1934 Alabama House of Representatives election

1934 Alabama House of Representatives election

←  1930 November 6, 1934 1938  →
All 106 seats in the Alabama House of Representatives 54 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Alfred M. Tunstall — Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 13, 1931 — Leader's seat Hale Co. — Last election 100 seats 3 seats Seats won 105 1 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 346,988 22,236 Percentage 93.98% 6.02%   Third party   Party Jeffersonian "Independent Body" Last election 3 seats Seats won Did not contest Seat change 3
Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican hold Results by party Democratic:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     90–100%     Unopposed Republican:     50–60%     60–70% Election results from DeKalb County voided. Results by vote share
Speaker before election Alfred M. Tunstall Democratic Elected Speaker Robert H. Walker Democratic

The 1934 Alabama House of Representatives election took place on Tuesday, November 6, 1934, to elect 106 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama House of Representatives. 105 Democrats and 1 Republicans were elected to the 1935 House. ^[1]

Robert H. Walker of Limestone County was elected Speaker of the House on January 8, 1935. ^[2]

General election results

In most multi-seat counties, Democratic leaders switched from electing candidates at an at-large basis to electing candidates to designated places. Counties not listed were won by Democrats in both the 1930 and 1934 elections: ^{[3] [4] [5]}

• Chambers (2-seat): Two Democrats were elected. Jeffersonians Y. L. Burton and J. W. Hollingsworth were elected to these seats in 1930. Democratic gain.
  • Place 1: Democrat C. A. Spense was elected.
  • Place 2: J. W. Hollingsworth was re-elected as a Democrat. He was elected as a Jeffersonian in 1930.
• Chilton: Democrat C. B. Cox was elected. He defeated incumbent Republican Percy M. Pitts, first elected in 1926. Democratic gain.
• Clay: Democrat M. P. Kelly was elected. He defeated incumbent J. W. Jordan in the Democratic primary, who won this seat as a Jeffersonian in 1930. Democratic gain.
• DeKalb: Democrat R. L. Tolbert was deemed to be elected after a successful contest of the general election results. Republican J. W. Loyd won this seat in 1930. Democratic gain.
• Winston: J. A. Posey was re-elected, first elected in 1930. Republican hold.

DeKalb election contest

Fraud allegations were brought in the race for DeKalb County's sole House seat between Republican Norman C. Wilkes and Democrat R. L. Torbert. Official election returns had Wilkes defeating Torbert by a margin of 5,458 votes to 5,247. Torbert contested the election of Wilkes, claiming 244 absentee ballots had not been counted. A special committee of the state house counted the absentee ballots, and deemed Torbert victorious by a 27-vote majority. ^[6] The legislature chose to seat Democrat R. L. Torbert and Wilkes withdrew his claim to the seat. Governor Bibb Graves declared the general election in DeKalb County void and appointed the Democratic candidates to every county office. ^[7]

See also

• 1934 Alabama elections
  • 1934 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama
  • 1934 Alabama gubernatorial election
  • 1934 Alabama Senate election
• 1934 United States elections

References

1. "Two Republicans Win". The Union-Banner . The Montgomery Advertiser. 22 November 1934. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
2. "Walker Is Named Speaker Of House". The LaFayette Sun . 9 January 1935. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
3. "6 Voiceless In House Caucus (part 1)". The Montgomery Advertiser . 16 December 1930. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
4. "6 Voiceless In House Caucus (part 2)". The Montgomery Advertiser . 16 December 1930. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
5. Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1935. 1935. pp. 638–675. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
6. "DeKalb Ballot Frauds Bared". The Cullman Tribune . 17 January 1935. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
7. "DeKalb Row Back In County Court". The Birmingham News . 1 March 1935. Retrieved 5 October 2025.