1922 United States Senate elections

The 1922 United States Senate elections were elections that occurred in the middle of Republican President Warren G. Harding's term. The 32 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. With the Republicans divided between conservative and progressive factions, the Democrats gained six net seats from the Republicans while the Farmer–Labor party gained one. The Republicans retained their Senate majority.

Mid-term vacancies would reduce the Republican majority by a further two seats, with the Democrats and the Farmer Labors picking up another seat each, reducing Republicans to a 51-43-2 majority.

Gains, losses, and holds

Retirements

One Republican and two Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election. One Republican retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term and one Democrat retired instead of seeking election to finish the unexpired term.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Georgia

| |

! Iowa

| |

! Mississippi

| |

! Montana

| |

! Vermont

| |

Defeats

Nine Republicans and three Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election. One Republican sought election to finish the unexpired term and sought election to a full term but lost in both the special election and the regular election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Delaware

| |

! Indiana

| |

! Maryland

| |

! Michigan

| |

! Minnesota

| |

! Nebraska

| |

! New Jersey

| |

! New York

| |

! North Dakota

| |

! Ohio

| |

! Texas

| |

! Washington

| |

! West Virginia

| |

Post-elections changes

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Colorado

| |

! Illinois

| |

! Minnesota

| |

Change in composition

Before the elections

At the beginning of 1922.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

| colspan=2 |  

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | R

| | D

| | R

| | R

| | R

| rowspan=2 | R

| colspan=9 align=right | Majority →

| | R

| | R

| | R

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

After the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

| colspan=2 |  

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | FL

| | R

| rowspan=2 | R

| colspan=9 align=right | Majority →

| | R

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

|- valign=top

! Key

{| class=wikitable

| align=center width=35px | D

| Democratic

| align=center width=35px | FL

| Farmer–Labor

| align=center width=35px | R

| Republican

Race summaries

Special elections during the 67th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1922; ordered by election date.

{| class=wikitable

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Delaware (Class 1)

| T. Coleman du Pont

| | Republican

| 1921

| | Interim appointee lost election. New senator elected November 7, 1922. Democratic gain. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.

| nowrap |

! Georgia (Class 3)

| Rebecca Latimer Felton

| | Democratic

| 1922

| | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 7, 1922. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Iowa (Class 2)

| Charles A. Rawson

| | Republican

| 1922

| | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 7, 1922. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania (Class 1)

| David A. Reed

| | Republican

| 1922

| Interim appointee elected November 7, 1922. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania (Class 3)

| George W. Pepper

| | Republican

| 1922

| Interim appointee elected November 7, 1922.

| nowrap |

Elections leading to the 68th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1923; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

{| class=wikitable

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Arizona

| Henry F. Ashurst

| | Democratic

| 1912 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| Hiram Johnson

| | Republican

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Connecticut

| George P. McLean

| | Republican

| 1911 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Delaware

| T. Coleman du Pont

| | Republican

| 1921

| | Interim appointee lost election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Florida

| Park Trammell

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Indiana

| Harry S. New

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost renomination. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Maine

| Frederick Hale

| | Republican

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected September 11, 1922.

| nowrap |

! Maryland

| Joseph I. France

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Massachusetts

| Henry Cabot Lodge

| | Republican

| 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Michigan

| Charles E. Townsend

| | Republican

| 1911 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Minnesota

| Frank B. Kellogg

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Farmer–Labor gain.

| nowrap |

! Mississippi

| John S. Williams

| | Democratic

| 1908 1916

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Missouri

| James A. Reed

| | Democratic

| 1911 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Montana

| Henry L. Myers

| | Democratic

| 1911 1916

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Nebraska

| Gilbert Hitchcock

| | Democratic

| 1911 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Nevada

| Key Pittman

| | Democratic

| 1913 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New Jersey

| Joseph S. Frelinghuysen

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! New Mexico

| Andrieus A. Jones

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New York

| William M. Calder

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| Porter J. McCumber

| | Republican

| 1899 1905 1911 1916

| | Incumbent lost renomination. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| Atlee Pomerene

| | Democratic

| 1911 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| David A. Reed

| | Republican

| 1922

| Interim appointee elected. Winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above.

| nowrap |

! Rhode Island

| Peter G. Gerry

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Tennessee

| Kenneth McKellar

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Texas

| Charles A. Culberson

| | Democratic

| 1899 1905 1911 1916

| | Incumbent lost renomination. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| William H. King

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| Carroll S. Page

| | Republican

| 1908 1910 1916

| | Incumbent retired. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Virginia

| Claude A. Swanson

| | Democratic

| 1910 1911 1912 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| Miles Poindexter

| | Republican

| 1910 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! West Virginia

| Howard Sutherland

| | Republican

| 1916

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| Robert M. La Follette

| | Republican

| 1905 1911 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wyoming

| John B. Kendrick

| | Democratic

| 1916

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

Closest races

Fourteen races had a margin of victory under 10%:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! State

! Party of winner

! Margin

! Delaware (special)

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.1%

! Delaware (regular)

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.43%

! Utah

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 0.47%

! Massachusetts

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 0.8%

! Washington

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 1.2%

! Michigan

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 2.2%

! Indiana

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 3.1%

! Ohio

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican (flip)

| 3.2%

! West Virginia

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 3.6%

! North Dakota

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 4.56%

! Missouri

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 4.6%

! Maryland

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic (flip)

| 7.0%

! Connecticut

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 6.8%

! Rhode Island

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 8.8%

The tipping point state is Pennsylvania with a margin of 25.5%.

Arizona

California

Nevada

Ohio

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Culberson ran for re-election to a fifth term, but he lost the Democratic primary. Railroads Commissioner Earle Bradford Mayfield defeated former Governor Pa Ferguson in the primary runoff. Mayfield won the runoff, but because of his support of the resurgent Ku Klux Klan, anti-Klan activists in the Democratic Party including George Peddy attempted to have him stripped of the nomination. After this failed, Peddy ran as the candidate of the "Independent Democrats." The Texas Republican Party also backed Peddy, but after a lengthy court battle, they were unable to have him included on the general election ballot as their official nominee. Peddy instead ran as a write-in candidate, but he lost the general election to Mayfield.