The 1942 United States Senate elections were held November 3, 1942, midway through Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term as president. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and two special elections were held to fill vacancies.
Although this election took place during World War II, the opposition Republican party made major gains, taking eight seats from the Democrats and one from an independent. The Democrats nonetheless retained a significant majority, though the smallest since Roosevelt was first elected in 1932.
The New York Times ascribed the results to "voters' dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war, both at home and abroad" but not evidence of a lack of enthusiasm for the war effort. It found that a candidate's stance as isolationist or interventionist before Pearl Harbor had little impact on his success at the polls.[3] The paper's editorial board welcomed a return to normal political alignments after the unbalanced majorities of the previous decade.[4] The election not only changed the numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, but also accomplished an ideological shift, as several longtime enthusiastic supporters of the New Deal were replaced by Republicans of the most conservative sort.[5]
The Republicans gained enough seats to end the Democrats' supermajority control.[6] Democrats later gained a seat in New Jersey through an appointment, bringing their seat total up to 58.
Eight Democrats and one Independent sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election. One Democrat sought election to finish the unexpired term but lost in the primary election and one Democrat sought election to finish the unexpired term but lost in the general election.
Interim appointee lost election to finish term. New senator electedNovember 3, 1942 and qualified November 17, 1942.[8] Neither candidate ran in the contemporaneous election for the next term, see below. Republican gain.
There were two elections to the same seat due to the August 31, 1940 death of Farmer–Laborite Ernest Lundeen. Republican Joseph H. Ball was appointed October 14, 1940 to continue the term, pending the special election. Ball was elected to the next term in the regular election, but not to finish the current term in the special election.
There were 2 elections to the same seat due to the January 12, 1941 resignation of Democrat Matthew M. Neely who was elected Governor of West Virginia. Democrat Joseph Rosier was appointed January 13, 1941 to continue the term, pending the special election. Primaries for both races were held August 4, 1942.
Neither Shott nor Rosier were candidates in the regular election. Instead, governor (and former senator) Neely ran to reclaim his seat, having regretted leaving the Senate.
Neely won the Democratic primary[13] but lost the regular election.
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