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County results McCarthy: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% McMurray: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Wisconsin |
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The 1946 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 5, 1946.
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Robert La Follette, Jr. (who had until 1946 been a member of the Progressive Party) narrowly lost the primary election to Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy would go on to win the general election against Rep. Howard McMurray of Milwaukee in a landslide. McCarthy became the first person other than a La Follette to hold this seat since 1906.
The Republican primary election was noted for its divisiveness and bitterness.
The incumbent senator La Follette, who had just re-joined the Republican Party after the collapse of the Wisconsin Progressive Party earlier that year, was challenged by Judge Joe McCarthy of Appleton. Disbanding the Progressive Party and seeking election on the Republican ticket that same year cost him the support of many progressive supporters that belonged to the former, while the more conservative Republicans were also suspicious of La Follette, as he had previously run against them.
La Follette ran an isolationist campaign against the United Nations and was critical of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Confident of victory, he remained in Washington to draft and win passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 rather than returning to Wisconsin to campaign for re-election.
McCarthy campaigned aggressively and attacked La Follette for not enlisting during World War II, although La Follette had been 46 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and would have been too old to be accepted. McCarthy played up his own wartime service, using his wartime nickname, "Tail-Gunner Joe," and the slogan "Congress needs a tail-gunner". McCarthy also claimed that while he had been away fighting for his country, La Follette had made huge profits from investments; the suggestion that La Follette had been guilty of war profiteering was deeply damaging.
While La Follette initially started with a large lead in the polls, that lead gradually dwindled, and on the primary election day, the results of the final county to report polls tipped the scales in McCarthy's favor. La Follette sent a one-word telegram saying "Congratulations" to McCarthy.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Joseph McCarthy | 207,935 | 47.25% | |
Republican | Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (incumbent) | 202,557 | 46.03% | |
Republican | Perry J. Stearns | 29,605 | 6.73% | |
Total votes | 440,097 | 100.00% |
McMurray was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Joseph McCarthy | 620,430 | 61.28% | 19.90 | |
Democratic | Howard J. McMurray | 378,772 | 37.41% | 24.21 | |
Socialist | Edwin Knappe | 11,750 | 1.16% | 1.16 | |
Socialist Labor | Georgia Cozzini | 1,552 | 0.15% | 0.07 | |
None | Scattering | 2,090 | 0.21% | N/A | |
