William John Bulow was an American politician and lawyer. He was the first Democratic Governor of South Dakota, serving from 1927 to 1931. He received the highest number of votes of any Democratic candidate for governor in the state up to that time. Bulow then went on to serve as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota from 1931 to 1943.
The 1932 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 8, 1932. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Norbeck ran for re-election to a third term. After easily turning back a challenge from former State Senator Harry F. Brownell in the Republican primary, Norbeck faced attorney Ulysses Simpson Grant Cherry, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Owing in part to Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide victory in South Dakota, the race was much closer than it was in 1926, but Norbeck still defeated Cherry by a decisive margin to win his third, and final, term. Norbeck died in office on December 20, 1936, triggering a special election in 1938.
The 1889 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on October 1, 1889, to elect the first Governor of South Dakota. Territorial Governor Arthur C. Mellette received the Republican nomination and faced former Territorial Commissioner of Immigration P. F. McClure, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Mellette defeated McClure in a landslide.
The 1892 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1892. Incumbent Republican Governor Arthur C. Mellette declined to seek re-election to a third term. Former territorial legislator Charles H. Sheldon was nominated by the Republican Party as Mellette's replacement, and he faced former legislator Abraham Lincoln Van Osdel, a leader in the South Dakota Farmers' Alliance and the nominee of the Independent Party, along with Democratic nominee Peter Couchman, in the general election. The result was largely a replay of the 1890 election, with Sheldon winning by a large margin, but only a plurality, and Van Osdel taking second place over Couchman.
The 1900 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1900. Incumbent Governor Andrew E. Lee, a Populist elected under Fusion with Populists, Free Silver Republicans, and Democrats, opted to run for Congress rather than for a third term. Former Sioux Falls Mayor Burre H. Lien won the Fusion nomination and ran against former Lieutenant Governor Charles N. Herreid. However, despite the closeness of the 1896 and 1898 elections, the Fusion's luck ran out; Herreid defeated Lien in a landslide to reclaim the office for the Republican Party.
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 1926 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 2, 1926. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Norbeck ran for re-election to a second term. In the Republican primary, he faced former State Senator George J. Danforth, who had the support of Governor Carl Gunderson in an intra-party split between Norbeck and Gunderson. Norbeck defeated Danforth by a wide margin, and then faced former State Representative Charles J. Gunderson in the general election. Norbeck defeated Gunderson in a landslide 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 1954 United States Senate election in South Dakota took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Republican Senator Karl E. Mundt ran for re-election to his second term. He was opposed by former State Representative Kenneth Holum, the Democratic nominee. Mundt defeated Holum in a landslide to win re-election.
The 1938 United States Senate elections in South Dakota took place on November 8, 1938. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Norbeck died in office on December 20, 1936. Herbert E. Hitchcock was appointed by Governor Tom Berry as Norbeck's replacement. Two elections for the same Senate seat were held on the same day; one as a special election to fill the remainder of Norbeck's six-year term, and another to select a Senator to serve the next six-year term.
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 1926 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1926. Incumbent Republican Governor Carl Gunderson ran for re-election to a second term. The election was largely a rematch of the 1924 election, with Gunderson's chief opponent from two years prior, Democrat William J. Bulow, challenging him once again. Two other candidates—Farmer–Labor nominee Tom Ayres and Pierre Mayor John E. Hipple, an independent—also ran. Though the left-leaning vote was split, Bulow was still able to win a decisive victory over Gunderson, whose support from two years earlier had completely collapsed.
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 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 1936 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1936. Incumbent Democratic Governor Tom Berry ran for re-election to a third term, the first Governor of South Dakota to do so. Berry was challenged by Republican Leslie Jensen, the former Collector of Internal Revenue for the state of South Dakota. Both Berry and Jensen won their primaries uncontested and advanced to the general election. Some drama surrounded the potential candidacy of Democratic State Auditor George O'Neill as an independent candidate for Governor or, in the alternative, his cross-party endorsement of Jensen; after initially announcing his campaign and hedging, O'Neill dropped out of the race in September and endorsed the Democratic ticket in the state, including Berry.
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.
The 1942 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Republican Governor Harlan J. Bushfield declined to seek re-election to a third term and instead successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. A crowded Republican primary developed to succeed him, and because no candidate received 35% of the vote, the nomination was decided at the state Republican convention, where former Attorney General Merrell Q. Sharpe, the second-place finisher in the primary, won the nomination. In the general election, Sharpe faced Democratic nominee Lewis W. Bicknell, the 1940 Democratic nominee for Governor. Aided by the national Republican landslide, Sharpe defeated Bicknell in a landslide.
