1928 United States Senate election in New Jersey

The United States Senate election of 1928 in New Jersey was held on November 6, 1928. Incumbent Democratic Senator Edward I. Edwards ran for re-election to a second term in office, but was defeated by Hamilton Fish Kean in a landslide. This was the third of four straight elections to this seat in which the incumbents were defeated.

1928 United States Senate election in New Jersey

November 6, 1928
 
Nominee Hamilton Fish Kean Edward I. Edwards
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 841,752 608,623
Percentage 57.87% 41.84%

County results
Kean:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Edwards:      60–70%

Senator before election

Edward I. Edwards
Democratic

Elected Senator

Hamilton Fish Kean
Republican

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Senator Edwards was unopposed for the re-nomination.

1928 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Edward I. Edwards (incumbent) 153,528 100.0%
Total votes 153,528 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

In June 1924, former Senator Joseph Frelinghuysen declined to run for the U.S. Senate and announced his intention to run in this election instead.[2]

In June 1927, party chair and former Governor Edward C. Stokes entered the race after failing to convince Frelinghuysen and Hamilton Fish Kean to step aside for a compromise candidate. Frelinghuysen derided Stokes for having no particular candidate in mind.[3]

Kean formally announced his entry into the race on January 19, claiming that President Calvin Coolidge had advised him to run.[4]

Lillian Feickert and Edward W. Gray ran peripheral campaigns focused on the issue of prohibition; Feickert supported prohibition and Gray was opposed.[5] Feickert ran as the sole "dry" candidate.[6]

Endorsements

Joseph Frelinghuysen
Hamilton Fish Kean
Edward C. Stokes

Campaign spending

In February, Frelinghuysen claimed that other candidates were spending too freely and risking an investigation by James Reed's Senate committee on campaign spending, which had begun investigations into the elections of William Scott Vare and Frank L. Smith. (Both would ultimately be expelled.) Most observers took this as an attack on Kean.[9]

Kean, Frelinghuysen, and Stokes were all called to testify before the Reed committee in early June. Both Kean and Frelinghuysen testified that they donated the maximum $50,000 to their campaigns and did not accept outside funding; Kean repudiated charges from the committee that he had issued a "blank check."[7]

Kean claimed $49,366.30 in spending. Frelinghuysen claimed $48,774.97.[7] Stokes testified that he had raised 16,355, of which he contributed $3,000 personally. He claimed to have spent only $14,609.[10]

Results

1928 Republican U.S. Senate primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Hamilton Fish Kean 167,029 33.57%
Republican Edward C. Stokes 142,123 28.56%
Republican Joseph S. Frelinghuysen 137,440 27.62%
Republican Lillian Feickert 26,029 5.23%
Republican Edward W. Gray 24,959 5.02%
Total votes 497,580 100.0%

On election night, the results were too close to call.[5]

Robert Carey, a reformist Jersey City judge who lost the Republican nomination for Governor to Morgan F. Larson, quickly alleged that many Hudson County Democrats had voted in the Republican primary for Larson and Stokes as part of a deal with Democratic boss Frank Hague. Carey demanded an investigation by the state Attorney General, which Kean and Frelinghuysen seconded.[5]

Aftermath

The primary left a lasting rift in the state Republican Party. At the party convention weeks later, Stokes denounced "payroll politicians" and unsuccessfully called for a resolution to bar candidates from spending except on specific items, which he claimed would prevent the nomination from being "purchased."[11] Frelinghuysen also demanded an investigation of Carey's charges against Hague, denouncing "those who pretended to be loyal Republicans but who traded with the Democratic bosses."[11]

Frelinghuysen finally endorsed Kean in September, citing his friendship with Herbert Hoover and his support for the "progressive policies" of the Coolidge administration.[12]

General election

Candidates

Results

1928 United States Senate election in New Jersey[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Hamilton Fish Kean 841,752 57.87%
Democratic Edward I. Edwards (incumbent) 608,623 41.84%
Socialist Charlotte L. Bohlin 2,267 0.16%
Workers Albert Weisbrod 1,333 0.09%
Prohibition Will D. Martin 372 0.03%
Socialist Labor Frank Sanders 280 0.02%
Majority 232,129 16.03%
Turnout 1,454,627
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

References

  1. Secretary of the State of New Jersey. "Results of the Primary Election May 15th, 1928" (PDF). Retrieved 18 Aug 2021.
  2. "FRELINGHUYSEN OUT OF RACE THIS YEAR: Defeated United States Senator Will Run Again in 1928, It Is Announced". The New York Times. 29 Jun 1924. p. 10. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  3. "FRELINGHUYSEN HITS STOKES PEACE PLAN". The New York Times. 22 Jun 1927. p. 30. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  4. "KEAN ENTERS RACE FOR JERSEY SENATE". The New York Times. 20 Jan 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  5. "KEAN HOLDS LEAD BY NARROW MARGIN IN JERSEY PRIMARY". The New York Times. 16 May 1928. p. 1. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  6. "WOMAN IN RACE FOR U.S. SENATE". The New York Times. 15 Apr 1928. p. 140. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  7. "NEW JERSEY FUNDS LESS THAN $50,000". The New York Times. 5 Jun 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  8. "EDGE BACKS STOKES AT TRENTON PARLEY". The New York Times. 7 Apr 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  9. "BIG FUNDS SCORED BY FRELINGHUYSEN: Candidate Warns Senate Inquiry Into Primary Expenditures in Jersey Is Possible". The New York Times. 22 Feb 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  10. "STOKES LAYS DEFEAT TO RIVALS' SPENDING". The New York Times. 6 Jun 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  11. "REPUBLICANS FAIL TO HEAL JERSEY RIFT". The New York Times. 30 May 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  12. "FRELINGHUYSEN FOR KEAN". The New York Times. 11 Sep 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 25 Apr 2022.
  13. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1928" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  14. "Our Campaigns - NJ US Senate Race - Nov 06, 1928". www.ourcampaigns.com.


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