On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon became the first and so far only president to resign office after the Watergate tapes proved that he initiated a cover-up of the Watergate burglary, thus he was guilty of obstruction of justice. Republicans suffered the electoral consequences in the 1974 midterms, with Democrats winning 48 seats. The result was a strongly liberal Congress with the freshmen being known as “Watergate Babies”. Although the new Congress blocked further military assistance to South Vietnam, they were limited in their ability to act as President Ford vetoed 66 bills, of which 12 were overridden. However, the 1974 midterms produced fundamental changes in the Democratic Party and constituted the beginning of the end of the influence of conservative Democrats, as the Democratic Party made it clear through their ousters of several committee chairmen that seniority alone no longer determined whether one would get a chairmanship. This either motivated retirements or legislators significantly changing their voting behavior to get on the good side of liberal Democrats.

Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.), the longest serving of the Democrats among the 1974 freshmen.

The significant results were as follows…

House

Although Arkansas had no change, future President Bill Clinton came within 4 points of defeating Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt, who represented Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Rogers, for reelection.

In California, Republican incumbents Bob Mathias and Victor Veysey lost to Democrats John Hans Krebs and James F. Lloyd respectively. The 13^th district saw Republican Charles Gubser retire and be succeeded by Democrat Norman Y. Mineta, while in the 34^th district Republican Craig Hosmer retired and Democrat Mark W. Hannaford succeeded him.

In Colorado’s 2^nd district, which included the city of Boulder, was increasingly waving its liberal flag with future Senator Tim Wirth defeating five-term Republican incumbent Donald G. Brotzman for reelection. The 2nd hasn’t been represented by a Republican since.

In Connecticut’s 2^nd district, Democrat Chris Dodd, son of the late Senator Thomas Dodd, succeeded retiring Republican Robert Steele.

In Florida’s 5^th district, one of the few Republican gains occurred, with Republican Richard Kelly succeeding retiring Democrat Bill Gunter. Kelly would later be one of the members of Congress implicated in the Abscam Scandal.

In Georgia’s 4^th district, Democrat Elliott Levitas defeated four-term incumbent Republican Benjamin Blackburn for reelection. This brought Georgia back to its traditional all-Democratic delegation.

In Illinois’ 3^rd district, Democrat Marty Russo defeated Republican Robert Hanrahan for reelection and Democrat Abner J. Mikva defeated Republican Samuel H. Young for reelection in the 10^th district. In the 15^th, 40-year incumbent and Republican whip Leslie Arends retired, his successor being Democrat Tim Lee Hall. Hall would only hold the seat for one term before the district reverted to its traditional Republicanism.

In Indiana, Republicans were left with only two seats after election night. Losing were Republican Earl Landgrebe of the 2^nd district who had famously refused to support impeachment of President Nixon after the release of the Watergate tapes, Democrat Floyd Fithian defeating him by 22 points. By contrast, he had won reelection by over 9 points. In the 6^th district, 12-term incumbent William G. Bray lost reelection to Democrat David W. Evans by almost 5 points. Republicans Roger Zion, David Dennis, and William Hudnut were defeated by Philip Hayes, Philip Sharp, and Andrew Jacobs Jr. in the 8^th, 10^th, and 11^th districts.

In Iowa, the results went south for Republicans, but the election did see the election of Chuck Grassley, currently the longest serving federal politician, for his first term in the House, succeeding the legendary skinflint H.R. Gross, but Republicans William J. Scherle and Wiley Mayne lost reelection to Democrats Tom Harkin (who would be elected to the Senate in 1984) and Berkley Bedell in the 5^th and 6^th districts respectively.

In Louisiana, only one change occurred, and that was due to Democrat John Rarick losing renomination to radio host Jeff LaCaze. Rarick was extremely conservative, never supported a civil rights measure, and had had ties with the KKK. LaCaze was much more liberal, but the 6^th district was conservative, thus Republican W. Henson Moore won the open seat.

In Maine, the 1^st district was a bit of a surprise as Republican David F. Emery defeated Democrat Peter Kyros, who had been first elected in 1966, for reelection by under half a point.

In Maryland, Republican Lawrence Hogan of the 5^th district (father of former Governor Larry Hogan) sought to run for governor and retired, with Democrat Gladys Spellman winning the district.

In Massachusetts’ 5^th district, future Senator Paul Tsongas defeated Republican Paul W. Cronin by 21 points. Cronin was the last Republican to represent the district.

In Michigan’s 6^th district, Republican Charles Chamberlain opted not to run again, with Democrat Milton Carr succeeding him. In the 18^th district, Republican Robert J. Huber, an ultra-conservative, lost reelection to Democrat James Blanchard by nearly 19 points.

In Minnesota’s 6^th district, Democrat Richard Nolan won the election succeeding retiring Republican John M. Zwach.

In Montana’s 1^st district, future Democratic Senator Max Baucus defeated Republican Richard Shoup for reelection.

In Nevada’s at-Large district, Democrat James Santini defeated Republican David Towell for reelection.

In New Hampshire, Democrat Norman D’Amours succeeded Republican Louis Wyman, who had retired to run for the Senate.

In New Jersey, Republicans John Hunt, Charles Sandman, William B. Widnall, and Joseph J. Maraziti lost reelection to Democrats James J. Florio, William J. Hughes, Andrew Maguire, and Helen S. Meyner in the 1^st, 2^nd, 7^th, and 13^th districts respectively.

In New York, Republicans James Grover, Angelo Roncallo, and Carleton J. King lost reelection to Democrats Thomas Downey, Jerome Ambro, and Edward W. Pattison of the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 29^th districts respectively. Retiring Republicans Howard Robison and Henry P. Smith of the 27^th and 36^th districts respectively were succeeded by Democrats Matthew McHugh and John J. LaFalce.

In North Carolina, Republicans Wilmer Mizell and Earl Ruth of he 5^th and 8^th districts went down to defeat against Democrats Stephen Neal and Bill Hefner. Hefner would serve in Congress until 1999.

