Election 1942 Results
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1942 Senate election results by state and county
Republicans won 17 of the Senate seats up in the first wartime midterm after Pearl Harbor, gaining nine states while Democrats kept their majority.
32 Senate races were held in 1942, plus 4 special elections. Democrats won 15 and Republicans 17.
The closest were Montana (D+0.7), Colorado (D+1.1) and Michigan (R+2.4). 11 seats changed party: Delaware to the Republicans, Illinois to the Republicans, Iowa to the Republicans, Michigan to the Republicans, Minnesota to the Republicans, Nebraska to the Republicans, New Jersey to the Republicans, Oklahoma to the Republicans, South Dakota to the Republicans, West Virginia to the Republicans and Wyoming to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1942 Senate elections
The 1942 elections came less than a year after Pearl Harbor, with the war going badly for much of the year and turnout low because so many voters were in uniform or had moved for war work. Price controls and shortages were unpopular. Republicans won 17 Senate races to the Democrats' 15 and took seats in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. In Michigan, Homer Ferguson unseated Prentiss Brown, the author of the price control law, by 2.4 points. C. Wayland Brooks won a full term in Illinois, and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was re-elected in Massachusetts. Democrats held two Western seats narrowly. In Montana, James Murray beat Wellington Rankin by 0.7 points, and in Colorado Edwin Johnson beat Governor Ralph Carr by 1.1 points. Carr had spoken out against the internment of Japanese Americans. Democrats kept control of the Senate, but with a much reduced majority.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | John H. Bankhead II | 69,212 (100.0%) | none | 4 | D+100.0 | |
| Arkansas | John L. McClellan | 99,126 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Colorado | Edwin C. Johnson | 174,612 (50.2%) | Ralph L. Carr | 170,970 (49.2%) | 2,014 | D+1.1 |
| Colorado (special) flip | James A. Marsh | 143,817 (42.1%) | Eugene D. Millikin | 191,517 (56.1%) | 5,926 | R+14.0 |
| Delaware flip | E. Ennals Berl | 38,322 (44.9%) | Clayton D. Buck | 46,210 (54.2%) | 776 | R+9.3 |
| Georgia | Richard B. Russell | 59,870 (96.9%) | none | 1,892 | D+96.9 | |
| Idaho | Glen H. Taylor | 68,989 (48.5%) | John Thomas | 73,353 (51.5%) | R+3.1 | |
| Illinois flip | Raymond McKeough | 1,380,011 (46.4%) | C. Wayland Brooks | 1,582,887 (53.2%) | 10,331 | R+6.8 |
| Iowa flip | Clyde L. Herring | 295,194 (41.7%) | George A. Wilson | 410,333 (58.0%) | 2,282 | R+16.3 |
| Kansas | George McGill | 200,437 (40.3%) | Arthur Capper | 284,059 (57.1%) | 12,863 | R+16.8 |
| Kentucky | Happy Chandler | 216,958 (55.3%) | Richard Colbert | 175,081 (44.7%) | D+10.7 | |
| Louisiana | Allen J. Ellender | 85,488 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Maine | Fulton J. Redman | 55,754 (33.3%) | Wallace H. White Jr. | 111,520 (66.7%) | R+33.3 | |
| Massachusetts | Joseph E. Casey | 641,042 (46.6%) | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | 721,239 (52.4%) | 13,163 | R+5.8 |
| Michigan flip | Prentiss Brown | 561,595 (47.2%) | Homer Ferguson | 589,652 (49.6%) | 38,719 | R+2.4 |
| Minnesota flip | Ed Murphy | 78,959 (10.4%) | Joseph H. Ball | 356,297 (47.0%) | Elmer A. Benson (Farmer-Labor) 213,965 (28.2%) |
R+36.6 |
| Minnesota (special) flip | John E. O'Rourke | 114,086 (17.2%) | Arthur E. Nelson | 372,240 (56.1%) | Al Hansen (Farmer-Labor) 177,008 (26.7%) |
R+38.9 |
| Mississippi | James Eastland | 51,355 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Montana | James E. Murray | 83,673 (49.1%) | Wellington Rankin | 82,461 (48.4%) | 4,380 | D+0.7 |
| Nebraska flip | Foster May | 83,768 (22.0%) | Kenneth Wherry | 186,207 (49.0%) | George W. Norris (Independent) 108,899 (28.6%) |
R+26.9 |
| Nevada (special) | J.G. Scrugham | 23,805 (58.7%) | Cecil W. Creel | 16,735 (41.3%) | D+17.4 | |
| New Hampshire | Francis P. Murphy | 73,656 (45.4%) | Styles Bridges | 88,601 (54.6%) | R+9.2 | |
| New Jersey flip | William H. Smathers | 559,851 (45.8%) | Albert W. Hawkes | 648,855 (53.1%) | 13,426 | R+7.3 |
| New Mexico | Carl A. Hatch | 63,301 (59.2%) | J. Benson Newell | 43,704 (40.8%) | D+18.3 | |
| North Carolina | Josiah W. Bailey | 230,427 (65.9%) | Sam J. Morris | 119,165 (34.1%) | D+31.8 | |
| Oklahoma flip | Josh Lee | 166,653 (44.8%) | Edward H. Moore | 204,163 (54.8%) | 1,549 | R+10.1 |
| Oregon | Walter W. Whitbeck | 63,946 (22.9%) | Charles McNary | 214,755 (77.1%) | 3 | R+54.1 |
| Rhode Island | Theodore F. Green | 138,239 (58.0%) | Ira Lloyd Letts | 100,236 (42.0%) | D+15.9 | |
| South Carolina | Burnet R. Maybank | 22,556 (100.0%) | none | 2 | D+100.0 | |
| South Dakota flip | Tom Berry | 74,945 (41.3%) | Harlan J. Bushfield | 106,704 (58.7%) | R+17.5 | |
| Tennessee | A. Tom Stewart | 109,881 (68.9%) | F. Todd Meacham | 34,324 (21.5%) | John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 15,317 (9.6%) |
D+47.4 |
| Texas | Pappy O'Daniel | 260,629 (94.9%) | Dudley Lawson | 12,080 (4.4%) | 1,949 | D+90.5 |
| Virginia | Carter Glass | 79,421 (91.1%) | none | Lawrence S. Wilkes (Socialist) 5,690 (6.5%) |
D+91.1 | |
| West Virginia flip | Matthew M. Neely | 207,045 (44.6%) | Chapman Revercomb | 256,816 (55.4%) | R+10.7 | |
| West Virginia (special) flip | Joseph Rosier | 207,678 (47.7%) | Hugh Ike Shott | 227,469 (52.3%) | R+4.6 | |
| Wyoming flip | Harry H. Schwartz | 34,503 (45.4%) | Edward V. Robertson | 41,486 (54.6%) | R+9.2 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.