Majority | 241,658 | 23.82% | |||
Total votes | 1,014,594 | 100.00% | |||
Republican hold | |||||
County | Joseph Raymond McCarthy Republican | Howard Johnstone McMurray Democratic | Edwin W. Knappe Socialist | Georgia Olive Cozzini Socialist Labor | Margin | Total votes cast [3] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Adams | 1,336 | 63.11% | 769 | 36.32% | 9 | 0.43% | 3 | 0.14% | 567 | 26.78% | 2,117 |
Ashland | 3,144 | 56.18% | 2,416 | 43.17% | 23 | 0.41% | 13 | 0.23% | 728 | 13.01% | 5,596 |
Barron | 5,093 | 64.45% | 2,778 | 35.16% | 31 | 0.39% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,315 | 29.30% | 7,902 |
Bayfield | 2,412 | 56.75% | 1,811 | 42.61% | 19 | 0.45% | 8 | 0.19% | 601 | 14.14% | 4,250 |
Brown | 20,089 | 65.25% | 10,660 | 34.62% | 35 | 0.11% | 4 | 0.01% | 9,429 | 30.63% | 30,788 |
Buffalo | 2,877 | 70.41% | 1,177 | 28.81% | 21 | 0.51% | 11 | 0.27% | 1,700 | 41.61% | 4,086 |
Burnett | 1,644 | 60.91% | 1,040 | 38.53% | 10 | 0.37% | 5 | 0.19% | 604 | 22.38% | 2,699 |
Calumet | 4,432 | 71.97% | 1,706 | 27.70% | 19 | 0.31% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,726 | 44.27% | 6,158 |
Chippewa | 7,201 | 62.55% | 4,236 | 36.80% | 53 | 0.46% | 22 | 0.19% | 2,965 | 25.76% | 11,512 |
Clark | 5,818 | 67.42% | 2,721 | 31.53% | 83 | 0.96% | 8 | 0.09% | 3,097 | 35.89% | 8,630 |
Columbia | 6,589 | 66.94% | 3,212 | 32.63% | 40 | 0.41% | 2 | 0.02% | 3,377 | 34.31% | 9,843 |
Crawford | 3,805 | 65.86% | 1,964 | 34.00% | 5 | 0.09% | 3 | 0.05% | 1,841 | 31.87% | 5,777 |
Dane | 23,222 | 47.38% | 25,200 | 51.42% | 557 | 1.14% | 30 | 0.06% | -1,978 | -4.04% | 49,009 |
Dodge | 10,556 | 71.41% | 4,151 | 28.08% | 72 | 0.49% | 3 | 0.02% | 6,405 | 43.33% | 14,782 |
Door | 4,751 | 84.37% | 864 | 15.34% | 12 | 0.21% | 4 | 0.07% | 3,887 | 69.03% | 5,631 |
Douglas | 7,389 | 52.74% | 6,522 | 46.56% | 72 | 0.51% | 26 | 0.19% | 867 | 6.19% | 14,009 |
Dunn | 4,549 | 67.41% | 2,149 | 31.85% | 35 | 0.52% | 15 | 0.22% | 2,400 | 35.57% | 6,748 |
Eau Claire | 8,615 | 56.36% | 6,610 | 43.24% | 57 | 0.37% | 5 | 0.03% | 2,005 | 13.12% | 15,287 |
Florence | 668 | 63.56% | 375 | 35.68% | 8 | 0.76% | 0 | 0.00% | 293 | 27.88% | 1,051 |
Fond du Lac | 14,023 | 69.72% | 5,967 | 29.67% | 88 | 0.44% | 34 | 0.17% | 8,056 | 40.06% | 20,112 |
Forest | 1,491 | 51.65% | 1,384 | 47.94% | 8 | 0.28% | 4 | 0.14% | 107 | 3.71% | 2,887 |
Grant | 9,115 | 72.26% | 3,440 | 27.27% | 40 | 0.32% | 20 | 0.16% | 5,675 | 44.99% | 12,615 |
Green | 4,079 | 68.32% | 1,864 | 31.22% | 27 | 0.45% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,215 | 37.10% | 5,970 |
Green Lake | 3,789 | 80.22% | 925 | 19.59% | 5 | 0.11% | 4 | 0.08% | 2,864 | 60.64% | 4,723 |
Iowa | 4,418 | 67.82% | 2,084 | 31.99% | 11 | 0.17% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,334 | 35.83% | 6,514 |
Iron | 1,687 | 51.59% | 1,561 | 47.74% | 16 | 0.49% | 6 | 0.18% | 126 | 3.85% | 3,270 |
Jackson | 2,666 | 64.40% | 1,440 | 34.78% | 24 | 0.58% | 10 | 0.24% | 1,226 | 29.61% | 4,140 |
Jefferson | 8,379 | 66.83% | 4,105 | 32.74% | 50 | 0.40% | 3 | 0.02% | 4,274 | 34.09% | 12,537 |
