1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

The United States Senate election of 1942 in Massachusetts was held on November 3, 1942. Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was re-elected to a second term in office over Democratic U.S. Representative Joseph E. Casey.

1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 1936 November 3, 1942 1944 (special) →
 
Nominee Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Joseph E. Casey
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 721,239 641,042
Percentage 52.44% 46.61%

Lodge:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%
Casey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Senator before election

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Republican

Elected Senator

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Republican

Republican primary

edit

Candidates

edit

Campaign

edit

Crocker, who left the Republican Party in 1920 over the party's opposition to the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles, returned and announced his candidacy for the United States Senate against Senator Lodge, whose grandfather led the 1920 charge against the League and Treaty. Massachusetts Secretary of State Frederic W. Cook ruled that Crocker was ineligible to run in the Republican primary because he did not register as a Republican at least 30 days before filing his nomination papers. However, Suffolk Superior Court Judge John V. Spalding ordered Cook to place Crocker on the ballot.[1]

Results

edit
Republican primary [2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (incumbent) 174,401 88.12%
Republican Courtenay Crocker 23,503 11.88%
Write-in 8 0.00%
Total votes 197,912 100.00%
None Blank votes 24,652
Turnout 222,564

After losing the primary, Crocker supported Democratic nominee Joseph E. Casey in the general election.[3]

Democratic primary

edit

Candidates

edit

Results

edit
Democratic primary [2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph E. Casey 108,251 45.47%
Democratic John F. Fitzgerald 80,456 33.79%
Democratic Joseph Lee 32,260 13.55%
Democratic Daniel H. Coakley 17,105 7.18%
Write-in 18 0.00%
Total votes 238,090 100.00%
None Blank 31,528
Turnout 269,618

General election

edit

Candidates

edit

Campaign

edit

Casey attempted to make an issue of Lodge's pre-war isolationism, although he had voted for the Lend-Lease Act in 1941. Lodge countered that his isolationism had been rooted in concerns over the nation's lack of military preparedness.[4]

Lodge, an Army reservist himself, was briefly unable to campaign after he enlisted and was sent to Libya for training. While there, he inadvertently took part in a major Allied defeat when Erwin Rommel launched a surprise attack on Lodge's training position in Tobruk.[5] He returned to Massachusetts in July, when President Roosevelt required all members of Congress be relieved from active duty. When Casey attempted to portray his service as a mere "Cook's tour of the Libyan desert," Lodge angrily refuted him.[6]

Late in the campaign, Lodge drew criticism from U.S. Representative John W. McCormack and Secretary of War Henry Stimson for citing a letter from Stimson commending his military service in his campaign. Lodge responded that the use of the letter was only made in response to Casey's and McCormack's earlier "slurs on men in the armed forces."[7]

Results

edit
General election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (incumbent) 721,239 52.44  3.91
Democratic Joseph E. Casey 641,042 46.61  5.62
Socialist George Lyman Paine 4,802 0.35  0.19
Socialist Labor Horace I. Hillis 4,781 0.35  0.35
Prohibition George L. Thompson 3,577 0.26  0.26
Total votes 1,375,441 100.00%

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Ely and Crocker File for Senate". The Boston Daily Globe. July 28, 1942.
  2. ^ a b "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 15, 1942". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  3. ^ Harris, John G. (October 25, 1942). "Courtenay Crocker Bolts Lodge, Will Support Casey for Senator". The Boston Daily Globe.
  4. ^ Whalen, Thomas J. (2000). Kennedy versus Lodge: The 1952 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts. Northeastern University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9781555534622.
  5. ^ Whalen 2000, p. 47.
  6. ^ Whalen 2000, p. 48.
  7. ^ "LODGE IS ACCUSED OF MISUSING LETTER". The New York Times. November 3, 1942. p. 14.