In Ohio’s 1^st district, Democrat Tom Luken lost reelection by 2 points to Republican Bill Gradison. However, Luken would run in the 2^nd district in 1976 and win, and represented the district until 1991. Democrat Ronald Mottl succeeded Republican William Minshall in the 23^rd district.

In Oklahoma’s 6^th district, Republican John Newbold “Happy” Camp lost reelection to Democrat Glenn English by 9 points. Did he live up to his nickname on election day?

In Oregon, Democrats won all House seats, with incumbent Republican Wendell Wyatt of the 1^st district retiring and being succeeded by Les AuCoin and Democrat Jim Weaver defeating Republican John Dellenback for reelection in the 4^th district.

In Pennsylvania, in the 7^th district Republican Lawrence G. Williams lost renomination and was succeeded by Democrat Robert W. Edgar while Democrat Frank Clark of the 25^th district lost reelection to Republican Gary Myers.

In South Carolina, Republican Edward Young of the 6^th district lost reelection to Democrat John Jenrette. Jenrette would later be implicated in the Abscam Scandal.

In South Dakota, Republicans scored a victory with Larry Pressler’s defeat of incumbent Democrat Frank Denholm in the 1^st district.

In Tennessee, Republicans LaMar Baker and Dan Kuykendall lost reelection in the 3^rd and 8^th districts to Marilyn Lloyd and Harold Ford respectively. Ford was the first ever black representative from Tennessee and served until 1997.

In Texas’s 13^th district, Republican Bob Price lost reelection to Democrat Jack Hightower.

In Virginia, Republicans Stan Parris and Joel Broyhill of the 8^th and 10^th districts respectively lost reelection to Democrats Herb Harris and Joe Fisher, a distinct shift from conservative to liberal representation as Harris and Fisher were of the national rather than Southern Democrat variety.

In Wisconsin, Republicans Vern Thomson and Harold Froehlich of the 3^rd and 8^th districts lost reelection to Democrats Alvin Baldus and Robert John Cornell respectively. Thomson had once been Wisconsin’s governor and been in Congress since 1961.

In the Senate, Republicans lost a net of four seats, not as terrible as it might have been given the national atmosphere, and three Republican incumbents won narrow reelections in Kansas’s Bob Dole (who won by two points), North Dakota’s Milton Young (who won by only 186 votes), and Oklahoma’s Henry Bellmon (who won by half a point), Also of note is that 30-year incumbent J. William Fulbright of Arkansas lost renomination to Governor Dale Bumpers by a 30 point margin. Bumpers was 20 years younger and popular while Fulbright, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to many represented the Washington establishment and was out of touch.

In Colorado, Republican Peter Dominick, whose physical and psychological health was deteriorating due to an at-the-time un-diagnosed multiple sclerosis, lost reelection to future Democratic presidential contender Gary Hart by 18 points.

In Florida, Democrat Richard Stone succeeded the retiring Republican Edward Gurney.

In Kentucky, Republican Marlow Cook lost reelection to Democrat Wendell Ford. Cook was not unpopular and would have likely won reelection had the Democrats not nominated Ford, a highly popular governor.

In Nevada, Republicans scored a victory when Republican Paul Laxalt succeeded retiring Democrat Alan Bible. He defeated future Senator Harry Reid by less than half a point.

In New Hampshire, Democrat John A. Durkin narrowly defeated Republican Louis C. Wyman to succeed Republican Norris Cotton. It was one of the closest races in Senate history, with Cotton temporarily holding his seat once more until the outcome was determined.

In Vermont, Democrat Patrick Leahy defeated Republican Congressman Richard Mallary to succeed retiring Republican Senator George Aiken. Leahy was the first ever Democrat elected to the Senate from Vermont since the establishment of the Republican Party, and would remain in office until 2023.

Starting with the 1860 election, Pennsylvania had an exceptionally long record of loyalty to the GOP, with Simon Cameron, a former Democrat, running the first Republican machine. This started a string of Republican state bosses and indeed the Philadelphia machine had quite a reputation for corruption. Pennsylvania did not even vote Democratic in the three-way 1912 election, rather Bull Moose Progressive Theodore Roosevelt won the state. Republicans were typically able to keep numerous working-class voters happy through tariff policies that benefited the prominent industries of state and served to raise wages but at the same time these policies raised costs of goods. Joseph Finch Guffey (1870-1959) was for many years in the minority in Pennsylvania as a Democrat. He hailed from a strongly Democratic family and made a key connection when he attended Princeton University and befriended Woodrow Wilson, whose political career he strongly supported. Guffey was both active in business and politics, being, rather unconventionally at least in the eyes of modern liberals, an oil executive, heading up the Guffey-Gillespie Oil Company beginning in 1918. He was instrumental in swaying the Pennsylvania Democratic delegation to supporting Wilson at the 1912 Democratic National Convention, much to the consternation of his party boss uncle, who was backing House Speaker Champ Clark (D-Mo.) (Hill).

Guffey in the Wilson Administration and Controversy

During World War I, President Wilson tapped Guffey to serve as Director of Sales for the Alien Property Custodian. In this position, he was responsible for managing billions. Because during the war 18,000 people had become millionaires and $20 billion had been spent on the war, Congressional Republicans reached the conclusion that there was some graft in war expenditures (Sanderlin, 465). After Attorney General Harry Daugherty dragged his feet on indictments (people who live in glass houses shouldn’t cast stones!), in 1922, Guffey was indicted on twelve counts of embezzlement by misappropriating funds he had managed. The case, however, stalled for years and in 1930 the government dropped the case as they did not believe they would be able to win a conviction. Guffey maintained his innocence for the rest of his life, and this matter, while haunting him, did not prove fatal to his political career.

