1918 United States elections

none February 2026 January 2025 1918 Midterm elections November 5 Democratic Party (US)Woodrow Wilson (D) 66th 38 of 96 seats (32 Class 2 seats + 9 special elections)Three Class 2 seats held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1918. These seats are not double-counted for the total number of seats contested. Republican gain Republican +6Republicans picked up four seats in the regularly-scheduled elections and gained an additional two seats in the special elections. 400px 1918 Senate election results #0671B0 Democratic gain #92C5DE Democratic hold #CA0120 Republican gain #F48882 Republican hold All 435 voting seats Republican gain Republican +24 400px 1918 House of Representatives results 32 Republican +4 1918 gubernatorial election results #0671B0 Democratic gain #92C5DE Democratic hold #CA0120 Republican gain #F48882 Republican hold Elections were held for the 66th United States Congress, and took place in the middle of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's second term. The election was held during the Fourth Party System. It was the lone election to take place during America's involvement in World War I. The Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since the 1908 election. The election took place during the Spanish flu pandemic. Campaigning was disrupted around the country. In Nebraska, for instance, the authorities lifted a ban on public gatherings in early November 1918 and permitted politicians to campaign five days prior to polls opening. The turnout was 40%, which was unusually low for a midterm election (turnout was at 52% and 50% in the 1910 and 1914 midterm elections). The low turnout was possibly due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.Searcey Dionne https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/us/politics/1918-flu-pandemic-elections.html The Lessons of the Elections of 1918 2020-03-21 The New York Times 2020-03-21 en-US 0362-4331https://time.com/5797449/coronavirus-election-impact/ Here's How Coronavirus Is Affecting Voter Turnout Time 6 March 2020 en 2020-03-21 In an example of the six-year itch phenomenon, Republicans took complete control of Congress from the Democrats. The Republicans won large gains in the House, taking 25 seats and ending coalition control of the chamber.Party Divisions of the House of Representatives http://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/ United States House of Representatives 25 June 2014 In the Senate, Republicans gained 5 seats, taking control of the chamber by a slim majority.Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm United States Senate 25 June 2014 The elections were a major defeat for progressives and Wilson's foreign policy agenda, and foreshadowed the Republican victory in the 1920 election. Republicans ran against the expanded wartime government and the Fourteen Points, especially Wilson's proposal for the League of Nations. The Republican victory left them in control of both houses of Congress until the 1930 election.Busch Andrew Horses in Midstream https://archive.org/details/horsesinmidstrea0000busc registration 1999 University of Pittsburgh Press 87–91 State ballot initiatives Women's suffrage The election was also a turning point for women's suffrage in the United States: ballot initiatives to extend suffrage to women (among all-male electorates) were held in the states of Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Michigan. Of these initiatives, all but the one in Louisiana passed, and despite the ongoing pandemic, extensive grassroots organizing by suffragists https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/04/pandemic-nearly-derailed-womens-suffrage-movement/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200421155316/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/04/pandemic-nearly-derailed-womens-suffrage-movement/ dead April 21, 2020 A pandemic nearly derailed the women's suffrage movement DuBois Ellen Carol 2020-04-20 National Geographic en 2020-04-27 meant they successfully campaigned against incumbent Senators who had refused to support the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including John W. Weeks of Massachusetts, who had been considered invincible, and Willard Saulsbury Jr. of Delaware. Prohibition A number of state level ballot initiatives were also held regarding prohibition with some banning outright while others banned it in certain cases. California held two simultaneously with the two failing with one proposing it be banned in bars/saloons while the other proposed banning the sale, manufacturing and purchasing of alcohol in California.California Proposition 22, Alcohol Prohibition Initiative (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_22,_Alcohol_Prohibition_Initiative_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpeidaCalifornia Proposition 1, Drinking Saloons Prohibition Initiative (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Drinking_Saloons_Prohibition_Initiative_(1918) December 31, 2024 Ballotpedia The Washington measure which passed had an exemption to prohibition if alcohol was being used for religious purposes.Washington Referendum 10, Alcohol Prohibition Measure (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Referendum_10,_Alcohol_Prohibition_Measure_(1918) December 31, 2024 Ballotpedia +1918 state referendums on prohibitionsStateStatusCaliforniaFailedColoradoPassedColorado "Bone Dry" Prohibition, Measure 3 (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_%22Bone_Dry%22_Prohibition,_Measure_3_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaFloridaPassedFlorida Alcohol Prohibition Amendment (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Alcohol_Prohibition_Amendment_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaMinnesotaFailedMinnesota Prohibit Alcohol, Amendment 1 (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Minnesota_Prohibit_Alcohol,_Amendment_1_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaMissouriFailedMissouri Prohibiting Intoxicating Liquors, Issue 6 (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Prohibiting_Intoxicating_Liquors,_Issue_6_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaNevadaPassedNevada Statewide Prohibition (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Nevada_Statewide_Prohibition_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaOhioPassedOhio Alcohol Prohibition Initiative (1918) https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio_Alcohol_Prohibition_Initiative_(1918) December 31, 2024 BallotpediaWashingtonPassed See also 1918 United States House of Representatives elections 1918 United States Senate elections 1918 United States gubernatorial elections Presidency of Woodrow Wilson References Further reading Dewitt, Howard A. "Charles L. McNary and the 1918 Congressional Election." Oregon Historical Quarterly 68.2 (1967): 125–140. online Jenson, Carol. "Loyalty as a Political Weapon: The 1918 Campaign in Minnesota." Minnesota History 43.2 (1972): 42–57. online Livermore, Seward W. "The sectional issue in the 1918 congressional elections." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 35.1 (1948): 29–60. online Lowitt, Richard. "Senator Norris and His 1918 Campaign." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 57.3 (1966): 113–119. in Nebraska. Category:1918 elections in the United States 1918 Category:United States midterm elections Category:United States home front during World War I