The 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1924.[1]
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 Results by county Deneen: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Sprague: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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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
editCandidates
edit- 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
edit| 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
editCandidates
edit- 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
editDeneen 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
editCandidates
edit- George Koop, perennial candidate[4]
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist | George Koop | 946 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 946 | 100 | ||
General election
editCandidates
edit- 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
edit| 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
editOn 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
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "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]
- ^ a b "Sprague, Albert A. : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago". photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu. University of Chicago Photographic Library.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "Our Campaigns - Candidate - George Koop". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1924" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "National Affairs: Medill McCormick". Time magazine. March 9, 1925. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ Hill, Ray (December 16, 2012). "The Senate's Dandy: James Hamilton Lewis of Illinois - The Knoxville Focus". The Knoxville Focus. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ a b Miller, Kristie (1988). "Ruth Hanna McCormick and the Senatorial Election of 1930". Illinois Historical Journal. 81 (3): 191–210. ISSN 0748-8149. JSTOR 40192065.
- ^ United States Congress. "1924 United States Senate election in Illinois (id: M000369)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.