1924 United States Senate election in Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1924.[1]
.jpg)
 | |||||||||||||||||
November 4, 1924
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Deneen: 40â50% 50â60% 60â70% 70â80% 80â90% Sprague: 50â60% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
_(3x4a).jpg)
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
| 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 Giles Ogden
Results
Deneen won by a mere 0.69% margin of just 5,944 votes.[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
Results
| 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
| 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]