# 1937 United States Senate special election in Arkansas

The 1937 Arkansas special senatorial election was held on October 19, 1937, following the death of longtime Democratic senator Joe T. Robinson. Robinson was a powerful senator, staunch Democrat, and strong supporter of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was instrumental in passing many New Deal programs through the Senate. Arkansas was essentially a one-party state during the Solid South period; the Democratic Party controlled all aspects of state and local office. Recently elected Democratic Governor of Arkansas Carl E. Bailey initially considered appointing himself to finish Robinson's term, but later acceded to a nomination process by the Democratic Central Committee, avoiding a public primary but breaking a campaign process. Avoiding the primary so angered the public and establishment Democrats, leading them to coalesce behind longtime Democrat John E. Miller as an independent, forcing a general election.
The 1937 special election was a public battle in a long-standing war between establishment politicians (Arkansas's "Old Guard" Democrats), conservative Democrats that repudiated the growing role of the United States government during the Progressive Era, especially under Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a growing populist and reform movement. Future governor Homer Adkins led the efforts to oppose Bailey, harboring a personal grudge since their time in the Pulaski County Courthouse. Voters ultimately rejected Bailey's power grab and handily elected Miller to fill the unexpired term. Miller would serve in the term until 1941, retiring to become a judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The remainder of the term would be filled by Lloyd Spencer (appointed), who did not stand election in 1942.

## Vacancy

Joe T. Robinson served in the US Senate since 1913, and as Democratic minority leader since 1922. He became majority leader when the Democrats took the Senate in the realigning 1932 elections, known as the genesis of the New Deal coalition. Robinson was a fierce ally of Democratic presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, and supported many of the progressive policies of Theodore Roosevelt. After his abrupt passing in July 1937 at the age of 64, a large void opened in state politics.

### Setting

During the Solid South period, Arkansas was ruled by the Democratic party. A Democratic primary win was tantamount to election; most policy or personal political fights were fought months ahead of the general election, or behind closed doors in party meetings. The New Deal had brought millions of government dollars to the poor state, creating a group of politicians more loyal to the political patronage system from the federal level. In Arkansas, patronage had been operated by Robinson, creating a league of bureaucrats and officials owing their positions to Robinson known as the Old Guard Democrats. Moderate Democrats, political outsiders, and opponents of the Old Guard Democrats like Harvey Parnell rejected the cronyism and corruption passed through the patronage system and often sought reform, but struggled to reform the system, even from the Governor's office.

## Candidates

Shortly after Robinson's death, rumors about who would fill the remaining 5+1⁄2-year term began in Arkansas newspapers.
Carl Bailey, a lawyer originally from the Missouri Bootheel, had won the 1936 Arkansas gubernatorial election. Famous for having rejected a $50,000 bribe from infamous New York City mobster and boss of the Genovese crime family Lucky Luciano while he was Arkansas Attorney General, Bailey was an antiestablishment politician who ran on replacing government patronage positions with qualified people hired on a merit basis. Like most Arkansas Democrats at the time, Bailey strongly supported the New Deal, which was wildly popular in a poor agricultural state still recovering from the Great Depression. Bailey's antiestablishment credentials and calls for reform in state offices made him unpopular with the establishment, "Old Guard" Democrats who also supported (and in many cases derived their livelihoods from) the New Deal. Conservative Democrats also disagreed with Bailey, whose expanding state government reversed previous governor J. Marion Futrell's policies of state retrenchment in the face of federal expansion.
Despite a narrow victory in 1936, Bailey had a sufficient mandate to create a civil service commission (the first in a Southern state), reorganize the Welfare Department to redirect federal aid more efficiently, and doubled funding for school districts.

### Declined

* Homer Adkins, Collector for Internal Revenue in Arkansas
* Claude A. Fuller, U.S. House of Representatives member representing Arkansas's 3rd district
* Jack Holt, Attorney General of Arkansas
* John L. McClellan, U.S. House of Representatives member representing Arkansas's 6th district
* Vincent Miles of Fort Smith

## Election

The first question was whether the vacancy would be filled by a Democratic primary or nomination of the Arkansas Democratic Central Committee. At a meeting of a Democratic Party subcommittee to resolve this question, there was strong support for a primary among rank-and-file party members, but Committee nomination was favored by the officeholders and politicians. Party leaders favored Bailey, who said "my enemies may fear the worst" at the subcommittee meeting. At the meeting, allegations were made that Homer Adkins had ordered his staff to circulate petitions in their home counties across the state to generate support for a primary in opposition to Bailey's nomination.
On July 23, 1937, the Committee named Bailey as the Democratic candidate for US Senate, almost assuring his victory in the special election.
Many of the efficiencies created by Bailey's welfare reorganization came at the expense of the bureaucrats appointed through the patronage system. Adkins was Robinson's man in Arkansas, dispensing patronage to loyalists through various New Deal agencies. In addition to Bailey's open threats to disrupt the Robinson political machine, Adkins also harbored a personal dislike of Bailey dating back to the time they shared together in the Pulaski County Courthouse.

### Results

Elections in Arkansas :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1836
1837
1840
1843
1844 sp
1846
1848
1848 sp
1853
1855
1859
1868
1870
1876
1877
1878
1883
1885
1885 sp
1889
1891
1895
1897
1901
1903
1906
1907
1909
1913
1913 sp
1914
1916 sp
1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1932 sp
1936
1937 sp
1938
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1836
1837
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1847
AL sp
1848
1851
1852
1853
1854
1856
1858
1860
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1885
3rd sp
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
2nd sp
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1913
6th sp
1914
1916
1918
1920
1921
6th sp
1922
1923
6th sp
1924
1926
1928
1930
4th sp
1932
1933
5th sp
1934
1936
1938
1939
4th sp
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1961
6th sp
1962
1964
1966
4th sp
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2001
3rd sp
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
State government
State elections
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1836
1840
1844
1848
1849 sp
1852
1856
1860
1862 (C)
1864 (U)
1868
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1913 sp
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
2022
Secretary of State elections
2022
Attorney General elections
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
2024 (special)
Senate elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
1990
Amendment 3
2004
Amendment 3
2008
Act 1
2012
Issue 1
2018
Issue 5 :
Little Rock
Mayoral elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Fayetteville
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Fort Smith
Mayoral elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Springdale
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Jonesboro
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Rogers
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Conway
Mayoral elections
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
vte :
Arkansas special senate election, 1937 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent Democrat | John E. Miller | 65,802 | 60.41% |
| | Democratic | Carl E. Bailey | 43,125 | 39.59% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 108,927 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

## See Also

* 1954 United States Senate election in South Carolina, A similar situation occurred where the candidate endorsed by the Democratic Party also lost the election.