1946 United States Senate election in Washington

The 1946 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 5, 1946. Incumbent Democrat Hugh Mitchell, who had been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Monrad Wallgren, ran for a full term in office, but was defeated by Republican Mayor of Tacoma Harry Cain.

1946 United States Senate election in Washington

← 1940 November 5, 1946 1952 →

Nominee Harry Cain Hugh Mitchell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 358,847 298,683 Percentage 54.34% 45.23%

County results Cain:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Mitchell:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Hugh Mitchell Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Harry Cain Republican

Blanket primary

Candidates

Democratic

• Sam C. Herren
• Russell Fluent, Washington State Treasurer
• Hugh Mitchell, interim U.S. Senator since 1945

Republican

• Harry Cain, Mayor of Tacoma
• J. Parkhurst Douglass

Results

1946 U.S. Senate primary election in Washington^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Harry Cain	158,596	43.88%
	Democratic	Hugh Mitchell (incumbent)	134,286	37.15%
	Democratic	Russell H. Fluent	35,758	9.89%
	Republican	Ed F. Oldfield	21,017	5.82%
	Republican	Sam C. Herren	11,789	3.26%
Total votes			361,446	100.00%

General election

Results

1946 U.S. Senate election in Washington^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Harry Cain	358,847	54.34%	8.50
	Democratic	Hugh Mitchell (incumbent)	298,683	45.23%	8.93
	Socialist Labor	Harry Morton	2,297	0.35%	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Charles R. Swett	515	0.08%	N/A
Total votes			660,342	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

See also

• 1946 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Elections Search Results - July 1946 Primary". Washington Secretary of State. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
2. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1946" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved April 3, 2021.