1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election

none related races 1942 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election Tennessee Presidential no 1940 Tennessee gubernatorial election 1940 1944 Tennessee gubernatorial election 1944 November 3, 1942 File:Prentice Cooper.jpg 150x150px Prentice Cooper Democratic Party (United States) 120,148 70.15% 3x4.svg C. N. Frazier Republican Party (United States) 51,120 29.85% File:1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election results map by county.svg County resultsCooper: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d0596ff >90%Frazier: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% Governor Prentice Cooper Democratic Party (United States) Prentice Cooper Democratic Party (United States) The 1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Democratic governor Prentice Cooper defeated Republican nominee C. N. Frazier with 70.2% of the vote. In the Democratic primary, Judge John Ridley Mitchell, who despised Memphis political boss E. H. Crump, sought the party's nomination for governor but was defeated by Cooper, 171,259 votes to 124,037.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 325-329, 325-335. Background In 1942, the federal government appropriated land in what is now Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the top secret Manhattan Project which was developing the world's first atomic bomb. Cooper was not informed of the purpose of the project. When Anderson Countians complained to Cooper of land appropriations, Cooper accused the federal government of stealing the land for a "socialist" project. When officially notified in July 1943 by an Army lieutenant of the presidential proclamation making the area a military district not subject to state control, he angrily ripped it to pieces. The new MED District Engineer Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Nichols had to placate him."Oak Ridge, The Secret City https://web.archive.org/web/20211209033143/http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/era_id/7/major_id/9/minor_id/72/a_id/219 December 9, 2021 ," Tennessee4me.org. Retrieved: December 15, 2012.Nichols Kenneth The Road to Trinity: A Personal Account of How America's Nuclear Policies Were Made William Morrow 1987 068806910X New York pp99-100 Along with defense mobilization, Cooper increased funding for state schools and implemented a program that provided free textbooks for children in grades 1 through 3.Governor Prentice Cooper Papers (finding aid) https://web.archive.org/web/20130712212100/http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/govpapers/findingaids/gp44.pdf July 12, 2013, Tennessee State Library and Archives, April 2002. Retrieved: December 14, 2012. He increased aid to the elderly, established a system of tuberculosis hospitals, and acquired land for state parks and state forests. He cut the state payroll and placed taxes on alcohol, and he managed to reduce the state debt by $21 million. In January 1941, a Cooper-supported bill calling for a repeal of the state's poll tax was introduced in the state legislature but was defeated. In 1943, the repeal passed but was thrown out by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Primary elections Primary elections were held on August 6, 1942.https://books.google.com/books?id=nqAaAQAAMAAJ Guide to U.S. elections - CQ Press, Congressional Quarterly, inc 2005 CQ Press 9781568029818 2020-05-04 Democratic primary Candidates Prentice Cooper, incumbent governor John Ridley Mitchell, former U.S. representative from Cookeville and former judge of the fifth circuit of Tennessee J. Bailey Wray Results Democratic primary results Prentice Cooper (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 171,259 57.63% John Ridley Mitchell Democratic Party (United States) 124,037 41.74% J. Bailey Wray Democratic Party (United States) 1,901 0.64% 297,197 100.00% General election Candidates Prentice Cooper, Democratic C. N. Frazier, Republican Results 1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election Democratic Party (United States) Prentice Cooper (incumbent) 120,148 70.15% Republican Party (United States) C. N. Frazier 51,120 29.85% 69,028 Democratic Party (United States) See also 1942 United States Senate election in Tennessee References 1942 Tennessee Gubernatorial