The 1934 Election

Although Pennsylvania had remained loyal to Hoover in 1932 as had the black vote, FDR’s New Deal policies proved popular with both blacks and working-class voters. Republicans had been able to do well with both in the past, but the Great Depression and Roosevelt’s popularity politically taxed them, even in the Keystone State. Guffey ran for the Senate against Republican incumbent David A. Reed, who was one of the Senate’s standard-bearers of conservatism and had sponsored the Immigration Act of 1924. Governor Gifford Pinchot attacked Guffey on the basis of the 1922 indictment and declared “I can’t stand Guffey” while accusing him of obtaining a dismissal of the indictment through prominent New York State Republican Clarence H. Fay (Sanderlin, 466). The 1934 midterms proved a smashing success for the Democrats in the Keystone State as they cobbled together a coalition of working class and black voters, resulting in a net gain of eleven House seats in the state, Democrat George Earle winning the gubernatorial election to succeed Republican Gifford Pinchot, and Guffey defeating Reed by four points. Guffey’s election was the first time in sixty years that a Democrat was elected to the Senate from Pennsylvania.

Senator Guffey

He quickly became the political boss of Pennsylvania given that as senator the Roosevelt Administration funneled patronage through him as well as New Deal money. Guffey made himself known as a “100 per cent Roosevelt man” and indeed his record almost entirely reflected that (Hill). In 1935, he sponsored the Guffey-Snyder Coal Act, establishing the National Bituminous Coal Commission setting minimum prices, establish fair labor practices, and guarantee collective bargaining rights. However, this measure was struck down by the Supreme Court in Carter v. Carter Coal Co. (1936), which resulted in Guffey quickly drafting and getting passed a new law, Guffey-Vinson, in 1937 that left out the labor provisions that had resulted in the Supreme Court striking the law down. Even on questions in which Roosevelt was not so popular he sided with the administration, such as his vote against the 1935 Patman Bonus bill, his vote against killing the “court-packing plan” in 1937, and his vote for Roosevelt’s executive reorganization plan in 1938, which would be defeated in the House. There was a rare exception or two, such as in 1939 when he voted against the legalization of TVA’s purchase of Commonwealth & Southern’s southern properties. He was also known as rather politically shrewd. For instance, early in his time in the Senate, Guffey attacked Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger for his racism; Anslinger was married to Republican former Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon’s niece and his criticizing a public official for racism certainly helped his standing with black voters (Hill). Unsurprisingly, he was also a supporter of civil rights legislation. In 1936, Guffey played a key role, despite being a senator, in determining the next House majority leader. After he hosted a fine luncheon for Pennsylvania’s Democrats they held an 18-6 vote for Texan Sam Rayburn over New York’s John J. O’Connor, and then he got all but one of the remaining to back Rayburn (Time Magazine). That year, Roosevelt won Pennsylvania by 16 points, the first time a Democrat had won the state in 80 years, a testament to the success of the New Deal coalition and to Guffey’s leadership of the state party. In 1940, a majority of Pennsylvanians proved pleased with Roosevelt and Guffey, reelecting them by seven and four points respectively. Pennsylvania’s Democratic organization was functioning well. In 1943, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was profiled by Isaiah Berlin in a confidential analysis for the British Foreign Office as “a noisy Administration supporter who wraps himself in the Roosevelt flag and has been advocating for a fourth term for some time. A very typical Pennsylvania politician who has decided to throw his lot in with the President and has thus become an obedient party hack not of the purest integrity. Consistently votes in the opposite direction of his fellow Senator from Pennsylvania, James Davis” (Hachey, 146). Guffey was even more supportive of Roosevelt on foreign policy than his already staunch support of his domestic agenda.

During the 78^th Congress, the pro-New Deal Union for Democratic Action found nothing amiss with Guffey’s voting record. In the prior UDA release, the only two votes he got “wrong” by them out of twenty were on a progressive “ability to pay” formula in 1939 and on tax-exempt securities in 1940. In 1944, President Roosevelt once again won reelection in Pennsylvania, this time by less than three points, and Republican Senator James Davis was finally defeated by Philadelphia Democratic Congressman Francis J. Myers by less than a point.

In 1946, the national environment proved far different from that of 1934 or 1940. The Great Depression was over, World War II was over, and people were chafing under price controls, particularly on meat, which resulted in meat shortages. Guffey’s record had remained staunchly liberal if not having even gotten more so. Worse yet for him was that Pennsylvania had a popular Republican governor in Edward Martin, who represented a return to the sort of politics of Guffey’s predecessor, David A. Reed. The environment of 1946 was so bad for Democrats in Pennsylvania that it resulted in Republicans picking up nine House seats, including all of Philadelphia’s seats, and Guffey lost reelection by a whopping twenty points. By this time a man of 76, his career was over. According to DW-Nominate, Guffey had been the most liberal senator at -0.656 throughout his 12 years in the Senate save for the 79^th Congress, in which he was beaten by Idaho’s Glen H. Taylor. Guffey retired to Washington D.C., where he lived as an elder Democratic statesman until his death on March 6, 1959, at the age of 88.

References

Guffey, Joseph Finch. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://www.voteview.com/person/3872/joseph-f-guffey

Hachey, T.E. (Winter, 1973-1974). American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, 57(2), 141-153.

Retrieved from

Click to access bib139a.pdf

Hill, R. (2022, July 24). The Democratic Boss of Pennsylvania: Joseph F. Guffey. The Knoxville Focus.

Retrieved from

The Democratic Boss of Pennsylvania: Joseph F. Guffey

Sanderlin, W.R. (1963, October). The Indictment of Joseph F. Guffey. Pennsylvania History: A Journal for Mid-Atlantic Studies, 30(4).

Retrieved from

https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/viewFile/22974/22743

The Congress: Leader Apparent. (1936, December 13). Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://time.com/archive/6756388/the-congress-leader-apparent

Richard Nixon campaigning in Florida, 1970.

