How Often Do Sitting US Senators Place Third (Or Worse) in Primaries?

A competitive Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary could lead to a result not seen in more than 60 years

After polling was released last week that showed Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn in a close third in the GOP primary against state Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, Smart Politics received a query from The Downballot regarding how rare of an event it would be if Cornyn did not leap frog one of these candidates and land in the Top 2 at the March primary.

While such an occurrence would not be unprecedented, it is rare – and hasn’t happened in more than 60 years.

Since 1914, more than 110 sitting U.S. Senators lost their nomination bids (almost all of which via party primaries).

Of these, just 13 incumbents placed third or worse in the primary – 11 Democrats and two Republicans.

The most recent U.S. Senator to endure such a fate was New Hampshire Republican Maurice Murphy in 1962’s special election.

Murphy was appointed to the chamber by Governor Wesley Powell in December 1961 – a few weeks after the passing of long-serving Senator Styles Bridges.

In the September 1962 primary, Murphy faced opposition from Styles’ widow, Doloris Bridges, and the state’s two sitting U.S. Representatives: 10-term Republican Chester Merrow and four-term GOPer Perkins Bass.

All four candidates received double-digit support at the primary, but Murphy placed third with 24.5 percent – 6.9 points behind Rep. Bass.

The only other Republican incumbent who landed outside of the top two in a U.S. Senate primary was Minnesota’s Moses Clapp in 1916.

Clapp, a former three-term state Attorney General, had served in the U.S. Senate since winning a January 1901 special election to fill the vacancy following the death of Senator Cushman Davis. Clapp was reelected by the Minnesota legislature in 1905 and 1911 but had to face the state’s Republican electorate to win nomination to a fourth term in the June 1916 primary.

Clapp finished a distant third with only 15.2 percent of the vote in a four candidate field that included former American Bar Association president Frank Kellogg (40.5 percent), former Governor A.O. Eberhart (30.1 percent), and U.S. Representative Charles Lindbergh (14.3 percent).

Eleven Democratic U.S. Senators – almost all from the South – have also placed third place or worse in partisan primaries:

• 1916 – Tennessee Democrat Luke Lea (3rd, 28.1 percent): Lea was third in a three-candidate field losing to U.S. Representative Kenneth McKellar and former Governor Malcolm Patterson
• 1918 – Georgia Democrat Thomas Hardwick (3rd): Hardwick trailed former state Senator and U.S. Census Director William Harris and U.S. Representative William Howard in the decisive county-unit vote total in the five-candidate field
• 1918 special – South Carolina Democrat Christie Benet (3rd, 31.3 percent): Benet had been in office less than two months (appointed to fill the vacancy after the death of Benjamin Tillman) when he stood for nomination in the late August 1918 primary. Benet narrowly missed advancing to the runoff between former state Representative William Pollock and state Attorney General Thomas Peeples.
• 1920 – Georgia Democrat Hoke Smith (3rd): Smith trailed former Populist U.S. Representative Thomas Watson and Governor Hugh Dorsey in both the popular and county-unit vote tallies in the four-candidate field
• 1922 – Texas Democrat Charles Culberson (3rd, 17.4 percent): The four-term U.S. Senator did not prevail the second time he stood for renomination in a primary with Railroad Commissioner Earle Mayfield and former Governor Pa Ferguson making the run-off in the seven-candidate field
• 1924 – South Carolina Democrat Nathaniel Dial (3rd, 22.2 percent): Dial lost the primary to former Governor Coleman Blease and U.S. Representative James Byrnes in a four-candidate field
• 1934 special – Montana Democrat John Erickson (3rd, 22.1 percent): Erickson is in the group of governors who effectively appointed themselves to a U.S. Senate seat, only to lose the seat at the ballot box when their candidacy was put before voters. Erickson nearly pulled off the victory in the six-candidate field with five hopefuls winning double-digit support. Erickson lost to former Silver Bow County Attorney James Murray by 2.9 points with former State House Speaker James O’Connor in second.
• 1936 – Oklahoma Democrat Thomas Gore (4th, 18.0 percent): Gore fell short of winning a fifth non-consecutive term trailing U.S. Representative Joshua Smith, Governor E.W. Marland, and attorney Gomer Smith in an eight-candidate field
• 1938 – South Dakota Democrat Herbert Hitchcock (3rd, 13.3 percent): Hitchcock was appointed to the seat in December 1936 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Peter Norbeck in the closing days of Democratic Governor Tom Berry’s term. In the subsequent May 1938 primary, Berry sought the seat himself and easily defeated Hitchcock for the Democratic nomination with U.S. Representative Fred Hildebrandt in a distant second.
• 1940 – West Virginia Democrat Rush Holt (3rd, 24.6 percent): Holt, who was elected to his first term in 1934 but famously did not take his seat until turning 30 years old in June 1935, lost his renomination for a second term trailing Raleigh County Criminal Court Judge Harley Kilgore and former Governor H.G. Kump in a four-candidate field
• 1944 – Arkansas Democrat Hattie Caraway (4th, 13.5 percent): Caraway finished a distant fourth place trailing freshman U.S. Representative William Fulbright, Governor Homer Adkins, and Colonel T.H. Barton in a five-candidate field

Cornyn, Hunt, and Paxton are three of the eight candidates who will appear on the Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary ballot next month.

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