1936 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1936 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
| country = Massachusetts
| flag_year = 1908
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1930 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
| previous_year = 1930
| next_election = 1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
| next_year = 1942
| election_date = November 3, 1936
| image_size = 150x150px
| image1 = File:1935 Henry Cabot Lodge Jr Massachusetts House of Representatives.png
| nominee1 = Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
| party1 = Republican Party (US)
| popular_vote1 = 875,160
| percentage1 = 48.53%
| image2 = James Michael Curley (1).jpg
| nominee2 = James Michael Curley
| party2 = Democratic Party (US)
| popular_vote2 = 739,751
| percentage2 = 41.02%
| map_image = {{switcher
|County results
|File:1936 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts by Municipality.svg
|Municipality results
|default=1
}}
| map_size = 250px
| map_caption = Lodge: {{legend0|#FFB2B2|40–50%}} {{legend0|#E27F7F|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend0|#D72F30|70–80%}} {{legend0|#C21B18|80–90%}} {{legend0|#A80000|>90%}}
Curley: {{legend0|#A5B0FF|40–50%}} {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584CDE|70–80%}}
| image3 = File:Thomas C. O'Brien (1).jpg
| nominee3 = Thomas C. O'Brien
| party3 = Union Party (US)
| popular_vote3 = 134,245
| percentage3 = 7.44%
| title = U.S. Senator
| before_election = Marcus A. Coolidge
| before_party = Democratic Party (US)
| after_election = Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
| after_party = Republican Party (US)
}}
{{Elections in Massachusetts}}
The 1936 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 3. Incumbent Democratic Senator Marcus A. Coolidge declined to stand for re-election. Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. won the race to succeed him over Democratic Boston mayor James Michael Curley and former Suffolk County prosecutor Thomas C. O'Brien.
The election was notable because although Democrats expanded their overall Senate majority to 74 seats, Massachusetts was the only seat gained by Republicans. Curley's campaign may have been damaged by President Roosevelt's decision to remain aloof and the candidacy of O'Brien, who siphoned many usually Democratic Irish-American votes in Boston.
Republican primary
=Candidates=
- Alonzo B. Cook, former Massachusetts Auditor
- Guy M. Gray, State Representative
- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., State Representative and grandson of former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
- Thomas C. O'Brien, former Suffolk County District Attorney (also running as Democrat)
==Withdrew==
- James T. Cavanaugh, former State Senator from Boston (after loss at convention){{Cite news |date=18 Jun 1936 |title=Weeks-Lodge Contest |pages=2 |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/431956318/ |url-status= |url-access=subscription |access-date=13 May 2023}}
- Sinclair Weeks, former Mayor of Newton and son of former Senator John W. Weeks (after loss at convention){{cite book|title=Kennedy versus Lodge: The 1952 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts|last=Whalen|first=Thomas J.|date=2000|publisher=Northeastern University Press|page=40|isbn=9781555534622|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedyversuslod0000whal/page/38/mode/1up}}
= Convention =
At the Springfield convention, held June 18–21, the fight between Lodge and Weeks came to a head. Observers considered the race the closest of any in the state and both candidates claimed a substantial lead in delegates. James Cavanaugh, by then a decided third, declared that he would not throw his delegates to Weeks in the event of a second ballot, but did not say he would throw them to Lodge.
Weeks received a major boost on the third day, when his candidacy was backed by Joseph W. Martin and John W. Haigis, the candidate for Governor.{{Cite news |date=20 Jun 1936 |title=Weeks Candidacy Strongly Backed: Support of Martin and Haigis Gives Newton Man Edge Over Lodge |pages=2 |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/431962306/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=13 May 2023}}
The voting itself was not decided until the final state senate district, the Worcester and Hampden district, declared its vote. Although it was a Weeks district, Lodge needed only six of its votes, which he secured about halfway through the roll call.{{Cite news |date=22 Jun 1936 |title=One Holyoke Vote Cast for Lodge in Senatorial Contest |pages=12 |work=Holyoke Transcript-Telegram |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/837641307 |url-access=subscription |access-date=13 May 2023}} {{Election box begin no change
| title=1936 Republican convention}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
|votes = 336
|percentage = 52.42%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Sinclair Weeks
|votes = 299
|percentage = 46.65%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = J. T. Cavanaugh
|votes = 6
|percentage = 0.94%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 641
|percentage = 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}After the voting concluded, Weeks took the podium to make the endorsement unanimous and give his personal support to Lodge.
=Primary results=
{{Election box begin no change
| title=1936 Republican U.S. Senate primary{{Cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=572147|title=Our Campaigns - MA US Senate- R Primary Race - Sep 15, 1936}}}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
|votes = 356,756
|percentage = 83.99%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Alonzo B. Cook
|votes = 42,261
|percentage = 9.95%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Guy M. Gray
|votes = 18,076
|percentage = 4.26%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Thomas C. O'Brien
|votes = 6,834
|percentage = 1.61%
}}
{{Election box write-in with party link no change
|votes = 821
|percentage = 0.19%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 424,748
|percentage = 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}
All three losing candidates entered the general election as the nominees of third parties. Cook ran on an "Economy" ticket, Gray ran on the Social Justice ticket, and O'Brien ran on the national Union Party ticket.