Although the Democrats were still considerably ahead in the House, Nixon had hopes that he could defy the trend of midterms against the president’s party. He campaigned aggressively on social issues and stumped for Republican candidates across the country. Notably, the President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography concluded that pornography did no societal or individual harm and called for abolishing anti-obscenity laws for adults. a conclusion that the Nixon Administration as well the U.S. Senate disagreed, with the chamber voting 60-5 (notably, future presidential candidates Walter Mondale and George McGovern were among the dissenters) to disagree with the report. President Nixon railed against obscenity numerous times in 1970 and tried to connect Democrats to anti-war protesters and obscenity. Nixon stated, “So long as I am in the White House, there will be no relaxation of the national effort to control and eliminate smut from our national life” (Weaver). Vice President Spiro Agnew also went on the attack. He put the election in stark ideological terms, “One issue dominates this election: Will the radical-liberalism that controls the Senate of the United States prevail in the nation? Or will America be led into the future by the moderates, centrists and conservatives who stand behind the President of the United States?” (Time Magazine) He accused Democrats of appeasing anti-war protesters, if not being like them. Although Nixon had successfully and quietly completed school desegregation in 1970, he actively campaigned against the use of busing to achieve desegregation, an issue that had more national impact than pushing against the South’s Jim Crow system. Democrats ran against the Republicans for the increasing inflation and unemployment occurring and on the Vietnam War. The Democrats critiqued what they dubbed “Nixonomics” (Apple).

Predictions for the Senate in September from the New York Times were that Democrats would gain Senate seats in Illinois and New York, and that Republicans would gain in Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. California, Indiana, and Vermont were considered toss-ups. Democrats were expected to hold in Maryland and Texas, although an outside risk to Maryland’s Tydings was not discounted. Time Magazine (1970), which reported closer to the election, considered Maryland and Wyoming reasonably certain holds, that Ohio and Tennessee looked like Republican pickups, and that Florida and Texas looked like Democratic holds. Time Magazine also reported that Democrats were ahead in Connecticut and Vermont with the Republican slightly ahead in Indiana.

The Results

The direction of the midterms followed historical norms in 1970, although Republicans lost less than the usual seats at 12.

Nick Begich (D-Alaska) won the open seat vacated by Republican Howard W. Pollock against future Senator Frank Murkowski. Begich along with House Majority Whip Hale Boggs (D-La.) would die in an air crash in Alaska in 1972 that was never recovered.

Jeffery Cohelan (D-Calif.), who represented Berkeley, lost renomination to staunch anti-Vietnam War socialist Ron Dellums, who won the election.

The seat vacated by John Tunney (D-Calif.) in his successful run for the Senate was won by Republican Victor Veysey.

In Colorado, Denver’s longtime Democratic representative Byron Rogers lost renomination to Craig Barnes, producing a divide among Democrats sufficient to give Republican Mike McKevitt a victory.

In Connecticut, Republican Robert Steele won the election to succeed the late Democrat William St. Onge in the 2^nd district. However, this was counterbalanced by the victory of Democrat Ella Grasso in succeeding Republican Thomas Meskill in the 6^th district, who left office for his successful gubernatorial run.

E. Ross Adair (R-Ind.), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the House’s leading critics of foreign aid, was defeated by Democrat J. Edward Roush. He had been in office for 20 years.

In Kansas, Republican Chester Mize of the 2^nd district lost reelection to Democrat William R. Roy. Roy would come close to unseating Senator Bob Dole in the 1974 election.

William Cowger (R-Ky.) was defeated in the Louisville-based 3^rd district by Democrat Romano Mazzoli, who would sponsor with Senator Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) the Simpson-Mazzoli law on immigration in 1986. Cowger would die of a heart attack less than a year after his defeat at the age of 49.

In Maryland, Democrat George Fallon of the 4^th district (Baltimore), who had served since 1945, lost renomination to Paul Sarbanes, who would later have a long career in the Senate. Democrat Goodloe Byron succeeded Republican J. Glenn Beall, Jr. in the 6^th district, who had vacated his seat to successfully run for the Senate. This wasn’t much of a victory for Democrats, as Byron was a conservative. In the 7^th district, Samuel Friedel, who had served since 1953, lost renomination to Parren J. Mitchell. Friedel was Jewish while Mitchell was black, reflecting a shift in preferences among the district’s Democrats. Mitchell won the election.

Philip J. Philbin (D-Mass.) was denied renomination by Father Robert Drinan, and lost a bid to retain his seat running as an Independent. Philbin, who had served in office since 1943, was considered insufficiently liberal and his support for the Vietnam War, despite his vote for the Cooper-Church Amendment, had cost him among young Democrats. Drinan would be the only Catholic priest to serve in Congress.

In Minnesota, Republican Odin Langen of the 7^th district lost reelection to Democrat Robert Bergland.

In Montana, Democrat Arnold G. Olsen of the 1^st district lost reelection to Republican Richard Shoup.

In Nebraska, Omaha’s Republican Glenn Cunningham lost renomination to John Y. McCollister, a more conservative figure, who won the election.

In New Mexico, Republican Ed Foreman of the 2^nd district lost reelection to Democrat Harold Runnels. This wasn’t much of a victory for Democrats as Runnels was a conservative.

Allard Lowenstein (D-N.Y.), noted anti-Vietnam War activist who famously succeeded in making a big enough impact to influence Preisdent Johnson’s decision not to run for reelection, was defeated by Republican Norman F. Lent. Tragically, Lowenstein would be murdered in 1980 by a former protege.

Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.) was defeated for renomination by Charles Rangel. Having served since 1945, voters had grown tired of his absenteeism and ethics issues.

Leonard Farbstein (D-N.Y.) was defeated for renomination by Bella Abzug, a loud feminist radical, who won the election.

Richard Ottinger (D-N.Y.), who vacated his seat to run for the Senate, was succeeded by Republican Peter Peyser. A moderate, Peyser would grow more liberal with time and eventually switched to the Democratic Party.

Martin B. McKneally (R-N.Y.), facing corruption charges, was defeated for reelection by John G. Dow, who he had defeated in 1968.

