Summary
The 1946 United States Senate election in Montana took place on November 5, 1946. Incumbent United States Senator Burton K. Wheeler, who was first elected to the Senate in 1922, and was re-elected in 1928, 1934, and 1940, ran for re-election. He was challenged in the Democratic primary by Leif Erickson, the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, and, following a close election, was narrowly defeated by Erickson. In the general election, Erickson faced State Senator Zales Ecton, the Republican nominee. Ultimately, Ecton defeated Erickson by a fairly wide margin, winning his first and only term in the Senate. Another Republican would not be elected Senator from Montana until 42 years later, when Conrad Burns narrowly won the 1988 election.
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 County results Ecton: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Erickson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% No data | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic primary edit
Candidates edit
- Leif Erickson, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court
- Burton K. Wheeler, incumbent United States Senator
Results edit
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Leif Erickson | 49,419 | 52.61 | |
| Democratic | Burton K. Wheeler (inc.) | 44,513 | 47.39 | |
| Total votes | 93,932 | 100.00 | ||
Republican primary edit
Candidates edit
- Zales Ecton, State Senator, former State Representative
- R. E. Skeen
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Zales Ecton | 22,731 | 66.94 | |
| Republican | R. E. Skeen | 11,226 | 33.06 | |
| Total votes | 33,957 | 100.00 | ||
General election edit
Results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Zales Ecton | 101,901 | 53.47% | +26.91% | |
| Democratic | Leif Erickson | 86,476 | 45.38% | -28.06% | |
| Socialist | Floyd P. Jones | 2,189 | 1.15% | ||
| Majority | 15,425 | 8.09% | -38.78% | ||
| Turnout | 190,566 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | ||||
References edit
- ^ a b "Report of the Official Canvass of the Vote Cast at the Primary Election Held in the State of Montana, July 16, 1946" (PDF). Montana Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1946" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved July 4, 2014.