1913 United States Senate elections in Illinois

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1913 United States Senate elections in Illinois
March 26, 1913

Two United States Senate elections (a regular and a special election) were held in Illinois on March 26, 1913. The two elections were interconnected through a compromise made to elect a Democrat in the regular election and a Republican in the special election.

Contents

These were the last elections to U.S. Senate from Illinois to take place by vote of state legislature, as the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution would make all subsequent U.S. Senate elections conducted by a popular vote.

The elections saw the election of Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis to a full term in the state's class 2 United States Senate seat in a regular election, and Republican Lawrence Y. Sherman to the state's class 3 United States Senate seat in a special election.

Background and procedure

At the time, since the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was yet to take effect, U.S. Senate seats were filled by votes of state legislatures.

In the November 1912 state elections, the Republicans lost control of the Illinois General Assembly due to the Republican / Progressive split.[ citation needed ] But while the Democrats held a plurality of the Illinois General Assembly, they did not have a majority. The General Assembly took up the matter of electing the senators on February 1.[ citation needed ] The General Assembly therefore failed to elect until after the new congress began.

On March 26, in a compromise arranged by governor Dunne, the General Assembly elected Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis to fill the full-term seat and Republican Lawrence Y. Sherman to fill the two remaining years of a vacancy that had just recently opened. This broke a deadlock on the matter that had been in place since February 11. [1]

Party primaries

Non-binding preference primaries were held April 9, 1912, which informed the legislature of the preferred candidate of the voters that participated in each party's primaries. They coincided with binding primaries held for other offices. [2]

While the party was eligible to hold a primary, no Socialist primary was held for the office of U.S. Senator. [2]

Democratic primary

Candidate

Result

Democratic primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic J. Hamilton Lewis 228,872 100
Total votes228,872 100

Republican primary

Candidates

Result

Republican primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lawrence Y. Sherman 178,063 46.16
Republican Shelby Moore Cullom 129,37533.54
Republican Hugh S. Magill 78,34420.31
Total votes385,782 100

Prohibition primary

Candidate

Result

Prohibition primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Prohibition Alonzo E. Wilson 3,786 100
Total votes3,786 100

Regular election (class 2 seat)

Illinois general election (class 2)
←  1907 March 26, 1913 1918  →
  J. Hamilton Lewis (Illinois Blue Book Portrait 1913-1914) (cropped).png FrankHFunk (2).jpg
Nominee J. Hamilton Lewis Frank H. Funk
Party Democratic Progressive
Members' vote16422
Percentage80.39%10.78%
U.S. senator before election

Shelby Moore Cullom
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

J. Hamilton Lewis
Democratic

On April 12, 1912, five-term Republican incumbent Shelby Moore Cullom lost renomination to Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Lawrence Y. Sherman in the Republican "advisory" primary, where the voters expressed their preference for senator but the decision was not binding on the General Assembly, which made the actual choice. Cullom had suffered politically over his support for the other Illinois senator, William Lorimer, who was embroiled in a scandal over alleged bribery in his 1909 election to the Senate. After his defeat, Cullom withdrew his name from consideration by the General Assembly.[ citation needed ]

The Illinois General Assembly eventually elected the Democratic nominee, Congressman J. Hamilton Lewis March 26, 1913, who had previously won the Democratic advisory primary as the sole candidate on the ballot. Before their conclusive March 26 vote, after a compromise was stricken, the Illinois legislature had twelve-times cast deadlocked ballots for the class 2 senate seat. James Hamilton Lewis was the first non-Republican to win this seat since 1877 and was the first non-Republican to have held this seat since 1883. [5]

Illinois legislative vote, class 2 (March 26, 1913) [1] [6]
PartyCandidateVotes %
State SenateState HouseTotal votes
Democratic J. Hamilton Lewis 4511916482.41
Progressive Frank H. Funk 2202211.06
Republican Lawrence Y. Sherman 0994.52
Socialist Bernard Berlyn 0442.01
Democratic gain from Republican

Special election (class 3 seat)

Illinois special election (class 3)
←  1909 March 26, 1913 1914  →
  Lawrence Yates Sherman (a).jpg Charles Boeschenstein (1862-1952) portrait.jpg
Nominee Lawrence Y. Sherman [7] Charles Boeschenstein
Party Republican Democratic
Members' vote14325
Percentage70.10%12.26%
  FrankHFunk.jpg
Nominee Frank H. Funk
Party Progressive
Members' vote22
Percentage10.78%
U.S. senator before election


Vacant

Elected U.S. senator

Lawrence Y. Sherman
Republican

In July 1912, the U.S. Senate invalidated William Lorimer's 1909 election and declared the seat vacant. [8] The Illinois Attorney General, William H. Stead determined that the General Assembly had failed to properly elect Lorimer in 1909 and so the governor could not appoint a replacement. [9] As a result, the General Assembly had a second Senate seat to fill.

Lawrence Y. Sherman, who had won the Republican advisory primary for Illinois’ regular senate election, was elected in the special election. Sherman defeated Democratic candidate Charles Boeschenstein, a newspaper publisher from Edwardsville and Democratic National Committeeman from Illinois. [10]

Illinois special legislative vote, class 3 (March 26, 1913) [11] [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lawrence Y. Sherman 143 73.33%
Democratic Charles Boeschenstein 2512.82%
Progressive Frank H. Funk 2211.28%
Socialist McDonald42.05%
Democratic John Fitzpatrick 10.51%
Republican gain from Vacant

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "ILLINOIS PICKS AS SENATORS, LEWIS AND L.Y. SHERMAN" . Newspapers.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 26, 1913. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Illinois blue book, 1913-1914. Illinois Secretary of State. p. 460. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Candidate - Hugh S. Magill". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ Illinois Blue Book 1905-1906. p. 372. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  5. ↑ "LEWIS SHY NINE VOTES OF ELECTION" . Newspapers.com. Woodford County Journal. March 27, 1913. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  6. 1 2 United States Senators Chosen, 1913, p. 458.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Julius F. "The Broad Ax". Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lorimer ousted by decisive vote". The New York Times . July 14, 1912.
  9. ↑ "Lorimer never elected". The New York Times . July 18, 1912.
  10. ↑ Smith, George Washington (1927). History of Illinois and Her People. Vol. 4. American Historical Society Inc. p. 14. Retrieved December 26, 2023– via Google Books.
  11. ↑ "IL US Senate Special". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 27, 2020.

Bibliography

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