Daniel Button (R-N.Y.), the last Republican to have represented Albany in Congress, was defeated for reelection by Samuel Stratton, whose district had been merged with his.

Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) won an open seat vacated by Democrat Richard McCarthy, who sought the Democratic Senate nomination. He would be known as a prominent supporter of individual tax cuts and would be Bob Dole’s running mate in the 1996 presidential election.

In North Dakota’s 2^nd district, Republican Thomas Kleppe retired to run for the Senate and was succeeded by Democrat Arthur Link.

William H. Ayres (R-Ohio), a moderate who was the ranking Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee and had represented Akron for 20 years despite it being heavily unionized, was defeated for reelection by Democrat John Seiberling, who ran on an explicitly liberal and anti-Vietnam War platform. The Kent State shooting played a significant part in boosting Seiberling’s campaign against Ayres. As of 2026, Ayres is the last Republican to represent Akron.

Michael Feighan (D-Ohio), who had served in Congress since 1943, was defeated for renomination by Charles Carney, who won the election.

South Dakota was a notable surprise, with both Republican incumbents retiring and being succeeded by Democrats Frank Denholm and James Abourezk, the latter being of the George McGovern type.

In Utah, Democrat K. Gunn McKay won the election to succeed Republican Laurence J. Burton, who ran for the Senate unsuccessfully against incumbent Ted Moss.

In Virginia, retiring Democrat John O. Marsh of the 7^th district was succeeded by Republican J. Kenneth Robinson. This wasn’t much of a loss for Democrats, as Marsh had been a conservative and would later switch to the GOP, serving as President Reagan’s Secretary of the Army.

In Washington, Republican Catherine May lost reelection to Democrat Mike McCormack in the 4^th district. Today, Washington’s 4^th, based in the east, is one of the state’s two safe Republican districts.

Henry C. Schadeberg (R-Wis.), a staunch conservative from the 1^st district (which would later be represented by Paul Ryan), was defeated for reelection by over 20 points by Democrat Les Aspin, who would become known as a skeptic of military spending and would serve as President Clinton’s first Secretary of Defense.

In Wyoming, Republican John S. Wold vacated his seat to run unsuccessfully for the Senate, and was succeeded by Democrat Teno Roncalio, who had previously served during the Great Society Congress.

The Senate

Although Republicans didn’t win the Senate, they did have a net gain of two seats.

In California, Republican Senator George Murphy was defeated for reelection by Democratic Congressman John Tunney, son of pro boxer Gene Tunney. Murphy was compromised because although an operation to remove part of his larynx saved his life from throat cancer, he was rendered unable to speak above a whisper for the rest of his life, a serious disability for a U.S. senator and a sad fate for a man once renowned for his singing voice.

In Connecticut, Democrat Thomas J. Dodd was severely compromised because of his 1967 censure by the Senate for using campaign funds for personal expenses. He was defeated for renomination but tried for reelection as an Independent, which resulted in the victory of Republican Congressman Lowell P. Weicker Jr., at the time a moderate.

In Illinois, Republican Ralph Tyler Smith, seeking to finish the term of the late Senator Everett Dirksen, lost the election to Democrat Adlai Stevenson III.

In Maryland, liberal Democrat Joseph Tydings lost reelection to moderate Republican Congressman J. Glenn Beall, Jr., in a major upset. Tydings had defeated Beall’s father for reelection in 1964.

In New York, Republican Charles Goodell, who had been appointed to the Senate by Governor Nelson Rockefeller after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, had faced considerable headwinds in his own party. Although as a representative, Goodell had a moderately conservative record, as a senator he rivaled his fellow senator Jacob Javits in liberalism. The election was a three-way-race between Goodell, Democratic Congressman Richard Ottinger, and Conservative James L. Buckley. The Nixon Administration surreptitiously supported the election of Buckley, the only one of the candidates who supported Nixon on the Vietnam War. Because the liberal vote split between Goodell and Ottinger, Buckley was elected.

In Ohio, Republican Congressman Robert Taft Jr., grandson of President William Howard Taft, won an open Democratic seat, defeating Democrat Howard Metzenbaum. Metzenbaum would win in a rematch in 1976.

In Tennessee, Republican Congressman Bill Brock defeated Democrat Albert Gore Sr. for reelection. This was one of the major victories for the Nixon Administration given Gore’s Southern liberalism and his support for the Cooper-Church Amendment. Brock had labeled Gore “the third Senator from Massachusetts” for fundraising at a Kennedy event in Virginia (Time Magazine).

Although not a change in party for the seat, a notable election nonetheless was the Texas Senate election, which saw Democrat Lloyd Bentsen defeat Republican Congressman George H.W. Bush. In 1988, Bush would win the presidency and Bentsen would be the Democratic nominee for vice president. Democrat Vance Hartke would hold in Indiana as would Republican Winston Prouty in Vermont, and Democrat Lawton Chiles kept the Florida seat.

Notable Lasts

The election of Mike McKevitt to represent Denver would be the last time the city would elect a Republican to Congress.

The election of J. Glenn Beall, Jr. in 1970 was the last time a Republican defeated a Democratic Senate incumbent for reelection in Maryland.

This was the last election in which Utah would elect a Democrat to the Senate, reelecting Ted Moss.

In this election Wyoming would return Democrat Teno Roncalio to the House. To this day, he is the last Democrat to have represented the Bighorn State in the House and was succeeded by Dick Cheney in the 1978 midterms. This was also the last time that Wyoming’s voters would elect a Democrat to the Senate in their vote to reelect Gale W. McGee.

Overall, President Nixon and the Republicans did considerably better than average on this midterm, and shows that indeed the best defense can be a good offense. As the midterms approach, I can easily see Republicans campaigning against radicalism and trying to tie Democrats to far leftists like Hasan Piker.

References

Apple, R.W. (1970, September 13). Two Parties Pick Definitive Issues for Senate Race. The New York Times.

