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1922 United States Senate election in Mississippi

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The 1922 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 7, 1922. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Sharp Williams did not run for re-election to a third term in office.

1922 U.S. Senate Democratic runoff in Mississippi
← 1916 September 5, 1922 1928 →
 
Nominee Hubert D. Stephens James K. Vardaman
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 95,351 86,853
Percentage 52.33% 47.67%
U.S. senator before election

John Sharp Williams
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Hubert D. Stephens
Democratic

In the Democratic primary to succeed Williams, U.S. Representative Hubert D. Stephens defeated former Senator James K. Vardaman, who had held Mississippi's other Senate seat for one term. The race required a run-off, as neither candidate achieved a majority in the August primary with suffragette Belle Kearney in the race.

Stephens's victory in the September 5 run-off was tantamount to election; he faced only nominal opposition from the Republican and Socialist candidates in the November general election.

Democratic primary edit

Candidates edit

Former Senator James Vardaman joined the race in June.[1]

Campaign edit

Vardaman was condemned by former President Woodrow Wilson, who had engineered his defeat in 1918 over his opposition to American involvement in World War I. Wilson emphatically denounced Vardaman in a single sentence, stating, "I think he is thoroughly false and untrustworthy and that it would be a great detriment to Mississippi and the nation if he should be returned to the Senate."[2] Vardaman responded with a lengthy statement attributing Wilson's opposition to their long-standing enmity.[3]

Belle Kearney, among the first women to run for Senate anywhere in the country, encountered opposition from both men and women. One politician was quoted as saying, "When I cast my ballot for a woman, you can rest assured she is going to be a good-looking one and not so damn old as Miss Belle."[4] Other former suffragettes privately withheld support based on past experience with Kearney. Nellie Nugent Somerville told a friend that Kearney "would never get [her] vote" because she had "worried and hindered legislative work."[5] Nevertheless, she received a rare endorsement from the state League of Women Voters.[6]

Results edit

1922 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James K. Vardaman 74,597 46.95%
Democratic Hubert D. Stephens 65,980 41.53%
Democratic Belle Kearney 18,303 11.52%
Total votes 158,880 100.00%

Runoff edit

In the run-off, held September 5, both candidates vied for Kearney's primary voters, many of whom were women voting in a primary for the first time.[8] Ultimately, Kearney threw her support behind Stephens, and her voters were credited with defeating the Vardaman machine in Mississippi.[9]

1922 Democratic U.S. Senate runoff[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Hubert D. Stephens 95,351 52.33%
Democratic James K. Vardaman 86,853 47.67%
Total votes 182,204 100.00%

General election edit

Results edit

1922 U.S. Senate election in Mississippi[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Hubert D. Stephens 63,636 93.21%  6.79
Republican John H. Cook 3,362 4.92% N/A
Socialist Hubert D. Stephens 1,273 1.87% N/A
Total votes 68,271 100.00%

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "VARDAMAN A CANDIDATE". The New York Times. June 13, 1922. p. 8. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  2. ^ "WILSON CONDEMNS VARDAMAN CANDIDACY". The New York Times. July 27, 1922. p. 3. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "VARDAMAN HITS AT WILSON". The New York Times. July 28, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  4. ^ Schuyler 2008, p. 40.
  5. ^ Schuyler 2008, p. 161.
  6. ^ Schuyler 2008, p. 274.
  7. ^ "Our Campaigns - MS US Senate - D Primary Race - Aug 15, 1922".
  8. ^ "NEW FIGHT ON VARDAMAN.; Both He and Stephens Seek Miss Kearney's Mississippi Vote". The New York Times. August 18, 1922. p. 15. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  9. ^ Schuyler 2008, p. 105.
  10. ^ "Our Campaigns - MS US Senate - D Runoff Race - Sep 05, 1922".
  11. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1922" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  12. ^ "Our Campaigns - MS US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1946".

Further reading edit


   

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