1938 United States Senate election in Maryland

none 1938 United States Senate elections March 2023 March 2023 1938 United States Senate election in Maryland Maryland presidential no 1932 United States Senate election in Maryland 1932 1944 United States Senate election in Maryland 1944 November 8, 1938 x150px File:Millardetydings.jpg Millard Tydings Democratic Party (United States) 357,245 68.28% File:3x4.svg Oscar Leser Republican Party (United States) 153,253 29.29% 1938 United States Senate election in Maryland results map by county.svg 295px County resultsTydings: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator Millard Tydings Democratic Party (United States) Millard Tydings Democratic Party (United States) The 1938 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 8, 1938. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Millard Tydings was re-elected to a third term in office, easily defeating Republican Oscar Leser. Primary elections were held on September 12. Millard Tydings faced a primary challenge from U.S. Representative David John Lewis, who was backed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the President's attempt to purge the Democratic Party of conservatives. He survived comfortably by a two-to-one margin. Leser defeated Galen L. Tait for the Republican nomination. 2023, this was the last time a Democratic candidate for Senate won every county in Maryland. Democratic primary Candidates Arthur E. Hungerford David John Lewis, U.S. Representative from Cumberland Millard Tydings, incumbent Senator since 1927 Campaign Senator Millard Tydings, a member of the conservative Southern wing of the Democratic Party, was opposed to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal from the beginning and voted against most of its provisions.Dunn 2010 5Dunn 2010 191–198 Though Tydings began reconciliation with the administration over growing international concerns, Roosevelt's top priority in the 1938 midterms remained economic recovery and the Second New Deal.Dunn 2010 105 He privately told Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes to "take Tydings' hide off and rub salt in it."Dunn 2010 191–198 Aware of Roosevelt's opposition and popularity, Tydings publicly insisted he supported the "bone and sinew" of the New Deal and that claims of his opposition were "silly propaganda."Dunn 2010 191–198 thumb|left|Senator Tydings (left) with Senator Walter F. George. Both were targets of a failed purge of conservatives from the Democratic Party by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Roosevelt administration faced an uphill battle from the start. Tydings retained the backing of junior Senator George L. P. Radcliffe, a New Deal supporter who had been unaware that Roosevelt would target Tydings.Dunn 2010 191–198 The White House settled on U.S. Representative David John Lewis as their preferred candidate only after Lewis and Tydings had announced re-election campaigns and many county organizations had endorsed both men. Once Lewis did announce his challenge to Senator Tydings, leading Maryland Democrats declared neutrality.Dunn 2010 191–198 Lewis, a former mine worker, did retain the backing of the labor movement in the state, including endorsements from the American Federation of Labor and John L. Lewis. Additional praise from the Maryland Communist Party, however, may have hampered his campaign.Dunn 2010 191–198 Tydings attacked Lewis for his ties to organized labor and appealed to unorganized farmers instead, while Lewis labeled Tydings a "Tory Republican" for his ties to the American Liberty League and support from Republican voters.Dunn 2010 191–198 Roosevelt himself worked to rally support for Lewis by dispatching political allies to the state and leaning on donors to support the campaign. He entered the campaign personally in August by praising Lewis in the press as a "legislative father" of Social Security and approvingly reciting