The 1936 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 3. Incumbent Democratic Senator

Marcus A. Coolidge Marcus Allen Coolidge (October 6, 1865January 23, 1947) was a Democratic United States Senator representing Massachusetts from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1937. Biography Coolidge was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, son of Frederick Spau ...

declined to stand for re-election. Republican Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. won the race to succeed him over Democratic Boston mayor

James Michael Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...

and former Suffolk County prosecutor

Thomas C. O'Brien Thomas Charles O'Brien (June 19, 1887 – November 22, 1951) was an American attorney and politician who served as District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts and was the United States vice-presidential nominee for the Union Party in th ...

. The election was notable because although Democrats expanded their overall Senate majority to 74 seats, Massachusetts was the only seat gained by Republicans. Curley's campaign may have been damaged by President Roosevelt's decision to remain aloof and the candidacy of O'Brien, who siphoned many usually Democratic Irish-American votes in Boston.

Republican primary

Candidates

* Alonzo B. Cook, former Massachusetts Auditor * Guy M. Gray, State Representative *

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (July 5, 1902 – February 27, 1985) was an American diplomat and Republican United States senator from Massachusetts in both Senate seats in non-consecutive terms of service and a United States ambassador. He was considered ...

, State Representative and grandson of former Senator

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...

, former Suffolk County District Attorney (also running as Democrat)

Withdrew

Sinclair Weeks Charles Sinclair Weeks (June 15, 1893February 7, 1972), better known as Sinclair Weeks, served as United States Senator from Massachusetts (1944) and as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1953 until 1958, during President Eisenhower's adm ...

, former Mayor of Newton and son of former Senator

John W. Weeks John Wingate Weeks (April 11, 1860July 12, 1926) was an American banker and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican, he served as Mayor of Newton from 1902 to 1903, a United States representative from 1905 to 1913, United States Senator fr ...

(after loss at convention)

Results

All three losing candidates entered the general election as the nominees of third parties. Cook ran on an "Economy" ticket, Gray ran on the

Social Justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

ticket, and O'Brien ran on the national Union Party ticket.

Democratic

Candidates

, Governor of Massachusetts and former

Mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...

and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

* Robert E. Greenwood, Mayor of Fitchburg *

, former Suffolk County District Attorney (also running as Republican)

Declined

, incumbent Senator

Results

The Democratic nominee was

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and former (and future)

. President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

declined to endorse Curley, which may have affected the final results.

General election

Candidates

* Alonzo B. Cook, former Massachusetts Auditor (Economy) *Albert Sprague Coolidge (Socialist) *

, Governor of Massachusetts and former mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative (Democratic) *Ernest L. Dodge (Socialist Labor) *Charles Flaherty (Communist) *Guy M. Gray, State Representative (Social Justice) *Moses H. Gulesian (

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

) * Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., State Representative from Beverly, journalist, and grandson of former Senator

(Republican) *Wilbur D. Moon (Prohibition) *

, Suffolk County District Attorney (Union)

Campaign

Lodge was highly critical of Curley's tenure as Governor, but did not mention him by name. Curley resorted to personal attacks, referring to Lodge, who was only 34 years old, as "Little Boy Blue" and "a young man who parts both his hair and his name in the middle." He accused Lodge of being a reactionary in the supposed mold of his grandfather,

. Lodge criticized Curley for his failure to achieve federal funding for Massachusetts during the Great Depression, which may have been the result of Curley's personal feud with President Roosevelt. He defended his own record as supportive of labor and economic intervention and his grandfather's as protective of the laboring classes via restriction on immigration and opposition to international adventurism. O'Brien, who ran at the urging of

Charles Coughlin Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...

, campaigned for the urban Irish Catholic vote. His campaign was spurred by Curley's efforts to align with President Roosevelt, from whom Coughlin had broken earlier in his term. Roosevelt made a personal swing through the state as part of his re-election campaign, but when Curley tried to get a photograph with Roosevelt, he made a point of turning away. Later in the race, Curley tried to have Lodge's name removed from the ballot by arguing, through his political ally and Lodge's primary opponent Alonzo B. Cook, that "Jr." was reserved for the son of a man with the same name, and Lodge was instead the grandson. This controversy was quashed when Lodge produced a birth certificate reading "Jr." In fact, Curley's own legal name did not include "Michael", but he was listed on the ballot as "James Michael Curley" nonetheless. The Lodge campaign did not challenge this discrepancy.

Results

References

{{US Third Party Election

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

1936 1936 Massachusetts elections

Republican primary

Candidates

Withdrew

Results

Democratic

Candidates

Declined

Results

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Results

See also

References