Retrieved from

Nation: The Republican Assault on the Senate. (1970, October 25). Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://time.com/archive/6838217/nation-the-republican-assault-on-the-senate

Weaver, W. (1970, October 25). Nixon Repudiates Obscenity Report as Morally Void. The New York Times.

Retrieved from

1944 was a disappointing year for the GOP. Although it was believed FDR was going to win reelection, it was believed for a time that Republicans would win control of the House, but instead the Democrats made gains. One of the places in which Republicans made gains, however, was in Wisconsin’s 8^th district, centered in Green Bay, with Democrat LaVern Dilweg, who had played for the Green Bay Packers, losing reelection to John William Byrnes (1913-1985). He proved strongly fiscally conservative, siding wholesale with the domestic agenda of the Republican 80^th Congress but willing to accept the bipartisan foreign policy that came with the postwar era, including voting for aid to Greece and Turkey and the Marshall Plan. However, he did not support foreign aid for poor nations through Point IV aid and voted for some foreign aid cuts. Byrnes also stood strongly for free market policies, supporting significant efforts to limit and end controls on prices and rents. In 1949, he was among the World War II veterans who spoke out against Rep. John Rankin’s (D-Miss.) pension bill for World War I and World War II veterans, which was intended to make the Social Security expansion proposed by President Truman fiscally impossible. Byrnes stated, “This legislation is dishonest…In ten years, our veterans will be shouldering half the nation’s tax burden…I am unalterably opposed to this bill. It is no hot potato as far as this member is concerned” (Time Magazine, 1949). In 1952 and 1953, he differed with the Conservative Coalition in its support for creating a committee to investigate tax-exempt institutions, which became known respectively as the Cox and Reece Committees. Byrnes continued his record of domestic conservatism during the Eisenhower Administration but supported increased foreign aid.

Byrnes Moves Into Leadership

In 1959, Byrnes was recognized as a strong voice on policy within the GOP with him being tapped to head up the House Republican Policy Committee. He stood as a staunch opponent of the Kennedy Administration’s domestic agenda while supporting foreign aid measures. In 1963, he rose to the position of ranking Republican on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. An inflation hawk, he was the chief opponent in the House of the Kennedy tax reduction bill and pushed an unsuccessful proposal to cancel the tax cuts unless spending was not expected to exceed $98 billion in fiscal 1964. Byrnes also supported reducing spending to reduce the debt, being a confirmed opponent of the Keynesian approach that the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations were taking. That year, he made a risky admission; that in 1960 that after helping the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation get a favorable ruling from the IRS that he had purchased stock in the company and done so without knowing it was discounted, and subsequently moved the money to a scholarship fund (Fein). However, honesty paid off and he survived. Although he and Chairman Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.) disagreed on numerous issues regarding taxes and revenue, they had an effective working relationship and were able to produce compromises. Byrnes also opposed special loopholes and privileges in the tax code, and pushed to reduce them in his chief legislative accomplishment, the Tax Reform Act of 1969. In 1965, Byrnes would have to resign his post as head of the Republican Policy Committee due to a change in Republican rules that barred Republicans from holding both ranking positions and party leadership positions.

Byrnes and Civil Rights

Interestingly, Byrnes’ greatest difference with the civil rights position was on taxation; he was an opponent of repealing the poll tax by legislative means, and voted against doing so in 1945, 1947, and 1949. He thought this should be done by amending the Constitution, and true to this view he voted for the 24^th Amendment in 1962. He would otherwise support the major civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In 1971, Byrnes was one of 24 representatives to vote against the Equal Rights Amendment.

Byrnes and the Great Society

In 1965, Byrnes opposed Medicare being mandatory, but the Democratic majority was too great for a Conservative Coalition victory on the matter. Indeed, he was by and large an opponent of LBJ’s Great Society, opposing the Economic Opportunity Act, federal aid to education, rent subsidies, and mass transit aid. Byrnes voted against the initial version of the Social Security Act Amendments that included Medicare but voted for the conference report.

Byrnes and Nixon and the End

In 1969, Byrnes was the point man on the Revenue Act of 1969, and in some ways bent his traditional ways for President Nixon. For instance, he voted for the Family Assistance Plan in 1970 for guaranteed minimum income for families, a considerable departure from what Republicans had stood for in Democratic administrations. However, Byrnes was not simply a nodding head for Nixon. Both he and Ways and Means Committee chairman Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.) were staunchly opposed to revenue sharing, which was championed by Nixon, and Byrnes voted against. He said of the matter, “Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I believe most sincerely that with the pleasure of spending public funds there should also be the odium of collecting them” (Time Magazine, 1971). However, the objections of Byrnes and Mills weren’t enough against the pressures of the Nixon Administration and numerous governors who were wanting fiscal relief for their states. Byrnes also stood with Nixon on Vietnam War policy, opposing efforts to set timetables for troop withdrawals and opposing the Cooper-Church Amendment to pull troops from Cambodia and Laos. He opted not to run again in 1972. The interpretations of Byrnes’ record are consistent; he sided with the conservative Americans for Constitutional Action 84% of the time, the liberal Americans for Democratic Action 15% of the time, and his DW-Nominate score stands at 0.328. On January 8, 1985, Byrnes suffered a massive stroke at Central Wisconsin Airport on the way to a medical check-up and was reported to be in critical condition. He did not recover, dying four days later at the age of 71 at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The year after his death, President Ronald Reagan, who shared Byrnes’ opposition to revenue sharing, completed the program’s repeal.

References

ADA Voting Records. Americans for Democratic Action.

Retrieved from

Voting Records

Byrnes, John William. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://voteview.com/person/1371/john-william-byrnes

Fein, E.B. (1985, January 14). Ex-Rep. John W. Byrnes Is Dead; Republican Was Tax Law Expert. The New York Times.

Retrieved from

John W. Byrnes, Former Representative, Dies. (1985, January 17). The Los Angeles Times.

