Zales Ecton

Zales Nelson Ecton (born April 1, 1898 in Weldon , Decatur County , Iowa , † March 3, 1961 in Bozeman , Montana ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of Montana in the US Senate .

Life

When Zales Ecton was nine years old, his parents left Iowa with him and moved to Montana, where the family settled in Gallatin County . There he attended public schools, then later the Montana State College in Bozeman and the Law School of the University of Chicago . From 1921 he worked as a rancher, focusing on growing grain and raising livestock.

He was politically active for the first time in 1933 when he moved into the House of Representatives in Montana . Within the state legislature, he moved to the Senate in 1937 , where he remained until 1946. That year he ran for one of Montana's two seats in the US Senate. Incumbent Burton K. Wheeler had the primary of the Democrats against Leif Erickson, a judge of the Supreme Court of the State lost. Ecton prevailed against Erickson with 54 percent of the vote and took up his mandate in Washington on January 3, 1947. In an attempt to re-elected, he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Mike Mansfield six years later .

Ecton then retired from politics and took care of his ranch again. He was the last Republican Senator from Montana until Conrad Burns won the election in 1988.

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personal data
SURNAME	Ecton, Zales
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ecton, Zales Nelson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician (Republican Party)
DATE OF BIRTH	April 1, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH	Weldon , Decatur County , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 1961
Place of death	Bozeman , Montana