Election to the United States Senate in 1934

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On November 6, 1934, or September 10 in the state of Maine , one-third of the members of the United States Senate were elected. The election was part of the general election to the 74th United States Congress that year, which also elected all members of the House of Representatives. Since the election date was exactly in the middle of the first four-year term of office of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Midterm Election), the elections were in part also a vote on the previous policy of the President.

Since the adoption of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913, all US senators in their respective states have been directly elected by the people of their state. Each state has 2 senators. Under the United States Constitution , US Senators are elected for six years. However, all members of the Senate are never elected at the same time. The election follows a scheme according to which a third of the senators are elected every two years at the same time as the election to the US House of Representatives. For this purpose, the Senate is divided into three classes , which determine the election year of the Senators. In 1934, the Class I senators stood for election. At that time, the United States consisted of 48 states. This results in a total of 96 senators, 36 of which were available for election. The election resulted in a clear vote in favor of the policies of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt. The Democrats increased the Senate majority they had won in 1932. They won 10 more seats and now held a two-thirds majority. For the first time since the Civil War , the ruling president's party was able to win seats in a midterm election.

Senate composition after the election

Total: 96

The results of the last elections on November 8, 1932 are in brackets. Changes in the course of the legislative period that do not affect the elections themselves are not included in these figures. But are noted in the article on the 74th Congress in the section on the members of the Senate by the corresponding names of the senators.

See also