1930 Iowa Senate election

The 1930 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1930 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 21 of the state senate's 50 districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate.

1930 Iowa Senate election

← 1928 November 4, 1930 1932 →
21 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 48 2 Seats after 44 6 Seat change 4 4
Results      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Republican hold

A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the 1930 elections is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.

The primary election on June 2, 1930, determined which candidates appeared on the November 4, 1930 general election ballot.^[1][2]

Following the previous election, Republicans had control of the Iowa state Senate with 48 seats to Democrats' 2 seats.

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to net 24 Senate seats.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Republicans maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1930 general election with the balance of power shifting to Republicans holding 44 seats and Democrats having 6 seats (a net gain of 4 seats for Democrats).

Summary of Results

• Note: The 29 holdover Senators not up for re-election are not listed on this table.

State Senate District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
1st	Joseph R. Frailey		Rep	Joseph R. Frailey		Rep
7th	Denver Loring Wilson		Rep	Frank Iradelle Coykendall[lower-alpha 2]		Rep
9th	Clyde Hamilton Topping		Rep	Clyde Hamilton Topping		Rep
10th	William Carden		Rep	William Carden		Rep
12th	Frank M. Beatty		Rep	Frank M. Beatty		Rep
13th	Frank B. Shane		Rep	Roy E. Stevens		Dem
18th	Charles D. Booth		Rep	Charles D. Booth		Rep
20th	Ralph U. Thompson		Dem	Edwin R. Hicklin		Rep
21st	David W. Kimberly		Rep	David W. Kimberly		Rep
22nd	John O. Shaff		Rep	Harold L. Irwin		Dem
29th	A. H. Bergman		Rep	Oliver Perry Myers		Dem
30th	George Allison Wilson		Rep	George Allison Wilson		Rep
34th	Oliver P. Bennett		Rep	Oliver P. Bennett		Rep
35th	Otto F. Lange		Rep	Matt D. Cooney		Dem
37th	Oscar Ulstad		Rep	Irving H. Knudson		Rep
38th	Charles Theodore Rogers		Rep	Edward J. Wenner		Rep
42nd	William Henry Klemme		Rep	William Henry Klemme		Rep
44th	Ansel Taylor Brookins		Rep	Lafe Hill		Rep
45th	Samuel Albert Brush		Rep	Harry Cook White		Dem
48th	John Grant Merritt		Rep	Lewis Thomas Quirk		Rep
50th	Fred Cramer Gilchrist		Rep	William Robert Ritchie		Rep

Source:^[3]

Detailed Results

• NOTE: The 29 districts that did not hold elections in 1930 are not listed here.

District 1 • District 7 • District 9 • District 10 • District 12 • District 13 • District 18 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 29 • District 30 • District 34 • District 35 • District 37 • District 38 • District 42 • District 44 • District 45 • District 48 • District 50

• Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).^[4]

District 1

Iowa Senate, District 1 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe R. Frailey (incumbent)	6,562	55.7
	Democratic	J. O. Boyd	5,209	44.3
Total votes			11,771	100.0
	Republican hold

District 7

• Though Coykendall won the general election running as a Democrat, he switched parties to Republican as he was sworn into the Iowa State Senate.

Iowa Senate, District 7 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Denver L. Wilson (incumbent)	2,059	37.8
	Republican	Frank I. Coykendall[lower-alpha 2]	1,855	34.0
	Republican	Adams	1,534	28.2
Total votes			5,448	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 7 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank I. Coykendall[lower-alpha 2]	6,021	57.3
	Republican	Denver L. Wilson (incumbent)	4,490	42.7
Total votes			10,511	100.0
	Republican hold

District 9

Iowa Senate, District 9 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Clyde H. Topping (incumbent)	5,020	54.9
	Democratic	Thomas J. Smith	4,121	45.1
Total votes			9,141	100.0
	Republican hold

District 10

Iowa Senate, District 10 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William A. Carden (incumbent)	6,363	100.0
Total votes			6,363	100.0
	Republican hold

District 12

Iowa Senate, District 12 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank M. Beatty (incumbent)	7,156	100.0
Total votes			7,156	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

Iowa Senate, District 13 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Shane (incumbent)	2,290	47.2
	Republican	Bluhm	2,017	41.6
	Republican	Bradley	542	11.2
Total votes			4,849	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 13 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	R. E. Stevens	4,963	51.1
	Republican	Frank Shane (incumbent)	4,742	48.9
Total votes			9,705	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 18

Iowa Senate, District 18 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles D. Booth (incumbent)	6,655	100.0
Total votes			6,655	100.0
	Republican hold

