1922 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

The 1922 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania was held on November 7, 1922. Incumbent Republican Senator George Pepper, who had been appointed to the seat by Governor William Sproul following the death of Boies Penrose, was elected to fill the remaining four years on the term to which Penrose had been elected in 1920. Pepper comfortably defeated five other candidates, including Democratic nominee Fred Kerr of Clearfield County.[1]

1922 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

← 1920 November 7, 1922 1926 →
 
Nominee George Pepper Fred Kerr
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 819,507 468,330
Percentage 57.60% 32.91%

County results
Pepper:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Kerr:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

George Pepper
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

George Pepper
Republican

Background

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Incumbent Senator Boies Penrose, who had been elected in 1920 for a term expiring in 1927, died on December 31, 1921. Governor of Pennsylvania William Cameron Sproul appointed George W. Pepper to fill Penrose's seat until a successor could be duly elected. The special election for the remainder of Penrose's term was scheduled for November 7, simultaneous with the general election.

Primary elections were held on May 16.[2] Pepper was a candidate to complete the term.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1922 U.S. Senate special Republican primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican George W. Pepper (inc.) 577,534 58.65%
Republican William J. Burke 336,375 34.16%
Republican Edward R. Wood 70,727 7.18%
Write-in 47 0.00%
Total votes 984,636 100.00%

After losing the Republican primary, Burke campaigned as the Progressive nominee in the regularly scheduled election for Pennsylvania's other U.S. Senate seat.

General election

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Candidates

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  • Fred Kerr, Clearfield businessman and U.S. Army veteran (Democratic)[3]
  • Frank Lewis (Prohibition)
  • George Wharton Pepper, former University of Pennsylvania Law School professor and interim U.S. Senator[4] (Republican)
  • James Robinson (Single Tax)
  • Earl Thompson (Progressive)
  • William Van Essen (Socialist)

Results

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General election results[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican George Pepper (incumbent) 819,507 57.60% −2.34%
Democratic Fred Kerr 468,330 32.91% +5.73%
Progressive Earl Thompson 57,075 4.01% N/A
Socialist William Van Essen 38,440 2.70% −1.08%
Prohibition Frank Lewis 34,089 2.40% −5.04%
Single Tax James Robinson 5,356 0.38% +0.26%
N/A Other 59 0.00% N/A

References

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  1. ^ "Washington's Eyes On Pennsylvania". The New York Times. May 16, 1922. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Smull's Legislative Handbook and Manual of the State of Pennsylvania, 1921–22. Pennsylvania State University. pp. 769–75. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "Col. Frederick B. Kerr". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 16, 1922. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "PEPPER, George Wharton". The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. The United States Congress. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  5. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1922" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Retrieved July 9, 2014.