1942 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	1942 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Country:	Wisconsin
Flag Year:	1913
Type:	Presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1940 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	1940
Next Election:	1944 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
Next Year:	1944
Election Date:	November 3, 1942
Image1:	File:Orland Steen Loomis (Wisconsin governor-elect).jpg
Nominee1:	Orland S. Loomis
Party1:	Wisconsin Progressive Party
Popular Vote1:	397,664
Percentage1:	49.65%
Nominee2:	Julius P. Heil
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	291,945
Percentage2:	36.45%
Nominee3:	William C. Sullivan
Party3:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote3:	98,153
Percentage3:	12.25%
Map Size:	250px
Governor
Before Election:	Julius P. Heil
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Orland S. Loomis
After Party:	Wisconsin Progressive Party

The 1942 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942.

Incumbent Republican Governor Julius P. Heil was defeated by Progressive nominee Orland S. Loomis in a rematch of the 1940 election with 49.65% of the vote. As of 2023, this is the last time Waupaca and Dodge counties did not vote for the Republican candidate for governor. Primary elections were held on September 15, 1942.

Loomis died of a heart attack on December 7, 1942, a month before he was to take office. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Lieutenant Governor Walter Samuel Goodland would serve Orland Loomis's term as governor, overriding the view of Governor Julius Heil that he should continue in office.^{[1] [2]}

Primary election

Republican party

Candidates

• Julius P. Heil, incumbent governor
• Milton T. Murray, state senator
• James K. Robinson, dentist, unsuccessful candidate for Progressive nomination for lieutenant governor in 1936 and unsuccessful candidate for Republican nomination for governor in 1940^[3]

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Raymond J. Cannon, former U.S. Representative
• Joseph H. Conlin, concert singer^[4]
• Stanley Z. Fajkowski, former tavern keeper^[5]
• Gustav J. Keller, Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 1940
• William C. Sullivan, dentist, former mayor of Kaukauna^[6]
• Albert J. Wilde, real estate broker

Results

Progressive party

Candidates

• Orland S. Loomis, former Attorney General of Wisconsin and nominee for governor in 1940

Results

Socialist party

Candidates

• Frank P. Zeidler, former county surveyor, member of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors

Results

Other party nominations

• • Fred Basset Blair, Independent Communist, Communist nominee for governor in 1932 and 1940 Georgia Cozzini, Independent Socialist Labor

General election

Results by county

Shawano County voted for the losing candidate for the first time since 1879 while Lafayette County and Price County voted for the losing candidate for the first time since 1892.

