1946 United States Senate election in Maryland

Main article: 1946 United States Senate elections

1946 United States Senate election in Maryland

←  1940 November 5, 1946 1952  →

Nominee Herbert O'Conor D. John Markey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 237,232 235,000 Percentage 50.24% 49.76%

County results Markey:     50–60%     60–70% O'Conor:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election George L. P. Radcliffe Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Herbert O'Conor Democratic

The 1946 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 5, 1946.

Incumbent Democratic Senator George L. P. Radcliffe ran for a third consecutive term in office, but lost the Democratic primary to Governor of Maryland Herbert O'Conor. O'Conor narrowly defeated Republican D. John Markey to win the open seat.

O'Conor's general election victory and the subsequent recount by a federal Senate Subcommittee were controversial, with each party claiming partisan manipulation by the other.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Emerson LaVeck
• Herbert O'Conor, Governor of Maryland
• George L. P. Radcliffe, incumbent Senator since 1935

Results

1946 Democratic U.S. Senate primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herbert O'Conor	118,695	52.89%
	Democratic	George L. P. Radcliffe (inc.)	96,051	42.80%
	Democratic	John Emerson LaVeck	9,670	4.31%
Total votes			224,416	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• D. John Markey, businessman, U.S. Army veteran, and former Maryland Agricultural College football coach
• Roscoe F. Walter
• Joseph Allison Wilmer

Results

1946 Republican U.S. Senate primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	D. John Markey	26,366	50.66%
	Republican	Joseph Allison Wilmer	19,087	36.67%
	Republican	Roscoe F. Walter	6,596	12.67%
Total votes			52,049	100.00%

General election

Results

1946 U.S. Senate election in Maryland ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Herbert O'Conor	237,232	50.24%	14.50
	Republican	D. John Markey	235,000	49.76%	16.28
Total votes			472,232	100.00%
	Democratic hold

After the vote, both candidates claimed victory, ^{[6] [7]} before the official count declared O'Conor the winner by a margin of 2,232 out of more than 470,000 votes cast. ^[8] On December 10, 1946, Markey requested the U.S. Senate Special Committee to Investigate Senatorial Campaign Expenditures (now controlled by Republicans after their landslide victories in the 1946 elections) conduct a recount in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, which had used electronic voting machines. ^[8] He also alleged the O'Conor campaign had committed financing violations. ^[8] The committee agreed because Maryland was unable to conduct its own official recount and found a variation of about 400 votes. ^[8] The committee then sought to survey five additional counties that were likely to have irregularities. ^[8] Markey requested a full recount of the entire state. ^[8]

In the meantime, O'Conor was sworn into the Senate seat on January 4, 1947, after a slight delay. ^[8] Throughout the recounts, Markey implored the process be done quickly, and implied that the election evidence could go missing at any moment. In May 1947, upon completion of the recount of the five additional counties, O'Conor still maintained a margin of 1,465 votes. ^[8]

In the aftermath, Markey complained of the O'Conor administration's control of the state government, the Democratic Party's control of the state since 1864, and law enforcement's failure to prevent polling abuses. ^[8] By contrast, Democratic Maryland senator Millard Tydings alleged partisan bias on the part of the Republican-led investigating subcommittee. ^[9] The committee completed its full recount of the state in January 1948, and concluded that O'Conor had secured a 1,624-vote majority. ^[8]

Results by county

County	Herbert O'Conor Democratic		D. John Markey Republican		Margin		Total Votes Cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Allegany	9747	45.89%	11495	54.11%	-1748	-8.23%	21242
Anne Arundel	8103	44.43%	10135	55.57%	-2032	-11.14%	18238
Baltimore (City)	101793	53.24%	89408	46.76%	12385	6.48%	191201
Baltimore (County)	20400	45.98%	23970	54.02%	-3570	-8.05%	44370
Calvert	1882	50.12%	1873	49.88%	9	0.24%	3755
Caroline	2578	53.07%	2280	46.93%	298	6.13%	4858
Carroll	4329	41.10%	6204	58.90%	-1875	-17.80%	10533
Cecil	3889	53.09%	3436	46.91%	453	6.18%	7325
Charles	1881	44.11%	2383	55.89%	-502	-11.77%	4264
Dorchester	3137	41.15%	4487	58.85%	-1350	-17.71%	7624
Frederick	6999	43.77%	8992	56.23%	-1993	-12.46%	15991
Garrett	2085	38.40%	3344	61.60%	-1259	-23.19%	5429
Harford	4808	49.13%	4978	50.87%	-170	-1.74%	9786
Howard	3170	53.58%	2746	46.42%	424	7.17%	5916
Kent	2564	53.84%	2198	46.16%	366	7.69%	4762
Montgomery	15874	51.32%	15059	48.68%	815	2.63%	30933
Prince George's	11592	55.60%	9256	44.40%	2336	11.20%	20848
Queen Anne's	2241	54.53%	1869	45.47%	372	9.05%	4110
St. Mary's	2439	53.36%	2132	46.64%	307	6.72%	4571
Somerset	2404	39.74%	3646	60.26%	-1242	-20.53%	6050
Talbot	2357	43.56%	3054	56.44%	-697	-12.88%	5411
Washington	8797	47.72%	9638	52.28%	-841	-4.56%	18435
Wicomico	4319	54.99%	3535	45.01%	784	9.98%	7854
Worcester	2388	53.88%	2044	46.12%	344	7.76%	4432
Total	229776	50.18%	228162	49.82%	1614	0.35%	457938

Counties that flipped from Democrat to Republican

• Allegany
• Anne Arundel
• Baltimore (County)
• Carroll
• Frederick
• Somerset
• Talbot
• Washington

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democrat

• Cecil
• Harford
• St. Mary's

See also

• 1946 United States Senate elections
• 1946 United States elections

References

1. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - D Primary Race - Jun 24, 1946". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
2. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - R Primary Race - Jun 24, 1946". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
3. "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0162, Page 0228 - Maryland Manual, 1948-49". msa.maryland.gov. Maryland State Archives. n.d. p. 228. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
4. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1946". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
5. "1946 Senatorial General Election Results - Maryland". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
6. House, Two Senate Seats Still in Doubt; Official Canvass May be Required To Decide Contests, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 7, 1946.
7. O'Conor Recount in Maryland Is Likely; Senate Group Urges It on Vote Charges, The New York Times, May 14, 1947.
8. The Election Case of D. John Markey v. Herbert R. O'Conor of Maryland (1948), United States Senate, retrieved June 2, 2010.
9. Probe Hit By Tydings; Maryland Election Investigation Draws Senator's Comment, The Reading Eagle, July 19, 1947.