to Vic Donahey (D)
6. Pennsylvania: David A. Reed (R) lost to Joseph F. Guffey (D)
7. Rhode Island: Felix Hebert (R) lost to Peter G. Gerry (D)
8. West Virginia: Henry D. Hatfield (R) lost to Rush D. Holt (D)

Retirement

1. Maryland: George L. P. Radcliffe (D) picked up the seat when Phillips Lee Goldsborough (R) retired.

Party change

1. Republicans suffered an additional loss when Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (WI) left the Republican Party to join the Progressive Party.

Complete list of races

Bold state indicates election article link. Bold candidate indicates winner.

Separate election

Date	State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
January 16, 1934	Vermont Special: Class 3	Ernest W. Gibson	Republican	Appointee elected to finish term	Ernest W. Gibson (Republican), 58.2% Harry W. Witters (Democratic), 41.8%

November elections

All races are for the Class 1 seat, unless otherwise noted.

Bold states link to articles about the individual elections.

State	Incumbent	Party	Results	Candidates
Arizona	Henry F. Ashurst	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Henry F. Ashurst (Democratic) 72.0% J. E. Thompson (Republican) 25.6%
California	Hiram W. Johnson	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Hiram W. Johnson (Republican) 94.5% George R. Kirkpatrick (Socialist) 5.3%
Connecticut	Frederic C. Walcott	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Francis T. Maloney (Democratic) 51.8% Frederic C. Walcott (Republican) 48.3%
Delaware	John G. Townsend, Jr.	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	John G. Townsend, Jr. (Republican) 53.3% Wilbur L. Adams (Democratic) 46.2%
Florida	Park Trammell	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Park Trammell (Democratic) unopposed
Indiana	Arthur Raymond Robinson	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Sherman Minton (Democratic) 51.5% Arthur Raymond Robinson (Republican) 47.5%
Maine	Frederick Hale	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Frederick Hale (Republican) 50.1% Frederick Harold Dubord (Democratic) 49.7%
Maryland	Phillips Lee Goldsborough	Republican	Incumbent retired Democratic gain	George L. P. Radcliffe (Democratic) 56.1% Joseph I. France (Republican) 42.0%
Massachusetts	David I. Walsh	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	David I. Walsh (Democratic) 59.4% Robert M. Washburn (Republican) 37.4%
Michigan	Arthur H. Vandenberg	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Arthur H. Vandenberg (Republican) 51.3% Frank A. Picard (Democratic) 47.0% John Monarch (Socialist), 1.7%
Minnesota	Henrik Shipstead	Farmer–Labor	Incumbent re-elected	Henrik Shipstead (Farmer–Labor) 49.9% Einar Hoidale (Democratic) 29.2% N. J. Holmberg (Republican) 19.8%
Mississippi	Hubert D. Stephens	Democratic	Incumbent lost renomination Democratic hold	Theodore G. Bilbo (Democratic) unopposed
Missouri	Roscoe C. Patterson	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Harry S. Truman (Democratic) 59.5% Roscoe C. Patterson (Republican) 39.7% W. C. Meyer (Socialist) 0.7%
Montana	Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Burton K. Wheeler (Democratic) 70.1% George M. Bourquin (Republican) 28.7%
Montana Special: Class 2	John E. Erickson	Democratic	Appointee lost nomination Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937 Democratic hold	James E. Murray (Democratic) 59.6% Scott Leavitt (Republican) 39.5%
Nebraska	Richard C. Hunter	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Edward R. Burke (Democratic) 55.3% Robert G. Simmons (Republican) 42.9%
Nevada	Key Pittman	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Key Pittman (Democratic) 64.5% George W. Malone (Republican) 33.4%
New Jersey	Hamilton F. Kean	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	A. Harry Moore (Democratic) 57.9% Hamilton F. Kean (Republican) 40.9%
New Mexico	Bronson M. Cutting	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Bronson M. Cutting (Republican) 50.2% Dennis Chavez (Democratic) 49.4%
New Mexico Special: Class 2	Carl A. Hatch	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937	Carl A. Hatch (Democratic) 54.5% Richard C. Dillon (Republican) 45.0%
New York	Royal S. Copeland	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Royal S. Copeland (Democratic) 55.3% E. Harold Cluett (Republican) 36.9% Norman Thomas (Socialist) 5.3%
North Dakota	Lynn J. Frazier	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Lynn J. Frazier (Republican) 58.2% Henry Holt (Democratic) 40.2%
Ohio	Simeon D. Fess	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Vic Donahey (Democratic) 60.0% Simeon D. Fess (Republican) 39.4%
Pennsylvania	David A. Reed	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Joseph F. Guffey (Democratic) 50.8% David A. Reed (Republican) 46.5%
Rhode Island	Felix Hebert	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Peter G. Gerry (Democratic) 57.1% Felix Hebert (Republican) 42.9%
Tennessee	Kenneth D. McKellar	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Kenneth D. McKellar (Democratic) 63.4% Ben W. Hooper (Republican) 35.8%
Tennessee Special: Class 2	Nathan L. Bachman	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish term ending January 3, 1937	Nathan L. Bachman (Democratic) 80.1% John R. Neal (Independent) 19.9%
Texas	Tom Connally	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Tom Connally (Democratic) 96.7%
Utah	William H. King	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	William H. King (Democratic) 53.1% Don B. Colton (Republican) 45.4%
Vermont	Warren R. Austin	Republican	Incumbent re-elected	Warren R. Austin (Republican) 51.0% Fred C. Martin (Democratic) 48.4%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Harry F. Byrd (Democratic) 76.0% Lawrence C. Page (Republican) 20.9%
Washington	Clarence C. Dill	Democratic	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Lewis B. Schwellenbach (Democratic) 60.9% Reno Odlin (Republican) 34.0%
West Virginia	Henry D. Hatfield	Republican	Incumbent lost re-election Democratic gain	Rush D. Holt (Democratic) 55.1% Henry D. Hatfield (Republican) 44.4%
Wisconsin	Robert M. La Follette, Jr.	Republican	Incumbent re-elected in new party Progressive gain	Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (Progressive) 47.8% John M. Callahan (Democratic) 24.2% John B. Chapple (Republican) 22.8%
Wyoming	Joseph C. O'Mahoney	Democratic	Incumbent re-elected	Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Democratic) 56.6% Vincent Carter (Republican) 43.0%

See also

• 74th United States Congress
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1934