1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts explained

Election Name:1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
Country:Massachusetts
Flag Year:1908
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1936 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
Previous Year:1936
Next Election:1944 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
Next Year:1944 (special)
Election Date:November 3, 1942
Image1:HenryCabotLodgeJr.jpg
Nominee1:Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Party1:Republican Party (US)
Popular Vote1:721,239
Percentage1:52.44%
Party2:Democratic Party (US)
Popular Vote2:641,042
Percentage2:46.61%
Map Size:250px
Senator
Before Party:Republican Party (US)
After Party:Republican Party (US)

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.

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

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

After losing the primary, Crocker supported Democratic nominee Joseph E. Casey in the general election.[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Campaign

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.[3]

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. 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.

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."[4]

Results

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Ely and Crocker File for Senate. The Boston Daily Globe. July 28, 1942.
  2. News: Harris. John G.. Courtenay Crocker Bolts Lodge, Will Support Casey for Senator. The Boston Daily Globe. October 25, 1942.
  3. Book: Whalen, Thomas J.. Kennedy versus Lodge: The 1952 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts. 2000. Northeastern University Press. 47. 9781555534622.
  4. News: LODGE IS ACCUSED OF MISUSING LETTER. 3 Nov 1942. The New York Times. 14.