Juneau | 3,717 | 74.64% | 1,237 | 24.84% | 25 | 0.50% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,480 | 49.80% | 4,980 |
Kenosha | 12,912 | 50.64% | 12,411 | 48.67% | 131 | 0.51% | 44 | 0.17% | 501 | 1.96% | 25,498 |
Kewaunee | 3,737 | 71.05% | 1,519 | 28.88% | 4 | 0.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,218 | 42.17% | 5,260 |
La Crosse | 11,092 | 66.18% | 5,547 | 33.09% | 99 | 0.59% | 23 | 0.14% | 5,545 | 33.08% | 16,761 |
Lafayette | 3,764 | 63.05% | 2,179 | 36.50% | 23 | 0.39% | 4 | 0.07% | 1,585 | 26.55% | 5,970 |
Langlade | 4,299 | 60.30% | 2,811 | 39.43% | 16 | 0.22% | 3 | 0.04% | 1,488 | 20.87% | 7,129 |
Lincoln | 4,405 | 71.51% | 1,689 | 27.42% | 51 | 0.83% | 15 | 0.24% | 2,716 | 44.09% | 6,160 |
Manitowoc | 12,615 | 60.77% | 8,063 | 38.84% | 66 | 0.32% | 14 | 0.07% | 4,552 | 21.93% | 20,758 |
Marathon | 12,231 | 55.02% | 9,676 | 43.53% | 309 | 1.39% | 14 | 0.06% | 2,555 | 11.49% | 22,230 |
Marinette | 6,132 | 68.56% | 2,759 | 30.85% | 41 | 0.46% | 12 | 0.13% | 3,373 | 37.71% | 8,944 |
Marquette | 2,035 | 81.47% | 450 | 18.01% | 11 | 0.44% | 2 | 0.08% | 1,585 | 63.45% | 2,498 |
Milwaukee | 151,104 | 54.74% | 117,163 | 42.44% | 6,910 | 2.50% | 873 | 0.32% | 33,941 | 12.30% | 276,050 |
Monroe | 5,250 | 69.08% | 2,305 | 30.33% | 42 | 0.55% | 3 | 0.04% | 2,945 | 38.75% | 7,600 |
Oconto | 5,116 | 72.23% | 1,920 | 27.11% | 40 | 0.56% | 7 | 0.10% | 3,196 | 45.12% | 7,083 |
Oneida | 3,238 | 58.20% | 2,288 | 41.12% | 32 | 0.58% | 6 | 0.11% | 950 | 17.07% | 5,564 |
Outagamie | 16,606 | 70.11% | 6,929 | 29.25% | 123 | 0.52% | 29 | 0.12% | 9,677 | 40.85% | 23,687 |
Ozaukee | 4,627 | 69.38% | 2,018 | 30.26% | 23 | 0.34% | 1 | 0.01% | 2,609 | 39.12% | 6,669 |
Pepin | 1,500 | 70.49% | 624 | 29.32% | 4 | 0.19% | 0 | 0.00% | 876 | 41.17% | 2,128 |
Pierce | 4,726 | 73.94% | 1,600 | 25.03% | 50 | 0.78% | 16 | 0.25% | 3,126 | 48.90% | 6,392 |
Polk | 4,070 | 61.94% | 2,464 | 37.50% | 36 | 0.55% | 1 | 0.02% | 1,606 | 24.44% | 6,571 |
Portage | 5,802 | 50.40% | 5,689 | 49.42% | 20 | 0.17% | 1 | 0.01% | 113 | 0.98% | 11,512 |
Price | 3,229 | 63.18% | 1,812 | 35.45% | 54 | 1.06% | 16 | 0.31% | 1,417 | 27.72% | 5,111 |
Racine | 18,175 | 52.06% | 16,461 | 47.15% | 229 | 0.66% | 45 | 0.13% | 1,714 | 4.91% | 34,910 |
Richland | 4,187 | 75.40% | 1,353 | 24.37% | 13 | 0.23% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,834 | 51.04% | 5,553 |
Rock | 17,409 | 65.71% | 8,890 | 33.55% | 178 | 0.67% | 17 | 0.06% | 8,519 | 32.15% | 26,494 |
Rusk | 3,340 | 66.64% | 1,641 | 32.74% | 25 | 0.50% | 6 | 0.12% | 1,699 | 33.90% | 5,012 |
Sauk | 7,463 | 68.75% | 3,151 | 29.03% | 233 | 2.15% | 9 | 0.08% | 4,312 | 39.72% | 10,856 |
Sawyer | 2,551 | 70.86% | 1,002 | 27.83% | 31 | 0.86% | 16 | 0.44% | 1,549 | 43.03% | 3,600 |
Shawano | 6,125 | 74.49% | 2,065 | 25.11% | 26 | 0.32% | 7 | 0.09% | 4,060 | 49.37% | 8,223 |
Sheboygan | 13,330 | 54.65% | 10,283 | 42.16% | 757 | 3.10% | 22 | 0.09% | 3,047 | 12.49% | 24,392 |
St. Croix | 4,938 | 63.49% | 2,799 | 35.99% | 34 | 0.44% | 6 | 0.08% | 2,139 | 27.50% | 7,777 |
Taylor | 3,153 | 61.41% | 1,750 | 34.09% | 226 | 4.40% | 5 | 0.10% | 1,403 | 27.33% | 5,134 |