District 20

Iowa Senate, District 20 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	E. R. Hicklin	5,650	100.0
Total votes			5,650	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 21

Iowa Senate, District 21 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	D. W. Kimberly (incumbent)	8,736	100.0
Total votes			8,736	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Iowa Senate, District 22 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	H. L. Irwin	8,287	56.8
	Republican	J. O. Shaff (incumbent)	6,302	43.2
Total votes			14,589	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 29

Iowa Senate, District 29 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	A. H. Bergman (incumbent)	2,329	62.9
	Republican	Morgan	1,375	37.1
Total votes			3,704	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 29 Democratic Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	O. P. Myers	285	63.3
	Democratic	Sellman	165	36.7
Total votes			450	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 29 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	O. P. Myers	3,846	57.0
	Republican	A. H. Bergman (incumbent)	2,896	43.0
Total votes			6,742	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 30

Iowa Senate, District 30 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George A. Wilson (incumbent)	17,036	100.0
Total votes			17,036	100.0
	Republican hold

District 34

Iowa Senate, District 34 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	O. P. Bennett (incumbent)	8,936	51.8
	Democratic	George L. Harrison	8,306	48.2
Total votes			17,242	100.0
	Republican hold

District 35

Iowa Senate, District 35 Democratic Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Matt D. Cooney	2,990	57.2
	Democratic	Swift	2,235	42.8
Total votes			5,225	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 35 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mathew D. Cooney	6,587	55.4
	Republican	J. Allen Wallis	5,307	44.6
Total votes			11,894	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 37

Iowa Senate, District 37 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Irving H. Knudson	5,539	47.3
	Republican	Needham	3,771	32.2
	Republican	William Schmedika	2,392	20.5
Total votes			11,702	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 37 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Irving H. Knudson	7,205	100.0
Total votes			7,205	100.0
	Republican hold

District 38

Iowa Senate, District 38 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Edward J. Wenner	4,462	36.9
	Republican	Charles Theodore Rogers (incumbent)	4,177	34.5
	Republican	Howard	3,457	28.6
Total votes			12,096	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 38 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Edward J. Wenner	8,788	100.0
Total votes			8,788	100.0
	Republican hold

District 42

Iowa Senate, District 42 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William H. Klemme (incumbent)	2,374	45.4
	Republican	Hook	1,882	36.0
	Republican	Bailey	971	18.6
Total votes			5,227	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 42 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William H. Klemme (incumbent)	6,241	100.0
Total votes			6,241	100.0
	Republican hold

District 44

Iowa Senate, District 44 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lafe Hill	2,217	36.7
	Republican	Ansel Taylor Brookins (incumbent)	2,059	34.1
	Republican	Kepple	1,762	29.2
Total votes			6,038	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 44 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lafe Hill	4,839	52.9
	Democratic	T. C. Kelley	4,308	47.1
Total votes			9,147	100.0
	Republican hold

District 45

Iowa Senate, District 45 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. J. Breakenridge	1,766	30.6
	Republican	Strippel	1,620	28.0
	Republican	R. V. Leo[lower-alpha 3]	1,411	24.4
	Republican	Samuel Albert Brush (incumbent)	980	17.0
Total votes			5,777	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 45 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	H. C. White	3,131	38.5
	Independent	R. V. Leo[lower-alpha 3]	2,946	36.2
	Republican	W. J. Breakenridge	2,053	25.3
Total votes			8,130	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 48

Iowa Senate, District 48 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	L. T. Quirk	2,793	40.4
	Republican	John Grant Merritt (incumbent)	2,688	38.9
	Republican	Piper	1,434	20.7
Total votes			6,915	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 48 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	L. T. Quirk	6,317	100.0
Total votes			6,317	100.0
	Republican hold

District 50

Iowa Senate, District 50 Republican Primary Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. R. Ritchie	5,116	51.8
	Republican	Van Alstine	4,762	48.2
Total votes			9,878	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 50 General Election, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. R. Ritchie	6,593	100.0
Total votes			6,593	100.0
	Republican hold

1. It was impossible for Democrats to flip control of the Iowa state Senate in the 1930 election given that only 21 seats were up for election and 24 flips were needed for Democrats to take control.
2. Coykendall won the 1930 general election in district 7 as a Democrat, but would switch parties to Republican once being sworn into the Iowa General Assembly.
3. Despite coming in third in the Republican Primary, Leo would run in the general election as an Independent.

See also

• United States elections, 1930
• United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 1930
• Elections in Iowa

References

1. "Primary Election 1930 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
2. "General Election 1930 For State Senator" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
3. "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
4. "Primary Election for State Senator 1930" (PDF). Iowa Official Register. Retrieved June 29, 2020.