1938 Minnesota gubernatorial election

1938 Minnesota gubernatorial election
November 8, 1938
 
Nominee Harold Stassen Elmer Benson Thomas F. Gallagher
Party Republican Farmer–Labor Democratic
Popular vote 678,839 387,263 65,875
Percentage 59.92% 34.18% 5.81%
County results
Stassen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Benson      40–50%      50–60%
Governor before election

Elmer Benson
Farmer–Labor

 Elected Governor

Harold Stassen
Republican

The 1938 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1938. Republican candidate Harold Stassen defeated Farmer-Labor incumbent Elmer Benson. Benson was running for a second term.


Farmer-Labor Primary

The Farmer-Labor Primary election was between incumbent governor Elmer Benson and former governor Hjalmar Petersen.

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in Primary

Results

Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Farmer–Labor Elmer Benson 218,235 51.91%
Farmer–Labor Hjalmar Petersen 202,205 48.09%
Total votes 420,440 100%

[1]

Republican Primary

The Republican Primary Election was held between four candidates. Harold Stassen won the election with a 47.42% plurality.

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in Primary

Results

Republican Party of Minnesota primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Harold Stassen 123,634 47.42%
Republican Martin A. Nelson 76,532 29.36%
Republican George E. Leach 57,028 21.88%
Republican Harson A. Northrup 3,501 1.34%
Total votes 260,695 100%

[2]

Democratic Primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in Primary

  • Charles A. Lethert, former Clerk of the Supreme Court
  • Fred Schilplin, Newspaper editor
  • Joel F. Anderson, Farmer-Laborite, employee of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission
  • Michael F. Murray, former head of the Minnesota department of the American Legion
  • Victor Emanuel Anderson, former assistant Attorney General

Results

Democratic Party of Minnesota primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Thomas F. Gallagher 23,240 29.23%
Democratic Fred Schilplin 20,209 25.41%
Democratic Michael F. Murray 17,722 22.29%
Democratic Victor Emanuel Anderson 10,321 12.98%
Democratic Charles A. Lethert 4,658 5.86%
Democratic Joel F. Anderson 3,369 4.24%
Total votes 79,519 100%

[3]


Candidates

Campaigns

Incumbent Benson found his position weakened in 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not endorse him for a second term, and former governor and primary opponent Hjalmar Petersen refused to fall in line with him. Former political allies from Wisconsin, Governor Philip La Follette and Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., also broke with Benson, openly preferring Stassen. The La Follettes has sought to unite the Farmer-Labor party with the Wisconsin Progressive Party into the National Progressives of America, with candidates already slated in Iowa. Benson refused the union, resulting in the collapse of relations between the two.[4]

Stassen called Benson's administration "the three R's; reactionary, radical, and racketeering." Benson explained his reasoning as; Reactionary, as in Benson's ideological control of the Farmer-Labor party, Radical in its encouragement of strikes, which Stassen claimed were 'violent', and Racketeering as in attempts to implement sales tax and liquor tax. Stassen further accused Benson's administration of being more focused on maintaining control than benefitting the people.[5]

Benson attacked Stassen for his call for 'tolerance', stating that Stassen's tolerance was nothing more than tolerating special interests, big banks, and big business. Benson stated "You cannot serve God and Mammon."[6]

One local Farmer-Laborite leader from Floodwood, S. B. Ruohoniemi, had endorsed Stassen and other Republican candidates. Ruohoniemi allenged that a group of fellow Farmer-Laborites accused him of being a traitor, and went as far as threatening his life.[7]

In early October, Stassen proposed a debate with Benson, that would have been the first gubernatorial debate in Minnesotan history. Benson refused.[8]

Stassen's image was heavily impacted by a strike that happened while he was Dakota County commissioner, in November of 1933. A strike in South St. Paul by 1,233 workers of Armour and Company was poorly resolved by Stassen after he ordered the illegal arrests and raids of union leaders. The strike was broken and the workers returned with work with no new pay or compensation, and the strike leaders were blacklisted from jobs. However, the compliance board chairman of the National Recovery Administration, M. J. O'Toole, argued instead that Stassen was uninvolved in the raids or arrests, and fought for the re-instatement of the workers and, upon its founding, brought the issues to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the workers in 1935.[9]

Results

1938 Gubernatorial Election, Minnesota
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Harold Stassen 678,839 59.92% +21.37%
Farmer–Labor Elmer Benson (incumbent) 387,263 34.18% −26.55%
Democratic Thomas F. Gallagher 65,875 5.81% n/a
Industrial John William Castle 899 0.08% −0.63%
Majority 291,576 25.74%
Turnout 1,132,876
Republican gain from Farmer–Labor Swing

Further reading

  • Benson, Elmer A. "Politics in My Lifetime." Minnesota History 47 (1980): 154–60. online
  • Haynes, John Earl. Dubious alliance: the making of Minnesota's DFL Party (U of Minnesota Press, 1984)
  • Kirby, Ales, David G. Dalin and John F. Rothmann. Harold E. Stassen: The Life and Perennial Candidacy of the Progressive Republican (2012)
  • Lovin, Hugh T. "The Fall of Farmer–Labor Parties, 1936-1938." Pacific Northwest Quarterly (1971): 16–26. in JSTOR
  • Sofchalk, Donald G. "Union and Ethnic Group Influence in the 1938 Election on the Minnesota Iron Ranges." Journal of the West (2003) 42#3 pp: 66–74.

References

  1. ↑ "Governor, 1938 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive.
  2. ↑ "Governor, 1938 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive.
  3. ↑ "Governor, 1938 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive.
  4. ↑ Ball, Joseph H. (September 30, 1938). "Petersen Refusal Is Blow To Hopes of Benson Camp". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Stassen Raps Benson, Opposes Sales Tax". St. Paul Pioneer Press. March 8, 1938.
  6. ↑ "Benson Hits Tolerance Plea". St. Paul Pioneer Press. October 31, 1938. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Reds Threatened Me, Says F.-L. Backer of Stassen". St. Paul Pioneer Press. October 21, 1938. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  8. ↑ Ball, Joseph H. (October 4, 1938). "Stassen Attacks F.-L 'Cover Up'". St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  9. ↑ "Stassen's Role in Settling Labor Dispute in 1933 Praised and Denounced". St. Paul Pioneer Press. November 5, 1938. Retrieved April 4, 2026.

See also

Minnesota Historical Election Archive

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