1924 United States Senate election in Illinois

1924 United States Senate election in Illinois

November 4, 1924

Nominee Charles S. Deneen Albert A. Sprague Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,449,180 806,702 Percentage 63.54% 35.37%

Results by county Deneen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Sprague:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Medill McCormick Republican Elected U.S. senator Charles S. Deneen Republican

The 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1924.[1]

Incumbent Republican Medill McCormick was unseated in the Republican primary by Charles S. Deneen, who went on to win the general election.

The primaries and general election coincided with those for other federal elections (president and House) and those for state elections.[1] The primaries were held April 8, 1924.[1]

This was the first election for this U.S. Senate seat to be held after the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women suffrage.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• William McKinley, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives (not to be confused with the William B. McKinley that, at the time, occupied the other Illinois U.S. Senate seat)
• Albert A. Sprague, chairman of Consolidated Grocers Corporation, and member of the John Crerar Library board[2]

Results

Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Albert A. Sprague	169,285	62.67
	Democratic	William McKinley	100,859	37.34
	Write-in	Others	6	0.00
Total votes			270,150	100

Republican primary

Candidates

• Charles S. Deneen, former governor of Illinois
• Newton Jenkins, lawyer and candidate for 27th Ward Chicago alderman in 1920[3]
• Medill McCormick, incumbent U.S. senator
• Adelbert McPherson
• Gilbert Gile Ogden

Results

Deneen won by a mere 0.69% margin of just 5,944 votes.[1]

Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles S. Deneen	357,545	41.70
	Republican	Medill McCormick (incumbent)	351,601	41.01
	Republican	Newton Jenkins	114,239	13.32
	Republican	Gilbert Gile Ogden	18,002	2.10
	Republican	Adelbert McPherson	15,973	0.19
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			857,361	100

Socialist primary

Candidates

• George Koop, perennial candidate[4]

Results

Socialist primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Socialist	George Koop	946	100
Total votes			946	100

General election

Candidates

• Charles S. Deneen (Republican), former governor of Illinois
• J. Louis Engdahl (Workers), journalist and newspaper editor
• George Koop (Socialist), perennial candidate[4]
• Parke Longworth (independent)
• Lewis D. Spaulding (Commonwealth Land)
• Albert A. Sprague (Democratic), chairman of Consolidated Grocers Corporation, and member of the John Crerar Library board[2]
• Albert Wirth (Socialist Labor)

Results

1924 United States Senate election in Illinois[1][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles S. Deneen	1,449,180	63.54
	Democratic	Albert A. Sprague	806,702	35.37
	Socialist	George Koop	18,708	0.82
	Socialist Labor	Albert Wirth	2,966	0.13
	Workers	J. Louis Engdahl	2,518	0.11
	Commonwealth Land	Lewis D. Spaulding	391	0.02
	Independent	Parke Longworth	382	0.02
Majority			642,478	28.17
Turnout			2,280,847
	Republican hold

Aftermath

On February 25, 1925, as he was preparing to leave office, McCormick died in what is considered to have been a suicide (though the suicidal nature of his death was not known to the public, contemporarily). His reelection loss is believed to have contributed to his suicide.[6][7][8][9][10] McCormick's widow Ruth Hanna McCormick would go on to defeat Deneen in the 1930 Republican primary.[9]

See also

• 1924 United States Senate elections

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 4, 1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 SPECIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 PRIMARY ELECTIONS GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 8, 1924 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, APRIL 8, 1924" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 19, 2020.^[permanent dead link‍]
2. "Sprague, Albert A. : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago". photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu. University of Chicago Photographic Library.
3. "NEWTON JENKINS, 55, LAWYER AND SOLDIER; Defeated for Mayor of Chicago and United States Senator". The New York Times. October 17, 1942. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
4. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - George Koop". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
5. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1924" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
6. Rhoads, Mark (October 30, 2006). "Illinois Hall of Fame: Ruth Hanna McCormick". Illinois Review. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
7. "National Affairs: Medill McCormick". Time magazine. March 9, 1925. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
8. Hill, Ray (December 16, 2012). "The Senate's Dandy: James Hamilton Lewis of Illinois - The Knoxville Focus". The Knoxville Focus. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
9. Miller, Kristie (1988). "Ruth Hanna McCormick and the Senatorial Election of 1930". Illinois Historical Journal. 81 (3): 191–210. ISSN 0748-8149. JSTOR 40192065.
10. United States Congress. "1924 United States Senate election in Illinois (id: M000369)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.