Retrieved from

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-17-me-7747-story.html

The Congress: Rankin’s Revenge. (1949, February 28). Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://time.com/archive/6602178/the-congress-rankins-revenge/

The Nation: Pros and Cons of Revenue Sharing. (1971, January 31). Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://time.com/archive/6843587/the-nation-the-pros-and-cons-of-revenue-sharing/

A general assumption exists that with politicians they ideologically come and go from Washington as the same people on ideological matters. Although more true today than it used to be, it is never a full guarantee. One example from the Deep South was Democrat William Jennings Bryan Dorn (1916-2005). Dorn was named after the politician William Jennings Bryan as his father wished for him to have a life in politics. He came on to the scene early, being elected to the State House in 1938 and the State Senate in 1940. His political career was interrupted by him serving in the US Army during World War II. On Dorn’s return, he sought to win election to Congress. He challenged incumbent Butler B. Hare of the 3^rd district, who had served in Congress 16 years, and defeated him. Dorn proved to be to Hare’s right in his first term, and often disagreed with his party on certain key issues. Notably, he voted for Republican tax reduction bills, voted for Taft-Hartley, and even was one of the few Southern Democrats to vote against the Marshall Plan. Although only a man of 32 by the 1948 election, Dorn was highly ambitious and decided to challenge incumbent Senator Burnet R. Maybank. However, Maybank was sufficiently popular to survive Dorn’s challenge from his right. Although out of office, he wasn’t for long, and sought his old seat in 1950, now held by Hare’s son, James. This election proved to be a boon to the political right, and Dorn won renomination, tantamount to election in the at-the-time one party state of South Carolina.

Although of the right, Dorn stood out among the South Carolina House delegation in his support for public housing. However, he was opposed to price and rent controls and consistently backed foreign aid cuts. During the Eisenhower Administration, Dorn continued his opposition to foreign aid, supported releasing the regulation of natural gas prices from the Federal Power Commission, and started voting against public housing measures. He did, however, express a preference for public control over power generation and transmission, one of the ways in which many Southern Democrats remained New Dealers.

From 1961 to 1964, Dorn proved South Carolina’s foremost foe of New Frontier and Great Society measures in the House, even though his district had voted for Kennedy in 1960. This included opposing highly popular measures such as the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962 for vocational training of the unemployed and the Educational Television Facilities Act of 1962 for the construction of public television stations for educational broadcasting. He voted against the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as well as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Medicare in 1965. Notably, this is contrary to South Carolina Encyclopedia’s biography on him, which depicts him as a supporter of LBJ’s anti-poverty program, which simply wasn’t so during Johnson’s time as president (Moore). Like other South Carolinian officeholders, Dorn was a segregationist and opposed every civil rights measure during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Administrations. Given this record quite hostile to social welfare measures and high spending, how Dorn would legislatively behave during the Nixon Administration would prove surprising if not shocking.

The Nixon Administration: Some Surprises

Agreement rates, ADA and ACA.

A preview of Congressman Dorn’s changes came in 1968, when he supported an open-ended appropriation for food stamps. Although this change is not nearly as represented in Americans for Democratic Action’s (ADA) ratings as opposed to Americans for Constitutional Action’s (ACA) ratings, these came in the form of how he addressed social programs and even civil rights. In 1969, Dorn opposed a conservative substitute to extending the Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which he had opposed only four years before. In 1970, Dorn was the only South Carolina representative to vote for a bill for federal aid for desegregation. This absolutely floored his colleagues, especially when one considers that in other ways Dorn’s record remained in his old ways. For instance, he opposed extending the Voting Rights Act in 1970 and continued to oppose funding for the Civil Rights Commission. Dorn was also the only South Carolina representative to vote against the Equal Rights Amendment in 1971. However, he also voted against another amendment that proved even more surprising; he was also the only South Carolina representative to vote against a school prayer amendment that same year. Dorn also voted against several legislative efforts to curb busing as a means for desegregation, including Rep. Broomfield’s (R-Mich.) and Rep. Ashbrook’s (R-Ohio) 1971 proposals. Although in 1969 Dorn had supported transferring anti-poverty functions to the states, he supported extending such programs despite President Nixon’s opposition to the bill for the level of spending and for containing a provision for government daycare. He also opposed a Republican substitute to anti-poverty legislation which had a simple extension with no funding increases or government daycare program or legal services corporation the following year. The reason, however, that ADA found him still pretty conservative while ACA found him considerably less so was due to his staunchly pro-military voting record. Dorn constantly opposed defense cuts and was always supportive of President Nixon on the Vietnam War. He also voted against the War Powers Act of 1973, which was passed over President Nixon’s veto. ADA placed considerably more weight on military issues than ACA, which although far from neglectful of military spending and Vietnam, placed more weight on issues of spending and government expansion. Dorn was furthermore an advocate for veterans, and thus was well suited for his time as chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee from 1973 to 1974. In 1974, Dorn opted against another term in Congress to run for governor. This certainly seemed like a good idea, after all Republicans were being dragged down by Watergate. However, South Carolina defied this trend with the election of Republican Governor James Edwards. Dorn had sided with ADA 15% of the time during his time in Congress, ACA 72% of the time, and his DW-Nominate score is -0.017. None of these criterion really reflect the notion that Dorn was a “progressive populist” as South Carolina Encyclopedia’s profile depicts him in his later career (Moore). Sure, he became a bit more liberal, but his ACA agreement never fell below 48% and he never agreed with ADA more than 58% of the time in a given year. Although DW-Nominate’s score does not look conservative at all, bear in mind that party-line procedural votes get counted and that his score is higher than any Democrat serving nationally. Dorn tried again for governor in 1978, but lost the Democratic primary. From 1980 to 1984, he did one last service for his party by serving as the chairman of the state’s Democratic Party. Perhaps aside from the shifts in his record, the most interesting thing about Dorn is that his portrayal seems a bit different from reality.

References

ADA Voting Records. Americans for Democratic Action.

