1918 United States Senate election in Michigan

none March 2026 September 2023 1918 United States Senate election in Michigan Michigan presidential no 1913 United States Senate election in Michigan 1913 1924 United States Senate election in Michigan 1924 November 5, 1918 15.60% File:Truman Newberry 1919 (cropped).jpg 150x150px Truman Newberry Republican Party (United States) 220,054 50.19% File:Henry ford 1919 (cropped).jpg Henry Ford Democratic Party (United States) 212,487 48.47% 1918 United States Senate election in Michigan results map by county.svg 300px County results Newberry: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% Ford: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% U.S. Senator William Alden Smith Republican Party (United States) Truman Handy Newberry Republican Party (United States) The 1918 United States Senate election in Michigan took place on November 5, 1918. Incumbent Republican Senator William Alden Smith did not seek re-election to a third term in office. In the race to succeed him, Republican former Secretary of the Navy Truman Handy Newberry defeated the automobile industrialist Henry Ford. Ford first challenged Newberry in the Republican primary and lost and then faced Newberry again, running as the Democratic nominee in the general election. The race was highly controversial for campaign spending practices by both major candidates, with Newberry also hammering Ford for his pacifism during World War I, his antisemitism, and for helping his son Edsel avoid the draft.https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/12/senator-condemned-for-excessive-campaign-spending-jan-12-1922-330371 Senator 'condemned' for excessive campaign spending, Jan. 12, 1922 Andrew Glass Politico January 12, 2018 August 5, 2020 Newberry narrowly won the election but was ultimately forced to resign from the Senate under scrutiny for his campaign spending in this race. Republican primary Candidates Henry Ford, industrialist and anti-war activistErvin 1935 18 Truman Handy Newberry, former Secretary of the NavyErvin 1935 18 Chase S. Osborn, former Governor of Michigan (1911–13)Ervin 1935 18 William G. SimpsonErvin 1935 18 Withdrew William Alden Smith, incumbent Senator since 1907 (withdrew July 26)Ervin 1935 18 Fred M. Warner, former Governor of Michigan (1905–11) (withdrew June 18)Ervin 1935 18 Declined James J. Couzens, Mayor of DetroitErvin 1935 4 Arthur Vandenberg, publisher at the Grand Rapids Herald, a newspaper owned by Senator SmithErvin 1935 4 Campaign In August 1917, Governor Albert E. Sleeper and his staff, disappointed in Senator William Alden Smith, suggested former Secretary of the Navy Truman Handy Newberry run for Smith's seat. They encouraged Newberry, by way of an intermediary, to run. In October, a meeting of Sleeper's staff was held at Port Huron, where the Governor pledged to stay out of the race, although his staff were unanimous in support of Newberry. A month later, a letter was drafted by one of the men present, Roger M. Andrews, encouraging Newberry to enter the race as Sleeper's preferred candidate. Newberry responded that the race was "intensely interesting" to him.Ervin 1935 3–5 By February 1918, Newberry had begun building a campaign apparatus, hiring Paul H. King of Detroit to manage his campaign on March 1.Ervin 1935 7 King gradually built an extremely large campaign staff throughout the state, headquartered at the Ford Building in Detroit.Ervin 1935 9–12 On June 7, former Governor Fred M. Warner entered the race only to withdraw eleven days later after Henry Ford entered the race.Ervin 1935 18 After much speculation, Ford formally announced his campaign on June 14, 1918, with the endorsement of President Woodrow Wilson.Ervin 1935 16 Senator Smith finally ended his re-election campaign on July 26, the day before the deadline for filing nominating petitions.Ervin 1935 18 In early August, newspapers including the Escanaba Journal, Charlotte Republican, and Senator Smith's own Grand Rapids Herald (under the pen of Arthur Vandenberg) published editorials criticizing Newberry for his excessive campaign spending and declaring that Newberry should not be nominated because if elected, there would be no difficulty for Democrats to prove he had obtained his seat illegally. Newberry replied that he had the assurance of his campaign staff that all expenditures were within the law. On August 15, his campaign committee echoed this statement.Ervin 1935 18–19 Vandenberg, Lieutenant Governor Luren Dickinson, and State Representative Merlin Wiley, who was managing the Osborn campaign, were harshly critical of the campaign's response.Ervin 1935 20 Results The primary election was held on August 27 and resulted in a victory for Newberry.Ervin 1935 21 1918 United States Senate election in