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TN US Senate - D Primary

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > Tennessee > Senate Class II

Office

Senate

Type

Primary Election

Filing Deadline

July 10, 1948 - 12:00pm

Polls Open

August 04, 1948 - 06:00am

Polls Close

August 04, 1948 - 07:00pm

Term Start

January 03, 1949 - 12:00pm

Term End

January 03, 1955 - 12:00pm

Contributor

RBH

Last Modified

RBH July 18, 2018 08:33pm

Data Sources

Southern Primaries and Elections, 1920-1949

Description

The 1948 race for the U.S. Senate was unexpectedly interesting. Tom Stewart, then in his second term, was a protege of Tennessee boss Edward H. Crump. Never able to expand his base of support in the Democratic Party, Stewart had won re-nomination in 1942 only with a heavy vote in the Memphis area (he lost the center and eastern portions of the state). An arch-conservative, Stewart had proposed stripping Japanese Americans of their citizenship during World War II and was sometimes called Sen. McKellar's "me, too" man [NYT 11/16/1947].

U.S. Rep. Estes Kefauver announced his intention of challenging Stewart on 11/15/1947. Kefauver was a five-term member of the U.S. House and was only 44 years old at the time of his announcement. Unlike Stewart, Kefauver was a strong supporter of organized labor and programs such as TVA and OPA. As such, Boss Crump said of Kefauver that he would "rather vote for Marcantonio" than Kefauver. [NYT 11/16/1947]

At first, Stewart said that he would announce whether he would run again when he was "good and ready." He became "good and ready" fairly quickly, as Crump sent out feelers that Stewart needed to be standing on his own and not need to be bailed out again. Stewart thus announced his candidacy on 12/8/1947 even though Crump had not agreed to support him [NYT 12/9/1947].

The campaign season developed into a referendum on Crump's "king maker" ability to choose the Democratic nominees for statewide offices. Gordon Browning ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor as a team with Kefauver, using the slogan "down with one-man rule." Organized labor, limited in scope as it was in Tennessee, supported the Kefauver-Browning team. Kefauver had voted against the Taft-Hartley Act, while Stewart had voted for it.

Crump decided not to support Sen. Stewart, instead supporting obscure judge John A. Mitchell. In the Democratic primary for Governor, Crump supported the re-nomination of Gov. Jim McCord.

Local Democrats, particularly in Polk County, joined in the anti-machine movement. They organized a Good Government League to oppose the organization of former Sheriff Burch Biggs, who had controlled county races for 18 years and was loosely allied with Crump. Memphis business leaders came out against Crump in a brave challenge to his control over the county Democratic Party. [NYT 8/7/1948]

The movement against bosses raised the stakes, as the primary day showed. Turnout was heavy in many precincts. In Memphis, Crump hired bands to drive around the city to encourage people to vote. When violence broke out in Polk County, Gov. McCord sent the National Guard and 85 state highway patrol officers to restore order. Two ambush shootings took place, with two deaths and at least four injuries. The second ambush was against a motorcade carrying the ballot box to the county seat.

The result of the election was a resounding defeat for the Crump organization. Both Kefauver and Browning were nominated easily. Even in Memphis, the vote was Mitchell 38,000; Kefauver 21,000; and Stewart 3,000 - far from the usual 95% vote for the Crump-endorsed candidate. Mitchell ended up winning only his home district (the 4th) and the Memphis district (the 10th). The Biggs machine in Polk County was also resoundingly defeated, losing all but three races for justice of the peace. [NYT 8/7/1948]