1932 United States Senate election in Iowa
November 8, 1932
 
Nominee Louis Murphy Henry Field
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 538,422 399,929
Percentage 54.15% 40.22%
Murphy:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Field:      40–50%      50–60%
U.S. senator before election

Smith W. Brookhart
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

Louis Murphy
Democratic

The 1932 United States Senate election in Iowa took place on November 8, 1932. Incumbent Republican Senator Smith Brookhart, a controversial progressive figure within the conservative Iowa Republican Party, was defeated in the June Republican primary by Henry A. Field. Field was in turn defeated in the general election by Democrat Louis Murphy. Brookhart also entered the general election as the candidate of the Progressive Party but finished a distant third.

Primary elections were held on June 6. Field defeated Brookhart in the Republican primary, and Murphy defeated a four-man Democratic field including former senator Daniel F. Steck and future governor Nelson G. Kraschel.

Murphy's victory made him just the second Democratic senator from Iowa elected since 1852 and the first to win election directly.[lower-alpha 1]

Background

Smith Wildman Brookhart, the incumbent Senator since 1927, faced heavy opposition from the conservative element of the Iowa Republican Party.

Senator Smith W. Brookhart was first elected to the Senate in 1922, winning a special election to succeed William S. Kenyon.[1] After joining the Senate, Brookhart's "pugnacious cowhide radicalism nettled patrician Senators."[2] His indifference to President Calvin Coolidge in the 1924 presidential election also upset conservatives.[3]

In 1924, he attempted to win re-election to a full term, and it initially appeared he had narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Daniel Steck despite the defection of many conservative Republicans. However, Steck challenged the result in the U.S. Senate and, during a lengthy process, the Iowa Republican Party sided with Steck. Brookhart was removed from office on April 12, 1926 and replaced with Steck by a vote of 45–41. A dozen Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to unseat Brookhart.[3]

Immediately upon his ouster from the Senate, Brookhart returned to Iowa and challenged the incumbent Republican Senator for Iowa's other Senate seat, Albert B. Cummins, a respected veteran of the Senate. Brookhart defeated Cummins in a landslide, despite having little time or resources to mount a campaign, and was returned to the Senate in the fall in another landslide victory.[4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

The first prominent challenger to Brookhart was George Cosson, a former Iowa Attorney General. In February, Brookhart accused Cosson of being "personally conducted" by Federal Reserve Bank chair Eugene Meyer, whose confirmation Brookhart had opposed.[9] "This is simply an illustration of the political machine Wall Street is attempting to build up for the control of all the states through the federal reserve banking system, the federal land bank system, the joint stock land bank system and the intermediate credit bank system," said Brookhart. Brookhart further accused Meyer of bankrupting the nation's farmers and proposed instead a direct subsidy.[9] Cosson declined to respond to the accusation.[9]

Henry Field, a successful agribusinessman and radio station owner, entered the race in March in response to a draft effort by more conservative Republicans.[7] He, Cosson, and Cook were soon joined by Glenn Haynes, a former state auditor and secretary of the Iowa Good Roads Association.[8]

Eventually, conservatives joined in support of Field as the best alternative to Brookhart. In addition to traditional conservative lines of attack, Field criticized the Senator for missing sessions while on vacation and for the number of his relatives who held federal positions.[10]

Results

1932 Republican U.S. Senate primary[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Henry Ames Field 197,263 45.19%
Republican Smith W. Brookhart (incumbent) 145,902 33.42%
Republican Glenn C. Haynes 43,050 9.86%
Republican George Cosson 29,687 6.80%
Republican Louis Cook 12,103 2.77%
Republican L.E. Eickelberg 8,513 1.95%
Write-in 44 0.01%
Total votes 436,562 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

1932 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Louis Murphy 51,537 38.72%
Democratic Daniel F. Steck 32,439 24.37%
Democratic Nelson G. Kraschel 18,208 13.68%
Democratic Charles F. Lytle 17,876 13.43%
Democratic Fred P. Hagemann 13,046 9.80%
Total votes 133,106 100.00%

After losing the primary, Kraschel was nominated to run for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa.

General election

Candidates

Results

1932 U.S. Senate election in Iowa[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Richard Louis Murphy 538,422 54.15% Increase10.84
Republican Henry Ames Field 399,929 40.22% Decrease16.39
Progressive Smith W. Brookhart (incumbent) 43,174 4.34% N/A
Socialist T.S. McCrill 11,076 1.11% N/A
Farmer–Labor Roy M. Harrop 1,228 0.12% N/A
Communist Peter Hunter 467 0.05% N/A
Total votes 831,839 100.00%

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Daniel Steck, the earlier Senator, was elected following a lengthy challenge to the certified 1924 results in the U.S. Senate. He was seated by a vote of the Senate.
  2. 1 2 Brookhart previously served a separate term in the Senate from 1922–26.

References

  1. ↑ "Brookhart Sworn as Junior Senator," Waterloo Evening Courier, 1922-12-02, at p. 3.
  2. ↑ "Again, Brookhart," Time, April 20, 1936.
  3. 1 2 "Official Count Indicates Steck is Winner," Cedar Rapids Republican, February 4, 1926 at 4.
  4. ↑ "Washington Sees Corn Belt Revolt in Brookhart Win," Waterloo Evening Courier, June 8, 1926 at 2.
  5. ↑ "Four Hats Thrown in Republican Ring to Oppose Brookhart for Senatorship". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. April 3, 1932. p. 4. Cook, a resident of Des Moines, is well known throughout Iowa as a member of the state board of assessment and review, which has been digging up hitherto untaxed property and lightening the burden on real estate
  6. ↑ "Senator George Cosson". Iowa Legislature. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Henry Field Feels Iowa Political Pulse with an Eye to Brookhart's Toga". The Des Moines Register. March 20, 1932. p. 22. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Col. Glenn Haynes is Republican Candidate for Senate". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Associated Press. April 3, 1932. p. 4. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 "Charges George Cosson Is Candidate of Eugene Meyer". The Muscatine Journal. Associated Press. February 23, 1932. p. 9. Retrieved October 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Senate Met While Brookhart was on Chautauqua," Boyden Reporter, May 19, 1932 at 6.
  11. ↑ "The des Moines Register 22 June 1932, page Page 15". Des Moines Register. June 22, 1932. p. 15. Retrieved January 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 Iowa Official Register, 1933–34. pp. 146–47.
  13. ↑ "Our Campaigns - IA US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1932". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  14. ↑ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1933). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1932" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
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