Michiganhttps://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000060510 Michigan Manual, 19181920 State of Michigan Lansing, Mich. 442 Truman Newberry Republican Party (US) 114,963 47.23% Henry Ford Republican Party (US) 71,800 29.87% Chase S. Osborn Republican Party (US) 47,019 19.56% William G. Simpson Republican Party (US) 5,970 2.48% 620 0.22% 240,372 100.00% On September 6, the Newberry campaign committee reported $176,560.08 of spending on the primary campaign, of which $147,860.16 was for "advertising and other publicity."Ervin 1935 21 Newberry's largest donations came from his brother John, his brother-in-law Victor Barnes, and Henry B. Joy, president of Packard Motors.Ervin 1935 22–24 Democratic primary Candidates Henry Ford, industrialist and anti-war activistErvin 1935 18 James W. HelmeErvin 1935 18 Campaign Democrats were behind Ford from the start. President Wilson's endorsement was preceded by a June 4 meeting of the Democratic state committee at Lansing, where Democrats called for Ford as the compromise candidate of all parties and demanded that all Republican candidates withdraw from the race.Ervin 1935 18 However, a dissident movement led by William J. Mickel instead supported James W. Helme for the nomination.Ervin 1935 18 Results The primary election was held on August 27 and resulted in a victory for Ford.Ervin 1935 21 1918 Democratic U.S. Senate primary Henry Ford Democratic Party (US) 30,791 78.45% James W. Helme Democratic Party (US) 8,414 21.44% 43 0.01% 39,248 100.00% General election Candidates William J. Faull (Prohibition) Henry Ford, industrialist and anti-war activistErvin 1935 18 (Democratic) Edward O. Foss (Socialist and Socialist Labor) Truman Handy Newberry, former Secretary of the NavyErvin 1935 18 (Republican) Campaign Newberry's extravagant primary spending became a focus of the general election campaign. In an open letter published September 17, ex-Governor Osborn congratulated Newberry on his victory and pledged his support but urged Newberry to confess that he had knowingly broken campaign finance laws without realizing the enormity of his offense.Ervin 1935 25–26 The same day, Democratic U.S. Senator Atlee Pomerene of Ohio presented a resolution for an investigation of Newberry's campaign for extravagant expenses; the resolution was postponed until after the election by a vote of 10–1.Ervin 1935 27 Billboards and other campaign advertisements were posted attacking Newberry's spending, primary opponent William G. Simpson published another letter on October 6 arraigning Newberry, and several of his campaign staff were held in contempt of court for refusing to testify to a federal grand jury in response to subpoenas.Ervin 1935 28 Results 1918 United States Senate election in Michiganhttps://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000060510 Michigan Manual, 19181920 State of Michigan Lansing, Mich. 496 Republican Party (United States) Truman Handy Newberry 220,054 50.19% Democratic Party (United States) Henry Ford 212,487 48.47% Socialist Party of America Edward O. Foss 4,763 1.09% Prohibition Party William J. Faull 1,133 0.26% 15 0.00% 438,437 100% Republican Party (United States) Aftermath Senate investigation 65th Congress Ford initially declined to seek a recount, his secretary stating, "We believe that the campaign has been clean, as campaigns go, and therefore are willing to abide by the return sheets." One week later, however, Ford hinted at the possibility of a recount, arguing that Wall Street conspired to back Newberry because he opposed President Wilson.Ervin 1935 29 In December, Ford's counsel obtained court orders for the preservation of ballots, poll books, and tally sheets. Ford petitioned the Senate on January 6, 1919, to recount the November ballots and investigate the primary and general elections. Ford and Newberry were invited to testify before the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections on January 17, where Ford's counsel asked for an immediate investigation and recount, claiming that Newberry had only acknowledged a fraction of his spending and had actually spent $500,000 in the primary campaign. A resolution to that effect was presented by Senator Henry F. Ashurst and it passed the committee with one Republican vote.Ervin 1935 30–31 On January 27, the same day the Ford challenge resolution passed out of committee, U.S. Senator Charles E. Townsend of Michigan presented a letter from Senator-elect Newberry accusing Ford of running "the most elaborate, expensive, and pretentious [campaign] in the history of the State" and charging improper and unlawful practices by Ford workers in Wayne County, a normally Republican stronghold which Ford had won by 35,000 votes. A resolution to investigate the counter-charges was presented on January 28.Ervin 1935 33 Ford