The 1922 United States Senate elections were elections that occurred in the middle of Republican President Warren G. Harding's term. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. With the Republicans divided between conservative and progressive factions, the Democrats gained six net seats from the Republicans while the Farmer–Labor party gained one. The Republicans retained their Senate majority.

Mid-term vacancies would reduce the Republican majority by a further two seats, with the Democrats and the Farmer Labors picking up another seat each, reducing Republicans to a 51-43-2 majority.

Gains, losses, and holds Retirements One Republican and two Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election. One Republican retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term and one Democrat retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term.

StateSenatorReplaced by Georgia Iowa Mississippi Montana Vermont

Defeats Nine Republicans and three Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election. One Republican sought election to finish the unexpired term and sought election to a full term but lost in both the special election and the regular election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Delaware Indiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Nebraska New Jersey New York North Dakota Ohio Texas Washington West Virginia

Post-elections changes

StateSenatorReplaced by Colorado Illinois Minnesota

Change in composition

Before the elections At the beginning of 1922.   D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R Majority → R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

After the elections   D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D FL R R R R R Majority → R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Key D Democratic FL Farmer–Labor R Republican

Race summaries

Special elections during the 67th Congress In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1922; ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Delaware(Class 1) T. Coleman du Pont Republican 1921 Interim appointee lost election.New senator elected November 7, 1922.Democratic gain.Winner also elected to the next term; see below. Georgia(Class 3) Rebecca Latimer Felton Democratic 1922 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 7, 1922.Democratic hold. Iowa(Class 2) Charles A. Rawson Republican 1922 Interim appointee retired.New senator elected November 7, 1922.Republican hold. Pennsylvania(Class 1) David A. Reed Republican 1922 Interim appointee elected November 7, 1922.Winner also elected to the next term; see below. Pennsylvania(Class 3) George W. Pepper Republican 1922 Interim appointee elected November 7, 1922.

Elections leading to the 68th Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1923; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Arizona Henry F. Ashurst Democratic 1912 1916 Incumbent re-elected. California Hiram Johnson Republican 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut George P. McLean Republican 19111916 Incumbent re-elected. Delaware T. Coleman du Pont Republican 1921 Interim appointee lost election.Democratic gain. Florida Park Trammell Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Harry S. New Republican 1916 Incumbent lost renomination.Democratic gain. Maine Frederick Hale Republican 1916 Incumbent re-elected September 11, 1922. Maryland Joseph I. France Republican 1916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Massachusetts Henry Cabot Lodge Republican 18931899190519111916 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Charles E. Townsend Republican 19111916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Minnesota Frank B. Kellogg Republican 1916 Incumbent lost re-election.Farmer–Labor gain. Mississippi John S. Williams Democratic 1908 1916 Incumbent retired.Democratic hold. Missouri James A. Reed Democratic 19111916 Incumbent re-elected. Montana Henry L. Myers Democratic 19111916 Incumbent retired.Democratic hold. Nebraska Gilbert Hitchcock Democratic 19111916 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Nevada Key Pittman Democratic 1913 1916 Incumbent re-elected. New Jersey Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Republican 1916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. New Mexico Andrieus A. Jones Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected. New York William M. Calder Republican 1916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. North Dakota Porter J. McCumber Republican 1899190519111916 Incumbent lost renomination.Republican hold. Ohio Atlee Pomerene Democratic 19111916 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Pennsylvania David A. Reed Republican 1922 Interim appointee elected.Winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above. Rhode Island Peter G. Gerry Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee Kenneth McKellar Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Texas Charles A. Culberson Democratic 1899190519111916 Incumbent lost renomination.Democratic hold. Utah William H. King Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Carroll S. Page Republican 1908 19101916 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. Virginia Claude A. Swanson Democratic 1910 1911 1912 1916 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Miles Poindexter Republican 19101916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. West Virginia Howard Sutherland Republican 1916 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Wisconsin Robert M. La Follette Republican 190519111916 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming John B. Kendrick Democratic 1916 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races Fourteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:

State Party of winner Margin Delaware (special) Democratic (flip) 0.1% Delaware (regular) Democratic (flip) 0.43% Utah Democratic 0.47% Massachusetts Republican 0.8% Washington Democratic (flip) 1.2% Michigan Democratic (flip) 2.2% Indiana Democratic (flip) 3.1% Ohio Republican (flip) 3.2% West Virginia Democratic (flip) 3.6% North Dakota Republican 4.56% Missouri Democratic 4.6% Maryland Democratic (flip) 7.0% Connecticut Republican 6.8% Rhode Island Democratic 8.8%

The tipping point state is Pennsylvania with a margin of 25.5%.

Arizona

California

Connecticut

Delaware

There were 2 elections in Delaware.

Delaware (special)

Delaware (regular)

Florida

Georgia (special)

In the special general election held November 7, 1922, George was unopposed.

Indiana

Iowa (special)

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

There were 3 elections in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania (special, class 1)

One-term Republican Philander C. Knox died October 12, 1921, and Republican state senator William E. Crow was appointed October 24, 1921 to continue the term, pending a special election. Crow then died August 2, 1922, and Republican attorney David A. Reed was appointed, also to continue the term, pending a special election. Reed won that election as well as the election to the next term.

Pennsylvania (regular)

Reed would serve until 1935.

Pennsylvania (special, class 3)

Five-term Republican Boies Penrose died December 31, 1921, and Republican attorney George W. Pepper was appointed January 9, 1922 to continue the term, pending a special election, which he then won.

Pepper would only serve out that term, losing renomination in 1926.

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Culberson ran for re-election to a fifth term, but he lost the Democratic primary. Railroads Commissioner Earle Bradford Mayfield defeated former Governor Pa Ferguson in the primary runoff. Mayfield won the runoff, but because of his support of the resurgent Ku Klux Klan, anti-Klan activists in the Democratic Party including George Peddy attempted to have him stripped of the nomination. After this failed, Peddy ran as the candidate of the "Independent Democrats." The Texas Republican Party also backed Peddy, but after a lengthy court battle, they were unable to have him included on the general election ballot as their official nominee. Peddy instead ran as a write-in candidate, but he lost the general election to Mayfield.

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

See also 1923 United States Senate elections 1922 United States elections 1922 United States House of Representatives elections 67th United States Congress 68th United States Congress

Notes

References