an editorial arguing Tydings "had betrayed the New Deal in the past and will again." On Labor Day weekend, he campaigned on the conservative Eastern Shore, culminating in a speech in Denton. Though the speech did not mention Tydings by name, Roosevelt praised Lewis and criticized the idea of a politician who would "pretend to be one [thing] and act like the other."Dunn 2010 191–198 Tydings evaded ideological attacks, maintaining that he was "not running particularly as an Old Dealer nor particularly as a New Dealer but I hope as a square dealer."Dunn 2010 191–198 He framed his campaign as a defense of states' rights against individual rule by Roosevelt, which he referred to as an "invasion."Dunn 2010 191–198 Tydings supporters accused Roosevelt of a move toward "dictatorship," with one editorial calling him Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler "rolled into one" with "a Harvard accent and a billion dollar smile." The Chicago Tribune framed the race as "Americanism against communism."Dunn 2010 191–198 Results Tydings easily survived the challenge. He may have benefited from the fact that sixty thousand of the Black voters who supported Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election were registered Republicans.Dunn 2010 199 center|thumb|300px|Primary results by countyTydings: #8da9e2 50–60% #678cd7 60–70% #4170cd 70–80% #3358a2 80–90%Lewis: #c0a32f 50–60% #a88600 60–70% 1938 Democratic U.S. Senate primaryhttps://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000157/html/am157--298.html Archives of Maryland, Volume 0157, Page 0298 - Maryland Manual, 1938 n.d. mdy-all msa.maryland.gov Maryland State Archives 298 en April 13, 2023https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000157/html/am157--299.html Archives of Maryland, Volume 0157, Page 0299 - Maryland Manual, 1938 n.d. mdy-all msa.maryland.gov Maryland State Archives 299 en April 13, 2023https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=440007 Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - D Primary Race - Sep 12, 1938 n.d. mdy-all www.ourcampaigns.com Our Campaigns en April 12, 2023 Democratic Party (United States) Millard Tydings (inc.) 189,719 58.86% Democratic Party (United States) David John Lewis 124,439 38.60% Democratic Party (United States) Arthur E. Hungerford 8,186 2.54% 322,344 100.00% Aftermath Ultimately, Tydings reconciled with the Roosevelt administration in response to the outbreak of World War II. He was an energetic supporter of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, supported repeal of the American arms embargo, and voted in favor of the Lend-Lease Act.Dunn 2010 199 Republican primary Candidates Oscar Leser, Baltimore City Judge and tax reform activisthttps://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/014400/014421/html/14421bio.html Oscar Leser, MSA SC 3520-14421 msa.maryland.gov Galen L. Tait, former Chair of the Maryland Republican Partyhttps://dc.curbed.com/2018/2/19/17028468/home-bethesda-tait-trussell-house https://web.archive.org/web/20200622150705/https://dc.curbed.com/2018/2/19/17028468/home-bethesda-tait-trussell-house dead June 22, 2020 Bethesda home that housed one of Maryland's most controversial figures lowers price to $1.59M Michelle Goldchain February 19, 2018 Curbed DChttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2017/06/02/bethesda-house-was-home-to-politics-and-a-pulitzer/ Bethesda house was home to politics and a Pulitzer Kathy Orton Washington Post Results 1938 Republican U.S. Senate primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=908837 Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - R Primary Race - Sep 12, 1938 n.d. mdy-all www.ourcampaigns.com Our Campaigns en April 12, 2023 Republican Party (United States) Oscar Leser 48,716 56.69% Republican Party (United States) Galen L. Tait 37,225 43.32% 85,941 100.00% General election Results 1938 U.S. Senate election in