| Elections in Michigan |
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The 1936 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 3, 1936. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator James J. Couzens ran for re-election to a third term in office, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Governor Wilber Brucker. Brucker was defeated in the general election by Democratic U.S. Representative Prentiss M. Brown, becoming the first Democrat to win this seat since 1853.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Wilber M. Brucker, Governor of Michigan
- James J. Couzens, incumbent Senator since 1922
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Wilber M. Brucker | 328,560 | 62.26% | |
| Republican | James J. Couzens (incumbent) | 199,204 | 37.75% | |
| Total votes | 357,595 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Prentiss M. Brown, U.S. Representative from St. Ignace
- Ralph W. Liddy
- John Muyskens
- Louis B. Ward, editor of Social Justice and aide to Father Charles Coughlin
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Prentiss M. Brown | 125,338 | 36.32% | |
| Democratic | Louis B. Ward | 117,872 | 34.16% | |
| Democratic | Ralph W. Liddy | 71,963 | 20.85% | |
| Democratic | John Muyskens | 29,935 | 8.67% | |
| Total votes | 357,595 | 100.00% | ||
Ward contested the results and ran in the general election as a Third Party candidate.
General election
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Prentiss M. Brown | 910,937 | 53.29% |  32.38
| |
| Republican | Wilber M. Brucker | 714,602 | 41.80% |  36.35
| |
| Third | Louis B. Ward | 75,680 | 4.43% | N/A | |
| Socialist | Roy E. Mathews | 4,994 | 0.29% | 0.01
| |
| Communist | Lawrence Emery | 2,145 | 0.13% | 0.31
| |
| Socialist Labor | Ralph Naylor | 510 | 0.03% | N/A | |
| Commonwealth | Albert B. Sheldon | 429 | 0.03% | N/A | |
| American | Edward N. Lee | 147 | 0.01% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,709,444 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
Aftermath
Senator Couzens died on October 22. After his election, Brown was appointed to complete the remaining two months of Couzens's unexpired term.
See also
References
- ^ "Our Campaigns: MI U.S. Senate - R Primary". Our Campaigns.
- ^ "Our Campaigns: MI U.S. Senate - D Primary". Our Campaigns.
- ^ Michigan Manual. State of Michigan. 1937–38. p. 206.
- ^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1937). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1936" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ Michigan Manual. State of Michigan. 1937–38. p. 251.