The 1944 United States Senate election in Ohio took place on November 7, 1944. Incumbent Republican Senator Robert A. Taft, first elected in the Republican wave of 1938, was narrowly elected to a second term in office over Democratic former Lieutenant Governor William G. Pickrel, winning 71 of Ohio's 88 counties. Despite Pickrel winning the state's largest urban centers such as Cleveland, his margins there were overcome by Taft's strong showings in the rural areas and small towns.[1] Nevertheless, at less than a point, Taft's victory was significantly smaller than his 7-point win in 1938.
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 County results Taft: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Pickrel: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Background
editSenator Taft unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1940 and was a national leader of the party's conservative wing. He opposed American involvement in World War II before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, then he changed his mind and supported Congress' bipartisan effort to pass wartime appropriations for World War 2. In 1944, Taft decided to be a candidate for re-election before considering future presidential runs.
Democratic primary
editCandidates
edit- Marvin C. Harrison, former State Senator from Cleveland[2]
- William G. Pickrel, attorney and former Lieutenant Governor of Ohio (1928, 1931–33)
- John Taylor
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William G. Pickrel | 109,281 | 44.07% | |
| Democratic | Marvin C. Harrison | 77,019 | 31.06% | |
| Democratic | John Taylor | 61,647 | 24.86% | |
| Total votes | 247,947 | 100.00% | ||
General election
editResults
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Robert A. Taft (incumbent) | 1,500,609 | 50.30% |  3.32
| |
| Democratic | William G. Pickrel | 1,482,610 | 49.70% |  3.32
| |
| Total votes | 2,983,219 | 100.00% | |||
By county
edit| County | Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. Republican |
William Gillespie Pickrel Democratic |
Margin | Total votes cast[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 5,419 | 57.73% | 3,968 | 42.27% | 1,451 | 15.46% | 9,387 |
| Allen | 19,279 | 59.62% | 13,057 | 40.39% | 6,220 | 19.23 | 32,336 |
| Ashland | 8,097 | 55.95% | 6,374 | 44.05% | 1,723 | 11.9% | 14,471 |
| Ashtabula | 16,809 | 57.04% | 12,660 | 42.96% | 4,149 | 14.08% | 29,469 |
| Athens | 9,989 | 59.11% | 6,911 | 40.89% | 3,078 | 18.22% | 16,900 |
| Auglaize | 8,121 | 62.03% | 4,970 | 37.97% | 3,151 | 22.06% | 13,091 |
| Belmont | 15,344 | 41.09% | 21,998 | 58.91% | -6,654 | -17.82% | 37,342 |
| Brown | 4,476 | 49.56% | 4,556 | 50.44% | -80 | -0.88% | 9,032 |
| Butler | 20,199 | 42.95% | 26,829 | 57.05% | -6,630 | -14.1% | 47,028 |
| Carroll | 4,826 | 64.27% | 2,683 | 35.73% | 2,143 | 28.54% | 7,509 |
| Champaign | 7,524 | 62.27% | 4,558 | 37.73% | 2,966 | 24.54% | 12,082 |
| Clark | 21,448 | 49.76% | 21,651 | 50.24% | -203 | -0.48% | 43,099 |
