William Henry McMaster was an American politician who served as the tenth Governor of South Dakota from 1921 until 1925. A member of the Republican Party, he went on to serve as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota from 1925 to 1931.
The 1896 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1896. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles H. Sheldon declined to run for re-election to a third term. Former Secretary of State Amund O. Ringsrud was nominated as Sheldon's replacement at the Republican convention. Ringrud's main opponent was businessman Andrew E. Lee, who was nominated by a makeshift coalition of Populists, Free Silver Republicans, and Democrats. In the general election, Lee narrowly defeated Ringsrud, the first defeat for the Republican Party in a gubernatorial election since statehood.
The 1904 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1904. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles N. Herreid declined to run for re-election to a third term. Clark County State's Attorney Samuel H. Elrod won the Republican nomination to run as Herreid's successor, and he faced Democratic nominee Louis N. Crill, the former president of the state Senate, and former U.S. Congressman Freeman Knowles, the Socialist nominee. For the first time since 1894, the Democratic and Populist Parties nominated separate candidates. Ultimately, the split in the two parties did not prove dispositive; Elrod defeated Crill and the other candidates in a landslide.
The 1906 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1906. Incumbent Republican Governor Samuel H. Elrod ran for re-election, but was defeated for renomination at the Republican convention by former Attorney General Coe I. Crawford. In the general election, Crawford was opposed by the Democratic nominee, former State Representative John A. Stransky of Brule County. Crawford had little difficulty defeating Stransky in a landslide, largely matching Elrod's margin of victory from two years earlier.
The 1920 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 2, 1920. Incumbent Democratic Senator Edwin S. Johnson declined to seek re-election to a second term. In the Democratic primary, attorney Ulysses Simpson Grant Cherry defeated former State Senator Louis Napoleon Crill and former U.S. Marshal Tom Taubman, while in the Republican primary, Governor Peter Norbeck defeated former State Supreme Court Justice Dick Haney. In the general election, Cherry and Norbeck faced a litany of independent candidates, including Nonpartisan League candidate Tom Ayres. Benefiting from the split in left-wing candidates, Norbeck won by a wide margin, with Ayres narrowly beating out Cherry for second place.
The 1942 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Democratic Senator William J. Bulow ran for re-election to a third term. During the primary, Bulow was attacked for being insufficiently supportive of President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy and war preparedness. Former Governor Tom Berry, Bulow's chief opponent, drew a contrast between Bulow's isolationism and his support for Roosevelt's policies. In the end, Berry defeated Bulow in a landslide, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Harlan J. Bushfield, the incumbent Republican Governor of South Dakota. As Republicans gained ground nationwide, Bushfield defeated Berry in a landslide to pick up the seat for the Republican Party. Bushfield did not serve his full term, however; shortly before the 1948 U.S. Senate election, he died.
The 1914 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 3, 1914. Incumbent Senator Coe I. Crawford, a Republican, sought re-election in his first popular election. He was defeated in the Republican primary by Congressman Charles H. Burke, the House Minority Whip. In the general election, he was narrowly defeated by Edwin S. Johnson, the 1912 Democratic nominee for Governor, who won a narrow plurality. Edwin Stockton Johnson became the first Democrat ever to have been elected to the United States Senate from South Dakota and the first non-Republican to have been elected to the United States Senate from South Dakota since James Henderson Kyle in 1897.
The 1918 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 5, 1918. Incumbent Republican Senator Thomas Sterling sought re-election in his first popular election. He defeated former Governor Frank M. Byrne in the Republican primary and then faced former State Representative Orville Rinehart, the 1916 Democratic nominee for Governor, in the general election. Sterling defeated Rinehart, along with independent candidate W. T. Rafferty, by a wide margin to win re-election.
The 1932 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 7, 1944. Incumbent Republican Senator Chan Gurney ran for re-election to a second term. He faced a strong challenge in the Republican primary from Lieutenant Governor A. C. Miller, who claimed that Gurney was too friendly to New Deal policies, but was defeated by Gurney by a wide margin. In the general election, Gurney faced former State Senator George M. Bradshaw, whom he defeated in a landslide as Thomas E. Dewey was decisively winning the state over President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the presidential election.
