1918 United States elections
| ←19161917191819191920→ Midterm elections | |
| Election day | November 5 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | Woodrow Wilson(Democratic) |
| Next Congress | 66th |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Republican gain |
| Seats contested | 38 of 96 seats (32 Class 2 seats + 9 special elections)[1] |
| Net seat change | Republican +6[2] |
 | |
| 1930 Senate election results
Democratic gainDemocratic hold | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Republican gain |
| Seats contested | All 435 voting seats |
| Net seat change | Republican +24 |
 | |
| 1918 House of Representatives results | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 32 |
| Net seat change | Republican +4 |
 | |
| 1918 gubernatorial election results
Democratic gainDemocratic hold | |
The1918 United States electionselected the66th United States Congress,and took place in the middle of Democratic PresidentWoodrow Wilson's second term. The election was held during theFourth Party System.It was the lone election to take place during America's involvement inWorld War I.Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since the1908 election.
The election took place during theSpanish flu pandemic.Campaigning was disrupted around the country. In Nebraska, for instance, authorities lifted a ban on public gatherings in early November 1918 and permitted politicians to campaign five days prior to polls opening. The turnout was 40%, which was unusually low for a midterm election (turnout was at 52% and 50% in the 1910 and 1914 midterm elections). The low turnout was possibly due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.[3][4]
In an example of thesix-year itchphenomenon, Republicans took complete control of Congress from the Democrats. The Republicans won large gains in theHouse,taking 25 seats and endingcoalitioncontrol of the chamber.[5]In theSenate,Republicans gained 5 seats, taking control of the chamber by a slim majority.[6]
The elections were a major defeat forprogressivesandWilson's foreign policyagenda, and foreshadowed the Republican victory in the1920 election.Republicans ran against the expanded war-time government and theFourteen Points,especially Wilson's proposal for theLeague of Nations.The Republican victory left them in control of both houses of Congress until the1930 election.[7]
The election was also a turning point forwomen's suffrage in the United States:ballot initiatives to extend suffrage to women (among all-male electorates) were held in the states ofOklahoma,Louisiana,South Dakota,andMichigan.Of these initiatives, all but the one in Louisiana passed, and despite the ongoing pandemic, extensive grassroots organizing by suffragists[8]meant they successfully campaigned against incumbent Senators who had refused to support theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,includingJohn W. WeeksofMassachusetts,who had been considered invincible, andWillard Saulsbury Jr.ofDelaware.
See also[edit]
- 1918 United States House of Representatives elections
- 1918 United States Senate elections
- 1918 United States gubernatorial elections
- Presidency of Woodrow Wilson
References[edit]
- ^Three Class 2 seats held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1918. These seats are not double-counted for the total number of seats contested.
- ^Republicans picked up four seats in the regularly-scheduled elections and gained an additional two seats in the special elections.
- ^Searcey, Dionne (2020-03-21)."The Lessons of the Elections of 1918".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2020-03-21.
- ^"Here's How Coronavirus Is Affecting Voter Turnout".Time.6 March 2020.Retrieved2020-03-21.
- ^"Party Divisions of the House of Representatives".United States House of Representatives.Retrieved25 June2014.
- ^"Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present".United States Senate.Retrieved25 June2014.
- ^Busch, Andrew (1999).Horses in Midstream.University of Pittsburgh Press. pp.87–91.
- ^DuBois, Ellen Carol (2020-04-20)."A pandemic nearly derailed the women's suffrage movement".National Geographic.Archived fromthe originalon April 21, 2020.Retrieved2020-04-27.
Further reading[edit]
- Dewitt, Howard A. "Charles L. McNary and the 1918 Congressional Election."Oregon Historical Quarterly68.2 (1967): 125-140.online
- Jenson, Carol. "Loyalty as a Political Weapon: The 1918 Campaign in Minnesota."Minnesota History43.2 (1972): 42-57.online
- Livermore, Seward W. "The sectional issue in the 1918 congressional elections."Mississippi Valley Historical Review35.1 (1948): 29-60.online
- Lowitt, Richard. "Senator Norris and His 1918 Campaign."Pacific Northwest Quarterly57.3 (1966): 113-119. in Nebraska.
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