Retrieved from

Voting Records

Dorn, William Jennings Bryan. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://voteview.com/person/2672/william-jennings-bryan-dorn

Moore, W.V. (2016, May 17). Dorn, William Jennings Bryan. South Carolina Encyclopedia.

Retrieved from

https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/dorn-william-jennings-bryan/

As a state, Colorado seems to be of two worlds: that of the granola-munchers and the gun-toters. For now, the granola-munchers have the edge; Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since 2002, the last time its voters chose a Republican for president was George W. Bush in 2004, and the last time its voters chose a Republican senator was in 2014. Colorado Democrats have by and large been quite far from a conservative group in recent history and the current crop is going full-bore into social liberalism in this author’s opinion. However, this was not always true of Colorado Democrats, and one figure who was a prime example was Edwin “Big Ed” Johnson (1884-1970).

Johnson grew up in Kansas and went to Nebraska for work, but in 1909, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and advised to move to Colorado. In an age before antibiotics people were often advised to move to warmer and drier climates in an effort to cure tuberculosis, and this worked for him. He proceeded to start a political career, which started with a loss when he tried for superintendent of Moffat County schools in 1914. This would be the only race he would lose. In 1922, Johnson ran for the Colorado House and won. At the time, the Ku Klux Klan was a powerful force in the state’s politics, and he stood as an opponent. By 1930, the Klan had fallen in influence, and he was elected lieutenant governor. In 1932, Johnson ran for governor and won, serving two terms. As governor, his approach differed a bit from the New Deal, as he pushed his own programs, which included tax reduction, highway construction, balanced budgets, and civil service reform (Colorado State Archives). In 1936, Johnson easily won election to the Senate over Republican Raymond Sauter by 28 points.

As a senator, Johnson was independent of the Roosevelt Administration, and in 1940 he condemned President Roosevelt’s decision to seek a third term. He was a supporter of organized labor but also opposed his foreign policy, voting against repealing the arms embargo in 1939, the peacetime draft in 1940, Lend-Lease in 1941, and permitting both the arming of merchant ships and permitting them to enter belligerent ports just a month before Pearl Harbor. While today, such stances against a president of your party would have put him at great risk for a primary defeat, the truth is that Colorado was moving against the president; in 1940 and 1944 the state’s voters voted for Wendell Willkie and Thomas E. Dewey respectively over Roosevelt. Johnson himself was almost defeated for reelection in 1942 by Republican Governor Ralph Carr, but he had not courted popularity by standing up for the rights of Japanese-Americans, and he won another term by a point. Although often thought of as a conservative Democrat, Johnson went to bat for labor unions in his vote against the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 and would also do so when he refused to vote to use the Taft-Hartley injunction during steel strikes in 1952. On foreign policy, Johnson’s postwar record was very mixed indeed. He voted against aid to Greece and Turkey in 1947 and only voted for the Marshall Plan the following year after supporting cutting funds. However, he would also support Point Four aid to poor nations in 1950 and at times voted for and against cuts to foreign aid. The 1948 election went much better for him, with Johnson winning almost 67% of the vote.

On March 14, 1950, Johnson denounced the affair of Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman on the floor of the Senate, and the negative publicity that followed Bergman resulted in her living in Europe for the next few years. He charged that Bergman, who had been his favorite actress, “had perpetrated an assault upon the institution of marriage” and that she was “a powerful influence for evil” and condemned Rossellini as “vile and unspeakable” and a “common love thief” (Hill). Johnson’s fiery condemnations of the two seemed to reflect a personal feeling of betrayal in the image he had of Bergman as a person. He even went as far as to propose legislation to license film performers based on personal morality (Colorado State Archives). Senator Charles Percy (R-Ill.) would apologize on behalf of the Senate for this incident in 1972. In 1952, Johnson endorsed Senator Richard Russell’s (D-Ga.) candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president and headed up his campaign, but Russell got no success outside of the South. On civil rights, he had something of a mixed record. Although he voted against Russell’s effort to undermine army desegregation in 1950, that same year he voted against ending debate on a Fair Employment Practices bill.

In 1953, Johnson was one of only two Democrats to vote against confirming Charles Bohlen as ambassador to the USSR, the push against him being spearheaded by Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.). Interestingly, he was also among a minority of senators to oppose Eisenhower’s nomination of former Congressman and public housing opponent Albert Cole (R-Kan.) as Housing Administrator. In 1954, Johnson decided against another term in the Senate as his wife, Fern, desired to return to Colorado, but surprised observers when he chose to run for governor again, which he won. In his final address, Johnson warned against committing troops to Vietnam (Colorado State Archives). His last vote as a senator had been to vote to censure Joseph McCarthy. Johnson had sided with the liberal Americans for Democratic Action from 1947 to 1954 40% of the time, and his DW-Nominate score stands as a 0.01, or more conservative than any Democrat serving in Congress today. However, his stint as governor would be limited to one term as a heart attack shortly after winning convinced him that he needed to take it easy. Despite his heart attack, Johnson did well after and persisted as a public figure after his final stint, including campaigning for the reelection of Democratic Congressman Wayne Aspinall in 1964. On May 7, 1970, Johnson was admitted to the hospital for a hernia, and underwent an operation four days later, but his condition deteriorated throughout the month, and he died on May 30th (Hill). Johnson to this day has a unique distinction in Colorado history; being the only person to serve three terms as governor and as senator. He is remembered in Colorado through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, a marvel of engineering that runs through Loveland Pass.

References

ADA Voting Records. Americans for Democratic Action.

Retrieved from

Voting Records

Edwin Johnson. Colorado State Archives.

Retrieved from

Click to access Edwin%20Johnson.pdf

Hill, R. (2025, September 28). ‘Big Ed’ Johnson of Colorado. The Knoxville Focus.

Retrieved from

‘Big Ed’ Johnson of Colorado

Johnson, Edwin Carl. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://voteview.com/person/4949/edwin-carl-johnson