The 1908 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1908. Incumbent Republican Governor Coe I. Crawford opted to run for the U.S. Senate rather than run for re-election. State Senator Robert S. Vessey narrowly won the Republican primary over former State Representative John L. Browne and advanced to the general election, where he faced the Democratic nominee, former Governor Andrew E. Lee. Though Vessey's performance was significantly reduced from Crawford's performance in 1906, he still defeated Lee by a wide margin.
The 1910 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1910. Incumbent Republican Governor Robert S. Vessey ran for re-election to a second term. He faced two serious competitors in the Republican primary: colorful disbarred attorney George W. Egan and former Governor Samuel H. Elrod, and won the primary only with a narrow plurality. In the general election, he faced Democratic nominee Chauncey L. Wood, the Mayor of Rapid City. He improved on his margin from 1908, defeating Wood in a landslide.
The 1914 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Despite a close election in 1912, incumbent Republican governor Frank M. Byrne defeated Democratic nominee James W. McCarter, an Edmunds County Judge, with 50.07% of the vote. Coincidently, Bryne's Democratic opponent in 1912, Edwin S. Johnson, was elected the same year to represent South Dakota in the United States Senate.
The 1916 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1916. Incumbent Republican Governor Frank M. Byrne declined to seek re-election to a third term. Lieutenant Governor Peter Norbeck won the Republican primary to succeed him, and in the general election faced State Representative Orville V. Rinehart. Norbeck won his first term as Governor in a landslide over Rinehart.
The 1920 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1920. Incumbent Republican Governor Peter Norbeck declined to run for re-election, instead choosing to run for the U.S. Senate. Lieutenant Governor William H. McMaster won the Republican primary and advanced to the general election, where he faced Nonpartisan League candidate Mark P. Bates and former State Senator William W. Howes, the Democratic nominee. The election was largely a replay of the 1918 election, with McMaster winning a large victory, Bates coming in second, and Howes coming in a distant third.
The 1924 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1924. Incumbent Republican Governor William H. McMaster declined to run for re-election to a third term, instead opting to run for the U.S. Senate. Lieutenant Governor Carl Gunderson won the Republican primary unopposed. In the general election, he faced three prominent opponents: Democratic nominee William J. Bulow, a former State Senator and Mayor of Beresford; Farmer–Labor nominee A. L. Putnam; and perennial candidate Richard O. Richards. Gunderson. With the left-leaning vote split, Gunderson won the election in a landslide.
The 1930 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Democratic Governor William J. Bulow declined to run for re-election to a third term, instead opting to successfully run for the U.S. Senate. The Republican nomination was hard-fought and the primary was crowded; because no candidate received 35% of the vote, state law required that the nomination be decided at a state party convention. There, former State Senator Warren Green, the last-place finisher in the primary, defeated Secretary of State Gladys Pyle, the plurality winner. In the general election, Green faced D. A. McCullough, the state's Rural Credits Commissioner and the Democratic nominee. Despite Bulow's success in the preceding two elections, Green defeated McCullough by a decisive margin—even as Bulow himself was elected to the U.S. Senate.
The 1932 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932. Incumbent Republican Governor Warren Green ran for re-election to a second term. He defeated former Governor Carl Gunderson in the Republican primary and faced former State Representative Tom Berry, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Aided by Democratic presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide victory in South Dakota, Berry defeated Green for re-election in a landslide.
The 1934 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Incumbent Democratic Governor Tom Berry ran for re-election to a second term. After defeating an intra-party challenge from Lieutenant Governor Hans Ustrud, Berry faced magazine publisher William C. Allen, who won a crowded Republican primary with a large plurality. Aided by the national environment favoring Democrats, Berry won re-election in a landslide.
The 1938 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. Incumbent Republican Governor Leslie Jensen declined to seek re-election and instead unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate. Harlan J. Bushfield, the former chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party, won the Republican primary to succeed Jensen. In the general election, he faced Democratic nominee Oscar Fosheim, a state representative from Miner County, in the general election. Bushfield defeated Fosheim by a relatively close margin, winning his first term as governor.
The 1940 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Republican Governor Harlan J. Bushfield sought re-election to a second term. After winning the Republican primary by a large margin, he faced Democrat Lewis W. Bicknell, former Day County State's Attorney, in the general election. Though Bushfield underperformed Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie, who won the state in a landslide, he nonetheless defeated Bicknell by a wide margin to easily win re-election.
