1944 United States Senate special election in New Jersey

1944 United States Senate special election in New Jersey

←  1940 November 7, 1944 1946  →

Nominee H. Alexander Smith Elmer H. Wene Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 939,987 910,096 Percentage 50.44% 48.84%

County results Smith:      50–60%     60–70% Wene:      50–60%     60–70%

Senator before election Arthur Walsh Democratic Elected Senator H. Alexander Smith Republican

The 1944 United States Senate special election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 1944.

The election was held to fill the unexpired term of W. Warren Barbour, who died in November 1943. H. Alexander Smith was elected to the open seat over Democratic U.S. Representative Elmer H. Wene.

The incumbent Democratic appointee, Arthur Walsh, did not run.

Background

Incumbent Senator W. Warren Barbour was elected in 1940 to a six-year term set to expire in 1947. He died on November 22, 1943, of a cerebral hemorrhage.

On November 26, Governor of New Jersey Charles Edison appointed Arthur Walsh to fill the vacant seat until a successor could be duly elected. ^[1]

A special election to complete the remainder of Barbour's unexpired term was scheduled for November 7, 1944, concurrent with the general election for presidential electors and U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Elmer H. Wene, U.S. Representative from Vineland

Declined

• Arthur Walsh, interim Senator

Results

1944 Democratic U.S. Senate special primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elmer H. Wene	151,126	100.0%
Total votes			151,126	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

• H. Alexander Smith, Princeton attorney and member of the Republican National Committee
• Andrew O. Wittreich, Tenafly resident

Withdrew

• Guy Gabrielson, former Speaker of the General Assembly and assemblyman from East Orange ^[3]

Campaign

Gabrielson withdrew from the race after party leadership coalesced behind Smith. As consolation, Gabrielson was elected to succeed Smith as Republican National Committeeman. In 1949, he was elected chair of the Republican National Committee. ^[3]

Results

1944 Republican Senate special primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	H. Alexander Smith	187,190	82.55%
	Republican	Andrew O. Wittreich	39,576	17.45%
Total votes			226,766	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor)
• George W. Ridout (Prohibition), Methodist minister
• Morris Riger (Socialist)
• H. Alexander Smith (Republican), Princeton attorney and member of the Republican National Committee
• Elmer H. Wene (Democratic), U.S. Representative from Vineland

Endorsements

H. A. Smith (R)

Individuals

• Russell Davenport, foreign affairs advisor to Wendell Willkie

^[4]

Elmer Wene (D)

Individuals

• Henry W. Jeffers, dairy farmer and former chair of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (Republican)

Campaign

Smith reported $15,116 (approximately $207,900 in 2023 dollars) in campaign spending, a considerable sum for the time. ^[5]

Results

Wene conceded defeat on November 9, after overseas military ballots were counted. Wene received a substantial majority of the military ballots, but it was not sufficient to overcome Smith's margin in the statewide vote. ^[6]

1944 U.S. Senate special election in New Jersey ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Howard Alexander Smith	940,051	50.44%
	Democratic	Elmer H. Wene	910,096	48.84%
	Prohibition	George W. Ridout	9,873	0.53%
	Socialist Labor	John C. Butterworth	1,997	0.11%
	Socialist	Morris Riger	1,593	0.09%
Majority			29,955	1.60%
Turnout			1,863,610
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1944 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Edison Appoints Arthur Walsh To Succeed Barbour as Senator" . The New York Times . November 27, 1943. p. 1. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
2. Secretary of the State of New Jersey. "Results of the Primary Election Held May 16th, 1944" (PDF). Retrieved August 18, 2021.
3. Wildstein, David (December 27, 2018). "Three New Jersey insiders you've probably never heard of". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
4. "DAVENPORT SUPPORTS H.A. SMITH IN JERSEY". The New York Times. November 4, 1944. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 9, 2025.
5. "SMITH SPENT $15,116 IN NEW JERSEY RACE". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 9, 2025.
6. "WENE CONCEDES DEFEAT IN JERSEY; Smith's Plurality Is 25,725 for Senate -- Charter Loses by 160,431 -- Wolverton Wins". The New York Times. November 10, 1944. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 9, 2025.
7. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1944" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
8. "Our Campaigns - NJ US Senate - Special Election Race - Nov 07, 1944".