1938 Oregon gubernatorial election

The 1938 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1938. In the election for governor of Oregon, Republican nominee Charles A. Sprague defeated Democratic nominee Henry L. Hess. Incumbent governor Charles Martin lost in the Democratic primary to Hess, an attorney and former state senator from La Grande. Hess was a strong supporter of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal while Martin was a frequent critic of the program.

1938 Oregon gubernatorial election

← 1934 November 8, 1938 1942 →

Nominee Charles A. Sprague Henry L. Hess Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 214,062 158,744 Percentage 57.4% 42.6%

County results: Sprague:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Hess:      50–60%

Governor before election Charles Martin Democratic Elected Governor Charles A. Sprague Republican

Background

Incumbent Democratic governor Charles Martin had been elected in the middle of the Great Depression in the 1934 governor's race. A conservative Democrat, Martin appealed to many business-minded Republicans, and his administration focused on strengthening state finances, even opposing restoring state workers to full pay as the Depression eased.^[1] Martin vigorously opposed many aspects of President Roosevelt's New Deal, in particular parts dealing with unions and labor, such as the formation of the National Labor Relations Board.^[1]

Campaign

When Martin announced his intention to run for the Democratic nomination for another term, labor unions and the Roosevelt administration sought an alternative, eventually throwing their weight behind Henry L. Hess, a little-known attorney and former state senator from Union County.^[2] Harold L. Ickes, Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior and a key implementer of New Deal policies, indicated his support for Hess, though Roosevelt himself stayed officially neutral.^[3]

In a hard-fought Democratic primary, Hess won 49% of the vote to Martin's 44%, with labor strongholds in Portland and the timber counties supporting Hess and agricultural regions behind Martin. A third candidate, O. Henry Oleen, a state representative from St. Helens, earned about 7% of the vote.^[2][4]

With most of the attention on the Democratic primary, on the Republican side, newspaper publisher Charles A. Sprague emerged from a crowded seven-way Republican field with a comfortable plurality of 48% of the vote, 30 percentage points better than his nearest competitor, former state senator Sam Brown.^[5]

In the general election, the Republican establishment, which had supported Martin, now threw their support to Sprague, who cruised to an easy victory.^[6]

Election results

Oregon gubernatorial election, 1938^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles A. Sprague	214,062	57.41
	Democratic	Henry L. Hess	158,744	42.57
		write-ins	57	0.02
Total votes			372,863	100
	Republican gain from Democratic

References

1. "Governor Charles H. Martin's Administration". Oregon State Archives. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
2. "Governor Martin defeated by Hess in Oregon contest". Reading Eagle. May 22, 1938. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
3. "Martin-Hess race is close in New Deal test in Oregon" (PDF). New York Times. May 21, 1938. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
4. "OR Governor Race - Democratic Primary - May 20, 1938". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
5. "OR Governor Race - Republican Primary - May 20, 1938". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
6. McKay, Floyd J. "Charles Sprague (1887–1969)". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
7. "OR Governor Race - Nov 08, 1938". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 12, 2011.