Trempealeau | 4,189 | 62.82% | 2,446 | 36.68% | 25 | 0.37% | 8 | 0.12% | 1,743 | 26.14% | 6,668 |
Vernon | 4,509 | 66.06% | 2,299 | 33.68% | 9 | 0.13% | 9 | 0.13% | 2,210 | 32.38% | 6,826 |
Vilas | 2,098 | 66.99% | 1,015 | 32.41% | 9 | 0.29% | 10 | 0.32% | 1,083 | 34.58% | 3,132 |
Walworth | 8,896 | 79.83% | 2,212 | 19.85% | 31 | 0.28% | 4 | 0.04% | 6,684 | 59.98% | 11,143 |
Washburn | 1,818 | 62.09% | 1,099 | 37.53% | 9 | 0.31% | 2 | 0.07% | 719 | 24.56% | 2,928 |
Washington | 7,789 | 74.69% | 2,597 | 24.90% | 39 | 0.37% | 4 | 0.04% | 5,192 | 49.78% | 10,429 |
Waukesha | 17,606 | 73.31% | 6,227 | 25.93% | 162 | 0.67% | 20 | 0.08% | 11,379 | 47.38% | 24,015 |
Waupaca | 7,930 | 79.06% | 2,072 | 20.66% | 24 | 0.24% | 4 | 0.04% | 5,858 | 58.40% | 10,030 |
Waushara | 3,362 | 81.25% | 760 | 18.37% | 15 | 0.36% | 1 | 0.02% | 2,602 | 62.88% | 4,138 |
Winnebago | 16,329 | 67.48% | 7,756 | 32.05% | 98 | 0.40% | 16 | 0.07% | 8,573 | 35.43% | 24,199 |
Wood | 9,189 | 66.36% | 4,610 | 33.29% | 37 | 0.27% | 11 | 0.08% | 4,579 | 33.07% | 13,847 |
Totals | 620,430 | 61.28% | 378,772 | 37.41% | 11,750 | 1.16% | 1,552 | 0.15% | 241,658 | 23.87% | 1,012,504 |
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age 48 in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in the United States in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion. He alleged that numerous communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers had infiltrated the United States federal government, universities, film industry, and elsewhere. Ultimately, he was censured for refusing to cooperate with, and abusing members of, the committee established to investigate whether or not he should be censured. The term "McCarthyism", coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today, the term is used more broadly to mean demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr., was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. A Republican for most of his life, he ran for president of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election. Historian John D. Buenker describes La Follette as "the most celebrated figure in Wisconsin history".
Robert Marion La Follette Jr. was an American politician who served as United States senator from Wisconsin from 1925 to 1947. A member of the La Follette family, he was often referred to by the nickname "Young Bob" to distinguish him from his father, Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette, who had served as a U.S. senator and governor of Wisconsin. Robert Jr., along with his brother Philip La Follette, carried on their father's legacy of progressive politics and founded the Wisconsin Progressive Party. Robert Jr. was the last major Progressive Party politician in the U.S. Senate, ending in 1946 when the party disbanded. La Follette was defeated in the 1946 Republican Senate primary by Joseph McCarthy.
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The 1946 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1946.
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