Introduction
The Republicans had gained back a net of 22 seats in the 1924 election, giving them 247 seats to the Democrats’ 183. Despite a large Republican landslide, the Progressive Party vote for LaFollette had mostly gone toward liberals in the two main parties, leaving Calvin Coolidge with relatively short coattails. Rural progressives and liberals had sponsored the McNary-Haugen Act, which sought to address rural farm failure, only to be vetoed by the conservative president. This had caused the Republicans’ position to weaken somewhat in the rural midwest, but only slightly. Otherwise, the nation was prosperous and experiencing few major crises.
Overall Results
President Coolidge’s Republicans lost a net of 9 seats, dropping from 247 to 238 seats. The Democrats gained a net of 11 seats due to third party losses to the Republicans, rising from 183 to 194 seats. The Farmer-Labor Party, which had gained a third seat by endorsing the LaFollette candidacy in 1924, lost one seat. LaFollette’s Progressive Party lost it’s only seat when the sole member, Fiorello LaGuardia of New York, switched his party affiliation to Republican. The Socialist Party retained its single seat. Missouri and New York had the greatest seats lost for the Republicans, although they also lost ground elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic and midwest. There were a scattering of Democratic losses, but these were almost entirely in marginal districts. One open Democratic seat switched to Republican. Ten of the defeated Republicans were freshmen, the longest-serving incumbent to lose was a Republican first elected in 1918, Melvin McLaughlin of Nebraska.
Miscellaneous Notes
Note the unusually large number of rematches from the 1922 races. In this period, many local party leaders frequently nominated local political figures multiple times, resulting in many running rivalries and switches between two people over the course of several elections.
Open Seats Flipping from Republican to Democratic
Maryland 3rd: John B. C. P. Hill (R) retired to run for U.S. Senate, was replaced by Vincent Palmisano (D)
Missouri 14th: Ralph Bailey (R) retired, was replaced by James Fulbright (D)
New York 17th: Ogden Mills (R) retired to run for governor, was replaced by William Cohen (D)
Open Seats Flipping from Democratic to Republican
California 2nd: John Raker (D) died in office, was replaced by Harry Englebright (R)
Open Seats Flipping from Third Party to Republican
New York 20th: Fiorello LaGauardia (Progressive) changed party to Republican, was re-elected
Republicans Defeated in the General Election
Illinois 6th: John Gorman (R) was defeated by James Igoe (D)
Illinois 21st: Loren Wheeler (R) was defeated by J. Earl Major (D)
Missouri 5th: Edgar Ellis (R) was defeated by George Combs (D)
Missouri 13th: Charles Keifner (R) was defeated by Clyde Williams (D)
Nebraska 4th: Melvin McLaughlin (R) was defeated by John Norton (D)
New Jersey 8th: Herbert Taylor (R) was defeated by Paul Moore (D)
New York 14th: Nathan Perlman (R) was defeated by William Sirovich (D)
New York 24th: Benjamin Fairchild (R) was defeated by James Fitzpatrick (D)
Oklahoma 1st: Samuel Montgomery (R) was defeated by Everette Howard (D)
Pennsylvania 12th: Edmund Carpenter (R) was defeated by John Casey (D). Carpenter was the worst-defeated incumbent, failing to exceed 25% of the vote.
Pennsylvania 30th: William Coyle (R) was defeated by Everett Kent (D)
West Virginia 3rd: John Wolverton (R) was defeated by William O’Brien (D)
Democrats Defeated in the General Election
Kansas 2nd: Chauncey Little (D) was defeated by Ulysses Guyer (R)
Rhode Island 3rd: Jeremiah O’Connell (D) was defeated by Louis Monast (R)
West Virginia 6th: J. Alfred Taylor (D) was defeated by Edward England (R)
Third Party Members Defeated in the General Election
Minnesota 9th: Knud Wefald (Farmer-Labor) was defeated by Conrad Selvig (R)
The Aftermath
Republicans lost about half of the seats they had gained in the 1924 elections, but the Democrats remained divided between rural and urban factions, which still often had differing views on prohibition. Both parties were divided between liberal and conservative factions. Given the weak performance of Democratic nominee John W. Davis in thew 1924 election, the continuing popularity of many progressive idea with some Republicans (as evidenced by the McNary Haugen Act), and the fact that urban progressive Democrats had done a better job of holding their 1922 gains, the Democrats’ progressive faction became increasingly ascendant, culminating in New York governor Al Smith, receiving the party’s nomination in 1928. The Republicans tried to walk a fine line between their conservative and liberal factions, but the conservatives were clearly in the majority, and the party generally only paid lip service to them, feeling free to sideline them, especially after LaFollette’s death in 1925. The 1928 contest between Hoover and Smith solidified the control of the liberal progressive faction in the Democrats, but Smith’s skepticism of prohibition and strong association with eastern urban values resulted in large Democratic losses, mainly in rural areas.
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