The 1946 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 5, 1946.

Incumbent Democratic Senator George L. P. Radcliffe ran for a third consecutive term in office, but lost the Democratic primary to Governor of Maryland Herbert O'Conor. O'Conor narrowly defeated Republican D. John Markey to win the open seat.

O'Conor's general election victory and the subsequent recount by a federal Senate Subcommittee were controversial, with each party claiming partisan manipulation by the other.

Democratic primary Candidates John Emerson LaVeck Herbert O'Conor, Governor of Maryland George L. P. Radcliffe, incumbent Senator since 1935

Results

Republican primary Candidates D. John Markey, businessman, U.S. Army veteran, and former Maryland Agricultural College football coach Roscoe F. Walter Joseph Allison Wilmer

Results

General election Results

Results by county +CountyHerbert O'Conor DemocraticD. John Markey RepublicanMarginTotal Votes

Cast#%#%#% Allegany 9747 45.89% 11495 54.11% -1748 -8.23% 21242 Anne Arundel 8103 44.43% 10135 55.57% -2032 -11.14% 18238 Baltimore (City) 101793 53.24% 89408 46.76% 12385 6.48% 191201 Baltimore (County) 20400 45.98% 23970 54.02% -3570 -8.05% 44370 Calvert 1882 50.12% 1873 49.88% 9 0.24% 3755 Caroline 2578 53.07% 2280 46.93% 298 6.13% 4858 Carroll 4329 41.10% 6204 58.90% -1875 -17.80% 10533 Cecil 3889 53.09% 3436 46.91% 453 6.18% 7325 Charles 1881 44.11% 2383 55.89% -502 -11.77% 4264 Dorchester 3137 41.15% 4487 58.85% -1350 -17.71% 7624 Frederick 6999 43.77% 8992 56.23% -1993 -12.46% 15991 Garrett 2085 38.40% 3344 61.60% -1259 -23.19% 5429 Harford 4808 49.13% 4978 50.87% -170 -1.74% 9786 Howard 3170 53.58% 2746 46.42% 424 7.17% 5916 Kent 2564 53.84% 2198 46.16% 366 7.69% 4762 Montgomery 15874 51.32% 15059 48.68% 815 2.63% 30933 Prince George's 11592 55.60% 9256 44.40% 2336 11.20% 20848 Queen Anne's 2241 54.53% 1869 45.47% 372 9.05% 4110 St. Mary's 2439 53.36% 2132 46.64% 307 6.72% 4571 Somerset 2404 39.74% 3646 60.26% -1242 -20.53% 6050 Talbot 2357 43.56% 3054 56.44% -697 -12.88% 5411 Washington 8797 47.72% 9638 52.28% -841 -4.56% 18435 Wicomico 4319 54.99% 3535 45.01% 784 9.98% 7854 Worcester 2388 53.88% 2044 46.12% 344 7.76% 4432 Total 229776 50.18% 228162 49.82% 1614 0.35% 457938

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Allegany Anne Arundel Baltimore (County) Carroll Frederick Somerset Talbot Washington

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Cecil Harford St. Mary's

Aftermath After the vote, both candidates claimed victory,House, Two Senate Seats Still in Doubt; Official Canvass May be Required To Decide Contests, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 7, 1946.O'Conor Recount in Maryland Is Likely; Senate Group Urges It on Vote Charges, The New York Times, May 14, 1947. before the official count declared O'Conor the winner by a margin of 2,232 out of more than 470,000 votes cast.The Election Case of D. John Markey v. Herbert R. O'Conor of Maryland (1948), United States Senate, retrieved June 2, 2010. On December 10, 1946, Markey requested the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Senatorial Campaign Expenditures (now controlled by Republicans after their landslide victories in the 1946 elections) conduct a recount in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, which had used electronic voting machines. He also alleged the O'Conor campaign had committed financing violations. The committee agreed because Maryland was unable to conduct its own official recount and found a variation of about 400 votes. The committee then sought to survey five additional counties that were likely to have irregularities. Markey requested a full recount of the entire state.

In the meantime, after a slight delay, O'Conor was sworn into the Senate seat on January 4, 1947. Throughout the recounts, Markey implored the process to be done quickly and implied that the election evidence could go missing at any moment. In May 1947, upon completing the recount of the five additional counties, O'Conor maintained a margin of 1,465 votes. In the aftermath, Markey complained of the O'Conor administration's control of the state government, the Democratic Party's control of the state since 1864, and law enforcement's failure to prevent polling abuses. By contrast, Democratic Maryland senator Millard Tydings alleged partisan bias on the part of the Republican-led investigating subcommittee.Probe Hit By Tydings; Maryland Election Investigation Draws Senator's Comment, The Reading Eagle, July 19, 1947. The committee completed its full recount of the state in January 1948 and concluded that O'Conor had secured a 1,624-vote majority.

See also 1946 United States Senate elections 1946 United States elections

References