denied the charges "in as emphatic language as parliamentary rules will permit."Ervin 1935 34 Ultimately, the Committee on Privileges and Elections, in recognition that the case would come before the following Senate seated in March, submitted a substitute Resolution, authorizing the preservation of ballots and documents for the hearing of testimony and actual recount by the next Congress.Ervin 1935 37 It was ultimately conceded that no challenge could be made to seating Newberry until he had actually received his credentials from Senator Smith on March 3.Ervin 1935 39 66th Congress In the 66th Congress, Republicans overtook the Democrats as the majority party in the Senate, and Privileges and Elections Chairman Pomerene was replaced by William P. Dillingham of Vermont. At the opening of the new Congress, the Ford petition was once again laid before the committee. Another resolution for the preservation of evidence, recount of ballots, and investigation of charges and counter-charges to be reported to the Senate was reported favorably on June 18, and reported favorably from the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate on December 3.Ervin 1935 40–41 Criminal investigation Newberry v. United States Separately, Ford employed at least 40 private investigators to investigate. They compiled their report and sent it to the U.S. Department of Justice, which assigned a special prosecutor who was a friend of Ford's lead investigator.Felten Eric November 27, 2018 History Lesson: Henry Ford Was the World’s Biggest Sore Loser https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/history-lesson-henry-ford-was-the-worlds-biggest-sore-loser August 5, 2020 Washington Examiner The Department of Justice began its investigation as early as August 1918. A corps of investigations, led by elections fraud experts Earl Houck and Frank Dailey, were sent to Michigan to investigate bank records and safety deposit vaults and successfully influenced local political leaders with hints of bribes from Newberry.Ervin 1935 43 During subsequent Senate debate, Senator Townsend decried the investigatory effort to "collective evidence of something which would help the administration's candidate for Senator [referring to Ford]" but did admit Newberry's spending was "unconscionable" and had been detrimental to Newberry's own campaign.Ervin 1935 38 On October 18, 1919, the Department of Justice announced it would bring fraud charges against Newberry in front of a grand jury. The grand jury was empaneled on October 22 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and on November 29 it found an indictment on six counts against Newberry and 134 others.Ervin 1935 41 The defendants were charged with violations of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act and Michigan statutes made applicable by that Act, forbidding a candidate to contribute or expend more than $3,750 in procuring his own nomination or election. They were also charged with conspiracy to violate federal anti-bribery law and conspiracy to commit mail fraud by embezzling some of the campaign funds for themselves.Ervin 1935 42 Prosecutors presented evidence alleging fraudulent expenditures of between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in connection with the primary and a vast political conspiracy throughout the state, including bribery, corruption of the press and elections boards, and voter fraud.Ervin 1935 42–43 Defendants argued that the government had failed to adequately present their evidence, leaving the defendants in ignorance of the specific acts and witnesses on whom the government had relied to build its case.Ervin 1935 44–45 On January 5, the defendants argued on demurrer that the indictment was unauthorized because Congress lacked the power to regulate primary elections; though the judge denied the motion to demur, the Supreme Court later upheld this argument in Newberry v. United States.Ervin 1935 46 Newberry appeal Newberry successfully appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, which found the FCPA unconstitutional in a 5–4 decision in Newberry v. United States. Newberry was allowed to retain his seat, but was condemned by the Senate for his excess spending. Newberry ultimately resigned in 1922, and was succeeded by James J. Couzens, the Republican Mayor of Detroit and a former executive of the Ford Motor Company. References Bibliography Henry Ford v. Truman H. Newberry: The Famous Senate Election Contest Spencer Ervin Richard R. Smith New York 1935 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015022760030 Further reading Curbing Campaign Cash: Henry Ford, Truman Newberry, and the Politics of Progressive Reform Paula Baker University Press of Kansas 2012 978-0700-618-637 none 1918 Michigan United States Senate Category:Henry Ford