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1926 United States Senate elections in Iowa

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1926 U.S. Senate election in Iowa

← 1920 November 2, 1926 1932 →
 
Nominee Smith W. Brookhart Claude R. Porter
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 323,409 247,869
Percentage 56.61% 43.39%

County results
Brookhart:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Porter:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

David W. Stewart
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

Smith W. Brookhart
Republican

The 1926 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 2, 1926, alongside a concurrent special election to the same seat.

Incumbent Senator Albert B. Cummins ran for re-election to a fourth term in office but was defeated in the Republican primary by former Senator Smith W. Brookhart, who had been removed from office by a vote of the Senate in 1924.

After his primary loss, Senator Cummins died on July 30. Republicans nominated David W. Stewart, a Sioux City attorney and Cummins supporter, to run for the unexpired term ending in March 1927. Stewart was then appointed to the seat by Governor John Hammill and ran unopposed in the special election, which was held concurrently with the regular election.

Background

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Smith W. Brookhart was elected to the Senate in 1922, winning a special election to succeed William S. Kenyon.[1] After joining the Senate, Brookhart's radicalism isolated him from both parties.[2] His indifference to President Calvin Coolidge in the 1924 presidential election also upset conservatives.[3] In 1924, he ran 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]

Iowa's other Senator, Albert B. Cummins, was a respected political veteran and took no position in the contested 1924 election, at least in part because he believed Brookhart would challenge him if unseated.[4] Though he was a leading American progressive in his early political career, Cummins's politics had gradually become more conservative following World War I.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Campaign

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As Brookhart was narrowly unseated on April 12, just two months before the primary, he had little time to return to Iowa and mount a campaign.

Results

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1926 Republican U.S. Senate primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Smith W. Brookhart 208,894 50.66%
Republican Albert B. Cummins (incumbent) 137,367 33.31%
Republican Howard J. Clark 54,392 13.19%
Republican Dan B. Reardon 6,037 1.46%
Republican L.E. Eickelberg 5,643 1.37%
Total votes 412,333 100.00%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1926 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Claude Porter 28,077 48.85%
Democratic James C. Murtaugh 12,881 22.41%
Democratic J. R. Files 11,922 20.74%
Democratic George Finch 4,601 8.00%
Total votes 57,481 100.00%

Special election

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Candidates

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Results

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1926 U.S. Senate special election in Iowa[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican David W. Stewart (Incumbent) 336,410 100.00%
Total votes 336,410 100.00%
Republican hold

General election

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Candidates

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Results

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1926 U.S. Senate election in Iowa[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Smith W. Brookhart 323,409 56.61%
Democratic Claude Porter 247,869 43.39%
Total votes 571,278 100.00%

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Brookhart Sworn as Junior Senator," Waterloo Evening Courier, 1922-12-02. p. 3.
  2. ^ "Again, Brookhart," Time, April 20, 1936.
  3. ^ a b "Official Count Indicates Steck is Winner," Cedar Rapids Republican, February 4, 1926. p. 4.
  4. ^ Cummins Asks to be Excused from Voting in the Brookhart Contest, Davenport Democrat and Leader. April 1, 1926, p. 1.
  5. ^ Iowa Official Register, 1927–28. pp. 348–49.
  6. ^ Iowa Official Register, 1927–28. pp. 354–55.
  7. ^ a b Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1927). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November , 1926" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.