The 1942 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Republican Governor Harlan J. Bushfield declined to seek re-election to a third term and instead successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. A crowded Republican primary developed to succeed him, and because no candidate received 35% of the vote, the nomination was decided at the state Republican convention, where former Attorney General

Merrell Q. Sharpe Merrell Quentin Sharpe (January 11, 1888 – January 22, 1962) was an American politician from Kennebec, South Dakota. Affiliated with the Republican Party, Sharpe was the attorney general of South Dakota from 1929 through 1933, and governor of S ...

, the second-place finisher in the primary, won the nomination. In the general election, Sharpe faced Democratic nominee Lewis W. Bicknell, the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

Democratic nominee for Governor. Aided by the national Republican landslide, Sharpe defeated Bicknell in a landslide.

Democratic primary

Lewis W. Bicknell—a former Day County State's Attorney, former Chairman of the State Department of Public Welfare, and the

Democratic nominee for Governor—announced that he would again run for governor. He was the only Democratic candidate to file and he won the Democratic nomination for Governor unopposed, thereby removing the race from the primary ballot.

Republican primary

Candidates

Joseph H. Bottum Joseph Henry Bottum (August 7, 1903July 4, 1984) was an American politician. He served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota. Early life Bottum was born in Faulkton, South ...

, State Director of Taxation, former Faulk County State's Attorney *

, former Attorney General of South Dakota * Leo A. Temmey, Attorney General of South Dakota * Millard G. Scott, State Rural Credit Director

Campaign

At the May 5, 1942, primary, all four candidates ended up with vote totals that were within six thousand votes of each other, and for the first time since

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

, no candidate received the requisite 35% of the vote.

, who ran on a reform, "oust the state house" platform, was seen by many observers as having a lead coming into the convention, despite placing second in the primary. There was speculation that Sharpe's three other opponents would consolidate their forces to defeat him at the convention, but uncertainty as to whether they would do so. Influential state Republicans, chief among them Governor Bushfield, declined to publicly intervene. At the convention, Sharpe took an early lead, and despite the speculation about anti-Sharpe consolidation, as Temmey and Scott collapsed, the vast majority of their votes went to Sharpe, not Bottom. On the third ballot, with Temmey's support halved and Scott's near zero, Sharpe easily won a majority, earning himself the nomination.

Primary election results

Convention results

General election

Results

References

{{1942 United States elections

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

Gubernatorial 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 ...

November 1942 events