1944 United States Senate election in California

1944 United States Senate election in California

←  1938 November 7, 1944 1950  →

Nominee Sheridan Downey Frederick F. Houser Party Democratic Republican Alliance Prohibition Popular vote 1,728,155 1,576,553 Percentage 52.29% 47.71%

Downey:     50–60%     60–70% Houser:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Tie:     50%

U.S. senator before election Sheridan Downey Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Sheridan Downey Democratic

The 1944 United States Senate election in California was held on November 7, 1944.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Sheridan Downey was re-elected to a second term in office over Republican Lieutenant Governor Frederick F. Houser.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Justus F. Craemer
• Irene Dockweiler
• Sheridan Downey, incumbent Senator since 1939
• John J. Taheney
• Jack B. Tenney, singer and anti-communist State Senator from Banning

Results

1944 Democratic U.S. Senate primary results ^{[1] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheridan Downey (inc.)	510,069	54.75%
	Republican	Frederick F. Houser (cross-filing)	132,376	14.21%
	Republican	William G. Bonelli (cross-filing)	60,080	6.45%
	Republican	Philip Bancroft (cross-filing)	53,094	5.70%
	Republican	Charles G. Johnson (cross-filing)	45,325	4.87%
	Unknown [a]	Jack B. Tenney	40,859	4.39%
	Democratic	Irene M. Dockweiler	39,364	4.23%
	Unknown	Justus F. Craemer	23,167	2.49%
	Unknown	John J. Taheney	13,898	1.49%
	Democratic	John S. Crowder	9,292	1.00%
	Republican	Roland C. Casad (cross-filing)	4,106	0.44%
Total votes			931,630	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Philip Bancroft, 1938 Republican nominee for Senate
• William G. Bonelli, former member of the California Board of Equalization, former Los Angeles City Councilman, and State Representative
• Roland C. Casad, perennial candidate
• Justus F. Craemer
• John S. Crowder
• Frederick F. Houser, Lieutenant Governor of California
• Charles G. Johnson, California State Treasurer
• Alonzo J. Riggs
• John J. Taheney
• Jack B. Tenney, singer and anti-communist State Senator from Banning

Results

1944 Republican U.S. Senate primary ^{[1] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frederick F. Houser	315,828	43.99%
	Democratic	Sheridan Downey (inc.) (cross-filing)	119,412	16.63%
	Republican	Philip Bancroft	106,463	14.83%
	Republican	William G. Bonelli	54,078	7.53%
	Republican	Charles G. Johnson	48,014	6.69%
	Unknown	Justus F. Craemer	41,786	5.82%
	Unknown [a]	Jack B. Tenney	19,341	2.69%
	Unknown	John J. Taheney	6,953	0.97%
	Republican	Alonzo J. Riggs	3,446	0.48%
	Republican	Roland C. Casad	2,629	0.37%
Total votes			717,950	100.00

Prohibition primary

Candidates

• Sheridan Downey, incumbent Senator since 1939 (cross-filing)
• Frederick F. Houser, Lieutenant Governor of California (cross-filing)

Results

1944 Prohibition U.S. Senate primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frederick F. Houser	196	50.78%
	Democratic	Sheridan Downey (inc.) (cross-filing)	190	49.22%
Total votes			386	100.00%

General election

Results

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Republican — >15%
•   Republican — +12.5−15%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — >15%

General election results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sheridan Downey (inc.)	1,728,155	52.29%	2.14
	Republican	Frederick F. Houser	1,576,553	47.71%	3.04
Total votes			3,304,708	100.00%

See also

• 1944 United States Senate elections

References

1. "State of California statement of vote". Sacramento : Secretary of State. June 20, 1940 – via Internet Archive.
2. "CA US Senate - D Primary". OurCampaigns. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
3. "CA US Senate - R Primary". OurCampaigns. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
4. "Our Campaigns - CA US Senate Race - Nov 03, 1944". OurCampaigns. Retrieved November 12, 2019.

Notes

1. It is unclear whether Tenney was a member of the Republican or Democratic Party at this point. He was elected as a Democratic candidate in 1938, but also won the Republican primary. At some point, he switched to the Republican Party.