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1944 United States elections

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1944 United States elections
1942          1943          1944          1945          1946
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 7
Incumbent presidentFranklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)
Next Congress79th
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic hold
Popular vote marginDemocratic +7.5%
Electoral vote
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)432
Thomas E. Dewey (R)99
1944 United States presidential election in California1944 United States presidential election in Oregon1944 United States presidential election in Washington (state)1944 United States presidential election in Idaho1944 United States presidential election in Nevada1944 United States presidential election in Utah1944 United States presidential election in Arizona1944 United States presidential election in Montana1944 United States presidential election in Wyoming1944 United States presidential election in Colorado1944 United States presidential election in New Mexico1944 United States presidential election in North Dakota1944 United States presidential election in South Dakota1944 United States presidential election in Nebraska1944 United States presidential election in Kansas1944 United States presidential election in Oklahoma1944 United States presidential election in Texas1944 United States presidential election in Minnesota1944 United States presidential election in Iowa1944 United States presidential election in Missouri1944 United States presidential election in Arkansas1944 United States presidential election in Louisiana1944 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1944 United States presidential election in Illinois1944 United States presidential election in Michigan1944 United States presidential election in Indiana1944 United States presidential election in Ohio1944 United States presidential election in Kentucky1944 United States presidential election in Tennessee1944 United States presidential election in Mississippi1944 United States presidential election in Alabama1944 United States presidential election in Georgia1944 United States presidential election in Florida1944 United States presidential election in South Carolina1944 United States presidential election in North Carolina1944 United States presidential election in Virginia1944 United States presidential election in West Virginia1944 United States presidential election in Maryland1944 United States presidential election in Delaware1944 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1944 United States presidential election in New Jersey1944 United States presidential election in New York1944 United States presidential election in Connecticut1944 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1944 United States presidential election in Vermont1944 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1944 United States presidential election in Maine1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1944 United States presidential election in Maryland1944 United States presidential election in Delaware1944 United States presidential election in New Jersey1944 United States presidential election in Connecticut1944 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1944 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1944 United States presidential election in Vermont1944 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
1944 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Dewey, blue denotes states won by Roosevelt. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contested35 of 96 seats
(32 Class 1 seats + 4 special elections)[1]
Net seat changeRepublican +1[2]
1944 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts1944 United States Senate special election in New Jersey1944 United States Senate special election in Oregon1944 United States Senate election in Alabama1944 United States Senate election in Arizona1944 United States Senate election in Arkansas1944 United States Senate election in California1944 United States Senate election in Colorado1944 United States Senate election in Connecticut1944 United States Senate election in Florida1944 United States Senate election in Georgia1944 United States Senate election in Idaho1944 United States Senate election in Illinois1944 United States Senate election in Indiana1944 United States Senate election in Iowa1944 United States Senate election in Kansas1944 United States Senate election in Kentucky1944 United States Senate election in Louisiana1944 United States Senate election in Maryland1944 United States Senate election in Missouri1944 United States Senate election in Nevada1944 United States Senate election in New Hampshire1944 United States Senate election in New York1944 United States Senate election in North Carolina1944 United States Senate election in North Dakota1944 United States Senate election in Ohio1944 United States Senate election in Oklahoma1944 United States Senate election in Oregon1944 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1944 United States Senate election in South Carolina1944 United States Senate election in South Dakota1944 United States Senate election in Utah1944 United States Senate election in Vermont1944 United States Senate election in Washington1944 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
1944 Senate results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting members
Popular vote marginDemocratic +4.7%
Net seat changeDemocratic +22
1944 House election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold

  Third party hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested32
Net seat changeDemocratic +3
1944 Rhode Island gubernatorial election1944 Illinois gubernatorial election1944 Wisconsin gubernatorial election1944 Iowa gubernatorial election1944 Arkansas gubernatorial election1944 Kansas gubernatorial election1944 Texas gubernatorial election1944 New Mexico gubernatorial election1944 Arizona gubernatorial election1944 Florida gubernatorial election1944 Massachusetts gubernatorial election1944 Michigan gubernatorial election1944 Nebraska gubernatorial election1944 South Dakota gubernatorial election1944 Minnesota gubernatorial election1944 Maine gubernatorial election1944 Colorado gubernatorial election1944 Ohio gubernatorial election1944 Tennessee gubernatorial election1944 Connecticut gubernatorial election1944 Idaho gubernatorial election1944 Delaware gubernatorial election1944 Indiana gubernatorial election1944 Missouri gubernatorial election1944 Montana gubernatorial election1944 New Hampshire gubernatorial election1944 North Carolina gubernatorial election1944 North Dakota gubernatorial election1944 Utah gubernatorial election1944 Vermont gubernatorial election1944 Washington gubernatorial election1944 West Virginia gubernatorial election
1944 gubernatorial election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold

  Republican gain   Republican hold

The 1944 United States elections was held on November 7, 1944, during the final stages of World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was easily re-elected to an unprecedented fourth term, and the Democratic Party retained their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

During the presidential election, Roosevelt was in office for three terms and eleven years, making him the longest-serving President in U.S. history. As the incumbent president, Roosevelt was renominated by the Democratic Party, while in the Republican primaries, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey won his party's nomination. In Texas, the Texas Regulars was formed to block Roosevelt's reelection over the New Deal and his perceived supportive policies on African Americans, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Roosevelt defeated Dewey in a landslide, taking 432 electoral votes against Dewey's 99 electoral votes.

In the congressional elections, Democrats maintained control of Congress. In the Senate, Democrats lost seats but maintained control of the chamber. In the House of Representatives, Democrats won the popular vote by a margin of 4.7 percentage points and gained 22 seats for a healthy majority after spending the last term holding a razor-thin majority. In the governorships, Democrats gained three seats.

The elections were a referendum on Roosevelt's execution of the war. With the United States and the Allies delivering successful results against the Axis powers, especially with the fall of fascist Italy a year ago and the Normandy landings the last summer, the public rallied around the Democrats. After the election, Roosevelt died in office in April 1945 after his fourth inauguration.

President

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Seeking a record fourth term, Democratic incumbent president Franklin D. Roosevelt was challenged by Republican governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. Dewey ran an energetic campaign, seeking a smaller government and a less-regulated economy as the end of World War II seemed in sight. Roosevelt dominated the electoral college for the fourth straight election and won the popular vote by seven and a half points, his lowest margin. Roosevelt easily won his party's nomination, while Dewey took the Republican nomination on the first ballot over Ohio Governor John W. Bricker, who would be nominated for vice president. Future president Harry S. Truman won the Democratic nomination for vice president, replacing Henry A. Wallace on the Democratic ballot.

United States House of Representatives

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The Democrats picked up a net gain of 20 seats in the House, increasing their majority, 242–191 (not included are two seats held by minor parties).

United States Senate

[edit]

Although the Democrats suffered a net loss of one seat to the Republicans, they still kept a large majority in the Senate.[3][4][5]

References

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  1. ^ One Class 1 seat held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1944. This seat is not double-counted for the total number of seats contested.
  2. ^ There was no net change in the regularly-scheduled elections, but Republicans picked up one seat in the special elections.
  3. ^ "1944 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1944". U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. 1945. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1944 (Revision)" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 9 April 2017.