The 1930 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on November 4, 1930. Incumbent Republican governor

John Stuchell Fisher John Stuchell Fisher (May 25, 1867June 25, 1940) was an American politician who served as the 29th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1927 until 1931. A Republican, he had previously served as a Pennsylvania State Senator from 1901 until 1907. Life ...

was not a candidate for re-election. Republican candidate and former governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

defeated Democratic candidate John M. Hemphill to win a second, non-consecutive term as

Governor of Pennsylvania 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 ...

. This was the only election from 1863 until 1950 in which the Democratic candidate carried the city and county of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, which was controlled by a powerful Republican political machine during that time. Hemphill won the city in a landslide with the support of Philadelphia Republican boss

William Scott Vare William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1912 to 1927. ...

, who abandoned Pinchot over his refusal to certify Vare's election as

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

in 1926. Hemphill won 226,811 votes on the Liberal Party line in Philadelphia, nearly twice the vote he received on the Democratic ticket. After Pinchot's election, Vare was ousted as party boss.

Background

1926 United States Senate election

In 1926, Gifford Pinchot (then Governor of Pennsylvania) and

(U.S. Representative and boss of the powerful Philadelphia political machine) both challenged incumbent United States Senator George W. Pepper in the Republican primary. Pepper carried nearly every county in the state, but Vare won the race narrowly, thanks to a 224,000 vote margin in

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

. Vare went on to win the general election by a wider margin, again relying on a large margin from Philadelphia. Pinchot, acting in his role as governor, declined to certify the results of Vare's election. After a year-long review of the contested election, the Senate voted 58–22 not to seat Vare on the grounds that he had fraudulently and extravagantly financed his campaign against Pepper. During the lengthy investigation, Vare suffered a stroke brought on by stress.

Results

, - , -bgcolor="#EEEEEE" , colspan="3" align="right" , Totals , align="right" , 2,105,381 , align="right" , 100.00%

References

1930

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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 1930 events {{Pennsylvania-election-stub