| Clermont | 8,312 | 50.95% | 8,002 | 49.05% | 310 | 1.9% | 16,314 |
| Clinton | 7,090 | 66.54% | 3,565 | 33.46% | 3,525 | 33.08% | 10,615 |
| Columbiana | 19,795 | 54.16% | 16,752 | 45.84% | 3,043 | 8.32% | 36,547 |
| Coshocton | 7,262 | 58.45% | 5,163 | 41.55% | 2,099 | 16.9% | 12,425 |
| Crawford | 9,039 | 54.3% | 7,606 | 45.7% | 1,433 | 8.6% | 16,645 |
| Cuyahoga | 199,422 | 40.27% | 295,775 | 59.73% | -96,353 | -19.46% | 495,197 |
| Darke | 10,454 | 57.14% | 7,842 | 42.86% | 2,612 | 14.28% | 18,296 |
| Defiance | 6,976 | 65.55% | 3,667 | 34.45% | 3,309 | 31.1% | 10,643 |
| Delaware | 8,806 | 65.78% | 4,582 | 34.22% | 4,224 | 31.56% | 13,388 |
| Erie | 10,079 | 58.14% | 7,256 | 41.86% | 2,823 | 16.28% | 17,335 |
| Fairfield | 10,212 | 54.07% | 8,676 | 45.93% | 1,536 | 8.14% | 18,888 |
| Fayette | 5,717 | 60.24% | 3,774 | 39.76% | 1,943 | 20.48% | 9,491 |
| Franklin | 93,200 | 51.28% | 88,553 | 48.72% | 4,647 | 2.56% | 181,753 |
| Fulton | 7,775 | 77.85% | 2,212 | 22.15% | 5,563 | 55.7% | 9,987 |
| Gallia | 6,150 | 70.85% | 2,530 | 29.15% | 3,620 | 41.7% | 8,680 |
| Geauga | 5,104 | 63.99% | 2,872 | 36.01% | 2,232 | 27.98% | 7,976 |
| Greene | 9,425 | 55.91% | 7,431 | 44.09% | 1,994 | 11.82% | 16,856 |
| Guernsey | 8,571 | 58.35% | 6,117 | 41.65% | 2,454 | 16.7% | 14,688 |
| Hamilton | 149,226 | 52.0% | 137,752 | 48.0% | 11,474 | 4.0% | 286,978 |
| Hancock | 12,587 | 65.83% | 6,534 | 34.17% | 6,053 | 31.66% | 19,121 |
| Hardin | 8,318 | 61.75% | 5,153 | 38.25% | 3,165 | 23.5% | 13,471 |
| Harrison | 4,968 | 60.81% | 3,202 | 39.19% | 1,766 | 21.62% | 8,170 |
| Henry | 6,407 | 69.03% | 2,875 | 30.97% | 3,532 | 38.06% | 9,282 |
| Highland | 7,592 | 58.75% | 5,330 | 41.25% | 2,262 | 17.5% | 12,922 |
| Hocking | 4,233 | 54.48% | 3,537 | 45.52% | 696 | 8.96% | 7,770 |
| Holmes | 2,618 | 49.83% | 2,636 | 50.17% | -18 | -0.34% | 5,254 |
| Huron | 10,681 | 64.19% | 5,959 | 35.81% | 4,722 | 28.38% | 16,640 |
| Jackson | 6,674 | 59.85% | 4,478 | 40.15% | 2,196 | 19.7% | 11,152 |
| Jefferson | 15,812 | 41.76% | 22,053 | 58.24% | -6,241 | -16.48% | 37,865 |
| Knox | 9,554 | 64.62% | 5,231 | 35.38% | 4,323 | 29.24% | 14,785 |
| Lake | 13,086 | 54.74% | 10,820 | 45.26% | 2,266 | 9.48% | 23,906 |
| Lawrence | 8,942 | 56.17% | 6,978 | 43.83% | 1,964 | 12.34% | 15,920 |
| Licking | 15,756 | 56.1% | 12,328 | 43.9% | 3,428 | 12.2% | 28,084 |
| Logan | 9,497 | 66.6% | 4,763 | 33.4% | 4,734 | 33.2% | 14,260 |
| Lorain | 23,154 | 49.55% | 23,578 | 50.45% | -424 | -0.9% | 46,732 |
| Lucas | 75,177 | 51.18% | 71,720 | 48.82% | 3,457 | 2.36% | 146,897 |
| Madison | 5,501 | 63.35% | 3,183 | 36.65% | 2,318 | 26.7% | 8,684 |
| Mahoning | 36,891 | 37.52% | 61,442 | 62.48% | -24,551 | -24.96% | 98,333 |
| Marion | 11,252 | 55.75% | 8,931 | 44.25% | 2,321 | 11.5% | 20,183 |
| Medina | 9,978 | 63.83% | 5,654 | 36.17% | 4,324 | 27.66% | 15,632 |
| Meigs | 6,151 | 67.65% | 2,941 | 32.35% | 3,210 | 35.3% | 9,092 |
| Mercer | 6,830 | 60.5% | 4,459 | 39.5% | 2,371 | 21.0% | 11,289 |
| Miami | 14,641 | 60.19% | 9,684 | 39.81% | 4,957 | 20.38% | 24,325 |