County	Orland S. Loomis Progressive		Julius P. Heil Republican		William C. Sullivan Democratic		Frank P. Zeidler Socialist		All Others Various		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
Adams	1,223	62.02%		632		32.05%		99		5.02%		13		0.66%		5		0.25%	591	29.97%	1,972
Ashland	3,443	59.52%		1,808		31.25%		486		8.40%		25		0.43%		23		0.40%	1,635	28.26%	5,785
Barron	4,179	64.15%		1,986		30.49%		296		4.54%		32		0.49%		21		0.32%	2,193	33.67%	6,514
Bayfield	2,490	60.79%		1,234		30.13%		325		7.93%		32		0.78%		15		0.37%	1,256	30.66%	4,096
Brown	7,527	39.26%		7,223		37.68%		4,328		22.58%		85		0.44%		8		0.04%	304	1.59%	19,171
Buffalo	2,284	58.93%		1,476		38.08%		97		2.50%		17		0.44%		2		0.05%	808	20.85%	3,876
Burnett	1,653	64.42%		777		30.28%		110		4.29%		17		0.66%		9		0.35%	876	34.14%	2,566
	Calumet	1,638	36.68%		1,987		44.49%		796		17.82%		40		0.90%		5		0.11%		-349		-7.81%		4,466
Chippewa	4,430	49.08%		4,081		45.21%		480		5.32%		22		0.24%		13		0.14%	349	3.87%	9,026
Clark	4,220	57.26%		2,707		36.73%		383		5.20%		45		0.61%		15		0.20%	1,513	20.53%	7,370
Columbia	4,852	59.43%		2,755		33.75%		514		6.30%		37		0.45%		6		0.07%	2,097	25.69%	8,164
	Crawford	1,675	29.81%		2,521		44.87%		1,393		24.80%		28		0.50%		1		0.02%		-846		-15.06%		5,618
Dane	30,394	74.05%		8,841		21.54%		1,577		3.84%		207		0.50%		24		0.06%	21,553	52.51%	41,043
Dodge	6,696	47.79%		5,248		37.46%		1,937		13.82%		121		0.86%		9		0.06%	1,448	10.33%	14,011
Door	1,582	47.84%		1,433		43.33%		265		8.01%		20		0.60%		7		0.21%	149	4.51%	3,307
Douglas	7,397	57.89%		3,429		26.84%		1,832		14.34%		82		0.64%		38		0.30%	3,968	31.05%	12,778
Dunn	2,989	52.50%		2,450		43.04%		220		3.86%		17		0.30%		17		0.30%	539	9.47%	5,693
Eau Claire	5,438	54.66%		4,063		40.84%		382		3.84%		55		0.55%		10		0.10%	1,375	13.82%	9,948
	Florence	334	39.86%		350		41.77%		148		17.66%		2		0.24%		4		0.48%		-16		-1.91%		838
	Fond du Lac	6,333	42.67%		6,395		43.09%		1,972		13.29%		107		0.72%		35		0.24%		-62		-0.42%		14,842
Forest	1,266	46.84%		663		24.53%		736		27.23%		29		1.07%		9		0.33%	530	19.61%	2,703
Grant	6,583	49.15%		5,400		40.31%		1,319		9.85%		59		0.44%		34		0.25%	1,183	8.83%	13,395
Green	3,667	58.95%		2,200		35.36%		292		4.69%		37		0.59%		25		0.40%	1,467	23.58%	6,221
	Green Lake	1,541	39.78%		1,727		44.58%		584		15.07%		15		0.39%		7		0.18%		-186		-4.80%		3,874
Iowa	3,588	62.14%		1,819		31.50%		310		5.37%		27		0.47%		30		0.52%	1,769	30.64%	5,774
Iron	1,850	52.10%		1,086		30.58%		549		15.46%		45		1.27%		21		0.59%	764	21.52%	3,551
Jackson	3,157	69.69%		1,237		27.31%		121		2.67%		12		0.26%		3		0.07%	1,920	42.38%	4,530
Jefferson	4,925	46.24%		4,271		40.10%		1,359		12.76%		81		0.76%		16		0.15%	654	6.14%	10,652
Juneau	3,553	72.04%		1,198		24.29%		162		3.28%		19		0.39%		0		0.00%	2,355	47.75%	4,932
	Kenosha	6,512	37.93%		7,362		42.88%		3,006		17.51%		217		1.26%		72		0.42%		-850		-4.95%		17,169
	Kewaunee	1,522	33.89%		1,903		42.37%		1,033		23.00%		27		0.60%		6		0.13%		-381		-8.48%		4,491
La Crosse	7,611	50.99%		6,209		41.60%		1,028		6.89%		55		0.37%		23		0.15%	1,402	9.39%	14,926
	Lafayette	2,145	43.74%		2,155		43.94%		585		11.93%		13		0.27%		6		0.12%		-10		-0.20%		4,904
Langlade	2,195	38.38%		2,034		35.57%		1,424		24.90%		49		0.86%		17		0.30%	161	2.82%	5,719
Lincoln	3,871	60.51%		2,093		32.72%		327		5.11%		76		1.19%		30		0.47%	1,778	27.79%	6,397
Manitowoc	8,292	52.83%		5,613		35.76%		1,656		10.55%		126		0.80%		10		0.06%	2,679	17.07%	15,697
Marathon	7,684	47.01%		6,442		39.42%		1,881		11.51%		315		1.93%		22		0.13%	1,242	7.60%	16,344
	Marinette	2,140	27.40%		4,063		52.02%		1,545		19.78%		56		0.72%		6		0.08%		-1,923		-24.62%		7,810
	Marquette	1,014	38.75%		1,275		48.72%		307		11.73%		14		0.53%		7		0.27%		-261		-9.97%		2,617
Milwaukee	103,650	50.83%		62,701		30.75%		30,230		14.82%		6,546		3.21%		787		0.39%	40,949	20.08%	203,914
Monroe	3,924	60.24%		2,206		33.87%		337		5.17%		38		0.58%		9		0.14%	1,718	26.37%	6,514
Oconto	3,222	42.57%		3,004		39.69%		1,284		16.97%		52		0.69%		6		0.08%	218	2.88%	7,568
Oneida	2,950	59.75%		1,475		29.88%		449		9.09%		55		1.11%		8		0.16%	1,475	29.88%	4,937
	Outagamie	4,495	26.14%		7,780		45.25%		4,754		27.65%		155		0.90%		9		0.05%		-3,026		-17.60%		17,193
Ozaukee	2,810	53.00%		1,848		34.85%		570		10.75%		63		1.19%		11		0.21%	962	18.14%	5,302
	Pepin	673	46.45%		690		47.62%		79		5.45%		4		0.28%		3		0.21%		-17		-1.17%		1,449
Pierce	2,372	48.98%		2,285		47.18%		169		3.49%		11		0.23%		6		0.12%	87	1.80%	4,843
Polk	4,277	68.88%		1,708		27.51%		194		3.12%		22		0.35%		8		0.13%	2,569	41.38%	6,209
Portage	3,648	38.12%		2,468		25.79%		3,386		35.38%		60		0.63%		8		0.08%	262	2.74%	9,570
	Price	2,269	43.01%		2,320		43.98%		552		10.46%		64		1.21%		70		1.33%		-51		-0.97%		5,275
Racine	11,673	44.04%		11,000		41.50%		3,500		13.21%		271		1.02%		61		0.23%	673	2.54%	26,505
Richland	2,417	48.73%		2,116		42.66%		385		7.76%		14		0.28%		28		0.56%	301	6.07%	4,960
Rock	8,306	48.29%		7,662		44.55%		1,153		6.70%		50		0.29%		29		0.17%	644	3.74%	17,200
Rusk	2,271	50.91%		1,740		39.00%		402		9.01%		33		0.74%		15		0.34%	531	11.90%	4,461
Sauk	5,390	57.89%		3,319		35.65%		500		5.37%		70		0.75%		32		0.34%	2,071	22.24%	9,311
	Sawyer	1,255	42.33%		1,349		45.50%		334		11.26%		20		0.67%		7		0.24%		-94		-3.17%		2,965
	Shawano	2,163	34.33%		3,415		54.21%		642		10.19%		77		1.22%		3		0.05%		-1,252		-19.87%		6,300
	Sheboygan	7,653	37.11%		8,499		41.22%		3,894		18.88%		518		2.51%		57		0.28%		-846		-4.10%		20,621
St. Croix	3,098	49.62%		2,359		37.78%		751		12.03%		32		0.51%		4		0.06%	739	11.84%	6,244
Taylor	2,537	47.75%		1,962		36.93%		648		12.20%		138		2.60%		28		0.53%	575	10.82%	5,313
Trempealeau	3,204	62.27%		1,683		32.71%		243		4.72%		9		0.17%		6		0.12%	1,521	29.56%	5,145
Vernon	4,508	65.14%		2,164		31.27%		228		3.29%		20		0.29%		1		0.01%	2,344	33.87%	6,921
Vilas	1,308	40.71%		1,134		35.29%		723		22.50%		33		1.03%		15		0.47%	174	5.42%	3,213
	Walworth	3,171	31.88%		5,759		57.90%		966		9.71%		43		0.43%		7		0.07%		-2,588		-26.02%		9,946
Washburn	1,466	55.28%		999		37.67%		170		6.41%		12		0.45%		5		0.19%	467	17.61%	2,652
	Washington	2,827	40.17%		3,231		45.91%		902		12.82%		78		1.11%		0		0.00%		-404		-5.74%		7,038
Waukesha	7,999	47.24%		7,475		44.15%		1,299		7.67%		147		0.87%		12		0.07%	524	3.09%	16,932
Waupaca	3,423	47.25%		3,149		43.46%		601		8.30%		63		0.87%		9		0.12%	274	3.78%	7,245
	Waushara	1,178	38.36%		1,577		51.35%		272		8.86%		27		0.88%		17		0.55%		-399		-12.99%		3,071
	Winnebago	7,000	38.44%		8,949		49.14%		2,023		11.11%		202		1.11%		36		0.20%		-1,949		-10.70%		18,210
Wood	6,634	59.40%		3,773		33.78%		649		5.81%		92		0.82%		20		0.18%	2,861	25.62%	11,168
Total	397,664	49.65%	291,945	36.45%	98,153	12.25%	11,295	1.41%	1,928	0.24%	105,719	13.20%	800,985