Marylandhttps://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000157/html/am157--315.html Archives of Maryland, Volume 0157, Page 0315 - Maryland Manual, 1938 n.d. mdy-all msa.maryland.gov Maryland State Archives 315 en April 13, 2023https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=25360 Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1938 n.d. mdy-all www.ourcampaigns.com Our Campaigns en April 13, 2023https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1938&off=3&elect=0&class=undefined&fips=24&f=0 1934 Senatorial General Election Results - Maryland April 7, 2016 mdy-all uselectionatlas.org Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections en April 13, 2023 Democratic Party (United States) Millard Tydings (inc.) 357,245 68.28% Republican Party (United States) Oscar Leser 153,253 29.29% Union Party (United States) George W. Hunt 5,784 1.11% Socialist Party (United States) Elisabeth Gilman 3,311 0.63% LaborMultiple "Labor" parties existed in the United States at this time, including the American Labor Party and Labor Party of the United States. It is not clear to which party Lang belonged. Frank N.H. Lang 2,330 0.45% Communist Party (United States) Harry Straw 1,301 0.25% Democratic Party (United States) David John Lewis (write-in) 12 0.00% Write-in All others 2 0.00% 523,238 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Results by county +CountyMillard E. Tydings DemocraticOscar Leser RepublicanGeorge W. Hunt UnionElisabeth Gilman SocialistOther OtherMarginTotal Votes Cast#%#%#%#%#%#% Allegany 13658 53.58% 10885 42.70% 134 0.53% 228 0.89% 588 2.31% 2773 10.88% 25493 Anne Arundel 13136 67.66% 5882 30.29% 64 0.33% 160 0.82% 174 0.90% 7254 37.36% 19416 Baltimore (City) 162132 68.56% 67092 28.37% 4818 2.04% 1712 0.72% 712 0.30% 95040 40.19% 236466 Baltimore (County) 33389 73.19% 11014 24.14% 396 0.87% 389 0.85% 431 0.94% 22375 49.05% 45619 Calvert 2363 61.87% 1410 36.92% 2 0.05% 7 0.18% 37 0.97% 953 24.95% 3819 Caroline 4061 67.62% 1857 30.92% 14 0.23% 21 0.35% 53 0.88% 2204 36.70% 6006 Carroll 8859 68.04% 3994 30.67% 38 0.29% 77 0.59% 53 0.41% 4865 37.36% 13021 Cecil 6233 70.83% 2426 27.57% 14 0.16% 39 0.44% 88 1.00% 3807 43.26% 8800 Charles 2440 73.47% 856 25.78% 5 0.15% 4 0.12% 16 0.48% 1584 47.70% 3321 Dorchester 5853 61.04% 3604 37.58% 26 0.27% 25 0.26% 81 0.84% 2249 23.45% 9589 Frederick 12048 63.13% 6673 34.96% 50 0.26% 82 0.43% 232 1.22% 5375 28.16% 19085 Garrett 2951 51.28% 2634 45.77% 17 0.30% 54 0.94% 99 1.72% 317 5.51% 5755 Harford 8424 76.57% 2460 22.36% 7 0.06% 35 0.32% 75 0.68% 5964 54.21% 11001 Howard 4609 69.21% 1966 29.52% 16 0.24% 12 0.18% 56 0.84% 2643 39.69% 6659 Kent 3458 68.08% 1581 31.13% 3 0.06% 19 0.37% 18 0.35% 1877 36.96% 5079 Montgomery 17583 74.94% 5557 23.68% 36 0.15% 142 0.61% 145 0.62% 12026 51.26% 23463 Prince George's 14673 73.37% 4941 24.71% 47 0.24% 104 0.52% 233 1.17% 9732 48.66% 19998 Queen Anne's 3998 72.30% 1467 26.53% 5 0.09% 15 0.27% 45 0.81% 2531 45.77% 5530 St. Mary's 3092 70.42% 1230 28.01% 14 0.32% 13 0.30% 42 0.96% 1862 42.40% 4391 Somerset 5032 67.16% 2412 32.19% 5 0.07% 14 0.19% 30 0.40% 2620 34.97% 7493 Talbot 4793 68.45% 2130 30.42% 6 0.09% 35 0.50% 38 0.54% 2663 38.03% 7002 Washington 13576 64.62% 7005 33.34% 51 0.24% 94 0.45% 284 1.35% 6571 31.28% 21010 Wicomico 6450 69.59% 2717 29.31% 13 0.14% 19 0.20% 70 0.76% 3733 40.27% 9269 Worcester 4434 74.66% 1460 24.58% 3 0.05% 11 0.19% 31 0.52% 2974 50.08% 5939 Total 357245 68.28% 153253 29.29% 5784 1.11% 3311 0.63% 3631 0.69% 203992 38.99% 523224 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Garrett See also 1938 United States Senate elections 1938 United States elections References Notes Bibliography Roosevelt's Purge: How FDR Fought to Change the Democratic Party Dunn Susan 2010 Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, Mass. https://archive.org/details/rooseveltspurgeh0000dunn/ registration 26 Jun 2022 1938 Maryland United States Senate