1941 United States Senate special election in Texas

none March 2026 September 2023 1941 United States Senate special election in Texas Texas presidential no 1936 United States Senate election in Texas 1936 1942 United States Senate election in Texas 1942 June 28, 1941 File:W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, 1939 (cropped) (3x4).jpg Pappy O'Daniel Democratic Party (United States) 175,590 30.50% Lyndon B. Johnson (1942) (cropped).jpg Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Party (United States) 174,279 30.27% Gerald C Mann.jpg Gerald Mann Democratic Party (United States) 140,807 24.45% Martin Dies Jr (3x4 cropped).png Martin Dies Jr. Democratic Party (United States) 80,551 13.99% U.S. Senator Andrew Jackson Houston Democratic Party (United States) Pappy O'Daniel Democratic Party (United States) 310px County results 310px Congressional district results 1 O'Daniel: #dfeeff 20–30% #bdd3ff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% Johnson: #c0f0c0ff 20–30% #aae5aaff 30–40% #87de87ff 40–50% #5bc75bff 50–60% #41b742ff 60–70% #309a30ff 70–80% #165016 >90% Mann: #fff6d2 20–30% #ffeeaaff 30–40% #ffe680ff 40–50% #ffdc43ff 50–60% Dies: #e3a6a5 20–30% #d78281 30–40% #cc5e5d 40–50% #c64c4b 50–60% #9e3d3c 60–70% #772e2d 70–80% The 1941 United States Senate special election in Texas was held on June 28, 1941, to complete the unexpired term of Senator Morris Sheppard, who died in office on April 9. Interim Senator Andrew Jackson Houston did not run for re-election and died only two days before the election. The race was won by Governor Pappy O'Daniel with a plurality of the vote; no majority was required. O'Daniel very narrowly defeated U.S. Representative Lyndon B. Johnson, who won the seat after O'Daniel's retirement in 1948. Background In April 1941, incumbent Senator Morris Sheppard died in office. Governor Pappy O'Daniel appointed Andrew Jackson Houston to fill the seat until a successor could be duly elected, with the election scheduled for June 28. The winner finished Sheppard's term ending in 1943. Houston did not run to complete the term, only serving as a placeholder for Governor O'Daniel. He died in office only two days before the election. Candidates Major candidates Martin Dies Jr., U.S. Representative from Lufkin and Chair of the House Un-American Activities Committee Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. Representative from Gillespie County Gerald Mann, Attorney General of TexasLet Conscience Be Your Guide! https://www.newspapers.com/clip/184888/gerald-mann-for-us-senate-ad-1941-from/ February 18, 2022 Friends of Gerald C. Mann Corpus Christi Caller-Times June 25, 1941 Pappy O'Daniel, Governor of Texas Minor candidates None of these candidates received more than 0.30% of the popular vote. 10em Joseph C. Bean John R. Brinkley Homer Brooks E. A. Calvin Arlon Barton "Cyclone" Davis Politte Elvins Guy B. Fisher Enoch Fletcher W. E. Gilliland A. E. Harding Basil Muse Hatfield Robert Grammer Head O.F. Heath Sr. Bubba Hicks W. R. Jones W. W. "Cap" King Starl G. Newsome Jr. Floyd E. Ryan Walter A. Schulz Charles L. Somerville Joe Thompson Edwin Waller III W. C. Welch John C. Williams All of these candidates were Democrats except Elvins (Republican), Fletcher (Republican), Jones (Independent), and Brooks (Communist). Campaign The first pre-election polls showed U.S. Representative Lyndon B. Johnson receiving only 5% of the vote, but Johnson ran a fierce campaign, barnstorming the state and emphasizing his close relationship with President Roosevelt.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en On Election Day, Johnson held a strong lead in the returns throughout the whole night, and with 96 percent of the ballots counted, Johnson held a 5,000-vote lead.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en According to John Connally, future Governor and Johnson's campaign manager, local election officials began calling Connally's office and asking him about whether they should report the vote tallies.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en Connally told them to report the votes, which allegedly allowed O'Daniel's political allies among the South and East Texas party bosses to know the exact number of fraudulent votes needed for O'Daniel to catch up to Johnson.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en According to Connally, The opposition then Governor O'Daniel and his people knew exactly how many votes they had to have to take the lead... They kept changing the results, and our lead got smaller and smaller and smaller. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, we wound up on the short side of the stick and lost the election by 1,311 votes. I'm basically responsible for losing that 1941 campaign. We let them know exactly how many votes they had to have.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en In addition to O'Daniel's allies, state business interests aligned with former impeached and convicted Texas Governor "Pa" Ferguson had been concerned with O'Daniel's support of prohibition as Governor; they believed that he could do much less damage to their cause in the Senate.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en The lieutenant governor, Coke R. Stevenson, was not in favor of prohibition, making his possible promotion to Governor a key selling point for the state's business interests in manipulating the election results.Sweany Brian D. February 2006 Texas History 101 https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-history-101-8/ May 29, 2023 Texas Monthly en In the final vote tally, Johnson fell short by just 0.23% of the vote.TX US Senate - Special Election Race - Jun 28, 1941 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=30411&ShowAllCand=Y May 29, 2023 Our Campaigns Allegations of fraud In The Path to Power, Johnson biographer Robert Caro argues that the election results were manipulated in O'Daniel's favor by lobbyists from Texas' alcohol industry. O'Daniel was a staunch prohibitionist, and as Governor, he had proposed a bill preventing the sale of alcohol within ten miles of a military base; Caro notes how business interests feared the passing of this bill, as preparations for World War II had brought thousands of young soldiers into the region. To prevent the passing of this bill, lobbyists sought to elect O'Daniel to the Senate to place the "wet" lieutenant governor Coke Stevenson in the governorship, and hence rigged ballots in East Texas, swinging the election in O'Daniel's favor.Caro Robert A. The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I 1982 Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Westminster 9780679729457 734–740 Results 1941 U.S. Senate special electionTexas State Historical Association The Dallas Morning News 1943 Texas Almanac, 1943-1944 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117165/m1/261/ 2022-06-20 The Portal to Texas History 259–260 EnglishRegister of Elected and Appointed State and County Officials 1940–1942. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. pp. 504–515. Pappy O'Daniel Democratic Party (US) 175,590 30.50% Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Party (US) 174,279 30.27% Gerald Mann Democratic Party (US) 140,807 24.45% Martin Dies Jr. Democratic Party (US) 80,551 13.99% Minor candidates Various 4,559 0.79% 575,786 100.00% See also 1941 United States Senate elections Notes References 1941 Texas United States Senate Texas 1941 Texas 1941 United States Senate 1941 Senate