Counties that flipped from Republican to Progressive

• Brown
• Chippewa
• Clark
• Dodge
• Door
• Green
• Jefferson
• La Crosse
• Langlade
• Manitowoc
• Marathon
• Oconto
• Ozaukee
• Pierce
• Racine
• Richland
• Rock
• Rusk
• St. Croix
• Taylor
• Vilas
• Waukesha
• Waupaca

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Progressive

• Forest

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Republican

• Kenosha

Bibliography

• Book: Glashan, Roy R. . American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978 . Meckler Books . 1979 . 0-930466-17-9 .
• Book: Ohm . Howard F. . Kuehn . Hazel L. . 1944 . The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1944 . State of Wisconsin . .

Notes and References

1. News: Goodland Governor By Wisconsin Ruling; Court Holds Lieutenant Governor Must Fill Death Vacancy. E10. New York Times. December 30, 1942.
2. Web site: Time Capsule: Wisconsin’s Progressive Party Cheated by the Grim Reaper . Richardson . Darcy G. . November 10, 2012 . Darcy Richardson’s Uncovered Politics . 9 April 2021.
3. News: . September 9, 1942 . Primary . 9 April 2021 . Green Bay Press-Gazette . Green Bay, Wisconsin . 2.
4. News: . These Men Seek State Nominations . Wisconsin State Journal . Madison, Wisconsin . September 13, 1942 . 10 . 9 April 2021.
5. News: . LaFollette, Once Progressive Chief Seeks GOP Nod . Dixon Evening Telegraph . Dixon, Illinois . 12 August 1946 . 2 . 9 April 2021 .
6. News: . September 16, 1942 . GOP Nominates Heil . 9 April 2021 . Wisconsin State Journal . Madison, Wisconsin . 1.