| Monroe | 3,228 | 51.58% | 3,030 | 48.42% | 198 | 3.16% | 6,258 |
| Montgomery | 60,771 | 42.78% | 81,272 | 57.22% | -20,501 | -14.44% | 142,043 |
| Morgan | 4,203 | 72.27% | 1,613 | 27.73% | 2,590 | 44.54% | 5,816 |
| Morrow | 5,041 | 67.21% | 2,459 | 32.79% | 2,582 | 34.42 | 7,500 |
| Muskingum | 16,763 | 57.79% | 12,243 | 42.21% | 4,520 | 15.58% | 29,006 |
| Noble | 3,711 | 62.96% | 2,183 | 37.04% | 1,528 | 25.92% | 5,894 |
| Ottawa | 6,045 | 55.38% | 4,870 | 44.62% | 1,175 | 10.76% | 10,915 |
| Paulding | 4,316 | 65.11% | 2,313 | 34.89% | 2,003 | 30.22% | 6,629 |
| Perry | 6,828 | 59.22% | 4,702 | 40.78% | 2,126 | 18.44% | 11,530 |
| Pickaway | 5,592 | 50.93% | 5,387 | 49.07% | 205 | 1.86% | 10,979 |
| Pike | 2,865 | 40.82% | 4,154 | 59.18% | -1,289 | -18.36% | 7,019 |
| Portage | 11,880 | 50.22% | 11,775 | 49.78% | 105 | 0.44% | 23,655 |
| Preble | 6,380 | 57.25% | 4,764 | 42.75% | 1,616 | 14.5% | 11,144 |
| Putnam | 6,781 | 66.12% | 3,475 | 33.88% | 3,306 | 32.24% | 10,256 |
| Richland | 16,431 | 50.48% | 16,117 | 49.52% | 314 | 0.96% | 32,548 |
| Ross | 11,060 | 53.44% | 9,637 | 46.56% | 1,423 | 6.88% | 20,697 |
| Sandusky | 13,123 | 69.18% | 5,847 | 30.82% | 7,276 | 38.36% | 18,970 |
| Scioto | 16,787 | 50.45% | 16,487 | 49.55% | 300 | 0.9% | 33,274 |
| Seneca | 13,261 | 67.04% | 6,519 | 32.96% | 6,742 | 34.08% | 19,780 |
| Shelby | 6,174 | 52.36% | 5,617 | 47.64% | 557 | 4.72% | 11,791 |
| Stark | 48,952 | 46.18% | 57,054 | 53.82% | -8,102 | -7.64% | 106,006 |
| Summit | 64,085 | 43.39% | 83,596 | 56.61% | -19,511 | -13.22% | 147,681 |
| Trumbull | 24,602 | 43.36% | 32,131 | 56.64% | -7,529 | -13.28% | 56,733 |
| Tuscarawas | 13,303 | 45.88% | 15,694 | 54.12% | -2,391 | -8.24 | 28,997 |
| Union | 6,492 | 70.15% | 2,762 | 29.85% | 3,730 | 40.3% | 9,254 |
| Van Wert | 8,065 | 60.79% | 5,202 | 39.21% | 2,863 | 21.58% | 13,267 |
| Vinton | 2,541 | 59.56% | 1,725 | 40.44% | 816 | 19.12% | 4,266 |
| Warren | 8,248 | 59.55% | 5,602 | 40.45% | 2,646 | 19.1% | 13,850 |
| Washington | 11,197 | 63.47% | 6,445 | 36.53% | 4,752 | 26.94% | 17,642 |
| Wayne | 12,665 | 56.98% | 9,564 | 43.02% | 3,101 | 13.96 | 22,229 |
| Williams | 8,399 | 71.6% | 3,332 | 28.4% | 5,067 | 43.2% | 11,731 |
| Wood | 15,473 | 66.02% | 7,964 | 33.98% | 7,509 | 32.04% | 23,437 |
| Wyandot | 5,599 | 63.45% | 3,225 | 36.55% | 2,374 | 26.9% | 8,824 |
| Totals | 1,500,609 | 50.30% | 1,482,610 | 49.70% | 17,999 | 0.6% | 2,983,219 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ (Patterson, p. 278)
- ^ "In Senator Race". Mansfield News-Journal. Cleveland. February 21, 1944. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ "1944 Democratic Primary". www.sos.state.oh.us. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1944" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - OH US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1944".
- ^ "OH US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1944". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 12, 2022.