Democratic primary
=Candidates=
- James Michael Curley, Governor of Massachusetts and former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative
- Robert E. Greenwood, Mayor of Fitchburg
- Thomas C. O'Brien, former Suffolk County District Attorney (also running as Republican)
==Declined==
- Marcus A. Coolidge, incumbent Senator
=Results=
The Democratic nominee was Governor and former (and future) Mayor of Boston James Michael Curley. President Franklin Roosevelt declined to endorse Curley, which may have affected the final results.
{{Election box begin no change
| title=1936 Democratic U.S. Senate primary{{Cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=572148|title=Our Campaigns - MA US Senate- D Primary Race - Sep 15, 1936}}}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate = James Michael Curley
|votes = 245,606
|percentage = 62.97%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate = Robert E. Greenwood
|votes = 104,615
|percentage = 26.81%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate = Thomas C. O'Brien
|votes = 39,035
|percentage = 10.01%
}}
{{Election box write-in with party link no change
|votes = 806
|percentage = 0.21%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes = 390,062
|percentage = 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}
General election
=Candidates=
- Alonzo B. Cook, former Massachusetts Auditor (Economy)
- Albert Sprague Coolidge (Socialist)
- James Michael Curley, Governor of Massachusetts and former mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative (Democratic)
- Ernest L. Dodge (Socialist Labor)
- Charles Flaherty (Communist)
- Guy M. Gray, State Representative (Social Justice)
- Moses H. Gulesian (Townsend)
- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., State Representative from Beverly, journalist, and grandson of former Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (Republican)
- Wilbur D. Moon (Prohibition)
- Thomas C. O'Brien, Suffolk County District Attorney (Union)
=Campaign=
Lodge was highly critical of Curley's tenure as Governor, but did not mention him by name. Curley resorted to personal attacks, referring to Lodge, who was only 34 years old, as "Little Boy Blue"{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=40}} and "a young man who parts both his hair and his name in the middle."{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=41}} He accused Lodge of being a reactionary in the supposed mold of his grandfather, Henry Cabot Lodge.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=41}} Lodge criticized Curley for his failure to achieve federal funding for Massachusetts during the Great Depression, which may have been the result of Curley's personal feud with President Roosevelt.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|pp=40–41}} He defended his own record as supportive of labor and economic intervention and his grandfather's as protective of the laboring classes via restriction on immigration and opposition to international adventurism.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|pp=41–42}}
O'Brien, who ran at the urging of Charles Coughlin, campaigned for the urban Irish Catholic vote. His campaign was spurred by Curley's efforts to align with President Roosevelt, from whom Coughlin had broken earlier in his term.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=41}}
Roosevelt made a personal swing through the state as part of his re-election campaign, but when Curley tried to get a photograph with Roosevelt, he made a point of turning away.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=41}}
Later in the race,{{when|date=July 2021}} Curley tried to have Lodge's name removed from the ballot by arguing, through his political ally and Lodge's primary opponent Alonzo B. Cook, that "Jr." was reserved for the son of a man with the same name, and Lodge was instead the grandson. This controversy was quashed when Lodge produced a birth certificate reading "Jr." In fact, Curley's own legal name did not include "Michael", but he was listed on the ballot as "James Michael Curley" nonetheless. The Lodge campaign did not challenge this discrepancy.{{sfn|Whalen|2000|p=52}}
=Results=
{{Election box begin
| title=General election}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
|party = Republican Party (US)
|candidate = Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
|votes = 875,160
|percentage = 48.53%
|change = {{increase}}3.86
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Democratic Party (US)
|candidate = James Michael Curley
|votes = 739,751
|percentage = 41.02%
|change = {{decrease}}12.99
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Union Party (United States)
|candidate = Thomas C. O'Brien
|votes = 134,245
|percentage = 7.44%
|change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate minor party
|party = Economy
|candidate = Alonzo B. Cook
|votes = 11,519
|percentage = 0.64%
|change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate minor party
|party = Social Justice
|candidate = Guy M. Gray
|votes = 9,906
|percentage = 0.55%
|change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Socialist Party USA
|candidate = Albert Sprague Coolidge
|votes = 9,763
|percentage = 0.54%
|change = {{decrease}}0.06
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Townsend Party
|candidate = Moses H. Gulesian
|votes = 7,408
|percentage = 0.41%
|change = N/A
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Socialist Labor Party of America
|candidate = Ernest L. Dodge
|votes = 7,091
|percentage = 0.39%
|change = {{increase}}0.01
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Communist Party USA
|candidate = Charles Flaherty
|votes = 4,821
|percentage = 0.27%
|change = {{decrease}}0.06
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party = Prohibition Party
|candidate = Wilbur D. Moon
|votes = 3,677
|percentage = 0.20%
|change = N/A
}}
{{Election box write-in with party link
|votes = 16
|percentage = 0.00%
|change =
}}
{{Election box total
|votes = 1,803,357
|percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{1936 United States elections}}
{{Federal elections in Massachusetts footer}}
{{US Third Party Election}}