1932 United States Senate elections

The 1932 United States Senate elections coincided with Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide victory over incumbent Herbert Hoover in the presidential election. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies.

With the Hoover administration widely blamed for the Great Depression, Republicans lost twelve seats and control of the chamber to the Democrats, who won 28 of the 34 contested races (two Democratic incumbents, Duncan U. Fletcher of Florida and John H. Overton of Louisiana, were re-elected unopposed). Democrats gained another seat through an appointment in Nebraska, bringing their total number of seats up to 60.

Among the Republican incumbents defeated in 1932 were Senate Majority Leader James Watson and five-term Senator Reed Smoot, an author of the controversial Smoot-Hawley tariff. This was the first of four elections in which a Senate leader lost re-election, and the only time they were a Republican. This election marked the first time a woman was elected to the Senate, that being Hattie Caraway of Arkansas. As of 2024, this is the last time Democrats won a Senate election in Kansas.

This is also one of only five occasions where 10 or more Senate seats changed hands in an election, with the other occasions being in 1920, 1946, 1958, and 1980.

Gains, losses, and holds

Retirements

Three Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Colorado

| |

! Georgia (special)

| |

! Missouri

| |

Defeats

Eleven Republicans and three Democrats sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! California

| |

! Colorado (special)

| |

! Connecticut

| |

! Idaho

| |

! Illinois

| |

! Indiana

| |

! Iowa

| |

! Louisiana

| |

! Nevada

| |

! New Hampshire

| |

! North Carolina

| |

! Utah

| |

! Washington

| |

! Wisconsin

| |

Post-election changes

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Montana

| |

! New Mexico

| |

! Vermont

| |

! Virginia

| |

! Nebraska

| |

! Wyoming

| |

Change in composition

After the January special election

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width=100%

| colspan=2 |

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | FL

|- style="height:1em"

| colspan=9 align=right | Plurality →

| rowspan=2 | R

|- style="height:1em"

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

Before the November elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width=100%

| colspan=2 |

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

{| align=center

| |

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| rowspan=2 | D

|- style="height:1em"

| rowspan=2 colspan=9 align=right | Plurality →

| rowspan=2 | FL

|- style="height:1em"

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

Result of the November elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width=100%

| colspan=2 |

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

{| align=center

| |

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| colspan=9 align=right | Majority →

| rowspan=2 | D

| | D

| | FL

| | R

| | R

| colspan=2 |

| | R

|- valign=top

! Key:

{| class=wikitable

| align=center | D

| Democratic

| align=center | FL

| Farmer–Labor

| align=center | R

| Republican

Race summary

All races are general elections for class 3 seats, unless noted.

Elections during the 72nd Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected and seated during 1932; ordered by election date.

{| class=wikitable

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

|- valign=bottom

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Arkansas (Class 3)

| Hattie Caraway

| | Democratic

| 1931

| Interim appointee elected January 12, 1932. Democratic hold. Winner was subsequently re-elected in November.

| nowrap |

! Colorado (Class 3)

| Walter Walker

| | Democratic

| 1929

| | Interim appointee lost election to finish the term. New senator elected November 8, 1932. Republican gain. Winner was not elected to the next term, see below.

| nowrap |

! Georgia (Class 2)

| John S. Cohen

| | Democratic

| 1932

| | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 8, 1932. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

Elections leading to the 73rd Congress

All elections are for Class 3 seats.

{| class=wikitable

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Results

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

|- valign=bottom

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Alabama

| Hugo Black

| | Democratic

| 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Arizona

| Carl Hayden

| | Democratic

| 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Arkansas

| Hattie Caraway

| | Democratic

| 1931 1932

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| Samuel M. Shortridge

| | Republican

| 1920 1926

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Colorado

| Walter Walker

| | Democratic

| 1932

| | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Democratic gain. Winner was not elected to finish the term, see above.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| Gerald Nye

| | Republican

| 1925 1926 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| Robert J. Bulkley

| | Democratic

| 1930

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Oklahoma

| Elmer Thomas

| | Democratic

| 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Oregon

| Frederick Steiwer

| | Republican

| 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| James J. Davis

| | Republican

| 1930

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! South Carolina

| Ellison D. Smith

| | Democratic

| 1909 1914 1920 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! South Dakota

| Peter Norbeck

| | Republican

| 1920 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| Reed Smoot

| | Republican

| 1903 1909 1914 1920 1926

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| Porter H. Dale

| | Republican

| 1909 1923 1926

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| Wesley L. Jones

| | Republican

| 1909 1914 1920 1926

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain. Incumbent then died November 19, 1932, and Elijah S. Grammer (R) was appointed to finish the current term.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| John J. Blaine

| | Republican

| 1926

| | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

Closest races

Eleven races had a margin of victory under 10%:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! State

! Party of winner

! Margin

! Colorado (special)

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

| 0.25%

! Connecticut

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

| 0.8%

! New Hampshire

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

| 1.08%

! New Jersey

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 1.09%

! Kansas

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 3.7%

! Nevada

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

| 4.2%

! Pennsylvania

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 6.1%

! Illinois

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

| 6.2%

! Colorado (regular)

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 6.4%

! Ohio

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Democratic

| 6.7%

! South Dakota

| data-sort-value=-0.5 | Republican

| 9.2%

New York was the tipping point state with a margin of 17.2%.

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

There were two elections for the same seat, due to the November 6, 1931 death of two-term Democrat Thaddeus H. Caraway.

Caraway's widow, Democrat Hattie Wyatt Caraway, was appointed November 13, 1931 to continue his term.

Arkansas (special)